Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Well, that's embarrassing....

While giving a speech for his campaign, Mitt Romney accidentally mixed up Solyndra and the Keystone Pipeline. For those of you who don't remember what Solyndra was, it was the bankrupt Solar company that Obama boasted about as a prime example for green companies in America. The Keystone Pipeline is a pipeline that is supposed to span from Canada to Texas. However, President Obama has currently shut down the project. It would alleviate America's dependence on foreign oil.

Here is the transcript of Romney's mistake:
“My course for America is to become energy secure and to open up that Solyndra – that, that pipeline, excuse me, the Keystone Pipeline,” Romney told about 400 supporters at a stone importing company in northern Atlanta. “Not Solyndra. ... The Keystone pipeline to get energy here in this country.”
So what do you think? Will Romney get a lot of heat for his blunder? Will this cause a bigger shake up given his poor finishes in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado? Should the Keystone Pipeline be a viable source of energy for America? Should we just forget about supporting green companies after Solyndra?


7 comments:

Taylor Scherer said...

Romney's mistake was pretty minor, and he did clearly know what he was talking about since he corrected himself. Even though it's a small slip-up, I think the media will portray it as a bigger deal than it actually is. Negative things tend to gain more focus and attention, but it should not have that big of an impact on people's opinion of him. In regard to the Keystone Pipeline, I do not think it should be opened up. There are too many environmental risks and efforts should be focused on increasing cleaner forms of energy and decreasing our dependence on oil.

Colin Grele said...

I agree with Taylor. I don't think this is really that big of a mistake. He corrected himself immediately, so I don't see the big deal. But we all know that the media loves to publish things like this because it is entertaining, it is the type of thing that makes money.

Alyssa_Block said...

Not only will the media blow it out of proportion, and most likely ignore the rest of the content and substance of his speech, but also I think that Romney's GOP rivals will use this against him. Gingrich has already used Romney's "I don't care about the poor" comment to prove that Romney is detached from the American people, and thus incapable of effectively leading the country. This latest mistake will help Gingrich to strengthen his assertion. While I personally do not see it as a huge deal, and believe we should examine the actual content of his speech, I do realize that the media tends to focus on the negative, and will likely ignore all of the brighter moments in the speech, as Taylor and Colin suggested.

itsALEXZ said...

It is my belief that this trivial error made by Romney will be largely ignored by the media circus. If one is looking for viable ammunition to hurt Romney's reputation, I suggest looking at Romneycare.

If one is a Republican aiming to tarnish Romney's reputation, it seems easier to attack his more liberal (and therefore less conservative) policies and decisions.

Ivan Wang said...

I would agree that attacking a candidate for a simple Freudian slip is a shady tactic, but I wouldn't put it past at least some reporters to capitulate on Romney's error. Hopefully, however, readers can look past this blunder and focus more on the importance of the policies that Romney proposes. After all, candidates are human beings, and under so much pressure it's inevitable that a word or two which we do not intend to say might slip out.

Lexi Cooperstein said...

I agree with Collin and Taylor, I don't think this "slip up" will really affect his campaign. It will only give his non-supporters something else to laugh about and criticize.

Timothy Leung said...

This doesn't even sound like news. Mitt Romney mispronounced Keystone Pipeline with Solyndra. How he came to saying Solyndra in the first place we don't know, but it doesn't matter. He corrected himself and that's the end of the story.

Moving on...