By all respects the republicans should be winning, Romney was such an unfortunate choice. And that Ryan guy is like Sarah Palin's brother, I mean, holy shit. If they could pull one guy that didn't look like some 1980's business douche they could sell it. Obama lucked out.
I was talking to a neighbor yesterday and he thinks the Obama campaign is in trouble and cites their pulling out of swing states and focusing on smaller states as evidence. -Not sure this is true or not? He also thought that their calling Romney names and using things like "Romnesia" was evidence that they are desperate. He said GW Bush did the same thing once he saw the election was out of reach. Regarding Obama getting "lucky", I agree but think that he would have been lucky no matter what. Reason being, the primary process was long and grueling for the GOP. Lets be honest here, if you look at Romney's political track record, he is NOT the Tea-Party totting radical he had to make himself out to be to get the nomination and enthuse his base. It's far more likely, imo, that he would be a rather moderate republican. Ryan on the other hand??
Campaign slogans and phrases like Reagan's "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago" are pretty common. Romnesia is a very clever way to get people to start talking about the contradictory views Romney has taken on _everything_. It's smarter too because it can be applied to multiple issues and if Romney missteps they have that saying waiting for him. It's less 'name calling' than saying 'flip flopping', which was the '04 republican mantra.
I thought "Romnesia" was pretty clever too. My wife was a part of the conversation with my neighbor and later she asked what "names" he was referring to. When I said "Romnesia", she sad "that's not name calling". She's right, it's clever marketing. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama uses it tonight. That said, I'd imagine that the Romney camp has a clever response in tow, just for such an occasion. Should be an interesting exchange tonight. A lot on the line.
I haven't heard that he's pulling out of swing states. He has comfortable leads in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. It's difficult to see how Romney can win without flipping one of those three. If he's focusing on smaller states, it might just be for insurance reasons.
I don't see it that way. IMO the candidates put forth by the GOP are symptomatic of the current nature of the party. In addition to their economic approach, they've anchored themselves to increasingly unpopular social ideas (gay marriage, abortion, immigration, etc.). What's particularly difficult for them, is that the libertarian elements of their fiscal approach don't jive with their social politics. -To encapsulate their collective agenda, you need to be the kind of candidate that they nominate.Obama lucked out.