# Mr Candidate goes to London **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 26, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485 "2012-07-26T19:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/201 "2012-07-29T18:08:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I knew that one was coming. the reversal will also come on schedule. at least on that one, Romney’s flop flop is the norm. Obama made the same dumb promise. Even if you support a candidate, it’s really OK not to agree with every single thing he says or does. It’s not like if you admit that Romney made a mistake, suddenly everyone reading your posts will instantly turn into an Obama supporter. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/202 "2012-07-29T18:14:28Z")
It wasn’t a mistake, it was pandering, which is worse. I was just pointing out that this particular pander is normal for Presidential candidates. They almost all say it, and they all go back on it the second they take office. I’m happy to point out Romney’s flaws, but I’m not going to allow him to be singled out when his flaws are shared by his opponent, or in this case, nearly every other candidate before him. It would be like criticizing Aaron Rodgers for throwing six interceptions last season. it has no value if it’s not compared to what else is going on. Romney’s opponents are making great hay out of attacking him for basically being a normal politician, even cynically attacking him for the exact same things Obama does on a regular basis. Context does matter. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/203 "2012-07-29T20:26:42Z")
The thing about Jerusalem is something every U.S. presidential candidate says when visiting here. We know not to take them too seriously. As for Iran, all he said is that he’ll be “tougher” than Obama - again, par for the course. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/204 "2012-07-29T23:22:22Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > I think the Mr Leader and MI6 gaffes were fairly small but the Olympic criticism was a huge blunder. Some people are defending him by saying that his statements are quite accurate and indeed they are but one of the key social skills we develop is learning not to blurt out the truth in every possible situation. There are many ordinary people saying what Romney said but it was still really stupid for a US politician visiting the UK just before the Olympics to criticize their preparation. > > Anyone who thinks otherwise should ask themselves when was the last time a senior US politician visiting a close ally said something: > a) which was quickly refuted by the head of government of the other country > b) which was openly mocked by another senior politician in front of a crowd. > > Bush was very unpopular with the media and public in various countries but I can’t recall him ever drawing this kind of response from foreign politicians in a friendly country. Don’t forget that Mitt has also been mocked by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. ([http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/9169275/Dmitry-Medvedev-says-Mitt-Romney-comment-smelled-of-Hollywood.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/9169275/Dmitry-Medvedev-says-Mitt-Romney-comment-smelled-of-Hollywood.html) ) > [@](#): > > “I recommend that all US presidential candidates, including the candidate you mention (Romney), do at least two things,” Medvedev told Russian reporters on the sidelines of a nuclear security conference in Seoul. > > “That they use their head and consult their reason when they formulate their positions, and that they check the time - it is now 2012, not the mid-1970s,” said the outgoing Russian president in comments broadcast on state television. I’d say Mitt is in the running for American who has been **openly mocked** by the most world leaders. What would really top it off is if little Kim of North Korea mocked him over the “Dear Leader” comment. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/205 "2012-07-30T00:28:09Z")
That’s nothing but a missed opportunity. He missed his opportunity to not be roundly mocked on the world stage. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/206 "2012-07-30T02:41:36Z")
In fairness, it was an adviser, not Romney himself, who claimed that Syria is an important ally of the Soviet Union. Just like it was another adviser, not Romney himself, who drew the Etch-a-Sketch analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/207 "2012-07-30T02:49:55Z")
And just like it was another adviser who said Romney would restore Anglo-Saxon relations with Great Britain… ---
**Author:** ![nogravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@nogravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogravity)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/208 "2012-07-30T03:01:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > In fairness, it was an adviser, not Romney himself, who claimed that Syria is an important ally of the Soviet Union. Just like it was another adviser, not Romney himself, who drew the Etch-a-Sketch analogy. If this is the case and Romney’s people aren’t getting the right message out he needs to fire them. We know he [likes](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57355212-503544/mitt-romney-i-like-being-able-to-fire-people-for-bad-service/) to. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/209 "2012-07-30T03:23:05Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > In fairness, it was an adviser, not Romney himself, who claimed that Syria is an important ally of the Soviet Union. Just like it was another adviser, not Romney himself, who drew the Etch-a-Sketch analogy. > [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > And just like it was another adviser who said Romney would restore Anglo-Saxon relations with Great Britain… Romney deserves to be mocked for what his people do. They are HIS people and HIS representatives. It doesn’t speak well for his “business sense” if all of his top advisers are working on decades old information. If their incompetence unacceptable to him, I’m sure he’d fire them. But, alas, they are probably all guaranteed cabinet positions in a Romney administration. Perhaps they’ll bring back hiding under desks as a response to bomb raid sirens… that’ll be fun and desks today are so much stronger than in the good old days. ---
**Author:** ![nogravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@nogravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogravity)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/210 "2012-07-30T03:28:14Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > Perhaps they’ll bring back hiding under desks as a response to bomb raid sirens… that’ll be fun and desks today are so much stronger than in the good old days. Will Mitt make us all duck and cover by issuing prank air raid warnings? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/211 "2012-07-30T15:46:51Z")
[More from the man-child in the Promised Land.](http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/07/30/israel/ZEdvyA3ybH1UWpii4E1wXP/story.html). Apparently GDP is a measure of cultural vitality and spiritual worthiness, or something. > [@Mitt R-Money](#): > > I look around here at great people who’ve accomplished a great thing, and also a sense of spiritual connection, acknowledging the hand of providence in establishing this place and making it a holy city…’As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality In response: > [@](#): > > ‘’It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,’’ Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said, according to the Associated Press. > > ‘’It seems to me this man lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people,’’ Erekat added. ‘’He also lacks knowledge about the Israelis themselves. I have not heard any Israeli official speak about cultural superiority.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/212 "2012-07-30T16:00:50Z")
Romney also praised the Israeli health care system, which has lower costs as a percentage of GDP than the US system. And has features he’s spoken against. I guess national health care is just for other nations. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/213 "2012-07-30T17:33:44Z")
I think Romney is starting to regret hiring Don Rickles as a speechwriter. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/214 "2012-07-30T17:56:39Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Romney also praised the Israeli health care system, which has lower costs as a percentage of GDP than the US system. And has features he’s spoken against. I guess national health care is just for other nations. Just looking at wikipedia, it seems Israel has kind of a combination of a national health service plus an individual mandate. What’s not to like? But really – I was trying to reserve judgment about Romney’s trip simply on the basis of the London flaps. But this trip is looking like an actual disaster. There’s a part of me that wants Romney to do a little better in Poland, just because there’s a reasonable chance that he could be the next president, and I would hate to have people looking back at the Bush II as a more capable diplomat. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/215 "2012-07-30T18:01:12Z")
According to this, US aid to Israel reached about $3.45 billion and google says Israel’s population is about 7.8m, or around $440 per person. Google says Palestine’s population is about 4m and they’ve [received](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17496561) about $88m, or $22 per person. Perhaps these have effects on their economies too? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/216 "2012-07-30T20:18:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [More from the man-child in the Promised Land.](http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/07/30/israel/ZEdvyA3ybH1UWpii4E1wXP/story.html). Apparently GDP is a measure of cultural vitality and spiritual worthiness, or something. You see, Israel has bridges and roads and long established universities, so these people didn’t do it on their own. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/217 "2012-07-30T20:20:22Z")
The only way this gets to be more fun would be if he hires Jimmy Carter’s translator for his Poland trip. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/218 "2012-07-30T21:22:12Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You see, Israel has bridges and roads and long established universities, so these people didn’t do it on their own. And aqueducts! His Poland gaffe will probably be more along the lines of complimenting the architecture of the [Palace of Culture and Science](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Palace_of_Culture_and_Science). ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/219 "2012-07-31T00:53:29Z")
Romney should have been extra careful after his London gaffes. Now he has sparked outrage by calling the Palestinians culturally inferior to the Israelis. He is a complete bonehead. What will he do in Poland? Tell his favorite Polish jokes? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/220 "2012-07-31T01:03:30Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Romney should have been extra careful after his London gaffes. Now he has sparked outrage by calling the Palestinians culturally inferior to the Israelis. He is a complete bonehead. What will he do in Poland? Tell his favorite Polish jokes? I think he will ask Lech Walesa for tips on crushing unions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485.md?page=12)