Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter held a joint telephone press conference to react to Mitt Romney’s speech during the 103rd NAACP convention.
On the call, they highlighted a clear contrast between President Obama’s forward-looking vision for the economy, and Mitt Romney’s proposal, which would take the country back to the same failed policies of the past.
The conference audience seemed to agree with the mayors’ assessment, booing Mitt Romney several times during his speech in Houston.
“He tried to go to the NAACP and then take a position that he knew would impact seven million African Americans adversely and then he got the response that was completely appropriate,” said Reed. “So he was trying to pull off a reverse Sister Soulja moment.”
Romney quickly backtracked and said he would replace the health care law with something else that also covered children with pre-existing conditions and referenced a poll suggesting that the Affordable Care Act would be harmful to small businesses.
“He never displays that kind of character, integrity, or courage when Rush Limbaugh makes a comment. He didn’t display that kind of character, integrity, or courage when Ted Nugent made comments about the president that were wholly inappropriate. … But he’ll come to the heart of the NAACP and say that Obamacare should be repealed. That’s why it was a political stunt,” Reed continued.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter also chimed in.
“It’s really a choice now between President Obama’s vision that we move America forward toward an economy that’s built to last, or the vision that Mitt Romney laid out even this morning at the NAACP convention that would only take us back to the same failed policies of the past that nearly drove our country into another Great Depression,” said Nutter.
Romney did garner applause for statements regarding charter schools, traditional marriage, and the Keystone Pipeline. He was given a standing ovation at the conclusion of his speech.
