Slog
News & ArtsMonday, June 18, 2012
2012 / Chow Mitt Romney Learns About Touch-Screen Technology
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Mitt Romney visited Pennsylvania chain Wawa and ordered a sandwich, and it BLEW HIS MOTHERFUCKIN' MIND.
If I may digress for a moment: I know the last three weeks have been bad for Democrats. Polls look wonky and mistakes keep happening and the news is all bad. But I do think that one thing is always true about Mitt Romney that we're forgetting right now. Mitt Romney is unlikable. It's impossible to like Mitt Romney, which is why the Romney campaign is trying to make the campaign about hating Barack Obama. He's trying to fly under the radar right now, because when he says things like he says in the above video, he comes across as an aloof jackass. But I don't think the Scott Walker strategy—disappear from the press and let the money do its work—will work in a presidential campaign. If Romney tries to keep away from press access for too long this fall, it will bite him in the ass because the press hates being ignored. And when Romney goes off-script, he becomes this stiff, unlikeably weird starched shirt of a man.
1
Sounds like he's got a raging boner for a sandwich business that doesn't have to hire any actual sandwich makers. At least he's consistent.
2
Romney relates more to an automated, robotic, touch screen sandwich machine than he does to human beings.
I am Jack's total lack of surprise.
I am Jack's total lack of surprise.
3
Brings back fond memories of George HW Bush & the grocery UPC Scanner.
Paid Gay 4 Money, what say you?
Paid Gay 4 Money, what say you?
5
There is not one person on the Eastern seaboard who calls it Wawa's. It's Wawa. I know it's a small distinction, but to an East coaster, saying Wawa's makes him sound like an even bigger idiot.
7
Sounds like every executive I've ever heard straining to be relateable. He would have been better off just leaving it at a basic name-drop of the sandwich shop. Bands and stand-up comics have that local pandering down; keep it short, or you just wind up highlighting your out-of-town-ness.
8
He's really unlikeable. I don't have friends who put their dog on the roof of their car. The press knows how much money they get if this race looks close. Thus, George Will and Tim Pawlenty get to explain to George Stefanopolis that Rmoney 'knows how to create jobs,' and Rmoney gets to complain on CNN about Obama appealing Latino voters. It's very un-corporate raider to be complaining about your opponent taking advantage of your weaknesses.
9
Of course he's unlikeable; so are 45% of the electorate who are guaranteed to vote for this dipshit.
10
As a Pennsylvania boy, I have to agree with @5. Hearing Romney say Wawa just sounded wrong. It makes the place seem dirty now that he's name-dropped it in a campaign speech.
11
That's the thing: when Obama goes out and interacts with human beings, it looks like he's actually done it before.
13
We saw it in the Republican primaries. Even people who wanted him to win didn't like him. They were only choosing him for logistical reasons, hoping the electorate might like him enough to vote for him.
Did he really say "touch-tone"? I haven't heard anyone call a keypad a "touch-tone" in awhile. His staff must have been double face-palming when they saw this.
Did he really say "touch-tone"? I haven't heard anyone call a keypad a "touch-tone" in awhile. His staff must have been double face-palming when they saw this.
14
He is unlikeable, but it's hard for me to really hold that against him as a candidate. I didn't like "likeability" arguments when it came down to Kerry and Bush in 2004, and I don't like them now when they're reversed. The "Who would you rather have a beer with?" metric for candidate electability is bullshit that our election machine can do without. (Of course, if unlikeable behavior reveals a contemptuous disregard for the working class, as Romney often does, that's a bit different.)
15
@5: Agreed. Wawa. No "s". (Wawa is a native American word for the Canada Goose—hence the goose in Wawa's logo—an onomatopoeia for the sound geese make.)
And in case others are wondering, a Wawa is kinda like a 7-Eleven but with its own dairy and a great deli counter. Those touch screen devices Mitt is talking about allow you to order a made to order sandwich exactly how you want it.
And in case others are wondering, a Wawa is kinda like a 7-Eleven but with its own dairy and a great deli counter. Those touch screen devices Mitt is talking about allow you to order a made to order sandwich exactly how you want it.
16
The majority of his campaign is centered around the fact that he's not Obama. It's 2004 all over again, except the blue team has the ball this time.
18
I lived for a few years in eastern PA and it is indeed Wawa, not Wawa's. Also, Wawa is the bomb and I wish we had them in Seattle, touchscreen sandwich orderers and all. Also, fuck Mitt Romney.
19
Also, he uses Just for Men Touch of Grey, which is unforgiveable. Not as unforgiveable as Rand Paul's crap toupee, but unforgiveable enough for me.
20
I want to add to the Wawa, not Wawa's chorus, as a former East Coaster.
Yeah, he is unlikeable, at least to me. Every time he speaks, he comes off as a soulless, excuses-generating, corporate suit, the big-money carney who's always weaseling his way out of things. He reminds me of a slumlord. Every answer is memorized, there's nothing about him that suggests personal conviction, other than the corporate bottom line. I keep thinking that, head-to-head on a debate, the difference with the common-guy Obama will be blatantly stark. I keep hoping.
