John Podhoretz on Fox and Friends this morning noted that the Obama campaign has spent $120 million since June trying to tear down Mitt Romney. But in June, the Real Clear Politics average of polls had Obama ahead by two points and this morning he is ahead by less than 1 percent, not much of a return on his investment.
One reason for his failure to demonize Romney and pull away from him in the polls might be found here (h/t Instapundit). Since the so-called recovery began in June 2009, the median household income has fallen by 4.8 percent. That’s more than it fell during the recession (2.6 percent).
Real median annual household income fell to $53,508 from $54,916 during the 18-month recession from December 2007 to June 2009, according to the firm’s study of income data for the 36-month period ended in June 2012. Incomes kept falling during the 36-month period since then, dropping to $50,964 in June 2012.
As Gordon Green of Sentier Research, who did the number crunching based on U.S. Census data, put it: “Almost every group is worse off than it was three years ago, and some groups had very large declines in income. We’re in an unprecedented period of economic stagnation.”
It’s tough to get people to vote for a president whose economic policies have produced only “an unprecedented period of economic stagnation.”
The Obama campaign has devoted lots of resources to building up a good campaign organization in swing states to ensure a good GOTV operation on election day. It's not all about negative TV ads by any stretch of the imagination. n nBesides, Romney's biggest weaknesses remain poor favorability ratings plus the perception nobody really knows what he believes in. Quoting THE ECONOMIST: "WHEN Mitt Romney was governor of liberal Massachusetts, he supported abortion, gun control, tackling climate change and a requirement that everyone should buy health insurance, backed up with generous subsidies for those who could not afford it. Now, as he prepares to fly to Tampa to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president on August 30th, he opposes all those things. A year ago he favoured keeping income taxes at their current levels; now he wants to slash them for everybody, with the rate falling from 35% to 28% for the richest Americans." n nFolks — why not simply admit Mitt is the second coming of John Kerry? Even CONSERVATIVES do not trust Mitt; Paul Ryan is there to reassure them a Romney presidency would not stray far from Grover Norquist's orthodoxy.
So what's your point? Vote for obama–that's just stupid.
Mitt cheated to get military medals, and then spent a career attacking the military and the United States? Fill us in!
So in other words, Mr. Romney is at a disadvantage because he is now repudiating Progressive policies he once supported? Sounds like a man who has learned from the mistakes that have perpetuated the malaise of the last four years … as opposed to his stubborn opponent, who wishes to continue (when not doubling down) those mistakes. n nYes, continuing the present status quo is really going to sell … n nBesides, this isn't just about the White House … there is also serious effort going into electing more conservatives to Congress, in order to either keep Mr. Romney honest or thwart Mr. Obama's attempts to jam his socio-economic morality down our throats. As a result, this time Congress may have coattails for Mr. Romney to ride on, not the other way around. n nFirst a Koch habit … now an addiction to Norquist. Progressives need some rehab.
And the MSM has worked overtime to make sure they never learn. That's why they've limited the conventions to 3 hours. The worst thing they could do is allow Americans to view Romney and Ryan at the convention and let them see that they don't have blood-soaked fangs and sleep in coffins during the day. The Obama campaign is a joke–by necessity, not by choice–because it doesn't have even a smidgen of success to point to. It's 100% based on negative ads trying to create a narrative that's just as easily countered in Romney ads. Obama is an abject failure at everything but mudslinging and his political career is finally coming to an end. The only issue is that he's left us with 5X the mess that the Democrats created during George Bush's last two years.
I think Romney will win in a landslide and that the debates will turn the tide. Romney has had lots of practice debating during the primary. Obama is too thin skinned at this point to debate without revealing his nasty side, and what can he say about his record that isn't a lie?
Given Obama, I think a great number of people are ready to take their chances with Romney. He has shown he knows how to run organizations effectively, which is a big step up from the President.
Valiant effort, Marcus, but doomed. You Lefties have nothing to run on in the record of Comrade Urkel, and the reign of Choom is coming to an end. Mitt was far from my preferred choice in the primaries, but he is light-years ahead of the Chicago Trotsky. Romney at least has a background in American business., and a love for our country.r n I think now is when you need to start bleating “racist” at me, but fuhgeddabout it.
Yep, Obama's built up a campaign organization… to get as many fraudulent votes as possible while using the DoJ to run interference for the ballot stuffing.
One flea-bitten egomaniac may wreck all that Todd Akin seems to be extremely toxic, with people in his home state deserting Republicans in droves. Akin, with his minimally functioning brain and his maniacal determination to "rule or ruin," may yet throw the election to our big-eared Mussolini for Morons.