Romney - Not Koch Enough

Newell Steamer

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Jan 27, 2014
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http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/mitt-romney-koch-brothers-donor-network

This weekend, a select group of Republican presidential hopefuls will arrive in southern California to attend one of Charles and David Koch's biannual donor retreats, a coveted invite for GOP politicians seeking the backing of the billionaire brothers and their elite club of conservative and libertarian mega-donors. Featured guests at the conclave will include Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was also invited to the confab but is unlikely to attend.

Notably absent from the guest list for the Koch winter seminar: Mitt Romney.

Romney, despite earning David Koch's endorsement in 2008, has never been beloved by the Kochs and their allies. In fact, donors who travel in the Kochs' circles singled out Romney for blame after his 2012 defeat at the hands of an unpopular sitting president. Judging by the reception to Romney's flirtation with a 2016 race, Kochworld is unlikely to embrace Romney should he run again—and may actively work to oppose him.

After Romney's defeat, donors far and wide—including several who attend the Kochs' events—were quick to blame the candidate for their party's defeat. "You've got a bad candidate, you're gonna lose," Stan Hubbard, a Minnesota telecommunications mogul who typically attends one Koch seminar a year, told me a few months after the 2012 election. "You can spend all the money on a candidate you want, but if they’re talking about self-deportation, or betting $10,000, or 47 percent, you're gonna lose." Hubbard went on, "Romney may be a nice man, but he didn't understand where the average person's coming from. He didn't understand how people were suffering. He was a losing candidate."

Hubbard, who says he gives to Americans for Prosperity, remains no less critical of Romney. In an interview last week, he called Romney a "terrible" candidate. "We have to put forward candidates who can win," Hubbard said, listing Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Chris Christie. (Hubbard says he has not picked a 2016 favorite.)

Randy Kendrick, the wife of Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick and a fixture in the Koch donor network, recently pledged to aggressively oppose a third Romney presidential bid. "My family spent enormous time and money to elect Mitt Romney despite our concerns," Kendrick said in an email to donors obtained by the Daily Caller. "However, lesson learned, I will work early and tirelessly now to make sure he is not our nominee again."

Having run for president twice before, Romney knows all too well the staggering sums of cash required to mount a credible bid for his party's nomination, let alone the presidency. (Jeb Bush's team has reportedly set a goal of raising a whopping $100 million—in just the first three months of 2015.) But unless something drastic changes between Romney, the Kochs, and their club of free-market-minded donors, Romney will find himself shut out of the biggest wellspring of political cash in modern American politics.

Poor Mittens - not invited to a private dinner party AND getting bashed by the Kocholytes.
 

LevelSea

Senior member
Jan 29, 2013
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I guess if you're one of the six Romney supporters this might be relevant and/or interesting.
 
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senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,785
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Ouch, Romney not invited to toss Koch brothers' salad? That's rough.

"Romney may be a nice man, but he didn't understand where the average person's coming from. He didn't understand how people were suffering."
Nice crocodile tears for the average person too.
 
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nickqt

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2015
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LOL, Mother Jones. Maybe you have some FOX News links you can share?

Mother Jones actually conducts journalism, albeit with a liberal slant. Fox "News" is just GOP TV, as Roger Ailes envisioned it back in the 70s.

Those two things are not equal. One has a favored ideology and is allowed to criticize the party that portends to represent that ideology. The other is just a place to air the talking points of a party.

http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/137673/memo-from-1970-a-plan-for-putting-the-gop-on-tv-news/

http://gawker.com/5814150/roger-ailes-secret-nixon-era-blueprint-for-fox-news
 

bozack

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
7,913
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81
Mother Jones actually conducts journalism, albeit with a liberal slant. Fox "News" is just GOP TV, as Roger Ailes envisioned it back in the 70s.

Those two things are not equal. One has a favored ideology and is allowed to criticize the party that portends to represent that ideology. The other is just a place to air the talking points of a party.

http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/137673/memo-from-1970-a-plan-for-putting-the-gop-on-tv-news/

http://gawker.com/5814150/roger-ailes-secret-nixon-era-blueprint-for-fox-news

Can you please pass another helping of bullshit over...

Thanks
 

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,890
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mother jones actually conducts journalism, albeit with a liberal slant. Fox "news" is just gop tv, as roger ailes envisioned it back in the 70s.

Those two things are not equal. One has a favored ideology and is allowed to criticize the party that portends to represent that ideology. The other is just a place to air the talking points of a party.

http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/137673/memo-from-1970-a-plan-for-putting-the-gop-on-tv-news/

http://gawker.com/5814150/roger-ailes-secret-nixon-era-blueprint-for-fox-news
wwybywb?
 

