File this under the growing “Romney needs distance from Bush” file. The Huffington Post reports:
The GOP’s economic platform will be the same as that under former president George W. Bush, just ‘updated,’ according to comments from a Republican National Committee spokeswoman in an interview last week. Listen to the audio above.
Alexandra Franceschi appeared on The Fernando Espuelas Show to make the case for Latinos to support the GOP. She said Latino voters were more concerned with economic policies than immigration, and urged them to consider Republicans as the best bet for job growth.
But when asked specifically what the GOP economic platform was, and whether it would differ from the policies of the Bush administration, Franceschi admitted it would be fairly similar to those under Bush.
Alexandra Franceschi appeared on The Fernando Espuelas Show to make the case for Latinos to support the GOP. She said Latino voters were more concerned with economic policies than immigration, and urged them to consider Republicans as the best bet for job growth.
But when asked specifically what the GOP economic platform was, and whether it would differ from the policies of the Bush administration, Franceschi admitted it would be fairly similar to those under Bush.
Here is a partial transcript of the exchange:
Espuelas: “What do you mean by economic security? Regardless of who the ultimate nominee is, what’s the general idea that the RNC or the Republican party in general has in terms of this (economic) message?
Franceschi: Well, it’s a message of being able to attain the American dream. It’s less government spending, which a Tarrance Group poll that came out last week actually shows that the majority of Hispanics believe that less government spending is the way out of this deficit crisis. It’s lowering taxes so small businesses can grow, and they can employ more people, because we understand that the private sector is the engine of the economy. It’s not the government. We’re going to get the government out of the way, let the private sector grow, let small businesses grow, let people start new small businesses, and let really people take their lives into their own hands and be able to obtain the American dream, not only themselves but all future generals of Americans.
Espuelas: Now, how different is that concept from what were the policies of the Bush administration? The reason I ask that is because there’s some analysis now that is being published, talking about the Bush years being the slowest period of job creation since those statistics were created. Is this a different program or is this that program just updated?
Franceschi: I think it’s that program, just updated.
Franceschi: Well, it’s a message of being able to attain the American dream. It’s less government spending, which a Tarrance Group poll that came out last week actually shows that the majority of Hispanics believe that less government spending is the way out of this deficit crisis. It’s lowering taxes so small businesses can grow, and they can employ more people, because we understand that the private sector is the engine of the economy. It’s not the government. We’re going to get the government out of the way, let the private sector grow, let small businesses grow, let people start new small businesses, and let really people take their lives into their own hands and be able to obtain the American dream, not only themselves but all future generals of Americans.
Espuelas: Now, how different is that concept from what were the policies of the Bush administration? The reason I ask that is because there’s some analysis now that is being published, talking about the Bush years being the slowest period of job creation since those statistics were created. Is this a different program or is this that program just updated?
Franceschi: I think it’s that program, just updated.
“Mitt Romney: George Bush, just updated” is a losing message. Fair or not, Americans still blame Bush for the economic crisis. And they have every right to:
Bush pushes minority homeownership, UPI, June 15, 2002.
Bush seeks to increase minority homeownership, USA Today, January 20, 2004.
Bush pushes low-cost housing, The Washington Times, May 14, 2005.
Romney needs to explain how his economic philosophy and agenda are different thant Bush’s and he needs to do it before more of his surrogates describe him as “Bush, just updated.”
