The delusions on the left by some continues. Every night I see the progressive pundits on MSNBC with big smiles on their faces watching the race thinking it’s in the bag for Obama because the GOP are so batcrapcrazy. In fact night after night Lawrence O’Donnell with glee says Romney and Ryan will lose the election even though he was so wrong about his previous Pawlenty predictions. The group think is that Romney is such a bad candidate and big liar that he will never win the presidency. Folks the left now has it’s own echo chamber and it’s not based in reality. The big delusion among these pundits and Democrats are that facts and policies matter in the first place to swing voters. The problem with these predictions are that for the first time in electoral history Romney has enough money to sell the big lie. In fact at least two big lies are working.
First Ronmey’s continued lie about President Obama ending the work requirement is starting to work with white working class voters. Some of the recent swing state voting has shown marked improvement by Romney. What Democrats fail to understand is that in this case the truth does not matter even among some independents. Because even if Obama is not ending the work requirement now they think he wants to and all they need is the flimsy evidence called a state waiver to believe it.
Secondly seniors are believing the Romney big lie on Medicare. It’s easy for them to understand Obama is cutting costs %716 billion with Obamacare. They never trusted Obama anyway so the explanations that there are no benefit cuts as a result play poorly with a bunch of scared seniors. Florida polls have actually been better for Romney recently even though he wants to kill Medicare as we know it. Again complacent Dems think that it’s easy to seniors the truth that ending the cuts in the ACA will actually make Medicare insolvent faster, but this assumes the seniors even know what the term ‘insolvent’ means. They see Romney’s plan as not hurting them because the Republicans cynically are not making many changes to Medicare for voters 55 or older.
There are other key indicators that the president’s chances of reelection are in peril. On top of that list are voter suppression and a huge money gap. The GOP is going to litterally give FL to Romney, some way some how Rick Scott will make an inevitable close race turn FL red like it was in 2000. Voter suppression efforts in PA and OH could be devastating to the Obama campaign as well. No matter what the GOP wants to sell they have enough money to sell it. It’s not just that the Romney has enough money to sell one lie, he has enough money to sell ALL his lies until a couple stick.
Things are getting better for Romney in other ways. No one is asking about his taxes which means no one is talking about his tax plans either. Sure Dems think we will win the culture war this time because of the war one women, but Dems have never won an election on culture wars. In fact all the groups Obama counts on are traditionally low turnout voters including single women. While Republicans thrive and turn out in droves to vote against people they hate like President Obama, Dems need to love their candidate to turn out in great numbers. While Obama is loved by his real core there are still a big group of ‘dissapointed’ lefties out there holding grudges against Obama. We don’t hear them much in an election year but that resentment is still there. There are signs this is true like voter registration for Dems being way down compared to Republicans because of this.
Most of all Democrats are complacent. They simply think that Romney/Ryan and the GOP are so out there on the right wing that American will never vote for them. But most of the middle still see the GOP as a viable alternative because they don’t dive past the shinny exterior the GOP wants them to see. Ironically Ryan does make holding onto the Senate look much better for Democrats which is good because they will be the only backstop with a Romney presidency.
So just to warn you all when the clown show called the RNC convention convenes and Romney is repackaged expect Romney to take a lead in the polls. The vast majority of his gaffes and missteps will be nothing but distant memories when most people were not watching anyway. Romney will look like a shinny new car even though he was totaled because most voters won’t bother to check the Carfax. All his previous gaffes have done is set the expectations so low for Romney in the debates that if he comes close to Obama he wins. So after Romney becomes the official nominee he can really unload his war chest in the swing states and the big lies will become truths with the voters he needs in November.
The worse part of all is when Romney gets elected he will get all the benefits of an economy Obama saved and slide to an easy reelection. Romney will increase government spending drastically and get the economy supercharged at least until the next bubble breaks. Electing Romney would have been like giving FDR only four years to fix the Great Depression so there would have been Republican presidents who are as legendary as FDR is now.
This election is for the heart and soul of America and we could find out that our collective hearts and souls can be bought.
Thanks to the heads up from Kalima in her Morning Blog on her Tomasky’s review of this topic!!! This man hits it out of the park way so often when he addresses health care it;s amazing!
