Presidential Election

[Lentern]

Anyone who says Obama performed better in the debate is either a liar or a fool but at the same time anyone who thinks he performed so poorly as to have seriously shaped the result of the election is delusional. For months there has been this narrative crafted about Romney that he's a bit useless and it's been done to account for the fact that he's behind in the polls. It's a load of rubbish, all through the Republican Primaries we saw Romney was a stellar debater and excellent communicator who was consistently mopping the floor with Perry, Santorum, Gingrich etc and the reason the Republicans were reluctant to nominate him was because he was moderate, not because he was a poor politician. If he was a poor politician they definitely wouldn't have elected him he is a moderate and a Mormon, he's got the nomination because he was such a brilliant campaigner. He is now competing against the tide of history to defeat the Democrats after just one term, Ronald Reagan is the only person to have done that in over a century and while Romney has done an effective job he is starting with an enormous disadvantage. But the way pundits have tried to mold him into some dopey, gaffe ridden joke of a candidate to fit in with his mediocre polling was always going to mean that when they put him on a stage with Obama he was going to clear all expectations and uproot many of the ill conceived premises which this political narrative had been predicated upon.

[halapenyo]

Anyone who says Obama performed better in the debate is either a liar or a fool but at the same time anyone who thinks he performed so poorly as to have seriously shaped the result of the election is delusional. For months there has been this narrative crafted about Romney that he's a bit useless and it's been done to account for the fact that he's behind in the polls. It's a load of rubbish, all through the Republican Primaries we saw Romney was a stellar debater and excellent communicator who was consistently mopping the floor with Perry, Santorum, Gingrich etc and the reason the Republicans were reluctant to nominate him was because he was moderate, not because he was a poor politician. If he was a poor politician they definitely wouldn't have elected him he is a moderate and a Mormon, he's got the nomination because he was such a brilliant campaigner. He is now competing against the tide of history to defeat the Democrats after just one term, Ronald Reagan is the only person to have done that in over a century and while Romney has done an effective job he is starting with an enormous disadvantage. But the way pundits have tried to mold him into some dopey, gaffe ridden joke of a candidate to fit in with his mediocre polling was always going to mean that when they put him on a stage with Obama he was going to clear all expectations and uproot many of the ill conceived premises which this political narrative had been predicated upon.

who do you prefer Obama or Romney?

[SylviaB]

obama obviosuly

[Lentern]

who do you prefer Obama or Romney?

I'm torn, I personally like Obama more but I accept that invariably, roughly half the time we are going to have Republican Presidents in the Whitehouse and Romney seems to be far and away the most progressive, moderate republican candidate for the Whitehouse in living memory and in the long term I think it'd be good if Romney won now, rather than lose and in four years we get another hardline neocon storm the Whitehouse. I also quietly think Romney might be able to get some sort of carbon reduction legislation enacted, even though it's not in his platform I find it hard to believe someone as progressive and modern as he is doesn't recognize the need for it and he is probably in a better condition to broker a passage through the congress than Obama who has pretty well alienated the whole Republican party.

[Lentern]

What was your opinion of Romney before the debate? There is no doubt that he is an intelligent, accomplished, and utterly capable guy. He cut his teeth in a field that demands excellent skills in speech, persuasion, and negotiation. He was evidently well prepared for the debate, and praise must be given to his debate prep team. That being said, Lehrer was a terrible moderator, and I don't think Obama's debate prep team did (or could have) anticipated this.

Don't forget that John Kerry destroyed Bush in the debates.

Kerry did come very close which given the nationalist fervour that was running around the Iraq war was pretty impressive.

[halapenyo]

"At its core, the debate over how much to spends on defense gets down to this: What is it that the United States should be defending against? Obama wants more restraint in military spending while Romney favors expansion. Obama also wants more focus on Asia-Pacific security, reflecting China's military modernization. But that and other elements of military strategy could come apart if Washington doesn't find a way to avoid automatic budget cuts starting in January."

why is romney favouring expansionary defense spending. wouldnt he be better off reducing it and putting that spending elsewhere (considering one of his main campaign points is the large amount of debt currently present under the obama government)

[Lentern]

"At its core, the debate over how much to spends on defense gets down to this: What is it that the United States should be defending against? Obama wants more restraint in military spending while Romney favors expansion. Obama also wants more focus on Asia-Pacific security, reflecting China's military modernization. But that and other elements of military strategy could come apart if Washington doesn't find a way to avoid automatic budget cuts starting in January."

why is romney favouring expansionary defense spending. wouldnt he be better off reducing it and putting that spending elsewhere (considering one of his main campaign points is the large amount of debt currently present under the obama government)

Probably because it's a rousing rhetorical device to be able to say that you support the troops more than the other guy does.

[SylviaB]

liberals are scum

[Lolsmith]

It's not like I really have anything to say about this, but I usually like it when the OP states an opinion on whatever topic they've posted to explain why they hold that particular view. But that's just me.



