Thanks to KQuark for suggesting that we set up an ongoing thread for discussing the slow motion kamikaze nose dive into the GOP known as the Mitt Romney Presidential campaign.

As of the date of this post, there are six weeks and six days left until Election Day. At the current rate, that means we should see 6-7 more Mitt Romney emergency press conferences by then.

Some key questions at this point:

1. Has Romney permanently damaged his credibility and image over the last two weeks, with his false accusations of President Obama apologizing and siding with Muslim terrorists in the recent uprisings followed up by the release of the video of him at a fundraiser denigrating 47% of the American people?

2. Even with expectations low for Romney in the debates, can even a well reviewed performance by pundits make a meaningful difference with voters? What can Romney possibly do or say in a debate that would transcend all that has happened in the last few weeks? Might President Obama at least perform to a draw at worst and if so, does just his presence on the stage with Obama still benefit Romney as looking Presidential?

3. Can a flood of SuperPAC ads between now and Election Day, pushing Romney and slamming Obama, really change minds or will people be tuning them out, having already made up their minds?

Here are some propositions on the queries above.

Mitt Romney has confirmed an image of himself which is inescapable at least to some degree. His desperation seems more and more apparent and his flip-flopping and twisting of the truth and what he’s on video saying only strengthens the perception of him as having no core and willing to say anything no matter how hypocritical or contradictory, just to get the Presidency in his hands. Because of this, I think there is a ceiling to how much he can improve his position and it isn’t enough to win the election.

As to the debates, Romney and his team see them as his last possible shot at reversing his descent so they are going to throw all they can at winning them. He has been preparing for them for a long time and putting a lot of time and energy into it. He will no doubt have plenty of manipulative (and contradictory) quotes he’ll spout that were written for him by the best speechwriters the Repubs have. So I don’t doubt that he will get his share of pats on the back from MSM pundits after his first debate with Obama…even though it will be just for being a parrot. At the same time, he will be faced with his lies, with his lack of specifics about his cuts in his budget, with his irresponsible response to the Muslim protests and with his attack on 47% of Americans. There is no question that he will be prepared to spin these questions into blather about how bad Obama is but the net effect on those who watch is that they will be reminded of Romney’s poor judgement and lack of principles…and witness to his dancing away from responsibility, honesty and details. This subtext of the debate will no doubt be lost on those in the MSM who want this to be as close a race as possible but to the voters, it will continue to anchor Romney down as someone with whom they don’t feel comfortable. Lastly, whetner Romney stumbles or Obama just out points him, Obama may win the first debate hands down and if he does, the curtain may fall on Romney even though two debates would be left. Romney’s candidacy looks like a losing one right now, even Republican pundits say so. Losing the first debate would knock Romney so far down the ladder, what follows could seem moot and lose its power to influence.

As to the power of the right wing SuperPACs to brainwash people into voting for Romney with incessant ads that lie and propagandize, here too I think there is a limited potential for impact. There will be those indie voters who already have solidified their opinion of Romney as someone they don’t trust and ads supporting him by his allies will simply be disregarded by them. The number of undecided voters is already small and getting smaller each week so the pool of people who could be manipulated will be exponentially smaller as time goes by. Many undecided voters have been strongly impacted by the revelations about Romney in the last few weeks and annoying, negative tv ads won’t overcome that for many of them.

The polls showing how broadly people don’t relate to Romney and don’t favor him against Obama on any issue make for a very high wall that Romney simply doesn’t seem able to climb over. And there are two more key events in the next month that could build that wall even higher, no matter how well Romney is said to have done in debates.

First, there are Romney’s 2011 tax returns that he has said he would release in October. He is an unapologetic liar so it is possible that considering the position he finds himself in now as the 47% of Americans hating elitist, he may just refuse to release them as promised. If he doesn’t, it will be an enormous and damaging issue, if he does, it will be an enormous and damaging issue because, whether or not there is anything they weren’t able to clean up, it will be a very simple and clear reminder of Romney as the elitist multimillionaire who pays a smaller percentage of taxes than you…and the issue of the wealthy fighting against tax fairness is brought front and center. A bit of a problem for the candidate who wants to slash taxes even more for the wealthy and tax the middle class and poor more.

Second, there is the jobs report for September. As last month’s non-impact of the report showed, this is a win-win for Obama. Historically, September is usually a positive month for job growth, coming when kids go back to school and summer jobs are vacated that can be filled by the unemployed. Preliminary reports, for what they’re worth, seem to indicate the numbers will be positive for Obama. If they are positive and the unemployment rate goes down, Obama will have a more powerful argument to say that things are getting better. Remarkably, the public has been shifting meaningfully to saying the country is on the right track. Giving credit to the American people, they seem to understand that the economy and the job numbers won’t be improving quickly so even if the jobs report shows little improvement, this won’t be a surprise or a negative to voters. The jobs report can’t really hurt Obama but it can really help him.