Please check it out!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/26/romney-and-ryan-are-peddling-fear-to-seniors-by-grossly-distorting-the-facts-on-medicare.html
No doubt the Medicare lies by Romney are starting to work. In a CNN poll Obama only bests Romney 49-48 on who is better to handle Medicare.
Be prepared for the Liar-in-Chief folks.
I have been voting for a long time. I think this election is just as important as the elections during the Vietnam War. In my opinion, we are just as divided a nation now as we were then.
None of the polls matter. What matters is that Democrats have to get out and vote. Make sure you are properly registered, according to the new laws (if any) in your state. See if you can help someone else register. Take as many friends as possible to the polls, or encourage them to vote.
I completely agree that Democrats cannot become complacent. We must make sure our voices are heard at the ballot box.
Vote!
KQ I do agree that the lies are the thing. I don’t actually worry overly much about the policy lies. Obama is quite capable of reminding people of the truth. What bothers me are the “undercurrent” lies – from the “birther” idiocy on to the meme that catastrophe is looming if Obama is re-elected and many variants on the theme. These are things that don’t actually reach the mainstream media but have a huge impact.
Case in point – the persistent drumbeat that has existed with the NRA and sovereign citizens since Bush I that the government is coming for ya. Black helicopters, UN takeover, roundups of guns, concentration camps etc. The rumors were bad enough under Clinton but are expanding in power and scope today. New book: Amerwrecka says Obama is the most dangerous man EVER and that his re-election will destroy the nation. New film – getting large attention – “2016” by RW pundit and alarmist Dinish D’Souza (himself an immigrant from East Asia) laying out the “dire” truth of Obama’s “real” background and influences.
I thought we’d heard it all back in the 90s when much of this was leveled at Clinton. Yes – it’s precisely what was charged at FDR – a “secret Jew” a “socialist” etc. – but it takes on a new power since this president is Black. We now can see the depths of the roots of fear in the nation against “the other” that influence us powerfully.
Today’s NY Times has a story that is a must read: “Ever Meek, Ever Malleable” by Frank Bruni. It is about a film people cannot accept – “Compliance” that details the horriyingly TRUE story about a series of incidents in 2004 where an authoritative voice of a man on the phone claiming to be a police officer directs other people to do actual, physical harm to totally innocent people on the premise that they stole money. And people complied going as far as sexually assaulting a woman at the direction of this voice.
This is not the first such incident but the only one I know that involves actual harm. In 1963 psychologist Stanley Milgram showed that people would inflict even lethal levels of what they believed to be electric shocks to someone they could hear but could not see. There were no actual shocks, but the subjects did not know that. Sixty-five percent of those supposedly administering shocks of almost lethal proportions, complied EVEN when they were reluctant. Why? A man in a white lab coat told them to.
Milgram was eventually sanctioned for performing the experiment and new ethical guidelines on the use of human subjects was created as a result. It does not, however, change the clear evidence that “being a good German” was not confined to Hitler’s nation. MANY people, even against their best judgment, will comply with horrific directions that cause harm.
Those who refused tended to be “outsiders” – minorities and some women in the main. The rest were not so much in refusal but were emotionally overwhelmed by the experience and could not do it.
Almost NO one challenged the “test” or went to help the “victim”. Obedience to authority – to white coated, white professional authority – was very strong.
So will we believe the Black man whose words and deeds can be verified or the White man whose promises are without credibility? Will we live by the truth – or once again, as we have in many previous circumstances, will we live by the lie?
We will see whether this nation is ready to grow up or not. The outcome will be dire if we do not.
I forget where I saw it now but I watched a show where they recreated that study. It’s amazing how many people can just turn off their human empathy in certain situations. In this version of the study they even said the man receiving the shocks had a heart condition and most people still went beyond the safety threshold.
Romney is trying to tap into every gram of white resentment he can. The big lie only works when there is a substantial emotional element involved that trumps reason. If Romney does steal this election by dividing this nation even further for his personal ambition it’s an indictment of the American heart and soul more than anything else.
I totally agree, and what is even worse – if there is something worse than voting upon racist fears – is that he is SO inept, as is Ryan and Bagger leadership, that they will absolutely destroy the economic system that is hanging on by a thread. When you see major business figures and GOP leaders saying what a disaster the economic “plan” is for the nation, this is seriously bad stuff. So combine their irrational fears with their utterly ignorant “economics” – all holy hell will be the result.
