President Barack Obama/Vice-President Joe Biden Re-elected to 2nd Term Thread

[Thiebear]

No way fla/va already done.
The unemployment #'s won't be 8.1 again before jan.
Bengazi won't have substance in the media till midNov.
All he has to do is have Biden hold his own and do medicre in the next debate
(make a 31yd fg for the win) - its only 2.5wks left to maintain.

[Jumbo]

I guess I shoulda watched the debate IF it was that big a swing factor

While I am not stating definitively that it was, given what I saw and with my viewpoints on human behavior/nature in these matters, I would certainly see it as no surprise, even if it may (reasonably) confound many folks here who take much more to form or shake their stances.

[twa]

I'm curious if it affected the media more than the voters,the rats be fleeing

Saw a interesting article on the moderators technique,which he claims allows the candidates to be more determinative.(enough rope to hang yourself)

[NLC1054]

I'm with ya all the way, NLC, on the veep debate. More and more, upon reflection, i can't believe Obama let Romney have such a cakewalk. Unbelievable. I don't know if you or anyone else here heard this, but on the radio yesterday (Seattle abc affiliate) there was also a story with the host (conservative but not rabid at all) stating it was reported that Obama told a campaign aide right afterwards "that went well" and was being genuine.

The radio show host (John Curley---don't listen to him but he seems reasonable enough and had a regional "travel/community" show for years where he game off very likable) then stated another similar comment Obama made after being asked how he meant that, indicating he was being sincere and really felt he did pretty good and Romney didn't---then it being about his guys were understandably incredulous. So I have no idea if any of that is so and has been verified. If anyone else does, it would be interesting in the "really"??" department. And yes, they should take the ad down since Sesame St asked so nice.

I think they weren't expecting liberals to go into complete and utter meltdown mode.

I don't think Obama did as bad as others did. I thought generally he did a good job at pointing out that Romney was lying without coming right out and saying it, but he was immediately less energetic than Romney. I think the Obama campaign made the calculation that if they were more substantive than Romney, and also pointed out the many times Romney has changed positions and turned down, then they'd sort of win on the "we've presented more facts than you and you still refuse to give specifics" tip.

What happened instead was liberals essentially lost their ****, acknowledging that yeah, Romney lied, but the President had never outright called him a liar. The liberal spin on this story since the debate has gone from "Obama wasn't on his A-game" to "the debate was an utter disaster!". Liberals and progressives are constantly screaming about their politicians showing back bone in the face of Conservative lies and Obama appeared to just let Romney lie his ass off without outright calling him out on it. I think towards the end of the debate he did a much better job of countering it, but I think the combination of Romney walking back pretty up every policy position he stood for, and the lack of the President calling him on it early, led to a debate performance that 4 years ago could've beaten the more dower McCain, but cast against the energetic and almost admirable bold face lying and position shifting of Romney came off lethargic and like he was uninterested.

I don't think Biden will have that same problem. I expect that Ryan is going to be adhering to a strict set of talking points; he won't roll over, but Biden is going to do a lot better job of outlining the fuzzy math and bad policy of Romney and Ryan and be a much better advocate for Obama than Obama is for himself.

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think Ryan is probably the smartest of all 4. I would not count on Biden to make much progress there. That's just my opinion of course.

[Corcaigh]

Something I just found out about Paul Ryan:

Ryan worked summers as a salesman for Oscar Mayer and once got to drive the Wienermobile. How has this not come up before?

[mistertim]

I think Ryan is probably the smartest of all 4. I would not count on Biden to make much progress there. That's just my opinion of course.

I think Ryan is going to be on a tightrope. Not necessarily because of Biden, but because Romney is now essentially denying a ton of stuff he has been saying up until now which includes many "severely conservative" positions that go along with ones Ryan champions. So Ryan likely won't be able (or allowed) to truly state what he thinks and may, in fact, have to go along with Romney and just lie his face off and say he never supported x or y even though he has for years. Should be interesting.

