Month: October 2012

Major Failure Of The First Presidential Debate: Many Topics NOT Covered!

Ronald 1 Comment

Sadly, Jim Lehrer of PBS, the moderator of last night’s Obama-Romney Presidential debate in Denver, failed to control the debate, allowed Mitt Romney to act as a bully much of the time, and completely ignored many domestic issues, focusing only on taxes, spending and health care, and failing to keep to the time limits on each question that was addressed.

There was no mention or discussion of

Women’s issues
Immigration Issues
Gay Rights Issues
Veterans Issues
Labor Issues
Civil Liberties Issues
Environmental Issues

How can any debate on domestic matters by seen as “legitimate”, when none of these matters were addressed?

And by NOT addressing these issues, Jim Lehrer indirectly helped Mitt Romney to avoid responsibility and accountability for his outrageous expressed views on all of these matters!

One would think Mitt Romney was a moderate mainstream Republican, based on last night’s performance!

Nothing is further from the truth, and future debates, and debate moderators MUST address these issues, and stop giving Mitt Romney a “free ride”!

Past Presidential Debates With An Incumbent President: Naturally On The Defensive!

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When one gets away from the momentary panic that many Obama supporters had after last night’s debate against Mitt Romney, and thinks rationally, and analyzes Presidential debate history, it is not all that surprising that a challenger will go on the attack and be aggressive with a sitting President, and set him back in the first debate they have in a campaign year.

Remember that a sitting President is busy every day, and is not as up to date in debating as a challenger, who has had to survive many debates and questions in order to reach the point of a Presidential nomination.

So when we look at the past, we realize the following:

Gerald Ford was on the defensive against Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Jimmy Carter was on the defensive against Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Ronald Reagan was on the defensive against Walter Mondale in 1984.

George H. W. Bush was on the defensive against both Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992.

George W. Bush was on the defensive against John Kerry in 2004.

Despite this reality, Reagan and the second Bush recovered to win, while Ford, Carter, and the first Bush lost the election that ensued.

But also realize that Ford had inherited a mess from Richard Nixon, and had never seen himself in the Presidency before being selected by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice President, and he was strongly challenged by Ronald Reagan in the primaries in 1976.

Also realize that Jimmy Carter was challenged by both Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown in the primaries in 1980, and faced a charismatic former actor in Reagan, and a tumultuous crisis with Iran in 1980.

And realize that the first Bush faced a challenge from Pat Buchanan in the primaries in 1992, and a double challenge from Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, which undermined his ability to win votes that Perot took away from him in the fall campaign.

Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush faced no such challenges, and were able to overcome their weaknesses in the first debate of 1984 and 2004.

Additionally, Bill Clinton, facing no challenge in 1996, simply overwhelmed Bob Dole in the first and all debates of that year, with his charisma a major plus!

If one remains calm, one realizes that Barack Obama will recover from this disappointing debate, has charisma, had no challenger in the primaries, and therefore, will do like Reagan, Clinton, and the second Bush did–win reelection—-rather than lose election as Ford did, and reelection as Carter and the first Bush did!

Classic “Bait And Switch”: Mitt Romney, The Used Car Salesman!

Ronald 1 Comment

Mitt Romney last night was the class example of “Bait and Switch”, a “used car salesman”!

Can anyone come away from this performance and feel that Romney is trustworthy, that he is honest, that he is truthful?

Considering that many domestic topics were not covered, can we trust Mitt Romney on the many issues that divide America, and Romney from Barack Obama?

Are we willing to give power to someone who is the phoniest national candidate in our lifetime?

This man is a charlatan, and it is up to Barack Obama and Joe Biden to go on the offensive in the next 33 days to make all Americans aware of the reality, that one cannot believe in or trust Mitt Romney , as what you see is NOT what you will get!

Mr. “Etch A Sketch” At Work: Who Is The Real Mitt Romney?

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In the midst of all the applause for Mitt Romney’s performance last night, the question that arises is: Who is the real Mitt Romney, as Mr. “Etch A Sketch” was in full swing!

Suddenly, Mitt Romney was saying he would do nothing to harm anyone, that he was for everyone, that he was moderate and reasonable! He would not harm education; he would not give more tax cuts to the wealthy; he would keep the good parts of ObamaCare while repealing it! All this is a bunch of lies!