And no matter what the progressives think – they will NOT be the people who will “pick up the pieces”. They have less understanding of government and economics than do the Baggers!
So who will “win” the outcome of a Mitt-driven disaster is anybody’s guess.
KQ, I was talking to my daughters mother-in-law last night . She is British and told me that most Brits have more respect for Obama than Romney. She also said that nobody had any respect for “w”!
Too bad the Brits can’t vote here, huh?
As bad as the Tories are I would still take them over the GOP aka the American Taliban.
Being a Brit by naturalization, I totally agree Nirek, we do respect your President and have absolutely no respect for the likes of Mitt The Twit. He and people like Palin are the butt of many radio comedy shows that I listen to, and are thoroughly trashed by a bunch of very funny satirists, something the Brits excell at.
I can’t vote here in Japan either, even though I’ve payed more than my share in taxes for over 30 years. The up side, I have national health care, and although it won’t be enough to live on, I’m going to be able to claim a pension when the time comes.
E-mail from DSCC
Always take these “panicked” fundraising emails with a grain of salt, I get them all the time and they often exaggerate to drive people to donate.
They’re cherry picking single polls which, IMO, is really disingenuous.
I would normally agree AdLib but the Romney side is definitely putting a lot more money into ads now. I gave…
Olderandwiser55, your concern is well founded though take a peek at the recent polls snapshot in this comment and you’ll see that the trends aren’t really reflecting a public that’s buying Romney’s lies:
http://planetpov.com/2012/08/23/no-matter-what-democrats-think-the-presidential-race-is-a-toss-up-because-of-the-big-lies/#comment-188476
Yes, I saw that earlier. There is about 6% undecided I think and 10% that can be “stolen”. The president has a 4% lead in Colorado but that’s pretty slim against a lot of money. And the voters that are left are not terribly smart or analytic.
I just watched four anti-Obama ads in a row. This right before the 5:30 news. People are getting hammered.
I agree with you. I think it was a ruse to raise money. I heard just yesterday the opposite. THAT is why I do not put alot of weight in polls so far out from election day.
I saw that-and was looking at some other polls. Who knows but the right is really throwing a lot of money out there-and the Obama camp has to send valuable ad time refuting the lies. Romney’s ad on saving medicare played here and I have a terrible feeling some people fell for it.
This is the time.
KQ, I agree that we should never sit back and think this is going to be easy. No, we have a fight ahead of us but I think we can get prepared for battle and win. I have a small victory. An old classmate of mine from the Dark Ages, who is an Independent, sometimes a bit of a conspiracy theorist, told me last week that he will be voting for President Obama and in fact might go with a straight Democrat ballot. He lives in Florida! Now, I had a challenge getting him to see the faults with Ron Paul. But, he likes the ACA and does not want us to lose that. And, he doesn’t like Paul Ryan because of his concerns with Medicare that we are going to be in need of soon and his budget is going to hurt the middle class. As far as Romney, well, he thinks he is just out for the rich and hiding something in those taxes. So, one down and many more to go! There are more smart people in FL (although my friend is originally from Missouri but he agrees with me that our folks back home have gone nuts!) 🙂
I have trouble believing there are so many dumb people. I think it will be a landslide for Obama. The right wing media is calling it close to keep their ratings up.
The people of this country reelected GWB. Over 59,000,000 Americans were that dumb in 2004.
Remember this title?
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnypictures/ig/Funniest-Pictures-of-Decade/Bush-and-Dumb-People.htm
KQ, I think that shows the power of fear. I think if 9/11 had never happened, Bush would not have won a second term. Bush/Cheney played the terrorist fear card at every opportunity. They even went so far as to paint dems as terrorist sympathizers. Their basic message was, if a dem wins the presidency, the terrorists win. Sounds pretty stupid now, but by Bush’s second presidential campaign, a lot of people believed it.
Fear is the biggest weapon in the GOP political arsenal.
KQ – Here is Nate Silver’s current projections put on an interactive electoral map:
Here’s a link to the interactive map which is fun to play with: http://www.270towin.com/
I bet FL will go for Obama.
I’m with you, in the end, I think FL will go for Obama which would create a landslide for him…and a mandate!
IDK Clinton did not even win FL the second time.
