Four Pitfalls on the Path to an Obama Victory
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With forty-six days remaining to the formal voting on 6 November 2012, it could be said with cautious optimism that victory is within the grasp of President Obama and the Democratic Party. There have been many encouraging signs from several national polls to polls in swing states. There are reasons to be confident and upbeat. Despite these positive factors, however, actual victory has not been truly achieved. The election remains to be held and there are a minimum of four credible pitfalls on the path to the sorely needed and genuinely deserved Obama and Democratic victory that now looks so tantalizingly possible. This election is still quite close and still could go either way, but Romney badly needs something to happen to change the trajectory of this race. If things remain as they are today, he loses.
Much credit is hereby given to Professor Robert Reich for his perceptive article – Four Reasons Why Romney Might Still Win.
[http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2012093821/four-reasons-why-romney-might-still-win]
The first pitfall in chronological order is the presidential debate on 3 October 2012. All the subsequent debates are extensions of this initial hazard. The first debate will focus on domestic policy and it will take place at the University of Denver. The moderator will be Jim Lehrer of the PBS NewsHour. There are topical and tactical opportunities and possible pitfalls for the president during this face-to-face encounter with Mr. Romney. The need is to maximize the opportunities and minimize the hazards.
The debates are likely to be overrated, but it would be political malpractice of a high order not to perform more than due diligence in getting ready for and conducting these debates. Though debates arguably have changed campaign trajectories in 1976 and 1980, in the last seven presidential elections they didn’t materially affect the outcome of the races. Presidential debates are scheduled for Oct. 3, 16, and 22. A vice presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 11. These four events are milestones along the way to Election Day and they must be appropriately addressed and dealt with effectively.
Romney will have the best coaching money can buy. He has no compunction about making statements of dubious veracity and will even insist on claims that have been repeatedly demonstrated to be false and fallacious. Romney will resort to code words and dog whistles and bears actual malice against the president. On-the-other-hand, the president can be ponderous in the debate setting and could underperform the much higher expectations for him while Romney has a truly low bar. Furthermore, Obama “has not been in a real-live debate for four years; Romney recently emerged from almost a year of them.”
According to Sunlen Miller | ABC OTUS News, Romney told Fox News in an interview from Dayton, Ohio. “I’ve, you know, I’ve never been in a presidential debate like this and it will be a new experience.” He said the American people will make “their assessment as to who’s the better speaker.” Nonetheless, Romney believes that Americans will be drawn to his plan for the nation. “People will make a choice,” Romney said. “I think I have, if you will, the facts on my side. I think the American people will be drawn more to the vision I have for the future of the country, but time will tell.” These statements have to aims. First to lower expectations prior to the debates and second to inject his preferred narrative into the ether for whatever propaganda benefit it may provide. This leads into the underlying factor with makes the debates more consequential than they might otherwise be.
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Tags: 2012 election, cirses, Debates, economy, Foreign Affairs, jobs, Larry Conley, Mitt Romney, money, romney, voting