The Republican National Committee (RNC) is out with an ad that immediately jumps on President Obama’s statement earlier today that “the private sector is doing fine.” The president’s assertion raises the question–just what planet is Obama living on? And the RNC ad is a good one. But what this episode reveals are two things of more lasting significance.
The first is that at almost every level, the Republican Party in 2012 is sharper and better than the Republican Party in 2008. Campaigns develop a rhythm and pace of their own – and so far, the Romney campaign and the RNC are easily outdueling the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). We saw evidence of this earlier this week, when the GOP’s get-out-the-vote effort in Wisconsin far exceeded what the Democratic Party was able to do.
The other thing this clip highlights is that President Obama is a much different, and inferior, candidate to what he was four years ago.
Some of that has to do with the fact that in 2008, Obama was able to run against an incumbent party that was out of favor, while today he’s forced to defend a record of almost unmitigated failure. But apart from that, the Obama campaign in general – at this point at least – is out of sorts. It’s far less sharp, more off stride, and less skilled and in touch with the mood of the public now than in 2008.
One should assume the Obama campaign will correct itself at some point and turn into a formidable force. But that is not a given by any means. Sometimes a campaign, like a professional athlete, simply loses its edge – and when it does, a tight race can break wide open.
The Romney campaign would be wise to anticipate that the president and his team will raise their game. But in their private thoughts, late at night and away from reporters, the top tier of the Romney campaign must be somewhat mystified, and unexpectedly delighted, that Obama and Company are, for now, executing with the level of precision you’d expect from a campaign running for local sheriff.
At this stage, the state of the economy — which will have a huge impact on the election — is increasingly beyond Obama’s control. But even those things Obama can control — namely, his performance and the performance of his team — show signs of being third-rate. This cannot be reassuring to the president or his party. Unless Obama gets his act together relatively soon, and relatively quickly, he might want to prepare to attend the unveiling of his White House portrait at an event hosted by Mitt Romney three years from now.
"One should assume the Obama campaign will correct itself at some point and turn into a formidable force." n nThis is highly unlikely. Obama and his top people are second rate. He is president only because of white guilt. This is not a serious man. Obama is intellectually shallow and poorly read. Too many well meaning people wanted to prove they were not racists—and now we have a mess on our hands.
Well said !
man oh man, we get it, he's a knee-grow. after you pound a fish to a plank with thirty nails, a paint scraper and a meat cleaver that sucker's pretty much stuck to the board, you know? after a while all you're doing is moving the scales around…
I know what you mean! The MSM created a Bush hating machine that didn't make it easy to see through haze that obscured the real Obama. Clearly the farthest left of all senators at the time, clearly lacking the necessary job skills, clearly in bed with socialism yet the still hazed Left still trots out "Negro!" as if that was ever an issue for anyone but the 96% of Blacks that voted for him. n nIndeed, the best defense is a good offense, and if the Left still milks mileage out of this tired 50 year old cliche (and why not, they use 100 year old cliches to characterize business) then they've surely earned the rank of kneejerk.
They are doing a lot of damage to this country and many people are figuring out that the Obama administration is surrounded by a conga line of not very impressive people.
The Obama/MSM campaign have a third rate candidate (clueless, poorly read, unimaginative and unintelligent clod that the affirmative action gravy train al his life), third rate team that never had to face a real opponent (Axelrod and Co.) and third rate spinmeisters (MSM that for decades faced no competition in controlling the national news cycle). nIt will be very hard to produce anything other than a third rate performance with that.
Unfortunately, there are droves of clueless people that agree with this third rate candidate.
The stuttering has only begun! If this administration is held accountable, for even a fraction of their abominable decisions, I think we will see a significant increase in the whining, pouting, and finger pointing. It would be great entertainment if it weren't at the expense of our country…
That's the problem the MSM will make sure that Obama is not held accountable by failing to cover the real stories and they will invent stories that makes him look positive.
Obama’s central and insoluable problem is that what he believes is not what most of us believe and that he is no longer able to hide it. No amount of campaign smarts can overcome that.
Romney's campaign is doing a much better job than McCain's team did. I think that will continue — but Obama gets passes on events (like the BP oil spill and his government response) that aid him. So far, events and loud factions haven't aided him (like unions and environmentalists) and they aren't his to control (or even sway when they get testy if he ever gets stingy with the gravy). There is definitely hope. Still, state by state too many analysts have him winning. Long way to go — and lots of Obama scams to run yet. What if he dumps Biden? And what is going to happen across the world that he might be able to claim credit for (with the help of the MSM)? But Romney's already got it neck and neck … so there's hope!!
