Romney and Bain: Outsourcing Hysteria

It was one of Barack Obama’s best lines — and best moments — in the 2008 presidential campaign.

He had said we could save as much oil as we could get from domestic drilling if everybody properly maintained their cars and got their tires inflated. Now, that was hyperbole. But when conservatives, including his opponent, Senator John McCain, tried to turn tire gauges into a symbol of Obama’s pointy-headed liberalism (remember Dukakis and the endive!) and the sum total of his energy plan (if only!), Obama stood his ground.
“It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.”
The line struck a chord. It signaled that Obama was going to elevate the conversation even if he risked being demagogued or distorted. Of course, this was back when a lot of people thought Obama was an enlightened politician rather than an unknown pol being marketed as one. Still, it was smart. He punctured a bubble of faux hysteria.
We could use a little — a lot, actually — of that sort of thing from Mitt Romney.

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/309736/romney-and-bain-outsourcing-hysteria-jonah-goldberg