The bottom line here on which both Democrats and Republicans agree is that Mitt Romney has no core and has displayed incompetence in running this billion dollar venture. What some people don’t realize, partly because Romney has lied about this, Mitt Romney has never really run a “real” business. Being CEO of Bain was more like being the top guy running a ponzi scheme. It was like playing a game that’s rigged. The laws of capitalism and business were and are irrelevant, they could make terrible decisions and bankrupt companies but they made millions all the same. They didn’t have to be smart or resourceful, they just used money as a hammer to crack companies wide open and steal their money.

Running this campaign is the first time Mitt Romney has had to run a real business that had concrete rules and obstacles and when faced with having to win a game that wasn’t rigged for him to win, Romney proves himself to be the incompetent failure that he is (and would have been in life if he hadn’t been born with a silver spoon and protected from reality his whole life).

As mentioned, we have a ways to go before Election Day and whether or not Romney closes the gap in the polls, Obama can’t win re-election if people don’t get out there and vote for him. So schadenfreude at Romney’s self-destruction may be enjoyable but enthusiasm to volunteer, contribute, help get out the vote and vote oneself is what’s most important to achieving the re-election of President Obama.

144
Leave a Comment

Please Login to comment
33 Comment threads
111 Thread replies
0 Followers
 
Most reacted comment
Hottest comment thread
12 Comment authors
escribacatKillgoreTroutbitoSueInCafoodchain Recent comment authors
  Subscribe  
newest oldest most voted
Notify of
KQµårk 死神
Member

Now this is how much empathy Romney really has for Americans.

KQµårk 死神
Member

With a picture like this we need a caption contest.

choicelady
Member

“I’ve always had good relations with The Help. (Now get them OUT of here..)”

Kalima
Admin

Hey, why not? 🙂

—-

The Blowout Scenario Following a Possible Obama Landslide
by Michael Tomasky Oct 1, 2012 4:45 AM EDT

Heading into the debates, an Obama victory on Election Day is looking likely. But what if he doesn’t just win, but wins huge? Michael Tomasky on the consequences of a landslide.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/01/the-blowout-scenario-following-a-possible-obama-landslide.html

KQµårk 死神
Member

Great article. It looks like Tomasky is back on his game.

Kalima
Admin

Hi K, well it’s certainly more uplifting than the constant doom and gloom from others who have nothing better to do than complain with their hair on fire constantly. I’m getting pretty sick of those types. If you want someone to win, you support them and cheer them on where I come from, not bash them 2/3 rds of the way through the game.

Nothing is impossible, except for maybe a Romney win at this point. Landslide or no landslide, the President will still win from where I’m sitting. Looking forward to Wednesday, I hope Obama squashes him in the nicest possible way. 😉 The GOPTP needs to be taken down a peg or two, they have gone too far on every possible level. Just vote.

KillgoreTrout
Member

OOPS!

Nirek
Member

Lets not get complacent.
Get out and vote on election day!
Our votes do count!

Kalima
Admin

As predicted, voters don’t want to lose Medicare or SS.

—-

Challenges for Romney after Ryan pick come into focus

http://wapo.st/V0iyOa

kesmarn
Admin

Could “these people” possibly get more small-minded and juvenile?

As a sitting U.S. Senator, Scott Brown should have enough self-respect and respect for the office to insist that this sign be taken down:

[img]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/249444_429477567087928_497459905_n.jpg[/img]

escribacat
Member

Interesting article from last summer about Romney’s abrupt (think “bots”) rise in twitter followers.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/statistical-probability-that-mitt-romneys-new-twitter-followers-are-just-normal-users-0/260539/

kesmarn
Admin

Hah! Just as we all suspected, e’cat. Phoney — just like the candidate.

This test revealed a significant difference between the distribution of followers among the accounts in Mitt Romney’s recent spike and that of similar users in our comparison. It strongly indicates that non-organic processes induced Romney’s recent surge in followers. We did not find a similar pattern in Barack Obama’s recent followers.

Kalima
Admin

As a RC left wondering how any Catholic could ever vote for Ryan and Romney knowing what they stand for, this is good news.

—-

Catholics flee Romney-Ryan-Dolan

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/09/catholics-flee-romney-ryan-dolan.html

kesmarn
Admin

Kalima, this gives me hope that the views of the “Nuns on the Bus” will prevail over those of pseudo-Catholics like Gingrich and Ryan.
I like those numbers!

Kalima
Admin

Yes kes exactly, it does give hope that our religion is about more than just birth control and abortion, and back to helping those in need as we always have in the past.. That we are about more than just the follies of some old men who are either too stubborn or too afraid to move with, or lead their vast congregation of over 1billion 300 million, into the 21st century.