Can any sane individual say that they can trust to know who Mitt Romney is, and what kind of President he would be, after a campaign the past year designed to please the Tea Party crowd and the extreme right wing conservatives? And will the right wing be happy with a President who sounds more like a moderate Republican Governor of Massachusetts of six to ten years ago?

Mitt Romney was really Pinocchio last night, being totally deceptive and manipulative, and the infuriating thing is that Barack Obama allowed him to get away with it!

Barack Obama must stop being a nice guy, and start fighting back. Whether one agrees with Obama on every issue, the one thing that stands out is that he is genuine, and you get what you expect from Barack Obama.

Barack Obama needs to understand that, as former baseball manager Leo Durocher used to say, “Nice guys finish last!”

Obama Performance Disappointing, But One Debate Does Not Make For Election Of Mitt Romney!

Ronald 7 Comments

First impressions of tonight’s debate:

Mitt Romney was aggressive, dominant over moderator Jim Lehrer, showed his tendency to monopolize for his own benefit, showed his ability to lie and deceive, acted as if he was back to being a moderate Republican Governor of Massachusetts.

Barack Obama was too gentlemanly, too passive, too laid back, failed to take advantage of opportunities, and needs to do better.

But one good debate by Romney, and one disappointing debate by Obama does not determine the election by any means.

More commentary will come tomorrow, when the author has had time to sort through and analyze the debate in more detail!

Body Language, And Way Answers Are Given In Debate, Matter More Than What Is Stated!

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The history of Presidential debates, and really any political debates between candidates, has been shown to declare victory more based on body language, and the way answers are given, than what is actually stated by the candidates!

It has been said that the eyes are the “windows of the soul”, and they do, indeed, reveal a lot about a candidate, and really about anyone one meets and deals with in life.

Visual cues really tell us a lot, including type of hand movements; whether someone is nervous or jittery; the tone of voice; whether anger or emotion show through, whether someone comes across as genuine and caring; and a sense of compassion and humanity.

Going by this reality, Richard Nixon in 1960 and George H. W. Bush in 1992 were harmed by visual cues a great deal, and they both lost their elections, even though it could be argued that both were better qualified than John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton!

This is something to keep in mind as one watches the Obama-Romney debates, and the Biden-Ryan debate, over the next few weeks!

Amazing Democratic Unity: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry—All Working For Barack Obama!

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The last three Democratic nominees for President—Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry—are all actively involved in promoting Barack Obama’s reelection.

Clinton has been the strongest promoter of Obama, including his inspiring, dynamic speech at the Democratic National Convention. He will have campaigned all over the nation for his successor in the White House By the time of the election next month.

Al Gore’s CURRENT channel is fighting the battle for Obama in a very clear cut manner!

And John Kerry is acting as a Mitt Romney stand in, in preparing Obama to deal with Romney tonight, and in the two future debates.

The Democratic unity is wonderful, considering the history of the party often dividing, and having a reputation as a disorganized political party.

Romney “47 Percent” Comment And Ryan “30 Percent” Statement Are “Nails In Their Coffin!”

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No matter how well Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan do in their debates this month, when we look back after the election, it will be clear that the “nails in their coffin” will be Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comment in May, and Paul Ryan’s “30 percent” comment in 2011, newly revealed, declaring that 30 percent of the country is satisfied to get a welfare check.

By Romney labeling and condemning nearly half the population, and Ryan characterizing almost one third of the population, the Republican nominees have alienated senior citizens, military veterans, college students, single mothers, and those struggling to live on the minimum wage!

Romney-Ryan cannot win a majority of the following groups:

African Americans
Latinos-Hispanics
Women
Catholics
Jews, except Orthodox
Senior Citizens
Labor Union members
College Students
White working class, in the Midwest and Northeast
Military Veterans
Environmentalists
Gays and Lesbians
Middle Class
Poor and Working Class, Except in the South
Single Mothers
Northeast and New England
Middle West, except maybe Indiana and Missouri
Mountain States, except Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and maybe Montana and Arizona
Pacific Coast
Liberals and Progressives
Self described Independents

Who will support Romney-Ryan as a majority?

