1. So Romney is now .7% ahead of Obama in the RCP average. By way of comparison, John Kerry (who was running to unseat an incumbent of comparable job approval ratings) never led and never got closer than 1.7% to Bush in the post convention period. Bush ended up winning the popular vote by 2.4%. . . . . Continue Reading »
1. I don’t know how to write a book, but if I were to write a book on the 2012 primary season, it would argue something like this: Critics of the Republican “base” considered Republicans to be invincibly ignorant, easily manipulated yokels and many of the candidates for the . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the things I like to keep in mind is Ross Douthat’s observation that “There are multiple rights and lefts, and multiple middles as well.” One thing sort of irked about the observations that Romney had gone to the center in his debate with Obama. There was some truth to that . . . . Continue Reading »
So I just finished watching the first 65 minutes or so of the debate, and here are my thoughts, 1. This was the character Romney should have been playing all along - Romney at his best is a less affable and empathic (but more personally decent) Bill Clinton. A big part of Clinton’s appeal is . . . . Continue Reading »
And I doubt that I’m even watching the debate tonight. I have to be up in the morning. 1. Read this Reihan Salam piece. Find the sophisticated jab at Obama’s bitter clinger comment. Just deadly in so many ways. 2. I keep reading and hearing about how hard . . . . Continue Reading »
1. The polls still show a slight Obama edge. Some of the media outlet polls show a smaller Obama edge than the ones that came out last week, but the Rasmussen tracking poll has gone from a tie to a three point Obama lead. The result is that the RCP polling average has gone from a peak Obama lead of . . . . Continue Reading »
After reading the complaints about Romney, I asked friends who have seen the candidate speak locally. They say he does speak in specifics about what he would do about America’s problems, on some issues. On just some issues, I ask? Yes, but we know what he is going to . . . . Continue Reading »
I read two articles yesterday about how little the Left and Right listen to each other. One is thoughtful, by Yuval Levin in The Weekly Standard , ” The Real Debate “, Each party is pulled into this debate by what it sees as the deeply misguided views of the other. Democrats . . . . Continue Reading »
It is still close enough that Romney could win. The Romney team hasn’t given up yet. We’ll know when the Romney team has given up. It will be when anonymous Romney staffers start leaking to liberal-leaning news outlets that Romney is losing because of the Tea . . . . Continue Reading »
I basically agree with Ramesh Ponnuru. I think Romney is behind. I don’t think that Gallup and Fox News have joined the vast media conspiracy to demoralize Republican voters and I don’t think that they misplaced their calendars and still think it is 2008. But I don’t think Romney . . . . Continue Reading »
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