Comparing Mitt Romney with Joe Isuzu

I heard someone mention in the Iowa debates last week that Mitt Romney sounds like a salesman. I thought to myself - he does. He's too slick. Comes off as too insincere. Sort of like Bill Clinton but without the charisma and the acting ability. The term "salesman" made me think back to the 1980's when we had this great commercial series for Isuzu called "Joe Isuzu." As he talked about the cars, trying to sell us on the fact that the Isuzu had "more seats than the Astrodome," the caption on the screen continued to clear things up: "He's Lying."

I did an image search for Joe Isuzu and saw that the guy looks a little too much like - Mitt Romney. Look at the images below and see if you see any similarities - both in appearance and in terms of their style - willing to say anything to close the deal and make the sale. You have my word on it.

Joe Isuzu	Mitt Romney

If Huckabee's attacks on Bush are "anti-Republican," were Reagan's attacks on Ford "anti-Republican" also?

Huckabee has made some critical remarks about President Bush. Mitt Romney, quick to jump on any opportunity to appeal to the GOP base at a moment's notice, called his remarks anti-Republican. The problem with that argument is that if this is true, it is also true that Reagan, the standard of every modern-day Republican, both attacked a sitting GOP President and dared to oppose his re-nomination. In fact, wouldn't it have been even worse to impede a Republican President's attempt for re-election (in contrast to saying something negative about a second term Republican President who can't run again) - in the middle of the Cold War? Yet, would any of Huckabee's critics apply the same standards to Reagan and call him a non-loyalist? Of couse not. But, this is just another unfair argument used to try to tear apart the Huckabee nomination (another one is that he has no foreign policy experience; neither did Reagan, whose only political experience before taking over the high office at the peak of the Cold War was an eight-year run as Governor of California).

Here's what Reagan had done (from The American President by Kathryn Moore, 2007, pages 550-551):

• Reagan attacked Ford for allowing the military to decline. Ford soon awarded a large Air Force contract to Florida-based Martin Marieta. Afterward, Reagan stated "I understand Mr. Ford has arrived in the state. If he comes here with the same set of goodies as he did in Florida, the band won't know whether to play 'Hail to the Chief' or 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'"
• Reagan in 1975 also briefly considered creating a third party.
• He grew "increasingly disdainful toward anyone who urged him to drop out of the campaign for 'the good of the party'"

Huckabee says things that many people think - even many Republicans - but few people have both the honesty and guts to actually say. Reagan had those same qualities - guts and integrity. If anyone wants to make the case that Reagan was being anti-Republican by his behavior in 1975 and 1976, they can feel free to hang themselves with the rope of that argument. Huckabee is not being anti-Republican - he is being a leader and trying to bring the party out of its current state (which no one is happy with) into a model of true world leadership and compassionate conservatism.