Evangelical Christians
Orthodox Jews
Southern voters other than Virginia and Florida, and possibly North Carolina
Great Plains–North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma
Border States–Kentucky, West Virginia
Mountain States other than Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada
Wealthy Top Two Percent–Corporations, Wall Street, Inherited Wealth
Cuban Americans, particularly in Florida
Conservatives

The debates will NOT change the equation enough to save Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan!

Chris Christie Raises The Ante For Mitt Romney, Creating A Massive Problem Bound To Lead To Disappointment!

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New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie loves to be bombastic, to be loud and outspoken, to the point that he loses all credibility to any sane observer!

Christie’s claim that Mitt Romney is going to have such an outstanding performance in Wednesday night’s first Presidential debate puts such a massive burden on the former Massachusetts Governor. Christie’s statement that the whole nature of the Presidential campaign will be totally different by Thursday morning is totally preposterous!

Even if Romney does well in the debate, it is not going to, overnight, transform anything, as Romney must not just do well for one period of 90 minutes, but he and his running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, must perform well in the remaining three debates, and stop making blunders and miscues that undermine the campaign!

So far, the Romney-Ryan campaign has been one massive disaster after another, and Romney is running behind in all of the swing states, and many people have already started to participate in early voting.

To believe that one debate will transform the election is to believe in the tooth fairy, and Christie’s mouth is going to make him look foolish, and undermine any plans for the New Jersey Governor to run for President in the future.

Being a braggart, a loudmouth, a egotist, an obnoxious person who loves to get in your face, is not a set of personality characteristics that propels someone into serious consideration for President, and just imagine a President Christie dealing with foreign leaders and Congressional leaders in the same bombastic manner that he uses now!

Christie will be harmed by his overly optimistic assertions, and that is to the good, as imagining a President Christie in the future is literally to be embarrassed and apologetic for his outrageous bully nature, and his behavior fits him better for a wrestling match or a boxing match than a responsible leader of a state government, or the American government!

Scott Brown Vs. Elizabeth Warren: The Key Senate Race Above All Others!

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Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown is engaged in the most combative Senate race of all against Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren for the Senate seat held for nearly 47 years by Ted Kennedy.

Brown won a surprising victory in the special election in 2010 to succeed Kennedy for the rest of his term, and is the only Republican to represent the state of Massachusetts, which has an all Democratic House delegation, a Democratic Governor, and a dominant Democratic majority in the state legislature.

Brown has had a difficult course to follow, and has tried to come across as moderate, like Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, but he has voted over 90 percent of the time with his party, and has refused to back President Obama on almost anything he asked for, including jobs legislation, and is now acting very aggressively against his opponent, who worked with Obama, and helped to start the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, although GOP Senate opposition prevented her from running this new agency, so she decided to run for the Senate. Brown has come across as in bed with Wall Street, gaining a lot of financial support from top banking and corporate interests.

Elizabeth Warren is an inspiring candidate, who clearly is for the middle class and the poor, and comes across as a hero of progressives, who supports the DREAM Act, which Brown is against, and is clearly a strong Obama supporter who would fight for progressive causes in the manner that Ted Kennedy did for so long!

Their second debate last night in Massachusetts demonstrated that Brown is ready to use rhetoric in a way that is divisive, including his derision of Warren as being a professor who may control her students but not him; saying she is not native American because of her appearance despite her assertions that she is; allowing his staff to make fun of native Americans publicly; and making clear that he considers her a left wing extremist not in the mainstream, as he claims he is. When he said that Antonin Scalia was his favorite Supreme Court Justice, then swung to Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts, and finally Sonia Sotomayor, the audience seemed to turn against him.

The debate brought up the issue that if Brown is reelected, he could decide a Republican majority in the Senate, and would have a dramatic effect on Supreme Court appointments of the next President, and would certainly NOT, based on his record and his rhetoric, be following in the tradition of Ted Kennedy!

This race is crucial to the future of the Obama Presidency in so many ways, and with Obama certain to win the state of Massachusetts, the hope is that he will have adequate coat tails to carry Warren into the Senate as his champion, and have Warren join Bernie Sanders and others in promoting the progressive agenda over the next four years!