The Democrats’ orchestrated and tweeted criticism of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney turned personal during Thursday’s South Carolina debate, and focused on his wealth and demeanor, not on his policy positions or policy changes.
Romney “is worth a quarter of a billion dollars,” and “is quadrupling the size of his Pacific Coast Mansion,” said tweets from Brad Woodhouse, the communications director at the Democratic National Committee, who invited his followers to share their ridicule of Romney via a tweet hashtag “#livedintherealstreetsofAmerica.”
Romney’s wealth was also targeted by Ben LaBolt, the press secretary for Obama’s 2012 campaign. “Speaking of vacations, when will Romney’s investments stop vacationing offshore in the Caymans?” he said halfway through the two-hour debate.
Paul Begala, a consultant who is working with the Obama campaign, tweeted out his taunts, saying one hour into the debate that “Mitt hates, hates, HATES being questioned about his taxes.Looks like he wants to fire the peons who dare question him about taxes.”
A little earlier, Begala announced that “Romney should save his threats of fist fights for his croquet & polo matches.”
The personal taunts, however, followed the Democrats’ increased efforts to portray Romney as an out-of-touch elitist
For example, Romney “made millions laying people off, bankrupting companies and shorting pensions and healthcare,” Woodhouse announced at 9:10 p.m.
The Democratic activists have largely dropped their previous effort to depict Romney as a flip-flopper, although Woodhouse’s DNC sent out several emails displaying a graphic that said, “Mitt Romney; Say Anything to get elected.’
Democratic spokesmen, however, did aim some taunts at other GOP candidates, usually lamenting their failure to disagree more with Romney.
“Holy smokes. Santorum at his best. Skewers Newt for erratic, inconstant leadership as Speaker.This is getting personal. Love it,” Begala tweeted midway through the debate.
Romney “looks like he wants to punch Rick Santorum in the mouth,” Woodhouse declared 36 minutes into the debate.
The nastiest tweet, however, came during the opening minutes of the debate from Begala, and was aimed at his old rival, former House Speaker Next Gingrich. “Newt walks out. Unflattering profile shot. But then again, the camera adds 200 pounds,” said Begala.
Back in 1994, Gingrich helped end the Democrats’ 40 years of majority control in the House of Representatives. The remarkable turnover forced Begala’s client, President Bill Clinton, to remain on political defense for the rest of his presidency.