The Debates

[Martina]

I know he's human and entitled to preferences (doesn't love campaigning) and moods, but, as I am sure he is aware of, a lot depends on his re-election, and as others have pointed out, his supporters are working their hearts out. Preferences and moods are just not relevant for the next thirty-two days.

-- still annoyed

[Martina]

Another article about the Obama performance.

Anyway, enough chewing over this (for me), but it is an interesting article.

“The reason I hate campaigns,” Edley continued, “is that being right on the substance isn’t good enough. That’s why I’m an academic. Of course, Obama knows that, but it’s also a question of what he cares about. I admire him for caring more about the substance than the tactics even if it makes me grimace when I watch him. Why does he do it? Look, we all do things in the short term that are not consistent with a long-term goal, whether it’s failing to save for retirement or watching TV instead of doing your homework. It’s called being human rather than being the ideal client of your handlers. It makes it harder to achieve his goal, which is to get reëlected. But if you wanted authenticity you got it [on Wednesday] night. And, really, you got it in an unsurprising way. We know that Obama skews cerebral and that he has never liked debates as a way to engage issues. He has said that many times.”

With Romney working his ass off, I don't care about Obama's preferences. His acceptance speech at the Convention was lackluster too.

I also read that Obama has had fewer press conferences than any President in recent times and many fewer impromptu Q&A sessions. I recall us bitching about how few W. had, how he would duck the press. Obama has done soft interviews on shows like "The View." I am totally not impressed with any President -- or any politician -- who does not frequently answer un-vetted questions from the serious press. Obama is criticizing Romney for elitism. Sorry, but staying above the fray like an academic and refusing to take on the rough and tumble of a White House press conference -- that's pretty elitist.

I am honked off with the big man.

[JustJo]

The President certainly wasn't at his best in the first debate, even he knows that, but I don't think it's a problem at all.

Romney spewed so much bs, and the fact-checkers have been having a party ever since, that all he's actually accomplished is to play out plenty of rope for Obama to hang him with.

Pathological liars, and sorry but I do believe Romney is one, lie so frequently and so often that eventually they can't even keep their own lies straight. He's shown us what he really thinks when he believes he's only with his rich, white cohorts in that 47% video. I don't care what he says about it afterwards....that kind of crap sticks in the backs of people's minds and gnaws.

For me, for the first time in my life, I'm voting straight Democratic ticket. Period.

[Martina]

Originally Posted by JustJo

The President certainly wasn't at his best in the first debate, even he knows that, but I don't think it's a problem at all.. . .

For me, for the first time in my life, I'm voting straight Democratic ticket. Period.

It's not affecting my vote. But I wondered what happened and wasn't pleased with what I learned.

They only have eight years in the job at the most. They can sleep when they're out of office. I know they need to recharge, etc. But I am not impressed. Or with the press conference infrequency. I am going to vote for the man, but I hope that Michelle or someone kicked his ass.

I understand that Eisenhower was depressed. We all know that W. slept half his life away. But, unless you ARE depressed -- and then, get treatment -- it's not too much to expect full engagement at the BIG events. Good god. No damned excuse for phoning it in. I do wonder if his speech writers/prep staff are partly to blame. I don't know. But he wasn't on fire for the Democratic Convention either. Get over it. There's just a little bit at stake here.

[Medusa]

Biden is in full bulldog mode and is burning this motherfucker up right now.

Y'all watching?

[DMW]

Tell em the truth Joe. Don't let me down dammit. Say it and don't back down.
Stand Up JOE> Go Joe

[*Anya*]

Biden is wiping the floor with Ryan.

[BullDog]

I thought President Obama would play it conservative but also expected him to do much better than he did. It makes me nervous because of the high stakes of the election, as Martina said. He seems to be back on track, at least on his stump speeches. There may be some people who tuned in and got what they needed from Romney to decide to vote for him, but is it enough to win the election for him? I don't think so, but yes it makes me nervous.

Romney lied through his teeth and yep I think he got short-term gain out of it, but the lies will come back to bite him.

I am also wondering about the Big Bird effect. The conservatives have been trying to get rid of public television since the days of Nixon. I think that was Romney throwing the far right a bone. But it isn't going to play too well with parents and others who care about children. I have read in several places that where his 47% remarks hurt him the most in swing states was among working class/lower income women. I think his Big Bird remarks just reinforces how out of touch he is and doesn't understand regular people.

