(Jeff Danziger’s website)
Wise words from Ed Kilgore at the Washington Monthly:
… I’m about to throw up my hands and stop boring readers with too many objections to the extraordinary level of belief among conservatives this year that spinning Romney as ahead is itself a vastly important political asset. They do seem to believe it, maybe because of the impact on marginal voters of “being on the winning team,” perhaps because of the need to keep donors on board and focused on the top of the ticket, and almost certainly, in most cases, for deep psychological reasons of their own. At the elite, chattering-class level, conservatives are, after all, in the habit of thinking of themselves as “winners” in life, and of Democrats as a vast coalition of “losers.” This is why so many of them are bullies by nature, and can’t really accept defeat in any legitimately framed competition. They are The Elect, and Elections should reflect that fact, right?
So it will be difficult some days to cut through the din of perpetually renewed lusty conservative cries that the Black Devil-Man in Washington is on the run, and to avoid the temptation to spin right back just to annoy the wingnuts. But I am going to try, and best I can tell, the presidential race is what it always was—a close contest that could go either way—but with the fundamentals now favoring Obama to the point where it will take more than endless and interminable and often silly hype (I’m going to scream if I hear one more reference to “energy levels”) over one debate to change the outcome.
And from the other end of the Seriously spectrum, Elspeth Reeve at the Atlantic Wire finds Rod “Green Balloon” Jetton getting quoted about Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin. Missouri, it’s a very special state…
SiubhanDuinne
NPR’s Morning Edition is already breathlessly slobbering all over the latest Pew polls.
Mustang Bobby
I’ve stopped listening to NPR’s Morning Edition, at least for now. First, my local station had a begathon last week, so between the pleas for money and the concern trolling about the polls, I’d rather listen to Music Through the Night from Interlochen over the tubes or watch ads for boner pills and hair tonic on cable TV.
balconesfault
All I know is that every swing state where a judge monkeywrenches GOP voter suppression efforts is another nail in Mitt’s yacht. Below the waterline.
balconesfault
So we now have a 10 point gap between Pew and Gallup … who would have predicted that would have been an ( R ) bias for Pew, and a (D) bias for Gallup?
Strange days indeed … most peculiar.
hep kitty
I was listening to Tweety or somebody last nite saying that in the VP debate, Biden is going to take on a lotta the shit that Obama did not take on in the debate.
Especially with regards to health care, that should be mighty interestin’
Somehow, it does seem so very right
MikeJ
@hep kitty:
Ryan is actually on the record with his views on health care. He’s in congress and has to vote. Romney is more slippery since the only things he’s ever done in his life are send jobs to China, institute a health care plan identical to the one he now hates, and run for office.
hep kitty
@SiubhanDuinne: Haven’t seen the polls, but I assume that means Mitt is leading by a HAYUGE margin.
Randy P
I think we’ve about to see Romney’s poll bounce end. I started watching Five Thirty Eight’s numbers day by day right after the debate, and I’ll keep watching to see how it plays out (kind of why I bothered buying tickets to see the last two Star Wars prequels).
The nation will then be greeted by the spectacle of the right wing noise machine going from “da polls are biased!” to “da polls are great!” and back to “da polls are biiased!” within a single week. This will peel off more Republican leaners who have reached the limit of thei personal embarrassment threshold.
I don’t believe this was part of any 11th-dimensional strategy. But I believe the Obama team knows it’s happening and will take advantage of it.
hep kitty
In other news, Jerry Sandusky is still Jerry Sandusky
hep kitty
@MikeJ: Agreed, it’s Ryan’s plan. Mitt thinks it’s “marvelous” but it’s still Ryan’s plan.
aimai
Ryan is going to deny that Romney is going to follow his plan at all. I hope Biden is prepared to say “Past performance is a pretty good predictor of future performance–with people as with political parties. Lets talk about what you actually did when you were in power.”
aimai
arguingwithsignposts
@hep kitty: there’s no link there.
JPL
Yesterday I started watching Homeland instead of reading the blogs and having a complete melt down. Today I planned on doing the same thing but disc two has a nice dent. Amazon how could you do that to me. I blame a Mitt Conspiracy.
Carolinus
Obama’s single biggest weakness: manic-progressive, backstabbing, kneecapping, “liberal” “leaders” like Sully, Maher, Stewart, etc.
After months of dominating the race, it’s not one night’s weak debate performance that damaged him, it was these idiots and their overwrought, exaggerated defeatism.
