Quoting Obama Isn’t Attacking Him

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The Obama Campaign launched an ad today, saying Mitt Romney misquoted President Obama, and that he’ll say anything:


Well I won’t deny that Mitt Romney will say anything.  However, the problem with this ad is that President Obama did say, "If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Here is the White House transcript from his Roanoke, VA stop on July 13th:

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.  (Applause.)

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.  There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own.  I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service.  That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.

So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together. (emphasis mine)

Here’s the video if you don’t believe that transcript:

Exactly how did Romney misquote him?  He didn’t.  It looks like President Obama will say anything to get elected as well.

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About the Author

Shane Vander Hart is the founder and editor-in-chief of Caffeinated Thoughts.  He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, LLC, a social media & communications consulting/management firm.  He is a communications director for American Principles Project’s Preserve Innocence Initiative.  Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings.  He has also served as an interim pastor and is a sought after speaker and pulpit fill-in.  Shane has been married to his wife Cheryl since 1993 and they have three kids.  Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA.  You can connect with Shane on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Google +.
  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LB3LDHWZXK7GXIW6DYVOYSVPHE SJ

    OK, now I’m really confused. :) Is the first video the actual Obama ad?  Because even that video shows Obama saying the very thing that he accuses Romney of slanting. Or is Obama simply accusing Romney of taking his quote out of context, I wonder?

    Well, if that video is the entire Obama ad, then Obama isn’t even as good at deception as I previously believed.  ;)

    • http://shanevanderhart.com/ Shane Vander Hart

      Yes the first video is the Obama ad.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LB3LDHWZXK7GXIW6DYVOYSVPHE SJ

        Thanks for the clarification.   Obviously Obama thinks people are even stupider than he did 4 years ago.  LOL. 

  • Barry Egan

    Look at the sentence just before the one you bolded, Shane. He’s talking about roads, bridges and infrastructure. You’re smarter than this.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LB3LDHWZXK7GXIW6DYVOYSVPHE SJ

       Huh?  If Obama is indeed referring to what you said, then he should have used the word “those” instead.  The way he phrased his sentence, most people would not interpret it the way you stated.  Obama has nobody to blame but himself here.  Maybe he should take a refresher course in English 101.  ;)

      • http://www.broadwaycarl.com Broadway Carl

        Yes, sometimes people, even presidents, make grammatical mistakes while speaking. You know, like “Is our children learning?” or ”Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.com Broadway Carl

    He wasn’t misquoted. The quote was taken out of context. It’s really that simple.

    • http://shanevanderhart.com/ Shane Vander Hart

      No it wasn’t I’ve read his speech, but keep on trying to revise history.

      • http://www.broadwaycarl.com Broadway Carl

        Sure it was. The lines immediately before and after the quote in question dealt with infrastructure. Roads and bridges, and the Internet. It’s clearly what Obama was talking about.

        You know what Romney said that was used in a campaign ad? “I like being able to fire people.” I suppose that wasn’t taken out of context either?

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