… save that the MSM has completely blown its wad of credibility at this point; people just barely listen to them any more. n
Keith and Ryan have covered what I've been thinking. n nIn short: n1) McCain loved being the MSM's favorite Republican; I don't think he expected to be betrayed so completely. His misplaced trust in the media meant that the GOP messaging would be dictated by its opponents. (This explains how McCain managed to lose the Palin advantage. She was probably 4 years ahead of her time.) n2) The constant defensive coverage of Obama over the past 3+ years has eroded the MSM's credibility so that the Republican alternative media has been able to get traction that it couldn't 4 years ago.
The veil has been lifted; the sleepwalker has awakened. Think up any stupid metaphor you like to describe the American voter, but it's becoming clearer by the day that Barack Obama was much better as a candidate onto which people could project their hopes and dreams, than a president and chief executive. Perhaps now people will re-examine how they make their political choices and realize the necessity of properly informing themselves before casting their votes.
At the same time, don't expect alot of people to admit that they made a mistake in voting for Obama in 2008 and admit that they are voting against him in November. I would bet that we will see a fairly large percentage of undecided voters right up until November, unless… It is possible that things could so spin out of control for Obama in some way that masses of people start jumping ship on the way to an electoral avalanche. Similar to a fad that at one time was cool but then, suddenly, stopped being and the fad becomes a shibboleth. It could happen. It might be that "Obama" will become a by-word for the paper-thin, unqualified candidate who won only to fall apart in one term. Kind of like "Carter" has become a by-word for weakness and a failed presidency.
Did you ever watch a hypnotist's show? Often, after a subject is awakened he or she is asked whether or not they think they were actually hypnotized? Many times, the same person who a few moments before was quacking like a duck or performing a fake striptease vehemently denies ever being in a trance. n nWell, it will be the same with some Obama supporters. They will deny ever being under his spell and will employ every kind of rationalization to explain having supported him in 2008. I know it's difficult, but those of us who were never fooled must try not to humiliate or chastise them. Just welcome them back to consciousness and guide them to a voting booth.
The Obama campaign was definitely sharper in '08, but with the media wind at his back, the anybody-but-Bush mentality of much of the country, and unforced errors by his opponents, I think people tend to give it too much credit. In my opinion, the defining characteristic of his '08 campaign was lucky. n nNow, he is facing two problems. First, after three years of being actively sheltered from bad press — in large part by the press — his campaign has lost any of the edge that it once had. Second, now that he's president, he can't just campaign. I don't mean campaign as an outsider without a record, although that doubtless hurts; I mean that people expect presidents to be presidential, and to do presidential stuff. They may not know what exactly a president should do day-to-day, but all Obama does is go to fundraisers and give campaign speeches. Someone that talks about 'headwinds' should be seen doing something to push against those headwinds. I think there is a real and growing perception, which the media isn't doing as much to blunt as it used to, that Obama has given up any pretense of leadership of the country in favor of campaigning full time.
By any objective mode of assessment this has been a failed presidency. So whatu2019s wrong with Mr. Obama proactively commencing the preparation for the unveiling of his White House portrait? Maybe I am a cynic, but when has his performance ever been elevated? Recently, Mr. Wehner skillfully laid out Mr. Obamau2019s dismal record during his presidency. Further, Mr. Obama has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not understand the free market system. He also has shown a markedly lack of understanding of the fundamental principles of constitutional law, even though he is a former constitutional law professor.r nr nIt must be noted that he has demonstrated great skills in using Teleprompters. He even took a few Teleprompters to speak to a Grade Six Class. And letu2019s not forget that he took more than a dozen Teleprompters to Europe and to India. But were you to remove the Teleprompters, what do you see? Yes, we should accept that he has always been a mediocre individual and itu2019s doubtful that this will ever change.r nr nPrior to and during his presidency he has been subjected to only one probing interview (Bret Baier, Fox) and we all remember the result.r nr nI have no problem with the way in which his re-election campaign is progressing. So I would recommend that he stays the course. I donu2019t think Mr Romneyu2019s campaign will be too happy with Mr Wehner for repeatedly addressing this issue.
Obama is Peter Pan come to take the children to Neverland. Wendy is his composite woman, Tinker Bell is … well I think we all know who Tinker Bell is, and Hollywood is the Lost Boys. The problem is in getting Mr. and/or Mrs. Romney to fit the role of Captain Hook when they're more like George and Mary Darling. n nI think a lot of people who voted for Obama in '08 were surprised to find they'd only gotten a ticket to Neverland and won't be repeating the mistake.