[Official Thread] OBAMA WINS RE-ELECTION

[Dalton]

A video from 14 years ago that's totally discredited by Obama's 8 years of public service vs a video from last week where a guy clearly states what he wants to do and how he views anyone who won't vote for him? Yeah Mitt, that's gonna work.

Actually, that video was shot in May, as I recall. Not that four months makes much difference; Romney is still fucking doomed.

[Flagg]

It was May? I thought it was from Friday. Oh well, either way, it's damning.

[Flagg]

A video from 14 years ago that's totally discredited by Obama's 8 years of public service vs a video from last week where a guy clearly states what he wants to do and how he views anyone who won't vote for him? Yeah Mitt, that's gonna work.

Romney is still fucking doomed.

I just don't believe it. Not yet anyway. He can turn this around by continuing to gin up the race based welfare lies. Will it be enough for him to win is the real question. I think it could be with the voter suppression in swing states along with getting the GOP base out, assuming any of them are still fired up by November, which they could be if Romney gets them into frothing at the mouth "Git that n*****!" mode.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Right now I would say the race is Obama's to loose.
If he says something terrible, or does horrible in the debates if he flubs and starts doing really stupid stuff.. Yeah Romney could win, but it's really hard to see right now.
If he maintains his current numbers and doesn't do anything stupid his win is looking more and more certain.

The trouble Romney has right now, as stated before, is between demographic shifts and his own idiocy, the Math is just not for him.
He simply cannot win only the GOP Base alone, he needs some middle and moderate voters to fall in line behind him, and right now that just does not seem to be happening.

[Flagg]

The issue I see with "undecideds" (read: Idiots) is apathy due to the election getting really nasty. It could easily turn them off and keep them from voting at all.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Yes, but those apathetic voters would have to be ones who were going to vote for Obama but won't this time. And there does not seem to be a lot of those, or there are fewer and fewer.

I do not have the poll bookmarked, but I remember seeing a report that the number of people who said "I voted for Obama last time but won't this time' going from Jan through August, and the numbers have plummeted. I don't remember the poll so unfortunately I couldn't cite it

For me the biggest threat to Obama is in the voter fraud that the republicans are planning in key battle ground states such as Ohio, Penn, and Florida. If they are able to stop enough voters it could make the race much tighter, which is what these laws are all about.
And even THAT is a sign of how bad it is for the GOP.. When you get to the point where you say "The only way we can win, is if we are able to STOP people voting for the other guy" Not, get them to vote for you, but simply to block their ability to vote at all.

[D.Turtle]

I wont apologize for my lack of faith in the American electorate. I mean we got the Tea Party into Congress in 2010 after all.

Its not your lack of faith in the American electorate that I find so grating. It is the almost constant sense of DOOM™ and "Romney campaign is going to unleash DOOM™ strategy, which will DOOM™ Obama!"

Cutting down on the DOOM™, would be enough. All the campaign minutiae can still be interesting (and highly entertaining, and might actually have some effect on the result), and I have no problem with bringing that out. But the constant sense of DOOM™ is just ...

Oh: DOOM™

About the undecideds: The number of truly undecided people is tiny (less than 2% in some polls). This election is going to be decided by turnout of ones (strong and weak) supporters (and the turned out vote being counted), and not on convincing undecideds.

[Dalton]

A video from 14 years ago that's totally discredited by Obama's 8 years of public service vs a video from last week where a guy clearly states what he wants to do and how he views anyone who won't vote for him? Yeah Mitt, that's gonna work.

Romney is still fucking doomed.

I just don't believe it. Not yet anyway. He can turn this around by continuing to gin up the race based welfare lies. Will it be enough for him to win is the real question. I think it could be with the voter suppression in swing states along with getting the GOP base out, assuming any of them are still fired up by November, which they could be if Romney gets them into frothing at the mouth "Git that n*****!" mode.

Obama just started capping 50% in national polls, and the Romney campaign is taking a steaming dump that's a month premature. I'm not that worried.

[Block]

Romney is still fucking doomed.

I just don't believe it. Not yet anyway. He can turn this around by continuing to gin up the race based welfare lies. Will it be enough for him to win is the real question. I think it could be with the voter suppression in swing states along with getting the GOP base out, assuming any of them are still fired up by November, which they could be if Romney gets them into frothing at the mouth "Git that n*****!" mode.

Obama just started capping 50% in national polls, and the Romney campaign is taking a steaming dump that's a month premature. I'm not that worried.

Yeah, the Romney campaign tried to "reboot" itself on Monday and that got swept aside in the shitstorm that came from this video being leaked. It really looks like he's circling the drain. As long as Obama doesn't somehow look like the secret Muslim socialist the Right likes to paint him as in the debates he should be fine.

[Dalton]

Yeah, the Romney campaign tried to "reboot" itself on Monday and that got swept aside in the shitstorm that came from this video being leaked. It really looks like he's circling the drain. As long as Obama doesn't somehow look like the secret Muslim socialist the Right likes to paint him as in the debates he should be fine.