As I’ve said here before, there is nothing remotely Catholic about Ryan or Gingrich, or those who are trying to take it over. I believe in the teachings of Jesus, not the dictatorial men who claim to either speak for him or represent him. When the Church goes back to remembering what we are all about and whom we serve, I’ll go back to attending Mass.

choicelady
Member

The leader of the Nuns on the Bus is a former colleague, and along with her own predecessor and colleagues, they all fight for “pro life values” working for the people who are already HERE. Best way to prevent abortion is to stabilize people economically and give them sustainable hope and a realistic future.

bito
Member

Mitt Romney released a new ad to try and recover after dismissing half of America, but Mitt Romney’s words speak for themselves….

KillgoreTrout
Member

Yeah, he was spouting that bullshit in Ohio today. No lie is too big for Romney. If I was a republican, I would be very insulted by this man. He takes his voters for fools and idiots. Come to think of it, most of them are. 😯

kesmarn
Admin

b’ito! So good to see you here!

Yes…it wasn’t the oil refineries creating that Stench in Toledo today. It was Mittens.

The venue in which he spoke holds 9000 people. The Republican committee chair said that there were 4000 people there. Assuming he’s exaggerating…well, you get the picture.

Meanwhile, the Prez was just a little bit south of Toledo in Bowling Green:

http://live.wsj.com/video/obama-blasts-romney-on-economy-foreign-policy/92359C0F-2EA9-4E30-9444-433EB38BDE85.html#!92359C0F-2EA9-4E30-9444-433EB38BDE85

SueInCa
Member

I have some friends on FB in a couple groups I belong to so I think I will pull some of the better posts and place them here for you all t peruse.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/26/manufacturing-jobs-have-grown-more-under-obama-than-bush/

Mitt Romney again went after President Obama’s record on manufacturing jobs since he took over in 2009. Here’s a handy chart that shows you exactly what happened to manufacturing jobs and when

KQµårk 死神
Member

IDK these poll numbers almost sound too good to be true. This would be about double what Obama won OH and FL by in 2008. Must be the librul bias.

NYT/Quinnipiac Poll:
Obama up 53-43 in Ohio.
Obama up 53-44 in Florida.
Obama up 12 points in PA.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/us/politics/polls-show-obama-widening-lead-in-ohio-and-florida.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www

The stench continues to flow downhill.

Nirek
Member

They are good and I have always felt that Mitt had no chance. I would like to see the congress turn around and give POTUS a majority for the last four years.

SueInCa
Member

KQ

The 12 points in PA has been steady now for weeks. That is the reason Crossroads and te Koch brothers pulled out, the 12 point lead they felt was insurmountable.

SueInCa
Member

Maybe this will give you some comfort. I just try to remember that one bad move can always change everything…….

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/49172878#49172878

KQµårk 死神
Member

If you don’t believe the wheels have totally fallen of the Romney/Ryan bus you will believe it after reading this.

Paul Ryan vs. The Stench

Though Ryan had already decided to distance himself from the floundering Romney campaign, he now feels totally uninhibited. Reportedly, he has been marching around his campaign bus, saying things like, “If Stench calls, take a message” and “Tell Stench I’m having finger sandwiches with Peggy Noonan and will text him later.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81618.html#ixzz27XzwsDDq

OK this is beyond McCain/Palin dysfunction and at an earlier date. Remember when Romney tried to make a big deal that Obama disliked him personally? Well here’s Romney’s own running mate showing he despises the guy. I know people talk about how loyal some of Romney’s inner circle is but I think they are probably allot more loyal to their big paychecks and bonuses than to Romney. Rachael Maddow talked about how Obama and Romney spend the same amount on their extended staff but Obama has twice the number of people. Talk about a bad investment for Romney.

kesmarn
Admin

“The Stench” and “Gilligan.” Wow. Nice people.

It’s fascinating that Romney’s people refer to Ryan as Gilligan. Because, who else could Romney possibly be then but Thurston Howell III (and his wife, Notso Lovey)?

Ryan being booed by grandma and grandpa was a sight to behold. He doesn’t need to worry about washing off the Romney stench. He’s got plenty of his own.

KQµårk 死神
Member

There once was a nominee named Stench,
Who’s wife was a rich entitled wench,
The more people knew him,
The more they said screw him,
He needs to go back to speaking French.

kesmarn
Admin

Brilliant, Monsieur Quark! Touche!

Kalima
Admin

This article sums it all up nicely. The Romney scam/sham.

Good night from me, and good day to all of you.

—-

Michael Tomasky on Mitt Romney’s Sham Economic Plan

This is the perfect time for Romney to pivot back to the economy. Unfortunately for him, talking up his economic “plan” won’t do anything to fix his faltering campaign.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/25/michael-tomasky-on-mitt-romney-s-sham-economic-plan.html