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
26,968
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Why is this surprising?


He spent his last shot doing the oppositions work for them, doesn't have the financial need others do on account on his personal fortune, and isn't half the lapdog Walker is.

I'd expect to see them throw their weight behind Walker seeing as he is already a dutiful employee, and at least has something to show for in the way of election success - no magic underwear was involved!

The ultra elite king makers that have superceded the people in importance are more wary of their money after Karl Rove's epic fail with it. They're not going to waste it on giving a loser a second chance, not when there are zealots and servants to choose from.
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
Mother Jones actually conducts journalism, albeit with a liberal slant. Fox "News" is just GOP TV, as Roger Ailes envisioned it back in the 70s.

Those two things are not equal. One has a favored ideology and is allowed to criticize the party that portends to represent that ideology. The other is just a place to air the talking points of a party.

http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/137673/memo-from-1970-a-plan-for-putting-the-gop-on-tv-news/

http://gawker.com/5814150/roger-ailes-secret-nixon-era-blueprint-for-fox-news

Can you please pass another helping of bullshit over...

Thanks


There you have it, nickqt, the view from the bunker o' denial, just across the border in Glenbeckistan.
 

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
26,968
35,584
136
Can you please pass another helping of bullshit over...

Thanks


He's absolutely correct, but I applaud you for letting everyone know you couldn't be more clueless about journalism. Good for you, takes guts.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,284
5,055
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Stupid story is stupid.
The Koch brothers can support/not support anyone they like, for whatever reason they like. The same applies to inviting them on a weekend trip. They are also absolutely within the bounds of good taste by not backing the guy who lost last time.

This isn't news, it's gossip.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
Stupid story is stupid.
The Koch brothers can support/not support anyone they like, for whatever reason they like. The same applies to inviting them on a weekend trip. They are also absolutely within the bounds of good taste by not backing the guy who lost last time.

This isn't news, it's gossip.

True, so far as it goes. They also have the right, under current law, to say it's not them providing enormous sums via a maze of non-profits designed entirely to obfuscate.

Their chosen ones need merely to read convincingly from the script like they're punched out of a mold at the Koch Bros candidate factory. Actually, they must read from the script w/ little or no deviation like a trained seal.
 

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
Mother Jones actually conducts journalism, albeit with a liberal slant. Fox "News" is just GOP TV, as Roger Ailes envisioned it back in the 70s.

True journalism doesn't have a slant. It just reports the facts. As soon as you have a slant, you start to ignore important details in lieu of your agenda. You start deciding which stories get covered based on what makes your political party look better. That's not journalism.
 

senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,785
6,187
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True journalism doesn't have a slant. It just reports the facts. As soon as you have a slant, you start to ignore important details in lieu of your agenda. You start deciding which stories get covered based on what makes your political party look better. That's not journalism.

Slippery slope nonsense.
 

bozack

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2000
7,913
12
81
Because I am a bleeding heart liberal and gulp down the leftist koolaid and love sites that lean heavily to the socialist party I feel He's absolutely correct, but I applaud you for letting everyone know this site is just as biased if not more than outlets such as fox. Good for you, takes guts.

Fixed it for you
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
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Fixed it for you

You didn't fix anything. You just translated into right-speak.

Righties are absolutists, seeing no shades of grey, just black & white. When their team spreads the darkness, their only reply is "they're just as bad". It's the easiest & most convenient form of denial.

If the ideology you follow were all you believe it to be, the world wouldn't be as it is.
 

Fayd

Diamond Member
Jun 28, 2001
7,971
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www.manwhoring.com
True, so far as it goes. They also have the right, under current law, to say it's not them providing enormous sums via a maze of non-profits designed entirely to obfuscate.

Their chosen ones need merely to read convincingly from the script like they're punched out of a mold at the Koch Bros candidate factory. Actually, they must read from the script w/ little or no deviation like a trained seal.

just like the democrat candidates...
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
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just like the democrat candidates...

Gawd. I love the stench of false equivalency in the morning, or any time of day, really.

Perhaps you missed how Dems fussed back & forth with each other interminably over the ACA & financial regulation. How they didn't present iron clad obstructionism when in the minority in the Senate. How they don't get their campaign contributions & associated "independent" support from a very well coordinated group of billionaires & hangers on. Democrats run on a variety of positions, something that can't be said for Koch candidates.

But they're just as bad, anyway, right? It's what you have to believe to keep the faith, so you do.