'This Week' Extra: The Roundtable's Post-Show Thoughts
'This Week' roundtable pundits offer their views after the program
WASHINGTON, MAY 27, 2012— -- intro: Following the "This Week" roundtable today, we asked our roundtable participants to expand on their discussion. Here are their views.
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title: Ron Brownstein: Tug of War to Frame the General Election
text: I thought the roundtable captured one of the central dynamics in the presidential election: the struggle between President Obama and Mitt Romney to define the frame through which voters view their choice.
In that tug of war, Romney has two goals – both summarized well by George Will. Romney wants voters to ask the famous Ronald Reagan question: are you better off than you were four years ago? (In George's variation that was: is this really the best we can do?) And Romney wants voters to see the philosophical choice as a question of whether they want more or less government involvement in the economy and society more broadly.
On balance those are both winning frames for the GOP. But they are not the only frames on offer this fall. President Obama, most notably at his campaign kickoff speeches in Ohio and Virginia this month, is asking voters to look forward, not back. He wants them to ask: under which agenda do you think you will be better off four years from now? And he is offering a different philosophical question: is the market today producing prosperity broadly shared by all Americans?
On those fronts Obama is much more competitive. The result is that at this point the campaign is defined by a double negative: there is not a majority of Americans today who believe Obama has earned a second term; but there is also not a majority that is ready to return Republicans to power. Today both candidates are doing better at seeding doubt than inspiring hope.
Ron Brownstein is editorial director of National Journal and an ABC News contributor.
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title: Liz Claman: Keeping an Eye on Facebook and JPMorgan Disasters
text: Jake Tapper led our roundtable with great energy, especially during the segment about the ramifications of Gov. Mitt Romney forging an alliance with Donald Trump, who just doubled down on his "birther" claims regarding President Obama's citizenship. The highlight: when George Will called Trump a "bloviating ignoramus." We'll see how much the Romney/Trump fundraiser brings in.
We also talked about Facebook's disastrous IPO. The lawsuits are piling up, and it's only a matter of time before someone starts screaming about how investing should be "fair." Guess what: with all the regulations out there now, it still isn't fair. The advantage, just like with gambling, is always with the "house" – the house here being Wall Street.
Starting a Sunday morning with smart conversation about the economy is a good way to get viewers on track about the important issues: the economy and job creation. As I always say, when it comes to elections, all roads lead to voters' 401k's. That's why I'll be watching the Facebook story as it develops further, and how the JPMorgan "London Whale" trading loss plays out as well.
The bank's CEO Jamie Dimon will be hauled before the Senate Banking Committee in early June to explain how a federally insured company like JPMorgan could lose $3 billion from a bad bet. It happens all the time in business but we don't want taxpayers holding the bag in the future. For this one we won't. JPMorgan can absorb these losses but what if they were bigger, and during a less stable market atmosphere than we have now?
And it still doesn't sit well at least with me that initially Dimon sneered at and belittled journalists from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg who broke the story. As Fox Business' Charlie Gasparino continues to break many aspects of the story as it develops, Dimon should consider not scoffing at but thanking journalists who did what his highly paid managers didn't: flag him about big bets being made at his own firm that could be massively problematic. He initially said this was a "tempest in a teapot," no big deal. Really? JPMorgan has seen $27 billion in market cap shaved from shareholders' stock holdings since the drama began April 6.
As I left the Newseum after the taping, museum visitors were excited and gawking as George Will and Jake Tapper walked by. I'm glad to see that journalists, at least at the Museum for News, are the true reality stars.
Liz Claman is an anchor for FOX Business Network.
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