# 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:** 5
**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 27, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/81 "2012-07-27T15:17:29Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > However, the fact that he completely blew his chance to make a good impression on his first campaign trip is a \*huge \*deal. I couldn’t disagree more. He’s not the president, and if the attention span of the British public is like that of us in America, they won’t remember a thing about it if and when Romney is elected. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/82 "2012-07-27T15:21:40Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > I couldn’t disagree more. He’s not the president, and if the attention span of the British public is like that of us in America, they won’t remember a thing about it if and when Romney is elected. First, if he’s elected no doubt he’ll manage to remind them. And second, it ruins the whole point of this entire trip of his, wasting his time and money at best. So yes, it’s a pretty big deal. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/83 "2012-07-27T15:25:27Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I’m British and I really don’t see his comments as gaffes. He was the guy who saved the 2002 Winter Olympics, so he can unhypocritically criticise the shortcomings of London 2012. Romney is often cited as the “savior” of the 2002 Winter Olympics–and it’s true he took over after a bribery scandal regarding host-city voting was exposed. But let’s be clear; the games themselves were never in serious jeopardy, [just whether or not they’d be profitable](http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/18/10444876-salt-lake-city-olympics-earmarks-a-double-edged-sword-for-romney?lite) (emphasis mine): > [@](#): > > Senate lobbying records show that the Salt Lake City Olympics Committee under Romney spent $3.5 million employing five lobbying firms in addition to its own in-house lobbying shop. Among their goals: winning federal earmarks that included $60 million for “perimeter” security; $15.8 million for “international sporting competitions”; $3 million for an extension of a Salt Lake City light rail project; as well as millions more for communications equipment, sewer projects and other programs aimed at supporting the Olympics. > \<…\> > In turning around the 2002 games, Romney got a big helping hand from U.S. taxpayers. The federal government poured $1.5 billion into the Salt Lake games – **more than twice the amount spent on any previous U.S. Olympics.** I don’t really blame Romney for this–it was likely the only course of action he could take to meet the goals of the project. I just wish more people knew that, when a business was in trouble (yes, the Olympics are a business), he had no problem going hat-in-hand to the American taxpayer. ---
**Author:** ![nogravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@nogravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogravity)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/84 "2012-07-27T15:25:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Each statement on it’s own is minor, but to have several in one day is a bad pattern. I said the exact same thing up thread. And this isn’t the only bad pattern that’s been revealed the last year or so about Mitt. There’s the whole cutting the kid’s hair at 18 (was it a trophy? does he still have it?). Impersonating a Michigan State Trooper and pulling people over. Tying his dog to the roof of his car for a 12 hour trip. Sucking the life out of companies, taking all the profits out then bankrupting them. This guy is like 3-4 different episodes of _Criminal Minds_. I swear the next story will involve Mitt and body parts. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/85 "2012-07-27T15:26:14Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Exactly to which phony gaffe are you referring? Being born in Kenya? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/86 "2012-07-27T15:33:09Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > The headlines in the major UK papers certainly couldn’t be described as positive for Romney. The fact that conservative US sources are playing it down confirms that it’s bad for him; **the whole point** of the trip was to construct some foreign-relations “credentials.” Ann Romney’s horse, Rafalca, is competing in the dressage event(s) at the London Olympics. \*Ann Romney’s horse heading to London to go for Olympic gold Ann Romney’s trainer Jan Ebeling, 53, who has been an active rider and trainer on the international dressage circuit since relocating to the United States from his native Germany in 1984. He owns Rafalca along with his wife Amy, Ann Romney and an additional owner, Beth Meyer. \* [http://todayinlondonblog.today.msnbc.msn.com/\_news/2012/06/18/12280187-ann-romneys-horse-heading-to-london-to-go-for-olympic-gold?lite](http://todayinlondonblog.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/18/12280187-ann-romneys-horse-heading-to-london-to-go-for-olympic-gold?lite) ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/87 "2012-07-27T15:34:24Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > I couldn’t disagree more. He’s not the president, and if the attention span of the British public is like that of us in America, they won’t remember a thing about it if and when Romney is elected. I agree that this alone is not likely to sink Romney’s election chances. But it is only of secondary importance what we (the British) think about the incidents. After all, we can’t vote in the election. If the purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate that he is indeed able to deal with foreign governments and officials diplomatically, I’d say it was a failure. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/88 "2012-07-27T15:38:34Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Exactly to which phony gaffe are you referring? Oh, excuse me, I forgot that the oh so smart President can’t gaffe. If he did, then we obviously are too ignorant to understand someone so intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/89 "2012-07-27T15:40:12Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > So if the focus should continue to be on what’s happening here at home, why is Romney spending a week abroad? Because Romney has a history of being involved with the Olympic committees and his wife’s horse is competing this year. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/90 "2012-07-27T15:41:44Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Oh, excuse me, I forgot that the oh so smart President can’t gaffe. If he did, then we obviously are too ignorant to understand someone so intelligent. When you’re done talking to that scarecrow, could you please answer **Fiddle Peghead** ’s question? ---
**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 27, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/91 "2012-07-27T15:45:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Oh, excuse me, I forgot that the oh so smart President can’t gaffe. If he did, then we obviously are too ignorant to understand someone so intelligent. Okay, exactly to which _real_ gaffe are you referring? I’m not saying Obama hasn’t gaffed, mind you, but vague comments like yours don’t mean much. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/92 "2012-07-27T15:45:07Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Ann Romney’s horse, Rafalca, is competing in the dressage event(s) at the London Olympics. So that’s another purpose of the visit is it? Mitt doesn’t seem to think so. > **[Romney Puts Horse-Sized Distance Between Himself and Dressage](https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/romney-puts-horse-sized-distance-between-himself-and-dressage/)** > > Romney: Rafalca who? \*In an interview with NBC News Wednesday night, Romney spoke of the experience of being in the Olympics with the disengaged tone and shrug of a husband who doesn’t quite get his wife’s hobby. “It’s a big, exciting experience for my wife. I have to tell you, this is Ann’s sport,” he said. “I’m not even sure which day the sport goes on. She will get the chance to see it, I will not be watching the event. I hope her horse does well. But just the honor of being here and representing our country and seeing the other Olympians is … something which I’m sure the people that are associated with this are looking forward to.”\* ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/93 "2012-07-27T15:49:01Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Because Romney has a history of being involved with the Olympic committees and his wife’s horse is competing this year. Are they holding events in Israel? I had no idea. Do the Palestinians know? ---
**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 27, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/94 "2012-07-27T15:49:15Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > I just wish more people knew that, when a business was in trouble (yes, the Olympics are a business), he had no problem going hat-in-hand to the American taxpayer. Romney knows where the money is, alright. Washington, DC. And he even [brags](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuQDLvNGM-Q&feature=player_embedded) about it! ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/95 "2012-07-27T15:49:29Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > The headlines in the major UK papers certainly couldn’t be described as positive for Romney. The fact that conservative US sources are playing it down confirms that it’s bad for him; the whole point of the trip was to construct some foreign-relations “credentials.” Maybe most, but not all conservatives. Charles Kauthammer, maybe for the first time in his life, said that he was completely out of adjectives in trying to describe the stupidity of Romney trying to honestly answer the Olympics questions. IMHO it does not exactly demonstrate a preparedness to deal with other heads of state when you go about insulting the one head of a state that has had our back for almost two hundred years, no matter how badly we behave. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/96 "2012-07-27T15:51:30Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > So that’s another purpose of the visit is it? **Mitt doesn’t seem to think so**. Are you saying that Mitt doesn’t think that his wife’s horse is competing in the Olympics? ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/97 "2012-07-27T15:54:59Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > I agree that this alone is not likely to sink Romney’s election chances. But it is only of secondary importance what we (the British) think about the incidents. After all, we can’t vote in the election. Yea but we do take an interest in the nature of the Big Dog we’ll end up yapping along at the heels of in some pointless, ill-thought out war or another. And he’s looking deeply unimpressive. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/98 "2012-07-27T15:57:16Z")
Are you guys being coy with me? I’m sure we all know what gaffe is still the main story right now. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/99 "2012-07-27T16:00:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Are you guys being coy with me? I’m sure we all know what gaffe is still the main story right now. Apparently we do not. ---
**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 27, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/100 "2012-07-27T16:04:51Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Are you guys being coy with me? I’m sure we all know what gaffe is still the main story right now. I know of a few of what I call “phony” gaffes, as I alluded to earlier. I honestly don’t know what you are referring to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485.md?page=6)