Life is sometimes stranger than fiction. For the life of me, I can’t see why President Obama met with Mitt Romney on Thursday. Even the Republican Party is distancing itself from Mitt Romney. Romney, even after he lost the election, continued to say that he lost because of all the gifts that President Obama gave out—referring to “free” healthcare, free contraceptives for women, forgiveness of college loan interest, amnesty for what Romney refers to as “children of illegals”—to name a few according to Romney. Although, Romney orchestrated the Massachusetts health care plan on which the Affordable Care Act is based, he distanced himself from his own plan, during the election. He previously mentioned during the campaign that 47% of the country were freeloaders and would not merit his attention, if he was elected. Thank God he was not elected.
This brings me to my question of why would President Obama meet with Mitt Romney. There is very little that Romney can offer. As outsourcer and CEO of Bain industries, he closed plants and sent jobs overseas while making a whopping amount of money in the process. He showed both during the primary and general election that he had little understanding of people beyond the 1% like himself.
If President Obama’s purpose was to get a better understanding of the 1%, that would be the only reason I can think of to meet with Mitt Romney. But then again, he could talk to those like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and other CEO’s who are interested in helping America move forward, if he wants to gain insight on the 1%.
I understand that everything is political. President Obama will earn no brownie points with those he voted for Romney, if that was the reason. And when Romney’s own party is trying to bury him alive, it doesn’t seem like he needs or merits a meeting with the president.
Here’s the official statement released by the White House:
“President Obama and Governor Romney visited for an hour over lunch in the Private Dining Room adjacent to the Oval Office. Governor Romney congratulated the President for the success of his campaign and wished him well over the coming four years. The focus of their discussion was on America’s leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future. They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future.”
There were no photo opportunities and the two men met privately. I can only say that I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall. The meeting was closed press and only the two men met and dined together.
I cannot see any opportunities that would avail themselves in which Mr. 47% would be needed to work or discuss. This country is trying to move forward and not backwards to the 1950’s where Mr. Romney wanted to take us. We dodged the bullet on that one.
Let’s just let bygones be bygones. Now hopefully, Mitt Romney will ride away in the sun on his horse like in an old western movie.
Debbie Hines is a former prosecutor and founder of LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics. As a legal and political commentator she has appeared in national, international and local media including the Michael Eric Dyson Show, local NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates, RT TV, CBC- Canadian TV, NPR, XM Sirius radio, the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post and Washington Times among others. She also contributes articles to the Huffington Post and the Women’s Media Center.
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