Posts Tagged ‘james bopp’

another Romney toady comes unglued—first Bopp, now Weyrich

November 14, 2007 in 2008, analysis, campaign communications, campaign communiques, campaign literature, campaign management, conservatism, election, election 2008, Evangelicals, GOP, incompetence, media, policy, republicans, rhetoric, romney, stupidity, the dark soul of Mitt Romney, triumph of unreason
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“I feel comfortable saying, based on conversations with NRLC members, that Jim Bopp’s attack on Sam Brownback did not help the Romney team with the NRLC,” writes Erick in a Redstate post titled Paul Weyrich Comes Unglued [Updated and bumped]

… Paul Weyrich coming unglued and accusing Thompson of bribing NRLC for their endorsement is really not going to help Romney at the grassroots level. [reported here]

Weyrich can say what he wants, but (a) it’s not true and (b) it’s not helpful. I would suggest that if they don’t think Thompson is a threat, the Romney camp might not want to get bogged down on this. The latest poll numbers in Iowa and South Carolina are certainly not painting a pretty picture for the Thompson camp. But, this endorsement just might help …

Erick links to these comments by Jennifer Rubin titled Does this Help?

Listen, there is room to debate which candidate should have gotten the NRLC nod. But isn’t accusing Thompson of in essence paying money to get the endorsement just beyond the pale? That’s what Romney supporter Paul Weyrich says here … Does any of this help Romney with social conservatives or reflect well on him? … etc.

Also see:

eyeon08.com: “NRLC disavows Bopp’s Brownback statements”

Our question: Why the head-scratching? Why is anyone surprised? This is how Romney and his flatterers always behave when their sense of entitlement gets challenged.

Our own conclusion: Weyrich, like Bopp, is through, over, spent, finished, no longer a player—he sold out to the Romneys but failed to deliver on his promises or accomplish any of his tasks—no one followed him—so now he is useful to precisely no one, not the Romneys, not the pro-life movement. His last gasp—the death rattle of his lost reputation—consists in issuing accusations and rationales for why everyone walked away from him and, by implication, his imperious master, Romney.

yours &c.
dr. g.d.

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Bopp’s unseemly online tantrums cast unpleasant light on another Romney supporter, Prof. Mary Ann Glendon—how Romney is killing the pro-life movement

October 30, 2007 in 2008, campaign communications, campaign communiques, campaign literature, election 2008, Evangelicals, GOP, incompetence, media, mitt romney, policy, republicans, rhetoric, romney, strategy, stupidity, the dark soul of Mitt Romney, triumph of unreason
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“Mitt Romney’s paid-for social conservative adviser James Bopp has been posting on conservative websites attempting to clarify his attacks on Sen. Sam Brownback after Brownback held a courtesy meeting with pro-choice Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani,” writes AmSpec’s Prowler in a post titled Bopp’s Blowup

We also vary and expand on the theme of Bopp’s blowup:

Back to The Prowler:

… “If it were a one-time thing, you could understand, but Romney’s people have been attacking Brownback for months,” says the longtime pro-lifer. “And we kept hearing over the weekend that Jim [Bopp] and Brownback people were still going at it in private email exchanges. He should have just apologized to Brownback and moved on.”

Bopp’s blowup may also have the effect of putting an unpleasant spotlight on another Romney supporter, Prof. Mary Ann Glendon, who is expected to be nominated by President Bush as the next U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

Glendon, who is currently the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University, serves as a legal adviser to Romney. She has long been considered one of the nation’s most impressive legal minds on life and scientific and medical ethics issues, as well as a high-profile pro-life feminist. She was appointed head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for the Sciences in 2004, a post she might have to step away from if she were confirmed.

However, Bopp’s attacks on Brownback have now raised questions about Glendon, her role with the Romney campaign and whether Glendon’s own bishop in Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, would be wholly supportive of her nomination.

Glendon was conspicuously absent from O’Malley’s Red Mass earlier this month, where Brownback was the keynote speaker, and where O’Malley announced, “There is no other presidential candidate in the U.S. today that more reflects Catholic social doctrine as you do.”

