GOING WITH THE best-defense-is-a-good-offense approach, the Romney campaign is accusing President Obama of being a -- gasp! -- redistributionist. In a rather pale replay of 2008's Joe the Plumber spread-the-wealth debate, the GOP dredged up a 14-year-old video.
The MSM could have brought it up four years ago. Then it would only have been ten years old, and just as important.
In it, Mr. Obama, then a state senator, said, "I think the trick is figuring out, how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody's got a shot."
That quote was important because it was a peek at the inside of someone protected by the media.
To tax is to redistribute. To govern is to redistribute.
To breathe is to redistribute.
It's indisputable that Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama have diverging views about the danger posed by increasing income inequality and the degree of redistribution in which government should engage. But the Romney campaign's desperate, clownish portrayal of Mr. Obama does this important debate a serious disservice.
The Post Editorial Board, I am confident, will do their level best to remedy that and focus on the "important debate". |