Instead of having their standard bearer’s back during a rough moment, when it’s actually needed, these fair-weather “progressives” started up the circular firing squad.
Worse still, their critiques were all about reinforcing existing RW stereotypes and memes: “Too stupid to speak without a TelePrompTer,” “looked like he was high on weed,” “lazy, timid, looked like he didn’t want to be there,” “threw the election away by not preparing,” etc.
The initial post-debate LV polls were a mixed bag, mostly showing Romney with improved GOP base enthusiasm, and the President improving among indies. President’s have had terrible debate performances before, like Bush’s first in ’04. The President’s wasn’t anywhere near that bad but what was unique was his so called supporters using their media magaphones to paint him as a cataclysmicly weak/timid/lazy leader.
And that’s what’s most infuriating about Sully’s rant. He claims he still supports the President, claims it’s essentially the end of the Republic if he loses, and then continues to tell his audience what a pathetic loser the President is and how one poll has made the election hopeless. Unfortunately he isn’t self aware enough to see the part he, and those like him, played (and continue to play) in muddying up the President’s image and creating poll results like that. The fact that his critiques of the President are constantly featured in RW media these days should tip him off to the fact that as a supposed supporter of the President he’s doing something spectacularly wrong.
JPL
@aimai: Joe should open with a makers and takers line. We have the most productive workers in the world but it is not enough for Ryan because of the minimum wage, medicare, medicaid and social security.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
About Jack Welch, the Monkey Cage has a great chart showing how ethical Welch was, by fudging the books to show his steady company earnings.
Steeplejack
@Carolinus:
It’s almost like he’s a fifth-columnist or something.
The Ancient Randonneur
Yeah those silly Arknansas nutjobs just can’t help themselves: (And this is NOT from the ONION!)
Let me see: slavery was good for African “immigrants” and now we have a another guy who thinks executing children will scare the rest of the kids into submission.
owlbear1
@Carolinus:
It has been striking how many people wanted the vicarious thrill of watching Obama kick Romney’s ass on live television.
Damn him for not delivering!!
JPL
@owlbear1: That’s not quite true. I just wanted a fist in the kisser. Is that so wrong of me?
Ash Can
I’m willing to bet that after the next debate — quite likely, after tomorrow night — this interminable angst over the first debate will all be down the memory hole.
owlbear1
@JPL:
Right after Mitt’s little threat to fire Lehrer and Big Bird, I wanted Obama to body slam Romney then snap him like a slim jim. :)
My advice is to ignore Sullivan. He is a gay republican so he’s already got serious self-abuse issues.
jwb
@balconesfault: Heard last night that Gallup tacking poll is changing from RV to LV this morning so it will show the race tied. If so, prepare for continued freakout.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Carolinus: People who are essentially conservatives but decided that Obama is better than the nut-case extreme right-wing Republicans right now suffer from a particularly fragile form of supporter syndrome, not so much actually supporting the Democrat as wanting revenge on the Republicans they feel betrayed them. So support can vanish in an instant if they don’t feel that the Democrat is sufficiently “kicking the ass” of the Republican.
With the exception of John Cole, who hasn’t hyped, linked, or even mentioned Sullivan recently and especially during this episode of hysteria. I know that could come off as snark but I mean it sincerely.
1badbaba3
I missed the previous thread where JG was asking for some motherfucking credit for not joining the post debate freakout (‘cos I was, like, sleeping), so allow me to give him some motherfucking credit.
Thanks John Cole for not being a part of the freakout.
Now, can you do something about these motherfuckin’ snakes on this motherfuckin’ plane?
Ta.
magurakurin
@Mustang Bobby:
I’d stopped listening to NPR in 1998….
owlbear1
@jwb:
Another week and there are going to be separate polls for each party.
Jill Stein and Gary Johnson should put out polls showing them both winning as well.
Debbie(Aussie)
@owlbear1: No disrespect intended, but he is a gay, ‘catholic’ republican. ;)
bemused
Sullivan periodically collapses hysterically on his fainting couch. What a dramatic freakout artist. He needs a drastic change of pace. If he would go for an extended stay in Bhutan, the country which measures Gross National Happiness, and write only of his experiences there, I might even read it.
jwb
Not generally a fan of Kevin Drum, but I tend to agree with this, especially around election time:
I’m not sure we’d ever rally around anyone who was willing to deny reality to this extent, but I do think our pundits and bloggers are not particularly adept at making sure any criticism of our side also hits the our opponents. There was absolutely no reason for our side to have had this stupid freakout.
owlbear1
U.S. Elections 2012: Shit just got Existential!
jwb
And PPP’s weekly poll has Romney +2. Please feel free to continue freaking out. Before moving on to contemplate suicide, however, do remember that 75% of the sample comes from Thursday and Friday, the height of the Romney bounce.
