Contributors

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

28 Days

With the election exactly four weeks away, I thought it appropriate to sit back and see where things stand currently.

Now that Mitt Romney is just barely to the right of Barack Obama, the president and his re-election team have a real problem. The Etch-E-Sketch idea is actually working because many people didn't tune into the election until the debates. To them, Romney is a very reasonable man who looks and acts like a president. He's not the guy who said he was a "severe conservative," wants to cut taxes for the rich, and thinks that society is made up of makers and takers (copyright Ayn Rand). They weren't paying attention then. He is, in fact, a moderate.

The president's re-election is now more difficult because of this new (times four) Mitt Romney (who I happen to think is who he has been all along. Politico agrees). So, Barack Obama and his team need to do two things in the next four weeks and they need to do them well otherwise they might lose.

The first thing they have to do is get people to vote. If everyone voted who supports the president, the only state that Romney wins that the president won in 2008 is Indiana. But voter enthusiasm is lower on the D side than the R side so that makes the race tighter. In short, they need to get out the vote. Spending the next four weeks getting people registered to vote would be time well spent. Spending time talking about Big Bird  would not be time well spent.

The second thing the president has to do is vigorously defend his record in the next two debates, at rallies, and in the media. His team needs to stop talking about the last debate and focus on the next two. Personally, I don't think the Biden-Ryan debate is going to matter much because people want to hear from the president again, not a surrogate. In fact, the whole surrogate thing has to stop. No one can make his case for him anymore...the president has to nut up and do it himself.

He has a lot of great things to talk about so it should be easy. Our country is heading in the right direction on the economy with the unemployment number falling and jobs being added every month. His foreign policies have been specific (unlike Governor Romney) and largely successful. He needs to brag about them while illustrating that Mitt Romney's are a combination of dangerous naivete and a bizarre time warp to 20th century realism. And he really needs to pin Romney down on the economy with the details because Mitt doesn't have any.

As for folks like Andrew Sullivan, they need to leave the drama queen bit behind and start being helpful. The continued hand wringing over a debate now one week ago is getting very old. I realize that the art of performance is very important to media types like Sully but his posts are becoming so shrill it's hard for me to read them anymore. Personally, I think it's because his personal reputation is on the line after his Newsweek story about the president being the Democrat's Ronald Reagan and now he's worried that he might look foolish. Well, he's looking foolish now saying that the election is over with a full month left until people vote.

There are many folks in the political media that simply need to take a fucking chill pill. The new Pew Poll that shows Romney up 4 points nationally makes perfect sense when you consider that many people that took that poll identified as Republican. Unlike that whiners on the Right who foamed at the mouth about "skewed polls," people on the left (and everyone really) need to realize that this is simply how sampling works in some of these polls so that's why the numbers are weighed that way.

And, honestly, the national tracking polls are meaningless at this point as the 6-8 swing state polls hold more obvious insight.

Overall, I've noticed a somewhat muted response from the far right on the new, new, new, new Mitt Romney which I find to be fascinating. Are they being quiet because they don't want to jinx him? Are they afraid that he really is going to turn out to be a moderate? Or do they think he's just fooling everyone and the severe conservative will pop up if he wins?

Not that I want this to happen but I think it would be very interesting if Romney won the election and pretty much did the same things that President Obama is doing. After all, that's more or less what he said he would do in the first debate. Is this what the Right really wants?

12 comments:

juris imprudent said...

He's not the guy who said he was a "severe conservative,"

Which of course he never was - that was pandering to the Republican hardcore. Funny how saying something inauthentic comes out so tinny.

The second thing the president has to do is vigorously defend his record

Apparently he wants to do that in the next debate - focus on civil liberties. If he does, and the moderator isn't Andrew Sullivan, the election will be over. Even the worst fears about Romney can't equal the reality of the current Administration.

Anonymous said...

"and pretty much did the same things that President Obama is doing."

Which means, pretty much the same things President Bush was doing. Why do you have such a hard on for your boy?

Mark Ward said...

Actually, juris, if the moderator was Andrew Sullivan, the election would be over and Romney would win:)

Defending the reality of this administration was the problem in the last debate. The president didn't do it which was odd considering how our economy, our national security, our health care, and our civil rights have all improved under this president. Even gun laws were relaxed with nary a complaint from the president.

Now, if you are complaining about the drone attacks and al=Awlaki, I doubt there are many folks who are going to be complaining about that save for the far left and some libertarians.

juris imprudent said...

...and our civil rights have all improved under this president.

Are you dishonest or stupid? You have to be one or the other to make that statement. Well, I suppose you could be totally delusional. Okay, which of those three is it?

Mark Ward said...

Well, let's see...there's Lily Ledbetter, repeal of DADT, refusal to prosecute the DOM act, and the admission that gay people should be allowed to marry. Should I go on?

sw said...

wow, an admission. try legislation, it works better.

juris imprudent said...

Knock yourself out champ!

"If Obama wants to discuss civil liberties, he should be held accountable for the obliteration of the First, Fourth, and Fifth amendments occurring under his watch, if not under his direction," writes Jesselyn Radack, National Security & Human Rights Director for the Government Accountability Project. If Radack were moderating, Obama would have to answer for his secret kill list, expanded surveillance, his assassination of American citizens, secret laws created by the PATRIOT Act, and his war on both whistleblowers and journalists.

And there's more! Be sure to read through the comments as well.

Mark Ward said...

But what percentage of the electorate cares about this, juris? Not very large, I'd gather.

Here are some more improvements under the civil rights umbrella...

1. Increased minority access to capital

2. Implemented "Women Owned Business" contracting program

3. Established a credit card bill of rights

4. Required insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions

5. Set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act

6. Created a best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities

7. Launched educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities.

8. Fully funded the Violence Against Women Act

9. Ended the "Stop-loss" program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments.

10.Ended the use of torture.

Need more?

Anonymous said...

Zero budgets passed.

Citizens in poverty up 9.5%.

National debt up 35%.

First President to be held in contempt of court.

First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.

But, on a positive note, the food stamp president did close Guantanamo, allow imported prescription drugs, end the income tax for seniors making less than $50k, and repeal the Bush tax cuts. Just like he promised.

And he got a Nobel peace prize.

A. Noni Mouse said...

3. Established a credit card bill of rights

Wait! I thought that was "expanded gun rights".

A. Noni Mouse said...

As for the rest, I thought the word was "Rights", not "Entitlements"?

juris imprudent said...

But what percentage of the electorate cares about this, juris?

Well you sure trumped me there. You and a bunch of other idiots are going to vote not based on reality but on trivialities and your fucking fantasies. Of course you will bitch bitterly about half the idiots because they aren't your brand of stupid.