This is from TPM’s tracker poll. Ohio, Obama is at 47.8% and Romney at 44.9%. Even though there are a lot of Christian fundies here, I think Obama will carry Ohio. There is a pretty solid middle class here.
South western Ohio is mostly red, they could be a problem.
The two polls that came out today on OH show Obama with a 3 and 6 point lead (shown in my comment below). He’s held a lead there for some time so it’s an encouraging trend. The meme is that no Repub in recent history has won the Presidency without winning OH. It’s just a meme but it sure will be tough for Romney to win without it.
I was just showing TPM’s tracker poll, basically. Yesterday they had Romney up in Fla and Pa. Today, Obama is up in Fla and Pa. I am hesitant to put a lot of stock in polls.
KT – I look at polls only over the long term for the trends, I agree that individual polls are not very meaningful.
The long term trend shows Obama ahead in OH:
And notice that only the Repub slanted Rasmussen and Purple Strategies have ever shown Romney with a lead, clearly outliers.
I don’t know KQ, you raise some good points, but I think you are underestimating the dems. Sure there are many who don’t stay informed, point by point, about what’s happening in this race. There are also many dems who would never vote for Romney or any other republican, no matter what.
Obama still has an overall lead among Americans. It’s not a very big lead, but it’s still a lead, none the less. I also think you may be underestimating our seniors’ intelligence.
Another factor in all this is the debates. I think the presidential debates will have a fairly large effect, IF the moderators do their jobs correctly and ask the tough questions.
I think the majority of people in the middle class know that Romney has no interest in strengthening the middle class. Then there are minorities, and women that see right through Romney’s grand charade, especially Latinos.
I’m not saying Obama is a shoe in, and you are right to advise on the side of caution. I do think this will be a close election, and it’s not impossible that a Romney win could happen. I don’t think he will win though. I think Obama will carry the required number of electoral votes needed to win.
It seems like the seniors in the Midwest get it but I’m not so sure of FL seniors in their Faux News bubbles.
I wish I could find it again but I read an account from a senior about what Ryan and Romney are doing with Medicare that I hope more seniors think like him. He said sure Medicare will be fine for us but what about my children and grandchildren. It’s a great program and I want them to have it too.
Believe me I know the electoral college hurdle Romney is facing even though I really think he has FL in the bag for the wrong reasons. Fortunately I don’t see Romney moving much in OH, your state, and he can’t win without it. Romney needs to run the table on FL and OH to win. He also needs to grab one or two other states like CO, VA or WI. The problems is I can see a real path for Romney winning VA, WI and FL. The good part is Obama really deserves to win OH because he saved the auto industry. Otherwise OH would have much worse unemployment numbers.
I think it’s a bit premature to say Romney has FL in the bag. The most recent poll shows Obama up by 3. It is in play but it’s far from over there.
This recent poll also shows that in FL, Obama holds a 50/42 advantage on the question of “Who Would Do a Better Job On Medicare”, which would seem to support the proposition that FL seniors haven’t bought into Romney’s Medicare lies in large numbers, at least as of yet.
I have to admit. I thought the president would attack Romney more on Medicare by now. Of course Dems have a natural advantage on Medicare and they should but Obama’s not talking to seniors enough.
KQ – Sometimes it can be a problem when there are too many targets to aim at. From what I hear, a big focus of the DNC convention will be on women. I’m sure they’ll focus on Medicare and they would be crazy not to hit on immigration and the partial Dream Act Obama’s instituted.
Hard to focus on anything other than Republican support for rape when it comes to this week but still, I do agree, Dems and Obama should be hitting hard on Medicare with seniors in FL and elsewhere.
According to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Ryan spoke at the “Villages”, an almost completely Republican area of the state. So I wouldn’t write FL off just yet. I’m betting that Debbie knows her state.
True. I’m in Colorado and Romney has his own commercials plus the republican national plus two super pacs… So at times I’m seeing one Obama commercial to four against.
This short video I loved and I wanted to share.
“In remarking on the political divisiveness and social unrest of an historically polarizing election and in commenting culturally and metaphorically on Victor Hugo’s fictional historic struggle at the barricades of freedom, “One Term More”, with deep affection and utmost respect, parodies the inimitable
“One Day More!”
http://www.onetermmore.com/video_subtitles.html
Oh I bet you are getting deluged by them. We just have a taste of them in GA.
