Romney Slings Old Mud, Accuses Obama Of "Playing Chicago-Style Politics"
By aaroncynic in News on Jul 19, 2012 7:40PM
In an effort to shift attention away from his dealings with Bain Captial, GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney went on the attack against President Obama for bringing “Chicago-style politics” to the White House.
“This is a tough time for the people of America,” Romney told Fox News. “But if you’re a campaign contractor to Barack Obama, your business may stand to get millions or hundreds of millions in cash from the government.” He later added that the President’s only plan in the election were attacks on him, and said while “that may work in Chicago, it’s not going to work across America.” According to The Hill, Romney told reporters on a conference call his aides would begin to collect examples of Obama’s “Chicago-style politics” when it comes to contracts awarded to donors.
Romney’s allies also chimed in this week to back him up on the accusation. The Washington Post reported after Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter suggested that Romney may have lied on SEC filings and committed a felony, former New Hampshire governor John Sununu went on Fox News to say:
“If we’re going to talk about felonies, this is a president who wallowed in Chicago, in the murky soup of politics-slash-felons. This is a president who cut a very snarky real estate deal with Tony Rezko, who is now in prison.”
Romney’s strategy to call out the President for playing “Chicago-style politics” and giving favors to contractors for donations has much less of a chance of working in this political climate. While things like patronage, back room dealings, and favors for cash might be the Chicago Way and no amount of air freshener will clear the stench of political corruption from this city, there’s little difference between the back room and the board room these days.
Much like some local Illinois politicians who like to throw stones at glass houses, Romney has his own shady connections—and not just with Bain Capital. Last year, Romney said he’d like to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. His biggest campaign donors so far: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
Romney’s gubernatorial administration approved nearly $500 million in contracts from 39 companies that donated to his campaign for governor or the Republican Governors Association. The Boston Herald listed some of Romney’s top donors who got contracts include:
- Employees with General Dynamics, a defense contractor, gave roughly $60,000 to the Republican Governors Association and Romney’s gubernatorial campaign before he handed them a $15,000 state contract.- SPS New England, a bridge repair and highway construction company based in Salisbury, was awarded at least 20 contracts worth $140 million in roadway construction after donating $6,500 to Romney’s race for governor.
- Paolini Corp. employees gave $3,500 to Romney’s campaign for governor before Romney granted the company $7.2 million in contracts to reconstruct roads in Medway and Canton.
Recycling old Republican strategies won’t help the Romney campaign. John McCain went after Obama in 2008 a few times with the Chicago politics accusation and the RNC tied Tony Rezko to Bill Ayers and Bill Daley. Considering the prevalence of pay-to-play politics across party lines however, it’s doubtful the majority of the voting public will buy what Romney is trying to sell. Edward McClelland at NBC's Ward Room perhaps put it best:
“During the 2008 debates, McCain got in a good one on Obama when he said, 'If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.' If Mitt Romney wanted to run against Chicago, he should have run four years ago.”