PurpleGirl
@The Ancient Randonneur: I watch a number of those true crime shows on Discovery Investigation. Most of the stories are about a spouse killing the other spouse. Almost 100% of the time the killer is found out and gets life in prison without parole. You would think that people would learn after a while that they can’t get away with murder and they will lose their freedom. (And in a couple of states, there are eventual executions.)
Does the idiot really think that an 8 or 10 or 14 year child will think things through and realize not to sass their parents?
amk
@jwb: libs their own enemies. story of their lives.
jwb
@jwb: Reading more into PPP poll, bounce seems to have peaked on Friday but the fact that the Saturday-Sunday polling still had Romney up by .5% suggests that the bounce had not completely faded in their poll.
Jay in Oregon
@The Ancient Randonneur:
I wonder what his stance on abortion is.
Republicans: Before birth, they’re God’s special angels and need to be defended at all costs; after they’re born, feel free to hang ’em from the rafters if they give you any lip, as a warning to the others.
some guy
Sully, Maher, Stewart are NOT liberals, no matter how much you might wish it.
SiubhanDuinne
@PurpleGirl:
@Jay in Oregon:
According to his bio, which I found at one of the links, when he’s not busy legislatin’ and writin’ books, he is, among other things, a Business Law Professor; Research Biologist; Chemistry, Physics, and Biology Teacher.
So that’s reassuring.
bemused
Chuck Todd on Morning Joe can’t understand why the Obama campaign keeps talking about the debate…he assumes it just helps Romney.
I heard Joe use the “floats all boats” phrase about 3 times this morning. I have no idea in what contexts. He seems to be rather fond of the phrase and using it to fit all boats.
pattonbt
When the EC swing state polls start getting into redder territory, then I will start to pay tighter attention. Romney got a bounce from the debate, whoop-de-do. The more and more I think about it, the more I agree with whomever further up who said the Village wanted a KO from Obama. They wanted a visceral beatdown, thats definitely what I wanted. I mean its Obama, Mr Smooth, versus Romney the Pathetic Robot.
That would have given them a “landslide” narrative. The only other option was Romney Wins! We have a race. So when Obama didnt deliver and did poorly based on his own standards (albeit in a lackluster debate all around) the media dogpiled on.
Im a tad bit surprised by the size of the debate bounce, but its coming back down to earth. At least now Romney has some expectations to live up to. He wont get the same pass in the next debates as he did in the last. But it’s now more of a game and Obama can not afford another poor performance.
The VP debate wont have any effect. Ryan will “win” but it wont get the same hype and dogpile bluster the Prez debate did.
Obama has to come out strong next time an just keep on keeping on. He’s got the lead and he’s good at this and Romney isnt, so the advantage is still clearly Obama’s.
Paul
@some guy:
I agree on Stewart and Sully. But Maher? I like him the best because he very consistent in his liberal views.
Hal
I think I’ll tune out for the next few days, and maybe wait until after the VP debate to tune back in. I had started to regularly read daily kos again because it seemed like they had moved on from the OBAMAISWORSETHANBUSH! narratives that were so popular, but now it’s a handful of diarist basically going around telling everyone that Obama is going to lose…unless you, dear reader, and especially the President, listens to them. Season 4 of Rupaul’s Drag Race is on Netflix, so I think I just watch that this week instead.
pattonbt
@bemused: I think its wise for Obama to talk about the debate. Hes doing it in a smart way “I lost, but who the heck was that guy? He sure wasnt the guy who’s been running for the last couple of years”.
If Obama didnt talk about it he’d appear afraid of it. Best to take it head on, laugh at oneself and double down on effort.
bemused
@pattonbt:
I do too. If Todd thinks it’s bad for Obama to do that, I’d say Obama is on the right track. Todd and the Villagers=George Costanza opposite game.
Paul
@jwb:
I trust intrade more than these daily polls that seem to contradict each other. Intrade still has Obama at around 64% chance of winning.