CO is one of those places I worry about liberal dissatisfaction the most. They are not your typical reliable east and west coast liberals but more independent and even liberals. Not all of course but just generally speaking.
I know a few people from CO and they are still complaining about things like Obama not closing Gitmo when it was actually congress’ doing.
Unbelievable amount during prime time. I probably like them more than most because I’m such a political junkie but I can’t take them at times. I watch a lot of PBS supplemented with Netflix.
Yes, it’s quite different here. I hear other people in other states complain about “Blue dog” Dems but we have have two Democratic Senators as well as Governor. Secretary of State and State Treasurer(would you believe he’s a Bush cousin?) both republican which makes no sense-typical dirty tricks there. But a “real” liberal would never get elected here. The heart of Denver very liberal but it gets redder as you get out of the city, even the suburbs although they tend to be moderate right or left.
The rural areas are scary red.
And the “he didn’t close gitmo” types-also “drones”,”warmonger” etc is right wing propaganda/astro turfing. Right wingers have been hiring people to go to left wing blogs and amplify liberal fears. Matt Taibbi is one those that ignores the banksters that have been put away and writes a clever, witty article while omitting facts and the left really follows him. Good grief, he was a sportswriter.
So the question is will all varying degrees of left get together and vote? I’m just not sure. But I certainly will vote Obama/Biden 2012 and Democrat for every position including dog catcher lol.
In Chile, the right wing dictator was ousted when all leftist parties formed a coalition.
KQ, you’re right on the money with your caution on becoming complacent and believing that because Romney, Ryan and the GOP are so wrong on the issues, so extreme and such liars that voters will naturally recognize this and re-elect Obama. That’s what Dems thought when Reagan was running and when Bush was running. You just can’t take anything for granted in politics, especially that the majority will recognize what a disaster a candidate is.
Obama could lose, especially if people become overconfident about his winning and don’t work as hard as they can to make it happen.
That said, as I’ve often mentioned, there is a mathematical reality to winning sufficient electoral votes to become President and the numbers still don’t show Romney has a likely path to it. Here are the latest polls:
http://realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/president/
While you’re right that Romney and the RW SuperPACS are spending millions and eventually billions on ads hammering lies about Obama on his Medicare savings, welfare, etc., we do need to recognize that Obama’s and pro-Obama SuperPAC ads hammering Romney have been and continue to be very effective too.
This is not a one-sided fight, as has often been the case with the GOP vs. Dems, this time, the Dem is fighting back smartly and hard.
I mentioned in an earlier post today that Obama continues to hold onto a solid lead in OH and PA. If he wins those, he will win the Presidency. According to the polls above, Obama also leads in FL, NM, MI and WI. So at this point at least, the polls don’t reflect that Romney’s campaign of lies is putting him ahead.
Might Romney get a bump out of the RNC convention? Yep, though I would suggest that it would be very small since the convention will be an extremist Hate-a-Thon.
Then comes the DNC convention and Obama gets a bump back, especially with a positive theme which is what the bulk of the convention will be about.
Contrasting these two conventions will, IMO, only strengthen the Dems and Obama. And who knows how the RNC Convention might be hobbled by the possible impending hurricane.
Then of course we have the debates. Though there may be disagreements about how Romney may or may not be at a disadvantage in debates, I think that in the end, ROmney will be hurt by them. Romney has one major disadvantage to be sure, Obama will be in a high profile position to confront Romney on his lies and dishonesty on the issues. Having Obama and Romney standing side by side on the stage, one forcing chuckles, refusing to give specifics, dodging questions and launching mean spirited insults while the other carries a serious and substantial demeanor, addresses specifics and issues and has the experience and insights of an accomplished sitting President, I don’t see how anyone but die hard Repubs will see Romney as a winner in the debates.
All that said, it is for the best that Dems proceed as if this is a toss up election because not doing so could make it one.
I really don’t look at that many individual polls anymore and look at trends. The only analyst I believe is Nate Silver. Obama’s odds of winning are down 5% by his calculations in a week and there is no reason for it other than the barrage of lying Romney ads which he suggests may be working too. We are simply in uncharted territory with an incumbent being this far behind in the money race so anything can happen and this election is too important for chance. The GOP pollsters are not that dumb. They would not be running the 5th ad lying about Obama on welfare if they weren’t having some affect with those white working class voters.
