# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/121 "2012-07-27T17:21:59Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > More: > > There is a hashtag on Twitter for this: [#romneyshambles](https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23romneyshambles?q=%23romneyshambles) I’ve seen #AmericanBorat too, but I never saw that goofy Borat movie so I’m not sure I get the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/122 "2012-07-27T17:30:25Z")
Yeah Rove nails it. This was actually a huge opportunity for Mitt to connect to the Olympics which is probably going to be the feel-good story of the next two weeks everywhere including the US. Many politicians try to do this but Mitt has actually run an Olympics. He could have told wonderful stories about his experience running the Olympics and said something like " Running the Olympics was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The spirit and energy that we created at Salt Lake City was amazing and I see that same wonderful spirit today in London" This would have flattered his hosts whilst also associating himself with the Games. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/123 "2012-07-27T17:31:10Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > If he meets any royalty it’ll be through his wife, not on his own merits. He needs to take Senator Scott Brown with him to make an introduction. Scott talks to kings and queens everyday. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/124 "2012-07-27T17:41:44Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > \*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.”\* This is more disturbing than the public gaffes. “It’s a big exciting experience for my wife” … but I don’t care enough even to know when the event is taking place, much less watch it with her. OK, I get that running for President is a full time job and you have to disassociate yourself with hyper expensive sports like dressage (unlike NASCAR) in order to appeal to the common man, but this is your wife’s horse. In the freakin’ Olympics. Competing in the sport she chose to help treat her MS. And you’re not going to be watching. That’s pretty cold. ---
**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, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/125 "2012-07-27T17:43:07Z")
Who was it that said that England was just a small island that makes things that nobody wants? [Oh wait, it was Romney. In his book, no less.](http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/07/romney-on-britain-just-a-small-island-that-makes-stuff-nobody-wants.html) > [@](#): > > England [sic] is just a small island. Its roads and houses are small. With few exceptions, it doesn’t make things that people in the rest of the world want to buy. And if it hadn’t been separated from the continent by water, it almost certainly would have been lost to Hitler’s ambitions. Yet only two lifetimes ago, Britain ruled the largest and wealthiest empire in the history of humankind. Britain controlled a quarter of the earth’s land and a quarter of the earth’s population. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/126 "2012-07-27T17:50:45Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > It’s a big deal because Romney’s whole angle on foreign policy is that Obama has diminished the United States’ stature in the world and he’s the guy to right that ship. Going out and making gaffe after gaffe after gaffe on his very first day overseas unravels that entire attack. The implication that he didn’t understand that he was supposed to be diplomatic is huge. That’s not a good sign for a prospective world leader. ---
**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, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/127 "2012-07-27T18:02:07Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > “It’s a big exciting experience for my wife” … but I don’t care enough even to know when the event is taking place, much less watch it with her." Tomorrow’s headlines: HOW CAN ROMNEY PAY ATTENTION TO AMERICAN PEOPLE WHEN HE CAN’T EVEN PAY ATTENTION TO WIFE?? 🙂 You know, what with the press’s propensity to gin up phony controversy and all… ---
**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, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/128 "2012-07-27T18:30:35Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I hadn’t heard about Mitt impersonating a police officer. How bizarre is that? It’s real bizarre. There’s just an element of [creepiness](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/classmates-mitt-romney-im_n_1575680.html) to this guy and I don’t think they’ve even scratched the surface yet. ---
**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, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/129 "2012-07-27T18:32:40Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Psssssssst: [Stericycle.](http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/07/romney-invested-in-a-fetus-disposal-company.html) I knew about that. But I was thinking more something’s buried under the cellar in one of the many Romney homes. He probably isn’t even sure which one it is anymore. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/130 "2012-07-27T18:50:09Z")
The gaffes by themselves were relatively minor. However there were a string of them in a row, they were on his first day on the international stage, and they were in a context where all that was required was innocuous pleasantries. Rather than the gaffes hurting him directly, they represent a wasted opportunity to talk about his management experience with the Winter Olympics, and to show off his skills as a leader. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/131 "2012-07-27T19:46:53Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Maybe he’ll tell Kate “Love your sister’s ass”. Followed by “You know, I’m a Mormon. I’m allowed to have more than one wife. Could you introduce us?” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/132 "2012-07-27T19:52:21Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Hopefully Romney makes a better president than candidate. Does anybody seriously expect him to be anything but a figurehead, and rubber stamp for whatever a GOP Congress sends him? Has anyone seen him take any sort of stand at all that would put him even a few degrees off the direction that the GOP base expects of him? As President, he’ll be John Boehner’s pet rock. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/133 "2012-07-27T20:02:18Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > This is more disturbing than the public gaffes. “It’s a big exciting experience for my wife” … but I don’t care enough even to know when the event is taking place, much less watch it with her. > > OK, I get that running for President is a full time job and you have to disassociate yourself with hyper expensive sports like dressage (unlike NASCAR) in order to appeal to the common man, but this is your wife’s horse. In the freakin’ Olympics. Competing in the sport she chose to help treat her MS. And you’re not going to be watching. > > That’s pretty cold. It’s beyond cold. Mitt just threw his wife under the bus in order to infinitesimally improve his odds of becoming President. Or at least, it might have infinitesimally improved those odds if it hadn’t been done on the public stage. Now it’s another millstone around his neck. Maybe Ann Romney will turn it into an advantage and endear herself to all human beings everywhere by hitting Mitt over the head with a horseshoe in response. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/134 "2012-07-27T20:04:16Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Is he likely to do anything else, do you think? Or is that it for now? I understand he’s off to Israel and Poland after this, so that might be worth watching. Romney’s really lousy at speaking off the cuff and he hates speaking to people who aren’t already his supporters. I think you can expect more hilarity as the week goes on. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/135 "2012-07-27T20:08:53Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > The gaffes by themselves were relatively minor. However there were a string of them in a row, they were on his first day on the international stage… This. If he gets elected, somebody ought to tell Angela Merkel to get ready for her next shoulder massage. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/136 "2012-07-27T20:25:39Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > The implication that he didn’t understand that he was supposed to be diplomatic is huge. That’s not a good sign for a prospective world leader. Yeah, it’s turning into the “Insult Your Allies” tour. Right before he left, he got into a back-and-forth with the Australian foreign minister, then he insulted the way London is running its Olympics, and of course his book says nasty things about England generally. And [as he says on his website](http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view/2011/12/return-america-its-greatness), “Europe doesn’t work in Europe.” That’s definitely a message to take to Europe. Plus he dissed his own wife. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/137 "2012-07-27T21:09:30Z")
All you righties need do to calibrate Mitt’s gaffeness here is to imagine if Obama had seemed to diss his wife for political gain, mentioned something about state security he was not supposed to mention, or insulted the country he was visiting. I’ll step back while your heads explode. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/138 "2012-07-27T23:25:38Z")
The Olympics one was fairly major. It was the “most read” story on almost every UK newspaper website for most of yesterday. David Cameron rebuked him publicly and Boris Johnson mocked him in front of a 60,000 strong crowd in Hyde Park - when you have the British Prime Minister and the Mayor of London publicly going toe to toe with you within 24 hours of landing, you’ve really blown it. Don’t get me wrong, no one was particularly offended by it - no one knows who he is. To be honest he didn’t say anything half of London hasn’t said already. But to hear it coming from a sneering American, questioning London from the outside, was a narrative too good for the media to resist. All the other “gaffes” were nothingness - "Mr Leader, naming Sir John Sawyers and “backside of Downing Street” - all just examples of Romney being his slightly awkward self. No one’s heard about those ones except for people very clued in to politics. The Olympics one was big though, I don’t think the US media is underplaying it. ---
**Author:** ![Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stately_Greek_Automaton)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/139 "2012-07-28T00:45:07Z")
I think it’s safe to say most Brits won’t be voting for him after this performance. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485/140 "2012-07-28T01:00:02Z")
Michelle Obama has been stunning today in London. Really huge contrast, never seen her anywhere this animated and exuberant. And very generous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-candidate-goes-to-london/629485.md?page=8)