Mitt Romney Wins Contest For Dumbest Obama-Osama Mixup Yet

Comments (34)

Liberal Larry wrote on October 23, 2007 1:38 PM:

The republic party is going to play the Muslim card on Hussein Osama.
Now, why would they do that?

Anonymous wrote on October 23, 2007 1:40 PM:

Probably did it on purpose. Like when Fox puts up a D for Democrat next to the latest Republican to be indicted.

Romney is a particularly disgusting idiot, and he will stoop to the murkiest depths.

CT Voter wrote on October 23, 2007 1:45 PM:

This isn't "scrambling". He started to say the right thing, and deliberately switched to Obama. Get ready for the Obama-Osama express.

But isn't that detracting from the Hillary is Scary, or Hillary, the "vaginal American" theme? (which makes everyone else in the race penile Americans, I guess)

Juvenile and ugly. Which seems to be a winning combination for the Republicans.

Cole Moore Odell wrote on October 23, 2007 1:48 PM:

Of course he did it on purpose. Notice that he started by almost getting the name right, then caught himself and said not 'Osama" but "Barack Obama"--his full name, and more than once. I'm sure he wanted people, particularly the Obama campaign to know he did it on purpose, while maintaining deniability. It's basic playground stuff. Fortunately, that seems to be all they've got left.

Anonymous wrote on October 23, 2007 1:50 PM:

It wasn't a gaffe.

It's almost as if the Democratic contenders for president are living in fantasyland. Their idea for jihad is to retreat, and their idea for the economy is to also retreat. And in my view, both efforts are wrongheaded."

He's pandering to the whisper campaign that Obama is a muslim.

kjoe wrote on October 23, 2007 1:54 PM:

His saying osam---then changing it was an accident. Maybe.

His reference to Hillary as someone who should not be interning was not meant to make commentators bring up Monica as several did.

He needs to get these slips of the tongue under control. If I am not mistaken, slips of the tongue are violations of his religion.

Ken wrote on October 23, 2007 2:00 PM:

Vintage Romney.

Romney told the crowd of more than 5,000. "In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow."

The seven year marriage is from an Orsen Scott Card science fiction concept. It does not now nor ever exist in France.

Anonymous wrote on October 23, 2007 2:15 PM:

Piece of Shit Romney is sending a message to the haters and racists in the big GOP tent.

Oops, I meant Mitt. My bad.

Anonymous wrote on October 23, 2007 2:18 PM:

Why does he go on to talk about "Democratic candidates for president" if it was a slip-up to refer to Barack Obama?

The new response to Mitt should be, "I can think of something that rhymes with Mitt."

MarcNYC wrote on October 23, 2007 2:27 PM:

Obama, Osama its all the same to those people.

R Smith wrote on October 23, 2007 2:28 PM:

Yep, just an accident. Its not like Mitt's caught hell for this before.

goethean wrote on October 23, 2007 2:38 PM:

You may want to start putting quotation maks around the word "flub" and "gaffe".

gqmartinez wrote on October 23, 2007 2:52 PM:

He definitely did this on purpose. Not only did he change the name after getting it right, he tied in all the Democratic candidates. Dems should be asking why, if Romney was referring to the Osama video, he referred to the Democrats immediately afterwards. He's attacking more than just Obama here.

loki wrote on October 23, 2007 2:57 PM:

I don't think for a second that it was accidental. I think he knew perfectly well what he was doing. He's a low-life human being.

Arttheatheistliberal wrote on October 23, 2007 2:59 PM:

No doubt he was swept up by the excitement of Islamofascist Awareness Week

RobbyLove wrote on October 23, 2007 3:04 PM:

What do you mean by "those people"? :)

If you think that a certain segment of the American people, both Democrat and Republican, aren't influenced by Obama's name then you are living in a fantasy land. Not everyone is progressive enough in this country to get past labels and appearance.

Obama sounds like Osama. It will, and does, have an impact.

JR wrote on October 23, 2007 3:04 PM:

What a weak-ass response from Obama's camp.

You don't try to laugh it off when it's sticking like this. You point out the poster photo that Romney did, and you call him a stupid, lying racist. Attack his ass. Make a point of noting that someone who can't even remember the name of the biggest mass murderer in US history--someone still at large, at that--is trying to become President. Don't feed the flip-flopper narrative or try to parry this into an Iraq critique, for chrissakes. Hit him for pandering to racists and making idiotic statements, and hit him forcefully--then that becomes the story and you get to look like you're not afraid of throwing a punch, which is Obama's big problem.

This is amateur at best.

MarcNYC wrote on October 23, 2007 3:13 PM:

RobbyLove

What is your point? Obama sounds like Osama , so Obama should pack it in because his name can be smeared by an petty, small minded bigot who panders to other, petty small minded bigots?

Mine is that Romny and is ilk are, as JR put it, lying racists. To them, Obama and Osama are the same thing; they have made that quite clear. Just like they have made it clear that Democrats and terrorists are synonymous.

David Brooks wrote on October 23, 2007 3:17 PM:

Actually, he's not the latest to mix them up. This morning, Thom Hartmann said "Obama" when he meant "Osama". They've even got the good guys doing it! But in Thom's case you can be sure it was unintentional.

Needles wrote on October 23, 2007 3:18 PM:

Mittey Rooney.