All of the infighting and ugliness has some wondering if there isn’t more at play here than mere politics. “The divisiveness and the way people are acting make you think there is something much darker afoot. Christians should not be doing this to each other, yet it seems that they will ruin decade-old friendships and tear people down,” says the longtime pro-life activist. “It’s almost Biblical” … etc., etc.

Conclusion: Romney’s grim negativity and constant attacks are taking their toll on friends and foes alike.

yours &c.
dr. g.d.

eyeon08.com: “NRLC disavows Bopp’s Brownback statements”

October 29, 2007 in 2008, analysis, campaign communications, campaign communiques, election 2008, Evangelicals, gaffs and pratfalls, GOP, incompetence, media, mitt romney, policy, republicans, rhetoric, romney, stupidity, the dark soul of Mitt Romney
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“Yesterday, Jim Bopp, a supporter of Mitt Romney and former General Counsel (they actually spend text clarifying that he is the former) to the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) attacked Sam Brownback for saying something nice about Rudy Giuliani,” writes eye in a post titled NRLC disavows Bopp’s Brownback statements

Turns out that he was nasty enough that NRLC disavowed his statements. I have obtained a copy of a letter that NRLC’s President, Executive Director, and Legislative Director, [in which] they apologized for Bopp’s statements.

Please go to eyeon08.com and review the full text of the letter.

That the NRLC would issue so stern—if indirect—a reproof to Bopp neither surprises nor interests us—no one who sells their credibility to the Romneys escapes unpunished. What interests us is Bopp’s own expression of pain and anguish.

1. How could eyeon08 get so much wrong in just so few words? First, the Romney campaign did not ask me to speak about Brownback, I did on my own accord. Second, NRLC did not apologize for what I said, they just disagreed with it. There was no reason for NRLC to apologize for what I said, since I was speaking on my own accord. Third, I am now, and have been since 1978, NRLC’s general counsel, but I have never been an employee, have many clients and was speaking on my own accord. This is exactly what NRLC explained in their letter – so how did eyeon08 get it all so wrong? by jboppjr on 2007-10-29 at 9:12 am

Our comments and speculations:

A. It is the NRLC—not eye—who clarifies their policy with respect to endorsements with respect to Bopp’s unwise comments about Brownback. It is the NRLC that is attempting to distance themselves from Bopp’s comments. Hence: It is the NRLC who deserves Bopp’s rage, not eye.

B. The NRLC never uses the term “apology”—follow the thread of the NRLC’s narrative:

    • paragraph i: A political website quotes Bopp criticizing Brownback’s meeting with Giuliani
    • paragraph ii: Mr. Bopp suggested that Brownback had put personal benefit head of his commitment to pro-life cause
    • paragraph iii: These remarks do not represent the NRLC—we disagree with [Bopp]—and we recognize your commitmentparagraph iv: We reject anyone’s suggestion that you sell out the interest of the unborn for personal benefit
    • paragraph v: Mr. Bopp is our general counsel; he has many clients; hence: his views are his own; he represents only himself

      Bopp is right: the letter is not an apology; but neither does it reflect mere “disagreement”; rather, the letter constitutes a stern if indirect reproof. Translation: Bopp speaks for himself. As for us, we flatly and unequivocally reject anyone’s suggestion [e.g. Bopp’s] etc.

      C. eye suggests that Bopp spoke for the Romneys—a reasonable surmise what with the context of the discussion—an avowed Romney supporter attacking the motives and intentions of another candidate. We, however, disagree. Based on Bopp’s own confusion on the issue—first attacking Brownback, then suddenly embracing Giuliani in a hypothetical general election, all in the same conversation—we conclude that Bopp was indeed acting on his own. Why would the Romneys reach out to Bopp at all?—Bopp is spent, Bopp is played, and the right-to-lifers and the social conservatives in general remain divided and dispersed among the candidates. We provide our account here:

      Romney’s James Bopp “lashes out at Brownback for Pro-Rudy comments,” promises to vote for Giuliani in the general election—say what?

      Our highly speculative conclusion? Alone, confused, estranged, conscious of his alienation for ever having associated with the Romneys—Bopp is on his own now, rudderless, friendless, and bereft, as further evidenced by the NRLC letter.

      yours &c.
      dr. g.d.

      P.S. Update: eye responds to Bopp’s rejoinder with clarity, brevity, frankness, and with all due respect.