Most of the polling right now have Romney doing well because of his debate. It is just a bounce and intrade seems to think it is not sustainable. Just like it wasn’t for Mondale in 84 or for Kerry in 04 etc etc.
Elizabelle
It would be fascinating if we could have a “radio only” debate.
I think a lot of the kerfuffle on this one was visuals.
El Cid
@The Ancient Randonneur: Hey, you gotta give ’em credit for starting to take seriously their vows to uphold the Old Testament (King James version, as God intended, of course).
Gex
This is just evil.
some guy
@Paul:
He used to describe himself as a libertarian, but he has become more liberal over the last few years. He does support PETA, so that gives him a lot of leeway in my book.
Gex
@PurpleGirl: Child and mental development clearly shows that children those ages cannot think in terms of onsequences like adults do. That, however, is a finding from Satanic Science and not the Bible.
Boudica
@Elizabelle: This is true. I was disheartened after watching the debate, but the next day, hearing clips played on NPR (I know, I know), Obama sounded better than I remembered.
Shrillhouse
I’m praying for this election to be over. No more bouncing, fading, or “energizing the base”, please….
OGLiberal
@Carolinus: Agree completely. Imagine if the tables were turned in this debate with Romney having a lackluster performance and Obama all hyped up, spitting out lies left and right. The crew on Fox would have commended Romney for being restrained and dignified in the face of these outrageous lies. They would have talked about the substance of what he said. They would have said Obama looked a little crazed (hint, hint…wink, wink). The Corner would have done the same, as would have all of the right wing pundits. You would have never seen the folks on Fox completely lose it like the MSNBC gang did. You would never see Rich Lowry and Bill Kristol spend days moping around on the Internets like Sullivan.
If you’re going to choose a side – and Sullivan and MSNBC (Morning Joe aside) appear to have made that decision – then stick with it. They didn’t have to come out and say Obama did a great job but almost everything thing they’ve said and written about post-debate should have been about Romney’s lies, his lack of specifics, his flip-flops, his lack of respect for the moderator or the president, etc, etc.
Instead, we get fainting couches and suicide watches.
Learn the game, lefties/Dems!
rlrr
@some guy:
IIRC, Maher supported Dole back in ’96…
Boudica
Oops…dangling participle…
after hearing clips on NPR, I thought Obama sounded better than I remembered.
Elizabelle
@OGLiberal:
If I ruled the airwaves, Chris Matthews and Ed Schulz would still be on suspension for their hyperbolic meltdowns. Unprofessional behavior.
With radio, we’d be discussing substance. What we’re getting is style, and The New York Times and other papers pointing out that Romney’s claims do not stand up.
pattonbt
@Elizabelle: Your point is salient. What people who refuse to accept Obama lost only talk about is substance. While substance is all well and good, this is America and substance isnt what wins. Otherwise it would be all long boring policy wonk discussions and Republicans wouldnt have won an election for the last 35 years.
Whether we like it or not, visuals matter. And matter a ton. Pretty much without fail the most charismatic candidate has won the presidential election for as far back as I can remember. Visuals matter to non tribal voters (and to tribal voters – look at how much Romneys standing has improved with the base from the election as evidence).
You can whine about substance all you want, it wont win you anything. It sucks, but thats the way it works.
amk
@rlrr: wasn’t maher running around with arianna puffingtonofmoney during her CA governor/senate run ?
muddy
@JPL:
Of course it’s not wrong, this is the default position on Mittens.
mai naem
Maher’s becoming more liberal as he’s getting older. Jack Welch’s head totally looks like a tortoise head in the cartoon, like I’ve always thought he looks. Jack Welch is a lying POS and runs a diploma mill. This guy screwed on his second wife, then told her he wanted to get divorced but that they could live together until all the details were figured out. Then, he locked her out of the house. Of course, all this bit him in the ass because she was a high powered lawyer when he married her(the twit made her give up her job when they got married to babysit him) and took him for a lot of money. Furthermore, all the little extra perks he was getting from GE(expensive sports tix,use of corporate jet, use of corporate housing etc.) came out during the divorce proceedings and the board of GE had to pull those perks. Wonder what Mitt thinks about those family values eh??? Also Jack’s current wife(#3) worked under Mitt at Bain. Isn’t it special how that is not mentioned by the lamestream media?
