Ronald Kessler reporting from Washington, D.C. — Contrary to expectations, President Obama’s campaign is “stumbling and bumbling,” Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, tells Newsmax.
Priebus cites Obama’s decision to portray profits and Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital as evil.
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President Obama speaks at a White House ceremony on Tuesday.
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“I don’t know too many small businesses out there where the owners are driving in to their shop trying to figure out how not to be profitable,” Priebus says.
“The idea is you make profits, you employ people, you allow others to live the American dream, send their kids to school, and have a decent retirement,” Priebus says. “All of that requires profit. It is a pretty bizarre thing in this country to start demonizing profits.”
Nor will the tactic work.
“If anything, attacking Bain and the business acumen of Mitt Romney is just going to highlight how lacking the president is when it comes to what it takes to run a business,” Priebus says. The approach is “blowing up in his face because he wants to demonize Mitt Romney for his business experience when the person doing the demonizing hasn’t seen the inside of a lemonade stand,” Priebus says.
“I don't think people doubt the fact that Mitt Romney understands how small and large size businesses work, what the effects of government are on businesses, what the effect of European healthcare like Obamacare is on businesses,” Priebus says. “For Barack Obama, a person who hasn’t run anything in his life as far as a business is concerned, to be making these accusations about Bain Capital is laughable.”
By trying to divert the subject from the economy and coming across as nasty, Obama is undermining his image, Priebus says.
“Obama’s biggest problem is he is not real anymore,” Priebus says. “Barack Obama has become the dirtiest, most negative presidential candidate in the history of this country.”
While Obama tries to change the subject, he “can’t escape the truth as to where we are in the American economy,” Priebus says. “The nice thing that we have going for us is that when the facts are on your side, it makes things a lot easier.”
Meanwhile, Republicans are beating Democrats in fundraising. After being elected chairman of the RNC in January 2011, Priebus sat down with his financial people and got sobering news: The once-mighty RNC was broke. It had no money to meet its payroll and other financial obligations the following week.
To cut spending, Priebus reduced staff by 40 percent. While former RNC Chairman Michael Steele emphasized raising money from small donors, thereby increasing costs, Priebus pushes targeting big potential donors.
“If you would have said a year and a half ago that the RNC would have more money in the bank than the Democratic National Committee, and we have our great nominee in the margin or slightly ahead in the polls, we would all say we would take it,” Priebus says. “We’re unifying the party and raising now the big money to compete with Obama to contrast Obama’s broken promises with Mitt Romney's record of keeping promises.”
In the end, “This election is about big things,” Priebus says. “It’s about liberty and freedom and the Constitution, and that’s why we’re building our party on the concepts of addition and multiplication — not division and subtraction — to defeat President Obama.”
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. He is the New York Times bestselling author of books on the Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. Read more reports from Ronald Kessler — Click Here Now.
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