      Mr. Bopp, I admire you and what you have done. But let’s be clear. You are an attorney and a politician. And your client has publicly repudiated your statements.

      Romney’s James Bopp “lashes out at Brownback for Pro-Rudy comments,” promises to vote for Giuliani in the general election—say what?

      October 28, 2007 in 2008, campaign communications, campaign communiques, election 2008, Evangelicals, GOP, incompetence, mitt romney, republicans, romney, strategy, stupidity, the dark soul of Mitt Romney
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      “A lot of people are holding out hope that if Rudy wins the GOP nomination social conservatives will organize a third party challenge from the right that will split the Republican Party,” writes Greg Sargent for TPM ElectionCentral in a post titled Top Conservative Romney Supporter: I’d Support Rudy In General Election

      Prominent social conservative leaders have been suggesting as much lately in various forums.

      Well, this isn’t going to give people holding out for this very much hope.

      As I noted below, a top conservative backer of Mitt Romney, the prominent conservative attorney James Bopp, told me in an interview that he was outraged that conservative Senator Sam Brownback is dallying with pro-choice Rudy.

      But that isn’t all Bopp said. He also told me that he thinks that if Rudy wins the nomination, a third-party challenge just isn’t a serious possiblitiy — and even said he himself would back Rudy.

      “I think there are people who would consider voting for a minor party candidate rather than Giuliani if he got the nomination,” Bopp told me. “Frankly I’m not one of those. I don’t think the idea of a third party is being seriously considered by anyone” … etc., etc.

      Bopp missed the memo. The Romney’s have been trying to float the rumor that disaffected Evangelicals plan to mount a 3rd party bid if Giuliani gets the nomination. Yet here is Bopp proclaiming that he himself would vote for Giuliani after he excoriated Brownback for reaching out to Giuliani. “One of the big stories of the day in GOP primary politics is conservative Senator Sam Brownback’s new and eyebrow-raising assertion yesterday that he is suddenly “much more comfortable” than before about Rudy’s abortion views. Brownback said this after meeting with Rudy yesterday,” writes Greg Sargent again only this time in a TPM ElectionCentral post titled Bopp, Top Social Conservative Supporter Of Romney, Lashes Out At Brownback For Pro-Rudy Comments

      Now there’s been another key development in the story.

      Jim Bopp, one of Mitt Romney’s top social conservative supporters, just lashed out repeatedly at Brownback in an interview with me for his kind words about Rudy’s abortion views, accusing Brownback in scathing terms of putting “personal benefit” before the pro-life cause.

      “There’s obviously something more going on here than fidelity to the pro-life cause,” said Bopp, a legendary pro-life activist and lawyer who is an important voice for Romney because he vouches for his conservatism. “Brownback is angling for some personal political benefit by cozying up to Giuliani” … etc., etc.

      The emphases are ours, all ours.

      So why is this allegedly “top social conservative”—whatever that means—gibbering like a frightened howler money about the honorable former mayor of NYC? Permit us to speculate:

      (1) Bopp actively participated in Romney’s attempted coup at the recent so-called value voter’s summit. He appears as action step 4-days-out in Young Justin of the Heartland’s description of the communications operation.

      4 days out – Letter from James Bopp, Jr. highlighting the growing movement of Evangelicals behind Romney (check)

      (2) Despite massive spending on the part of the Romney’s, the value voters summit went terribly wrong. See:

      (3) The result?—Romney’s astonishing incompetence has effectively neutralized the Evangelical movement for this election cycle—Evangelical leaders stand divided and discredited. See:

      (4) So where does this leave a figure like Bopp?—he is no longer useful to the Romney tribe, and he no longer has any credibility among Evangelicals. The man is spent. The man is over. Hence: his sudden incoherence. First he rails at Brownback for dissing Romney by reaching out to Giuliani. Then: he wants to re-assert his own independence from Romney by promising to vote for Giuliani.

      (5) Bopp is not the only Romney sycophant already thinking post-Romney. The handwriting is on the wall. But what Bopp needs to understand is that credibility is like virginity—once it’s gone …

      We offer these hypotheses in the spirit of honest inquiry.

      yours &c.
      dr. g.d.