Keller @ Large: Overplaying The Blame Game
BOSTON (CBS) - Time for a political pop quiz.
Which Republican candidate for president is saying the chairman of the Federal Reserve would be committing "treason" if he continues with recent Fed policies, and, when asked if President Obama loves America, says: "You need to ask him"?
Listen to Jon's commentary:
Podcast
While you mull that one over, here's a second question.
Which Republican candidate for president said last night:
"Leaders [are successful] not by attacking their opposition but by finding common ground where principles are shared...in our nation, Democrats love America, too.... We need to find places where we can agree and work together to help America"?
If you guessed the first candidate was Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the second was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, yes, you are right, but you don't win anything.
Nobody does.
Because Perry's cartoonishly hostile rhetoric is the sort of pap that sells these days.
He has immediately vaulted to a double-digit lead in the polls, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he stays there.
Romney's comment sounds like an excerpt from then-citizen Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention calling for national unity.
Was that really only seven years ago?
All that talk of how our similarities outweigh our differences seems like an ancient relic now, with both parties ramping up into full-contact campaign mode by seeking out ever-new ways of slandering and stereotyping their opposition.
The other day I saw video of Nancy Pelosi telling a crowd the Republicans have no interest in deficit reduction, but only want to "destroy" the basic safety net for seniors.
Nice.
Romney and the president may be less crude about it than Perry and Pelosi, but they, too, have overplayed the blame game.
Perhaps you find that as offensive as I do.
But don't look now.
We may be outnumbered, big time.
If so, the last 14 months of this campaign will not be suitable for family viewing.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
