(CNN) – Recently, we learned two important things about Mitt Romney.
First, he would rather see the American economy fail than President Barack Obama win.
Second, the extent of his hypocrisy is amazing. While he laments the toll that outsourcing has taken on our workers and economy, he amassed a fortune by investing in companies that outsourced American jobs.
As Bloomberg News reported, Romney urged Florida Gov. Rick Scott to downplay good economic news in the Sunshine State. It’s his way of sending a signal to Republican governors in states where the economy is improving – in the battlegrounds of Virginia, Ohio and elsewhere – to be quiet.
But these governors know better. Scott continues to tout Florida’s economic recovery, as he should. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell notes that the state’s 5.6 percent unemployment is the lowest in three years – in other words, it’s been falling since Obama’s policies took effect.
Ohio is another key state where the facts contradict Romney’s scorched-earth message. Following the president’s recent Cleveland speech, Romney urged residents to “look around Ohio” to see the impact of Obama’s policies. So let’s take him up on it.
Ohio’s unemployment rate fell from 10.6 percent to 7.5 percent in three years. A main reason is the resurgent auto industry, which the president rescued but Romney opposed – an undeniable success that Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich still tries to downplay.
By all means, Republican governors should take credit for the economic turnarounds in their states. But give credit where credit is due. Their economies are intertwined with that of other states, and with the nation’s economy as a whole.
Similarly, some states have climbed out of recession faster, some further, but all have been pulled up by the president’s policies that are moving us forward. While we’re far from a full recovery, “we’re all in this together; we rise and fall as one nation and as one people,” as the president says.
What we’re seeing from Romney as the leader of his party is the worst and most predictable kind of politics. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has said his party’s top priority is to defeat Obama. Not to create jobs. Not to get our economy going again. But to win an election.
If Romney really supports American jobs as strongly as his stump speech suggests, he’d stand up to members of his Republican Party and encourage them to pass the president’s jobs plan.
Romney is trying to convince voters of two impossible contradictions simultaneously. One, that the national economy is lousy, but state and local economies are improving. And two, that if an economy has improved, it’s only because of Republican efforts and in spite of the president’s leadership.
Economists disagree, and even Republican governors refuse to play along with Romney’s games.
Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee.