I know Romney is not a smart man but again it’s always about expectations in debates. If Obama does not obliterate him their will be a narrative with pundits that Obama lost his edge or something like that.
I do agree it’s very important for Obama and the Dems to offer a positive vision for the nation. Unfortunately Obama cannot use the unity argument now so he has to use the future argument.
I don’t know that one week’s polls or one week’s change in Nate’s projections (which is influenced by polling) makes for a trend though. It’s typical that a ticket gets a little bump after a VP nom is announced so that does have to be considered as the reason for these results as opposed to the Romney lies being believed.
Quinnipiac, which held these latest polls, says that it’s the case:
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/polling-institute/presidential-swing-states-%28fl-oh-and-pa%29/release-detail?ReleaseID=1789
Also, I found this story on the latest polls to be helpful with regard to whether Romney’s Medicare lies are gaining traction:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/us/politics/polls-say-medicare-is-key-issue-in-3-swing-states.html?_r=1&hp
Next week, we’ll see polls after the Todd Akin debacle occurred so it will be interesting to see if the numbers in polls and Nate’s projections swing back towards Obama, stay the same or swing more for Romney.
PPP which is no right wing poll has Romney up one point in WI. Nate still has it leaning Obama but now there are two polls with Romney leading.
I agree with the tiny national bump Romney got from Ryan in fact my whole post I avoided even talking about the impact of Ryan because I think it’s the lying ads not him helping in some places like FL where Nate flipped and gives Romney a 56% chance of winning it now.
Man this article may be right on but its a big downer ;might as well give up on America if this happens.
We need to understand what we are up against. Wouldn’t it be worse if Democrats lost because we we’re so complacent. There are two sides to this election and only one has the passion now, add a clueless middle and it spells trouble.
If Romney does win we are in for the fight of our lives. Not only will he try to undo everything Obama did but LBJ and FDR as well.
Hey KQ. I disagree with “only one side has the passion”. I don’t know if you watch the President on the stump (you can catch just about every speech at The Obama Diary), but the crowds are way larger and much more enthusiastic at President Obama’s speeches than at Romney’s. Also, Romney got no bump from Paul Ryan. I think there is a split in the Republican Party and they sure are not enthusiastic about Romney.
I don’t think Democrats are complacent, especially those in states where Republican governors and legislators are instituting voter suppression. Democrats are fighting, both in the courts and informing people and helping them get the required ID. They are not waiting for courts to decide this. Also, DOJ is definitely involved with states that may be violating the Voting Act law.
I am concerned about the lying – not so much about the welfare ad, because I believe just about every newspaper, blog, factcheck, etc. have said it’s a lie. If white folks want to believe the worst about President Obama, some ad on TV is not the reason. Just like if they want to believe that in a second term he’s going to take their guns. Those who want to believe that, will believe it.
I am more concerned about the Medicare lie because it may be easier to fool seniors. However, seniors know that right now they are paying less for prescriptions. And they know that preventive services (cancer screenings, etc.) are free. But some may believe that the President is going to cut their benefits. However, Romney’s ads never mentions the word “benefits”. The lie in the ad is that the President cut $716 billion, when in fact he saved $716 billion. I think Democrats need to run ads debunking this. Maybe they are in swing states, but I haven’t seen any here in Maryland. I have seen Mitt’s ads. Anyway, this is just my 2 cents for an article that I absolutely believe needed to written. Thank you for a great article.
Sabreen, I have a feeling that after the Dem Convention, we’re going to see Dem enthusiasm skyrocket.
I think Obama and the Dems were genius by putting their convention after the GOP this year. To be honest if McCain did not mess up the financial crisis so much he was riding high after the convention and he would have had a much better chance to win.
Of course I hope you are right and liberals do get fired up but echos of all that free range liberal ‘dissapointment’ in Obama still rings in my ears from the past 3.5 years.
I agree with one thing the people passionate about Obama are more passionate because they are passionate FOR him and AGAINST Romney while the other side is predominantly just AGAINST Obama. But unlike 2008 I think the total number of passionate voters favors the GOP.
Romney did get one significant thing from Ryan. Now WI is a toss up. Remember this is a state where Scott Walker was reelected. In fact Ryan is the only candidate on either ticket that has net favorables in WI.
Never give up. Never. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. They want us to give up.