Late Thursday night, as the political world was obsessing over fallout from Mitt Romney's "not concerned about the very poor" remarks, the Obama campaign was scandalized by something else Romney said in the wake of victory in Florida. What distressed the president's re-election team was Romney's vow to defeat Barack Obama in November.
In a grammatically uneven fundraising email, Obama national finance director Rufus Gifford wrote, "Mitt Romney said just hours after winning the Florida GOP win [sic] primary this week that: 'We must not forget what this election is really about: defeating Barack Obama.'"
"Mitt's words weren't an accident," Gifford continued. "They're what he really believes."
Well, yes, they are. Republicans, Romney included, do in fact want to defeat Obama. In each stump appearance, Romney discusses his desire to restructure economic policy to help create jobs, to reduce federal spending, and to strengthen U.S. foreign policy. To accomplish those goals, Romney stresses, he must first defeat Obama.
Giffords is upset that the Romney campaign has created a "One-Term Fund" to raise money for the effort to defeat the president. The fund's name comes from Obama's statement three years ago about his administration's effort to improve the economy: "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition," Obama said. Romney often mentions that on the stump.
In the fundraising pitch, Giffords worries that the desire to defeat Obama extends far beyond Romney himself. "[Romney] is not alone," Giffords writes. "He's in lockstep with Republican leaders in Congress who long ago declared that making sure Obama is a one-term president their [sic] 'single most important' goal."
"Think about that," Giffords continues. "Not fulfilling their constitutional oath of office, not protecting America, not improving people's lives, not getting the economy moving. Defeating Barack Obama. Anyone who isn't in politics -- which is almost everyone -- knows that's not what elections are for. This election is about you, and about the progress we want to keep making together."
In response to the Romney-Republican effort to win the election, Giffords announces Obama has set up a "Two-Term Fund" to prove that Americans really want a second term for the president. Thirty-eight thousand people have already contributed, Giffords says: "Will you join them by making a donation of $25 or more to the fund today?"