The conservative meltdown over the unemployment rate yesterday was fun to watch. Seriously, how the Republican party has any shred of credibility left is beyond me. Mitt now says what he said about the 47% was completely wrong. Yeah 17 days after the tape is released the new Moderate Mitt admits he was wrong. Ho hum. Anyway, I am not seeing much out of the Romney camp following the debate that shows further momentum to me. I will be watching the polls that come out next week.

I don't know if it will have a lot of impact on the election, but I am looking forward to the Biden-Ryan debate. I don't think Biden will let Ryan hide from his budget or continue to give lame excuses why he can't give details on the Romney tax plan because he doesn't have time or the math is too complicated or that people will be bored. It should be interesting. Biden does make gaffes from time to time, but he knows his stuff and is extremely loyal to the President. I am not so sure Ryan is that loyal to Romney. He is young and hoping for a long successful career. His views are quite extreme, and I don't know if he is as good at dancing around the issues and flat out lying the way Romney is.

[Martina]

Originally Posted by BullDog

I have read in several places that where his 47% remarks hurt him the most in swing states was among working class/lower income women.

So far the debates haven't given Romney much of a bump in the polls except on the specific issue of caring about the middle class. He got a huge bump on that issue.

Totally agree re Big Bird and interesting point re Ryan's loyalty. I am looking forward to Biden on fire. Even if he fumbles a time or two, he's going to be FUN to watch.

[Martina]

Obama is on the tail end of the baby boomer generation and beginning of Gen X. God knows boomers are self-indulgent and whiny (*points to self*). But I am sorry. You get over that in extremis. On the battlefield. On call for three nights in a row in a surgical rotation. You get tough. I am sure that the President has toughened up. But I can't imagine Hillary succumbing to a mood when a big event was coming up. I can imagine her being irritable, but she would rise to the fucking occasion.

[Kätzchen]

I am so appreciative of the commentary that members here make about issues arising from the Democratic and Republican campaigns for US presidency. I especially appreciate Bulldog and Martina’s perspective and often find myself utilizing the way they filter the political process via their own unique system of filtering the latest and ongoing political events.

I came across Martina’s post in another forum thread on the 2012 election. Martina found three articles and of those three, the article published in The New Yorker – “Transaction Man: Mormonism, private equity, and the making of a candidate” – was very interesting read in that author, Nicholas Lemann, epitomized Mormon culture to a T. Lemann’s October 1st literary pièce de résistance was framed as a 4-part orchestral arrangement to the tune of: Church, Business, Politics, and The Rescuer (Link to article found, here)


As I read that article, I sat nodding my head in agreement with most of thematic tone and intent conveyed throughout the entire essay. When I got to the three final paragraphs, which describe in MBA lexicon how Romnean synaptic cells seem to not bond with the pubic in cerebral ways, the first thing I thought of was this: What is missing from this essay? Why did Lemann end his article with the synaptic allegory? Was he hoping to facilitate a synaptic hookup for Romney? And, at least 20 more questions came to mind that I cannot even give public utterance to except, do any of you remember that The New Yorker in the 2008 election coverage pressed political hot-buttons with their brand of satire (the front cover image of Obama dressed as a Muslim)??? Yeah, I doubt if they pull a stunt like that again, in light of what happened recently that cost a US ambassador his life and the lives of those caught in the cross-fire of the latest political upheaval in the Middle East.

This election is even more personal for me than the last one was. I grew up in a rural community where, at the time, Mormons comprised at least 90% of the population. The other 10% were comprised of German, Dutch, English and a small sampling of Irish and Scottish based households. The single most relative connection shared among all households was the idea that most familial structures were patrilineal by design; however, my family seemed to be the statistical troublemaker in that my mother’s lineage was of matrilineal design which often competed against the patrilineal structure internally as well as externally – a ‘Molotav cocktail’ (conflict of authority), as seen rather frequently in our household. Although my family was not Mormon, the school district that serviced my rural community was heavily proselytized by Mormons, so I totally get the socio-political cultural piece of Mormonism and what it means in terms of deep political connections to small and big business across the American landscape.

Since the first debate (and there’s one tonight, yes?) and ongoing press coverage of the presidential race, I find myself holding my breath and fine tuning my own filters by calling upon my large cache of life experience and academic achievements. One thing seems for certain, in the sea of political uncertainty over the past few weeks: There is a lot at stake in this presidential election. I appreciate the tremendous investment of time and energy Obama expends not only in his presidential campaign, but also in his brand of leadership.