Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Romney: Theories About Me Polling Myself Are Like 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

Romney: Theories About Me Polling Myself Are Like 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

By Greg Sargent - November 21, 2007, 12:59PM

A CNN reporter just asked Mitt Romney about all the theories that his campaign is behind the anti-Mormon calls. His response? Push the 9/11 button...

Key quote: "It's the same kind of conspiracy theorists that you're raising that say, `Oh, we brought down the World Trade Center ourselves.'"

It's hard not to watch this and conclude that this line was cooked up and rehearsed well in advance. Take another look and see if you don't agree.

Comments (32)

glennpdx wrote on November 21, 2007 1:06 PM:

Good to hear Mitt celebrates diversity. Are you listening, Iowa?

SocraticGadfly wrote on November 21, 2007 1:14 PM:

The whole speech/interview sounds canned. No genuine anger at all.

With Rudy not contesting Iowa or New Hampshire, and McCain as well as Huckabee picking up steam, this could really throw the GOP race upside down if this backfires on Romney.

Barry Champlain wrote on November 21, 2007 1:16 PM:

Here's a hint for the GOP, and all the folks who want to keep the 9.11 conspiracy in the "tinfoil hat" category: DON'T KEEP BRINGING IT UP!

My God, we have to tell them how to do their own jobs, now! Karl has lost "the math" again, it seems. It's def "wheels off bus" time, for these people.

Orwell's Intuition wrote on November 21, 2007 1:16 PM:

Hey, Mittsey. Project much?

Lyn wrote on November 21, 2007 1:17 PM:

I agree - I mean, come on no one would bash their own faith or try to hurt their own campaign. I personally think Huckabee was behind it.

loki wrote on November 21, 2007 1:18 PM:

Thanksgiving is about celebrating religious diversity?

Who knew!

Allan Moyes wrote on November 21, 2007 1:34 PM:

Heck of a lot of blinking going on if you ask me...

JohnW1141 wrote on November 21, 2007 1:37 PM:

Did I miss something in that video or did Romney avoid answering the initial question?

Anonymous wrote on November 21, 2007 1:39 PM:

Mitt is not a very good actor. His fake outrage is canned.

merryll wrote on November 21, 2007 1:46 PM:

It appears a vote for Romney is a vote to keep 9/11 a secret.

joewweoj wrote on November 21, 2007 1:48 PM:

And he didn't answer the question.

audit the polls wrote on November 21, 2007 1:53 PM:

It seems to me that at least 90% of presidential polling these days is either push polled or serving somebody's goals; and not based on a desire to really know what we the people want.

Barry Champlain wrote on November 21, 2007 1:56 PM:

Lyn: no one would bash their own faith?

So then, you also think no one would bug their own offices, either?

This is why we always lose: we mere flyovers just aren't as Satanically twisted in our perception of the human thought process, as is Karl Rove. And we NEED TO BE.

From an interview with the producers of "Bush's Brain":

"We talked to a number of journalists at that time, and virtually all of them felt it was what they called 'the mark of Rove.' They felt Rove had bugged his own office. But what's interesting to note is that they, without exception, felt they had to investigate it. They had to report it. And as a result of investigating it and reporting it, enough doubt was shed on the Mark White campaign that it changed the election...

The timing was that there was a debate the following night, and Bill Clements was not considered a very good debater. But all the attention of the press went on to the bugging incident, and not on to the debate, and the results of the debate...

Clements won the election."

I'm just sayin'.

UncommonSense wrote on November 21, 2007 2:06 PM:

Romney's response definitely sounds rehearsed.

Listen again to the question and the beginning of his answer.

The reporter asks, "are you confident that nobody who supports you was involved in that push polling?"

Romney responds, "You've gotta be kidding."

It sounds like he was expecting her to ask something like, "were you involved with that push poll?" If she had, then "you've gotta be kidding" would make perfect sense. Delivered with that plastic smile, it would strike a convincing balance between outrage and amusement.

But this way, it just doesn't work. He clearly did not expect the reporter to phrase the question the way she did, and probably actually heard it phrased the way he expected her to ask it.

It will be fun to refer back to this clip if and when Romney's campaign is indeed found to have had some involvement in the push polling.

Ed Winters wrote on November 21, 2007 2:34 PM:

Mitt is a very bad actor, not good for a politician hehe. As for the 911 Conspiracy comment check out this! www.ae911truth.org do you think that 200+ architects and engineers might be onto something?

Inside Job wrote on November 21, 2007 2:43 PM:

Well, there is in fact NO DOUBT the towers were completely obliterated by pre-planted demolition charges-- and no, I don't think "al Qaeda" did it.