They began shifting off the economy message to go for a broader-scope attack, and that video came at the exact right time to slam them into full spin mode...which isn't exactly working well, as Mitt has apparently doubled-down on those comments in the public sphere, from what I recall. Fuck, his chief strategist is apparently quite loathed even within the campaign itself. It's quite interesting to see, in a trainwreck sense.

[Block]

They had Bay Buchanan on CNN the other day trying to spin this and she just came off as a raging bitch who didn't want to answer the questions being asked, and for once the reporter mostly did his job and called her on it. I'm not sure if she's the chief advisor, but if she is, I could see why she would be hated.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Indeed so, the string of recent Gaffs have been a "perfect storm" crippling his campaign.

After it became apparent that Obama got a seizable Bump from his convention, they tired to backpedal on the "Economy Only" plan, which cost them a lot of time.
Then as that was getting started, the events in Libya took place and he lost over a week defending himself on that Gaff.
THEN we had the video come out, and Mittens goes into even more back peddling and loss of valuable campaign time and now it seems like the circular firing squad we saw during the later days of McCains race are starting up quite a bit early.

All in all a trainwreck is putting it mildly.

[Patrick Degan]

At the beginning of the movie Patton, George C. Scott, making the big speech with the flag filling the backdrop behind him, spells out this simple observation:

"Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser."

It's a fairly basic statement, but it does happen to have more than an element of truth regarding the American psyche and it's provided me with a rather useful indicator to predict presidential elections. The candidate who looks like a loser between the conventions and the debates invariably winds up the loser of the election. The more of a stumblebum or clown one looks, the worse he does down the stretch. Using this observation as a lens, you can see how the defeats of Dukakis, Bush I, Dole, Kerry and McCain were almost foregone conclusions —especially Dukakis, Kerry and McCain, whose campaigns came apart at the seams within three weeks following their conventions. At some point, the voters outside of their dedicated yet demoralised base just stopped taking them seriously anymore, and they lost.

The Romney campaign, from the convention onward, has presented itself as one big festering pile of incompetence. Even the GOP's own propaganda spinners are unable to hide their disgust and dismay and Romney is slowly becoming poison to any Republican candidate interested in winning this November: such as the current incumbent New Mexico governor Susana Martinez, North Carolina Republican Mark Meadows who's running for Congress, and Linda McMahon who's making her second bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Connecticut. And every time Queen Ann opens her stupid mouth to attempt damage control, she only makes things worse.

"Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser."

Well, at this point in time the man who looks the loser in this race is definitely not the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[Block]

Did Kerry's campaign really come apart? Wasn't it torpedoed by some of the vilest attacks yet seen and a refusal to hit back?

[Dark Hellion]

Did Kerry's campaign really come apart? Wasn't it torpedoed by some of the vilest attacks yet seen and a refusal to hit back?

I think you answered your own question here. Kerry's campaign didn't self-destruct the way that McCain's did and Romney's seems to be going but it did fail to present Kerry as a desirable candidate and did a horrible time of countering the swiftboaters, flip-flopper and other things which is a pretty damning failure of a campaign.

[FSTargetDrone]

A video from 14 years ago that's totally discredited by Obama's 8 years of public service vs a video from last week where a guy clearly states what he wants to do and how he views anyone who won't vote for him? Yeah Mitt, that's gonna work.

There was some careful omissions by the Romney campaign concerning that video:

In rest of '98 clip, Obama speaks of 'competition' and 'the marketplace'

By Michael O'Brien, NBC News

Updated 11:29 p.m. — Mitt Romney's campaign this week has pounced on a 14-year-old clip of Obama speaking about "redistribution" in October 1998 at a conference in Chicago, in which the future president seems to extol the virtues of redistributing wealth.

Yet NBC News has obtained the entirety of the relevant remarks, which includes additional comments by Obama that weren't included in the video circulated by Republicans. That omission features additional words of praise for "competition" and the "marketplace" by the then-state senator.

In the whole clip, Obama says:

I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot. How do we pool resources at the same time as we decentralize delivery systems in ways that both foster competition, can work in the marketplace, and can foster innovation at the local level and can be tailored to particular communities.

Obama continues in a few words after that to describe the use of tax credits in setting public housing development policy in Chicago as an example before concluding.

The video circulated by Republicans, which has used as fodder for an attack on Obama, includes a longer reflection by Obama about talking about how government action can be effective. But the clip has been cut short after the word "shot;" Obama's words about competition, the marketplace and innovation are omitted from the clip.

Romney has nonetheless seized upon this clip as his campaign looks to regain its footing after the release of a surreptitiously-recorded video of the GOP presidential nominee speaking at a private fundraiser in May. Romney's campaign has been bogged down in criticism from conservatives and Democrats alike since the release of the clip, in which Romney talks about how he couldn't count on the support of 47 percent of Americans, since they pay no taxes, and are "dependent" on government.

The Republican candidate has used it as campaign fodder as recently as Wednesday.