Sly
@Paul:
Maher’s problem isn’t so much his views, but his rather poor ability as a talk show host. He’s a somewhat shitty host because he’s a good comedian, not despite it; you can tell from watching Real Time that he spends most of his prep rehearsing what he’s going to say on a given set of issues (prioritizing the comedic elements) and not much time at all researching his guests positions on those same issues.
That leaves him incredibly vulnerable to guests who pepper him with a torrent of nonsense in order to confuse him, which often does happen with conservative guests and they are often successful. His positions may be reliable, but his ability to advocate for them in the face of opposition is not, and this makes his critique of Obama’s debate performance a bit laughable.
The one time where he unequivocally trounced a conservative guest was D’Souza, but that was due to Maher having an eleven year old axe to grind over the cancellation of Politically Incorrect. He beat him up not simply because he wanted to, but because it mattered to him personally enough to do the required studying.
Elizabelle
@pattonbt:
I think a lot of people did notice the substance.
And then they get the media industrial complex, 24/7, preaching on “style.” Reinforcing the narrative.
But your point is taken.
Shiny objects rule.
gnomedad
This has probably been said, but it looks like the Black-Man-Who-Cannot-Be-Seen-As-Angry’s choice for Vice-President of a White-Guy-With-A-History-Of-Verbal-Gaffes may pay off here. I hope Biden has been instructed to go in with guns blazing.
PurpleGirl
@Gex: That’s true. In another article about this guy’s idea (I think on Slacktivist) it was pointed out that he couldn’t give an example of the punishment actually being carried out in the OT.
rumpole
You guys have this wrong. It was not a close race. The debates do what the political conventions used to do. People already know Obama–some like him, some tolerate him. Maybe they watched his speech, maybe they didn’t. (Why would you watch a convention if all you heard was background noise about how pointless they are to cover? Especially if (a) they’re boring as hell and (b) dancing with the stars is on, or you need to catch up on Breaking Bad?).
His staff should know that the press does not cover substance. If Obama calls Romney out on his lies THAT BECOMES THE STORY. Instead, what you have is a situation where all you hear out of the post-debate coverage is that Obama got his ass kicked. People won’t vote for a guy that allows that to happen to him (See Kerry, John, see also Marshall Josh (discussing the “bitch slap” theory of politics). People don’t expect the President to take shit from anybody. This is something that Bush understood (indeed, it might be the only thing that Bush really understood). Voters (including those who like him) certainly don’t expect him to permit someone to lie about what he’s done for the past four years and never contest it. If they see him do that, he will lose support. Thus the poll shift.
In addition (and again, Bush was great at this because he was so cognitively limited) the debate gives you a chance to tie into the big themes of your campaign. Obama’s campaign has spent millions of dollars saying (a) Bain, liar, tax cheat, elitist; and (b) that he approved this message. So tie those simple themes into your debate performance. Fucking approve them. Tie them together.
I’m not suggesting Sullivan levels of hysteria. So long as he’s coherent, Biden can rip Ryan apart, and he doesn’t have the “angry black man” baggage to have to deal with. He can be the irate Irish uncle if he needs to be.
It’s still the economy. If I were preparing for the debate on foreign policy, I’d start with a “strong abroad, but we need to be strong at home” and tie that weakness back to Romney’s lies and evasions. And I’d also let it be known to his supporters and the press that he’s coming out swinging. In the FP scenario, he’s the commander in chief. The dude with the launch codes. If he looks weak there, he is in deep shit.
And thus ends today’s rant.
khead
My favorite southern WV wingnut suggests that Obama is fixing the job numbers in today’s column.
wrb
@Carolinus:
This
I get up in the morning and find that someone has saved me a bunch of tying.ping
If Obama loses it will be because he was so badly Sullied.
First with the hysterical live-blog that sat atop memorandum for a day, turning a mildly disappointing performance that none the less produced lots of Mitt lies to expose in subsequent days int THE WORST WIMP OUT EVER BY THE LAZY BLAG POT HEAD WHO CAN’T THINK WITHOUT A TELEPROMPTER… and then last night’s orgasmic Sully-baggery.
jshooper
The loudmouths on the “left” are simply using the debate as an excuse to openly undermine Pres. Obama….they have been holding it in all summer but now they feel unchained…they no longer have to pretend that they want Obama to win…they can join in with the rest of the media and FAP FAP FAP to how much they want a white president again…Even one who lies and changes his position from minute to minute…Quite simply, Obama bores them…since they can’t use his blackness against him without coming off as racist (though they try and try)…they have no use for him…if he doesn’t fulfill their every wish (emotionally and politically)…they toss him aside like an old toy…Obama has become woody from Toy Story
Brachiator
@pattonbt:
Stop blaming the Village for this. Before the debate, most of the posts right here in Balloon Juice anticipated Obama delivering an eleven dimensional take down of massive proportions.