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think Ryan is going to be on a tightrope. Not necessarily because of Biden, but because Romney is now essentially denying a ton of stuff he has been saying up until now which includes many "severely conservative" positions that go along with ones Ryan champions. So Ryan likely won't be able (or allowed) to truly state what he thinks and may, in fact, have to go along with Romney and just lie his face off and say he never supported x or y even though he has for years. Should be interesting.

I don't see that at all. Ryan can simply stick to the economic stance and be very successful IMO.

[Predicto]

I think Ryan is going to be on a tightrope. Not necessarily because of Biden, but because Romney is now essentially denying a ton of stuff he has been saying up until now which includes many "severely conservative" positions that go along with ones Ryan champions. So Ryan likely won't be able (or allowed) to truly state what he thinks and may, in fact, have to go along with Romney and just lie his face off and say he never supported x or y even though he has for years. Should be interesting.

How is it interesting if no one calls him on it? Romney flat out destroyed Obama by just saying whatever contradictory nonsense he wanted, and looking relaxed and Presidential while he did it.

Guess what: Ryan has been doing that for years, and does it better than Romney ever will.

[deejaydana]

It seems baffling to me that Obama would shrug off advice from his handlers immediately preceeding the Denver debate and then spend the previous day touring the Hoover Dam. What seems equally weird is that immediately following the debate he thought he did just fine. It should be interesting to see how this plays out in the two remaining debates. The excuses for his performance have been hilarious to listen to though: he just doesn't care, he had altitude sickness, he had to rein in the "angry black man" look. In truth, he was just bested in the debate.
't

[Prosperity]

That's weird. I could understand pulling out of North Carolina and putting it into the Romney ledger, but Florida and Virginia are completely done deals in his mind?

I wonder if they would have called the race for Kerry in 2004

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/spe...lls/index.html

[Jumbo]

Obama says he was ‘too polite’ in first debate with Romney

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/o...-election.html

President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he was "just too polite" in his first debate with Mitt Romney—a new explanation for the incumbent's widely panned performance in that prime-time political bout.
"What happened in the debate? Everybody wants to know," radio host Tom Joyner asked Obama. "Was that some kind of genius strategy to rope-a-dope him in?"
The president ducked the Muhammad Ali comparison but said, "I think it's fair to say I was just too polite." He promised to be more combative at the second and third debates, to be held on Oct. 16 and 22. "We're going to take it to him."
Obama sought to reassure panicked Democrats who have watched as postdebate polls seem to show the race now narrowly in Romney's favor in battleground states.
"This was always going to be a close race," Obama insisted. "Gov. Romney kept on making mistakes month after month, so it made it look artificially like this was, might end up being a cakewalk. But we understood internally that it never would be."

more at link

[twa]

too polite and we were never really winning ....sounds punch drunk

Predicto, I think Nate has even turned Fl pink

what ain't they telling us?

[Jumbo]

I want one!

'Sassy Big Bird' Costume Flies Off Shelves After 1st Presidential Debate

http://news.yahoo.com/sassy-big-bird...-politics.html

Last year's hottest Halloween costume trend was the black swan, a dark feathery ballet costume intended to mimic Natalie Portman's hit movie character. This year, the hottest Halloween trend is a bird of a different color.
After Big Bird became part of last week's presidential debate, Big Bird costumes are flying off the shelves.
When GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke about cutting funds for PBS during last Wednesday's debate, he said, "I love Big Bird" - PBS airs and partially funds "Sesame Street," which is Big Bird's home.
Since that moment, the 7-foot bird has been a hot topic of discussion, inspiring memes , parodies and even presidential campaign videos. It has also apparently spurred a new Halloween costume craze.

[Predicto]

Predicto, I think Nate has even turned Fl pink

As well he should, if that's what the polls say.

Still. it might be a bit early to say the race is all over in Florida - Florida isn't Utah or Oklahoma (or Rhode Island or Maryland).