Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 told Larry King in an interview Thursday night that he saw nothing in Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s platform that would help those struggling in the wake of the economic crisis achieve success.
Myrick spoke to the legendary interviewer on Ora TV, a new online-only broadcast network that has centered its programming around King. The two spoke after Romney delivered his speech accepting his party’s nomination for president.
Speaking from his experience as mayor of Ithaca, Myrick said he didn’t believe Romney would do enough as president to support education and public services.
“I didn’t hear anything that would help us hold on to the firefighters we need to keep this city safe [and] hold on to the police officers we need to fight crime,” he said. “I didn’t hear anything about how we would educate our children to make sure they’re competitive in the future.”
Myrick said that he was “disappointed” that Romney spoke often about hard working Americans struggling to make ends meet, but didn’t offer up any solutions that would help them find success.
“What is it Republicans plan to do for these people?” Myrick asked. “How is it the Republicans plan to help these people achieve their dreams?”
The problem with Romney, Myrick said, was that “he was born on third base but he thinks he hit a triple.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being born on third base and there’s certainly nothing wrong with hitting a triple,” Myrick said. “But when you’re a policymaker and you need to set up the rules of the game, it’s important you understand what it is exactly people go through.”
Asked by King if President Barack Obama can replicate the same level of voter turnout among young Americans, Myrick said the president had a tough task ahead of him. He noted that in the Ithaca mayoral election last year, in which Myrick won every city ward, his lowest share of votes came from Collegetown.
“Even in a race in which I was the youngest candidate, and I ended up becoming the youngest mayor in the state — it’s tough to get [young voters] to the polls, and it’s not as exciting and it’s not as new as it was in 2008, even though [Obama] has done great things,” Myrick said.
See the full interview here (begins at 18:30).
Original Author: David Marten