That didn’t happen. Worse, apparently, Obama did not look as poised and in control as he normally does.
Before the debate, Romney was proceeding from stumble to stumble. The Democrats, meanwhile were still cruising from a successful convention.
Everybody was looking for Obama to seal the deal. Even Republicans.
Didn’t happen. There is no point in trying to wish away the disappointment into a corn field. And some voter preference may have shifted.
This just means that the campaign continues. Deal with it.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@Carolinus:
It’s almost as though the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
The more this goes on, the more that sinking feeling I keep getting about American politics returns. The feeling that all it boils down to is a Republican pinning a Dem to the ground, punching him in the face repeatedly screaming ‘FUCK YOU FUCK YOU, WE WIN ALWAYS,YOU FUCKING FUCKING LIBERAL, FUCK YOU WE WIN FOREVER!!!’ and the spectators murmuring how much of a fucking pussy that Dem has to be, and how strong and manly the Republican is.
I mean…god, fucking goddammit, I don’t care how bad you thought the debate was. Are we really fucking seeing 10-15% swings because Obama glanced down at his podium during the debate? Are we really fucking seeing 10-15% swings because Mitt can plaster a fake smile and Obama ‘umm’ed a bit through his responses? Are we really this fucking shallow as a country that our politics comes down to who can plaster the biggest shit eating grin on their face while streaming lie after lie into a microphone? That somehow makes you into a super-fucking mega-Presidential genius and looking down and umming turns you into the biggest fucking retard hack disaster ever?
What the fuck, America? No, fuck you if you’re this fucking shallow that one debate has fucking turned you completely on your head into the loving strangling arms of the GOP. Fuck you.
McJulie
@OGLiberal:
I just wanted to join the chorus of people finger-wagging at the defeatist freakking out of ostensible Obama supporters such as Sullivan. So, so true that the right never breaks message like that. They spin. We could spin too — without even lying.
The immediate polling after the debate had a pretty even three-way split with Obama winning, Romney winning, and tie. Which is about what you would expect for a tie, actually. Even if you felt in your heart (or whatever organ Sullivan’s got going on there) that Romney won, you can emphasize the negatives: he “won” by lying his ass off, including flip-flopping on positions he’s previously expressed and lying about whether he ever held that position.
Now he’s trying to walk that back — apparently he has so little respect for the American people that he thinks he can tell us one thing during the debate and another thing on the campaign trail, and we’ll believe him both times. Who the hell is this guy?
The Obama camp is on that message.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
Bleh. And my cathartic rant gets shunted into moderation for reasons I know not. Whatever.
Brachiator
One of the rotating ads at the top of this blog reminds us that “Atlas Shrugged, Part 2,” opens this weekend.
Where is the Ballon Juice post screening party being held? Did someone remember to invite Paul Ryan?
Are DougJ and Mistermix going to double date again and go to a midnight screening?
Abijah L.
If I limit my blog reading to panic free sites, what will I do with the rest of my time? I’ll have to work.
yopd1
This Obama Big Bird ad is the funniest political ad I’ve ever seen.
Matt McIrvin
I wondered early in this campaign if Andrew Sullivan was going to flip back to supporting the Republican candidate by the end of it. There’s still three and a half weeks.
I find the idea that he has some kind of major influence on the American zeitgeist difficult to believe.
R-Jud
@Matt McIrvin:
Because he doesn’t, maybe? Most people I talk to don’t know who he is.
Paula
@yopd1:
Is OfA allowed to do that?
pattonbt
@Brachiator: Where did I blame the village? I blame human nature. Obama looked dour, Romney looked charged. Substance doesnt matter as much as optics (ask Richard Nixon). I do think a contributing factor the the “freakout” over the loss, though, was the expectation that Obama would pummel the wooden gaffe-machine.
So there was an extra layer of OMG FREAKOUT that not only was Obama losing, he was losing to “this guy?”.
I mean it wasnt just the village, it was here on these pages.
And I think of the few posts Ive made they are exactly in line with the sentiment you expressed.
He lost, big deal, move on.