But overall, it sounds like Romney is cleverly evading the question and tacitly supporting the inside job concept.

Kucinich 4 prez wrote on November 21, 2007 2:47 PM:

Only thing worse than a politician who's a bad actor, is one who's a good one.

bingiy wrote on November 21, 2007 3:08 PM:

Bush & Cheney brought thwe towers down and shot down Flight 93 and sent a missle into the Pentagon. Romney knows all about it, and it sure is odd that he injected it into the campaign. He may well be sorry..

Cindy wrote on November 21, 2007 3:14 PM:

How many times do any of you think Gov. Romney has had to answers questions on push polling within the last week? That, and the fact that the man is an intellectual explains what you interpret as rehearsed. It's not fake, it's a deliberate effort to mask his total exasperation with the Mormon attacks and insinuations and keep to himself from letting loose, which he would NEVER do. The man has class, and just because he doesn't have a laid-back, "aw-shucks" demeanor, doesn't mean he's not sincere.

And as far as answering the question goes, he did. He found the suggestion/question laughable, period. He has no way of knowing if one of his outside supporters was behind the push polling, but correctly stated that the whole thing hurts his candidacy, and it simply makes no sense that someone wanting to help him would do such a thing.

When will people start demanding the same degree of theological testing of all the other candidates? They won't, therefore this whole Mormon issue is simply unfair and UNAMERICAN!!!!!

Shash Nahalin wrote on November 21, 2007 3:20 PM:

I have always wondered were the tin foil hat crowd hangs out. From the posts here, it looks like we might be getting close to the nest.

How about some honest to goodness Socratic inquiry: Who indeed would sponsor a poll that bashes your religion, your family and your integrity?

Ask yourself who has the most to gain and who the least to gain form the push poll? The only candidates are anti-Mormons and/or Nutroots have the most to gain and least to loose.

Inside Job wrote on November 21, 2007 3:59 PM:

Who benefited the most from 9/11?

Who benefits the most from well-publicized dirty polling directed at a specific candidate?

Who has never heard of a false-flag attack?

votenic wrote on November 21, 2007 4:49 PM:

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Mit the moron wrote on November 21, 2007 4:53 PM:

this supposed asshat aka mormon mit .. or as i like to say, moron mit is a joke
He is not electable and is a waste of time.
too bad hes not in iraq right now .. fighting for the freedom he loves so much..

asshat romney, pound it.

warren terra wrote on November 21, 2007 6:46 PM:

He didn't answer the question. I don't know if his folks did this but I wouldn't put it past them. Perceived victimhood plays well with the base, especially religious victimhood.

Thanksgiving has little to do with religious diversity beyond the pilgrims escaping religious persecution in England and surviving here for a year without being killed by the natives.
There's that religious victimhood again.

Reader wrote on November 21, 2007 8:30 PM:

The reason he brings up "9/11 conspiracy" is that it's a hot topic -- anyone who needs a boost in polls or ranking will trot that out to polarize and excite.

Like someone already said, over 200 architects and engineers have signed onto a petition calling for a new investigation for a reason.

Similarly, over 500 professors, scientists, lawyers, students and supporters at Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice (stj911.org) also call for a new investigation.

People understand they are being lied to over and over.

Religion and "conspiracy." A hotbutton lunge for attention that will only sink him.

Tom wrote on November 22, 2007 1:09 AM:

Check out Mit's masive gulping when listening to the question.

He knows he is exposed on this one.

James Ramsey wrote on November 22, 2007 6:51 AM:

Why can't Romney be a man and admit he's behind this push poll conspiracy. This is the same flip flopper (after realizing he would lose the "on-site" Values Voter Poll) who had his right hand man send all their supporters a letter stating there's a way to help Romney win. Pay $1
to register and you can vote on line. With all this manipulation, Romney only managed to win by less than 18 votes. Romney is a cheater, a liar, and a flip-flopper who will do anything to become president. And he will never openly discuss his faith, which many consider a cult. I will never trust Mitt Romney!

Elbeau wrote on November 22, 2007 11:52 AM:

What's wrong with you...

There's enough suspicion to blame almost any candidate for this, and there's no real evidence yet. If Mitt did this then he's through...but if he didn't then you are all a bunch of pansies revictimizing the victim of a smear campaign. I'm sure you Mitt critics don't see it as victimization because you've already thumped the gavel on him on other subjects...but don't be such pushovers. Wait for the evidence to come out. There IS a money trail that will be subpoened.

Wilspn wrote on November 22, 2007 7:52 PM:

People do crazy things when they're scared. I think the 'polling' was just done by someone who's scared of Mormons. The candidates are just being candidates.

votenic wrote on November 29, 2007 4:24 PM:

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