The second presidential debate on Tuesday was a clash of finger-pointing, interruptions and bitter disagreements. Mitt Romney’s eldest son had an especially visceral reaction. Tagg Romney said his instinct was to “jump out of your seat” and “rush down to the debate stage and take a swing’’ at President Obama.
He was answering a North Carolina radio host, who asked how it felt to hear the president “call your dad a liar.’’Tagg Romney quickly indicated he wasn’t speaking literally about striking the president.“You know you can’t do that,’’ he continued, “because, well, first because there’s a lot of Secret Service between you and him, but also because this is the nature of the process. You know, they’re going to do everything they can do to try to make my dad into someone he’s not. We signed up for it.
We’ve got to, kind of sit there and take our punches and then send them right back the other way.’’
The younger Romney’s remarks were indicative of how fiercely the campaign is being fought in its closing weeks. Although Tagg Romney, 42, the eldest of the five Romney sons, was reported to have assumed a prominent role in the campaign, even taking part in a family “intervention,” the picture he painted was of a far less significant player.
A spokeswoman for the campaign, Andrea Saul, said, “He was joking about how frustrating this process can be for family,” and in a television appearance on “The View” on Thursday, another Romney son, Josh, also said he didn’t mean it.
“The brothers have all made a pact not to give him advice,’’ Tagg Romney said of his father, speaking to Bill LuMaye on the North Carolina radio station WPTF-AM. “He’s getting advice from so many different angles. Our role is to go out and speak on his behalf and when we’re with him just to relax him and talk about anything other than politics to take his mind off it for a little while.’’
In the debate, the president did not outright call Mr. Romney a liar, though Mr. Obama did inject phrases on occasion like “what Governor Romney said just isn’t true” and “not true, Governor Romney.” Mr. Obama also said that Mr. Romney’s tax math “doesn’t add up,’’ accused him of having a “one-point plan” favoring the rich and, in a particularly heated moment, said to “get the transcript” after Mr. Romney denied the president called the Benghazi attack an act of terror.
As the final debate approaches, on Monday in Boca Raton, Fla., Tagg Romney mentioned how his father does get nervous before taking the stage. “He’s terrified before he gets out there!’’ he said, before quickly rephrasing his thought. “Terrified’s too strong a word. But you know, he’s like anybody — he gets butterflies a little bit,” he said. “And then once he’s in it, two or three minutes, he’s forgotten about the nervousness.’’
Tagg Romney’s rules for the next Republican President
It’s hard for me to get too worked up about Tagg Romney’s all-bark, no-bite riff on Wednesday’s Bill LuMaye radio show — joking that he wanted to “take a swing” at President Obama after Tuesday night’s debate with Mitt Romney, his dad.
After all, it doesn’t take a whole lot of brass to act tough when you’re a guy who could be three weeks away from getting 24-7-365 Secret Service protection for the rest of his life.
But Tagg’s tough talk does raise the question of Republicans’ hypocrisy when it comes to contemporary political comportment. They’ve been quick to take offense at any number of barbs tossed their way by the Obama campaign, without heed to the unprecedented amount of garbage that’s been tossed Obama’s way over the last four years. If we’re making jokes about taking swings at Presidents now, okay. But that means what’s good for the goose has to be good for the sauce, as well.
Whether Tagg’s dad wins in 2012 — or if the next GOP President is someone chosen by voters in a future election — if you base the rules for Presidents on how Republicans have reacted to Obama, then move over Marquess of Queensberry rules, here’s the new “Tagg Romney rules” for future President Romney or some other Republican President:
The Tagg rule
This one’s obvious. If Tagg can joke about taking a swing, it should mean everyone can.
The Disneyworld rule
If Obama was an elitist for vacationing at a cloistered compound on Martha’s Vineyard, then the only approved presidential vacation destinations going forward are Disneyworld, Myrtle Beach or Yellowstone National Park.
"The View" rule
If you appear on “The View” once in office, you’ve cheapened the dignity of your office.
The Sidwell Friends rule
Conservatives railed against the Obamas for sending their kids to the exclusive Quaker school, of which Chelsea Clinton is an alum. If any GOP President’s kids or grandkids go to a private school, it means that the President turned his back on America’s public schools.
The Joe Wilson rule
If a member of Congress shouts “You lie!” when a Republican president is addressing a joint session of Congress, it’s pretty much fair game.
The BP rule
If we have another Gulf oil spill, the president has to put on a wetsuit, dive in and patch up the hole.
The 99er rule
No matter what the state of the economy is, if the President extends unemployment benefits, he or she is a socialist. No matter what.
The Inauguration Day +1 rule
After five o’clock close of business on the first Republican President’s first full day in office, he can’t blame his predecssor for anything.
The terrorism rule
No matter how many terrorists the next Republican president kills via drone strikes, or by ordering Navy SEAL raids, or with his bare hands, if he fails to give a speech within 24 hours calling the dead terrorists “dead terrorists,” then he’s surrendered the war on terror.
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