CT Voter wrote on October 23, 2007 3:30 PM:

Thanks, R Smith for that link.

Obama's response was sort of tepid. It should have been a straightforward comment like "If he's so clueless that he can't tell the difference between a candidate for President and a still-at-large criminal, perhaps the Presidency represents too much of a challenge for Mitt (Mitt rhymes with _______) Romney...."

Crust wrote on October 23, 2007 3:49 PM:

I wouldn't say there's "[n]o doubt" Romney misspoke. It's hard to say for certain, but he was most likely deliberately tossing red meat to the base.

Note Romney started to say (the correct) "Osama" then "corrected" himself to Barack Obama and said the latter's name twice. Doesn't that strike you as a little implausible for an honest error? And one Romney himself didn't even notice in real time to boot? Finally, the spokesman's tepid statement is also more consistent with the red meat hypothesis. If Romney made an honest mistake conflating a Senator and a terrorist wouldn't he want to sound a more apologetic note rather than just having his spokesman say neutrally that he "misspoke"?

Miki wrote on October 23, 2007 3:53 PM:

Romney has been caught posing with "Osama/Obama" pictures before. This needs to be addressed.

brendancalling wrote on October 23, 2007 4:31 PM:

Very little sympathy for Barack "I Hire Homophobes" Obama.
cowards.

Pete wrote on October 23, 2007 5:05 PM:

"Their idea for jihad is to retreat, and their idea for the economy is to also retreat. And in my view, both efforts are wrongheaded."

So does that mean Mitt wants jihad to be on the offense?

Singularity wrote on October 23, 2007 5:05 PM:

I'm not a big Obama guy (I prefer John Edwards), but at least get the smear right, Brendan. He didn't hire any homophobes. He included a noted homophobic gospel singer on his gospel campaign tour. Please don't exaggerate. There is a big difference between not rebuking someone who is choosing to support you and paying someone to represent you.

acf wrote on October 23, 2007 5:12 PM:

It sounds to me, that Romney had a Dick Armey 'Barney Fag' moment. Was it intentional, I would like to hope not, but it is likely to have been a Freudian slip, with Romney saying out loud, something that he thought to himself, humorously. Oops. The Republican candidates are trying to out tough guy each other in an attempt to pander to the lowest common denominator of conservative Republican voters they think hold the key to their victory. It's really a pathetic performance.

Canuck wrote on October 23, 2007 5:39 PM:

Sort of like when Tom Delay "accidentally" referred to Barney Frank as Barney Fag. I'm sure Mitt knew exactly what he was doing.

Says a lot about the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, extra-chromosome voters who make up the Republican base.

Paul Gilmartin wrote on October 23, 2007 6:40 PM:

Aside from his political leanings (and I know it's a BIG aside, but anyway), who would want such a bonehead to become our president? Perhaps the current schmuck in the white house so that he can look a little less dumb (an impossibility, I know).
Collectively, the Repugnant Party candidates offer NOTHING for the future of our country. And I really do mean nothing!

aleks wrote on October 23, 2007 10:02 PM:

It wasn't boneheaded, it was pandering to a base that does think Obama is a Muslim and a terrorist at heart.

noexpert wrote on October 23, 2007 10:03 PM:

This whole "gaffe" intrigues me in terms of how damaging these kinds of remarks are to Obama and how to most effectively respond. At one of the spectrum are the (hopefully) small number of wackos who seem to be buying the idea that Barak is secretly Muslim with an anti-american agenda. The percentage of less crazy bigots that will still be swayed against Obama with these softer, repeated attacks is clearly larger, but how big? These types of quiet smears need much more exposure, so they work against the people that do them. The response from the Obama campaign seems insufficient, but a stronger reponse could backfire. The dems need more than Olberman on TV to comment on and combat these smears and I can't even think of who regularly takes that role in the MS press.

noexpert wrote on October 23, 2007 10:08 PM:

This whole "gaffe" intrigues me in terms of how damaging these kinds of remarks are to Obama and how to most effectively respond. At one of the spectrum are the (hopefully) small number of wackos who seem to be buying the idea that Barak is secretly Muslim with an anti-american agenda. The percentage of less crazy bigots that will still be swayed against Obama with these softer, repeated attacks is clearly larger, but how big? These types of quiet smears need much more exposure, so they work against the people that do them. The response from the Obama campaign seems insufficient, but a stronger reponse could backfire. The dems need more Olbermans on TV to comment on and combat these smears and I can't even think of who regularly takes that role in the MS press.

JubleJohnson wrote on October 23, 2007 10:36 PM:

So let's see ,we have a guy (Romney) running for Prez of the USA who is unable to correctly distinguish between Obama & Osamma ?
I guess after the current Prez who has problems speaking his native language ,English,anything is possible.
It's no surprise, afterall we have someone who was selected to be prez(Bush)who is almost an ignoramous.
How far & fast we are sliding to the bottom is fascinating.

Mary D wrote on October 24, 2007 11:55 AM:

Oh come on. Who actually believes he "misspoke". Remember the poster he just happened to be standing behind when a camera snapped a picture. The poster said "Osama, Obama and Chelsea's Momma". This was a certified plant in the audience's conciousness. They don't have anything on Obama, so they have to make nmemonic devices to equate the two. It is crude, but the repugs have done this kind of mind spin before and obviously it has worked in the past. Look who has been elected.

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