"This is how America works. It does not work by a government saying, become dependent on government. Become dependent upon redistribution. That will kill the American entrepreneurship that’s lifted our economy over the years," Romney told donors at a fundraiser this afternoon in Atlanta. "The question of this campaign is not who cares about the poor and the middle class? I do. He does. The question is who can help the poor and the middle class? I can! He can’t!"

Anyway, I can't see a video this old being as effective as what Romney said just a relatively short time ago (especially at a fund-raiser).

[Knife]

Did Kerry's campaign really come apart? Wasn't it torpedoed by some of the vilest attacks yet seen and a refusal to hit back?

I think you answered your own question here. Kerry's campaign didn't self-destruct the way that McCain's did and Romney's seems to be going but it did fail to present Kerry as a desirable candidate and did a horrible time of countering the swiftboaters, flip-flopper and other things which is a pretty damning failure of a campaign.

That was the first election I have ever not voted for someone in. Yeah, the Kerry campaign came across as weak and ineffectual. I wasn't going to vote for Bush, but couldn't bring myself to pull the lever for that tool either.

[Flagg]

And the etch-a-sketch has been shaken. Now he won't have his base. Poor Willard.

[Darth Wong]

I wont apologize for my lack of faith in the American electorate. I mean we got the Tea Party into Congress in 2010 after all.

Its not your lack of faith in the American electorate that I find so grating. It is the almost constant sense of DOOM™ and "Romney campaign is going to unleash DOOM™ strategy, which will DOOM™ Obama!"

Cutting down on the DOOM™, would be enough. All the campaign minutiae can still be interesting (and highly entertaining, and might actually have some effect on the result), and I have no problem with bringing that out. But the constant sense of DOOM™ is just ...

Oh: DOOM™

About the undecideds: The number of truly undecided people is tiny (less than 2% in some polls). This election is going to be decided by turnout of ones (strong and weak) supporters (and the turned out vote being counted), and not on convincing undecideds.

I can understand your annoyance at doomsaying. On the other hand, I find that people in Democratic circles seem to be doing an awful lot of self-congratulation right now, and I am a firm believer that he who counts his chickens before they're hatched is a fool. The time for triumphalism is after one has already triumphed. All these stupid "picture memes" going around Facebook calling Mitt Romney's campaign a failure only breed a dangerous sense of confidence.

[Lord MJ]

I certainly feel a lot better about this election than say 2-3 months ago when Mitt was lying and getting away with it.

Despite his gaffes and silliness, he is still a formidable candidate with lots of cash backing him. But the more he makes a fool of himself, the less people will be willing to kick Obama out of office even if the attack ads that we will be blitzed with in October cast a negative view of Obama. But it's not over till November 6.

In some other news. Did Romney totally tan his face so he could appear darker when interviewing with a Hispanic TV station?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09 ... _hp_ref=uk

[Dalton]

Whoa! That's not doctored? Either he's watched too much Jersey Shore or the makeup people were a little too enthusiastic. Can't chalk that up to bad camera shading.

Shit, he looks like an Oompa Loompa.

[Crossroads Inc.]

A Makeup mistake that just happens to be before he shows up on a latino network?

Which is more sad... That this was a "mistake" and no one bothered to fix it before he went out.
Or, that he ACTUALLY Made himself look darker to somehow try to appeal to Latinos?

[D.Turtle]

I can understand your annoyance at doomsaying. On the other hand, I find that people in Democratic circles seem to be doing an awful lot of self-congratulation right now, and I am a firm believer that he who counts his chickens before they're hatched is a fool. The time for triumphalism is after one has already triumphed. All these stupid "picture memes" going around Facebook calling Mitt Romney's campaign a failure only breed a dangerous sense of confidence.

I don't think Obama has the election in the bag. He currently has a small advantage, but thats it. I hate the implied hyper-competence of Republicans that shines through in most of MJ'S posts about the election. They are simply humans, with all that entails.

Of course, one topic that is largely being ignored through all this are all the state and local elections. I have pretty much no idea what those look like at the moment, except for a recent post on the Monkey Cage estimating a total wash in the House - +1 seat for the Democrats - albeit with a very, very large margin of error.

Those state and local elections was where the real difference was made in 2010. I hope some of that will be reversed. Also, those are the races where money and campaigns and singular happenings/gaffes/whatever can make a real difference.

[Patrick Degan]

Which is more sad... That this was a "mistake" and no one bothered to fix it before he went out.
Or, that he ACTUALLY Made himself look darker to somehow try to appeal to Latinos?

Both.

Meanwhile, reports are circulating that Tim Pawlenty has quit as the Romney campaign co-chairman to work as a Wall St. lobbyist —which also takes him out of the running for a 2014 bid for the Senate as well.

[Rogue 9]

You only vote for Obama if you don't pay income taxes and feel you're entitled to everything

Here's hoping this bites him in the ass somehow, but people who vote for Romney (for the most part, not all) probably already feel this way. My dislike for this man has reached a low I didn't think was possible...

The Daily Show took this and knocked it out of the park last night.