Right now it's close and we're a little behind, but the ACA aftermath will be a big deal, and then Romney's VP choice will be another game changer. And then the conventions. So we'll see where we are after that.
Yeah, he is unlikeable, at least to me. Every time he speaks, he comes off as a soulless, excuses-generating, corporate suit, the big-money carney who's always weaseling his way out of things. He reminds me of a slumlord. Every answer is memorized, there's nothing about him that suggests personal conviction, other than the corporate bottom line. I keep thinking that, head-to-head on a debate, the difference with the common-guy Obama will be blatantly stark. I keep hoping.
Right now it's close and we're a little behind, but the ACA aftermath will be a big deal, and then Romney's VP choice will be another game changer. And then the conventions. So we'll see where we are after that.
21
I cannot stand his voice. You know I don't like to swear on Slog, but he just sounds like an insufferable prick.
22
@3: What exactly is your memory of that? Give "President Bush and the Grocery Scanner" a read through:
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/b…
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/b…
23
I used to go to the WaWa every day because there was one just outside my dorm.
Remember getting Hoagies and chips after doing late night shows at the school radio station with my cohost,
Remember getting Hoagies and chips after doing late night shows at the school radio station with my cohost,
25
Interesting that when you look at an unedited version of the video clip it appears that he was
amazed that the private sector developed the technology in order to be competitive.
amazed that the private sector developed the technology in order to be competitive.
28
Nice try. The video was deceptively edited. The shit is hitting the fan already. Old Media can't save Obama this time. Bastards.
29
Some say that his heart ticks like a watch, and that he's confused by stairs. All we know is he's called the Stig.
30
Should probably point out that this gaffe was manufactured...tricky editing was used which destroyed the context and made it sound like he was in awe, when he was really just comparing the ease of ordering a sandwich to the hassle of government red tape.
Also, H.W. Bush's similar gaffe was also manufactured: he was not admiring a standard grocery scanner, but an advanced one which was new at the time...something about it being able to weigh items and read torn bar codes.
Keep in mind it was the 80's.
Also, H.W. Bush's similar gaffe was also manufactured: he was not admiring a standard grocery scanner, but an advanced one which was new at the time...something about it being able to weigh items and read torn bar codes.
Keep in mind it was the 80's.
31
24, You already admitted that you created the "Gay Dude For Romney" name only after it was clear that Romney was the republican nominee, and the only reason you're for Romney is because he as an R before his name. It doesn't matter to you what he actually does or says, as long as he calls himself a republican, you're his whore.
32
@28, 30 Okay, I went and watched his whole spiel on competition and "Wawa's." He still says "touch tone" in the unedited video when he's talking about a touch-screen.
33
@- "...really just comparing the ease of ordering a sandwich to the hassle of government red tape."
Ah, so he was just talking nonsense! Well, that makes it better.
Ah, so he was just talking nonsense! Well, that makes it better.
34
I've watched the entire clip, and even using this as a metaphor, Romney still comes off as out of touch. The man has never stepped into a convince store, let alone eaten food from one. Touch screens are not new. Neither is ordering a sandwich via one. Even in rural PA Wawa's and Sheetz have had this for many years. They're hardly the cutting edge gee whiz technology Romney appears to be so amazed about.
35
@32+
I am not saying that he is not out of touch, or that he gave a great speech (or was even making sense), only that the whole "super amazed at this technology" idea is way overblown and silly.
Let the GOP manufacture lies and slander, Romney needs no one's help gaffin' it up anyway.
If anything, his repeated saying of "Wawa's" will hurt him the most...I know the PA folk love their Wawa, and they are not going to like his pretending to be down with the goose. He needs Pennsylvania.
Or the fact that he got pickles on a meatball sub. What the fuck?
I am not saying that he is not out of touch, or that he gave a great speech (or was even making sense), only that the whole "super amazed at this technology" idea is way overblown and silly.
Let the GOP manufacture lies and slander, Romney needs no one's help gaffin' it up anyway.
If anything, his repeated saying of "Wawa's" will hurt him the most...I know the PA folk love their Wawa, and they are not going to like his pretending to be down with the goose. He needs Pennsylvania.
Or the fact that he got pickles on a meatball sub. What the fuck?
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
All You Motherfuckers Complaining That aPodments Are Too Small at 200 Square Feet by Dominic Holden
-
SL Letter of the Day: Did You Think I Was Going To Tell You Not To Come Out? (PLUS: Help Free Kate!) by Dan Savage
-
Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral by Dan Savage
-
Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness by Paul Constant
-
There Are No Atheists In Foxholes by Dan Savage
-
America's Epidemic of Toddler-on-Toddler Gun Violence Continues by Goldy
-
Well-Regulated Beaverton Militia Accidentally Fires Shot into Neighbor's Bedroom by Goldy
-
Saint Genet Re-Creates "Shoot" by Brendan Kiley
-
Dutch Artist Turns Dead Cat into Remote-Controlled Helicopter by Bethany Jean Clement
-
SL Letter of the Day: Have You Ever Heard of...? by Dan Savage
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (35) RSS