Obeezy is my nigga 4rel. #blackpresident #obeezy #yolo

In all seriousness, I haven't seen any candidate I haven't found to be a complete idiot, so lets just stick with Obama. Why not.

Hahahahahahaha this whole post pls go back to high school

Romney is undoubtedly a strong candidate and I still don't agree with most of his platform (mostly the bipartisan issues that don't get addressed), but if I had to vote for Obama or Romney, I would vote for Romney. Obama's track record doesn't help him either.

Gary Johnson is the best out of them all (possibly even luap nor)

[Debauchee]

ron paul understand economics way better

[Lolsmith]

I can't ascertain that, but I think Gary Johnson is more electable and a bit more freedom loving than Paul. Paul hates abortion and hides behind state's rights which I think he knows will have abortion either restricted or removed in some states (however this does tie into competition between them). I think I've read somewhere he wants to repeal Roe v Wade as well. Paul can come off as an old nut, while Johnson is more personable.

Neither of them want America to be world police, which is outstanding.

[SylviaB]

I'm torn, I personally like Obama more but I accept that invariably, roughly half the time we are going to have Republican Presidents in the Whitehouse and Romney seems to be far and away the most progressive, moderate republican candidate for the Whitehouse in living memory and in the long term I think it'd be good if Romney won now, rather than lose and in four years we get another hardline neocon storm the Whitehouse. I also quietly think Romney might be able to get some sort of carbon reduction legislation enacted, even though it's not in his platform I find it hard to believe someone as progressive and modern as he is doesn't recognize the need for it and he is probably in a better condition to broker a passage through the congress than Obama who has pretty well alienated the whole Republican party.

The Obama campaign hurt itself by perpetuating such strong opinions about Romney which set high expectations for his villainy in place. When those expectations were not met, Obama’s (or his surrogates’) strategy backfired. Basically, Mitt Romney was a myth – a piece of gossip. Given the media’s strong influence, women hadn’t seen much of Romney and they had a certain strong expectation of what to expect from him. He wants to steal from poor people and force raped women to give birth. Romney didn’t come off that way, which is why he made his biggest strides among female voters.



That is a huge shift. An 18 point shift and a dead heat among female voters. Since the overall swing was only 12 points, something that Romney did or said must have appealed to this cohort. To drill down even further, there was a 22 point swing among likely white female voters whereas there was only a five point swing among white men.

[SylviaB]

I can't ascertain that, but I think Gary Johnson is more electable and a bit more freedom loving than Paul. Paul hates abortion

Yeah..because he considers it murder. Nothing anti-freedom about being opposed to what you view as murder.

[soloooooo]

Hahahahahahaha this whole post pls go back to high school

Romney is undoubtedly a strong candidate and I still don't agree with most of his platform (mostly the bipartisan issues that don't get addressed), but if I had to vote for Obama or Romney, I would vote for Romney. Obama's track record doesn't help him either.

Gary Johnson is the best out of them all (possibly even luap nor)

In 2008 I would have voted Obama is I was an American. Obama promised so much and is a brilliant performer. However, he has not delivered as expected. Now it is full steam ahead on the Romney campaign.

[soloooooo]

Neither of them want America to be world police, which is outstanding.

I am in two minds about this.

Mind A: Heck no. The powers that want to be (often referred to wrongly as the 'illuminati') have more than enough power already.

Mind B: Yes as I don't want China to becoem the worlds police as their stance on North Korea and Iran and a lot of other issues is not good for the western world.

[kaz1]

[soloooooo]

The Obama campaign hurt itself by perpetuating such strong opinions about Romney which set high expectations for his villainy in place. When those expectations were not met, Obama’s (or his surrogates’) strategy backfired. Basically, Mitt Romney was a myth – a piece of gossip. Given the media’s strong influence, women hadn’t seen much of Romney and they had a certain strong expectation of what to expect from him. He wants to steal from poor people and force raped women to give birth. Romney didn’t come off that way, which is why he made his biggest strides among female voters.



That is a huge shift. An 18 point shift and a dead heat among female voters. Since the overall swing was only 12 points, something that Romney did or said must have appealed to this cohort. To drill down even further, there was a 22 point swing among likely white female voters whereas there was only a five point swing among white men.

93% of African American voters say they would vote for Obama? Seems awfully high.

[funkshen]

either way, the jews win

[Riproot]

either way, the jews win

And thank fuck for that.



Also, relevant:

[Lolsmith]

Yeah..because he considers it murder. Nothing anti-freedom about being opposed to what you view as murder.

Yeah that's fair. Johnson is more in line with my views on it. My views might change if I was an obstetrician though.

93% of African American voters say they would vote for Obama? Seems awfully high.

racist

[funkshen]

Yeah that's fair. Johnson is more in line with my views on it. My views might change if I was an obstetrician though.

yeah and ron paul wants to overturn roe vs wade. ron paul is your quintessential activist big-government president.


gary johnson just says fuck it, cowabunga dude and slithers off into the sunset, leaving a trail of glittery liberty slime


vote gary johnson

[Lolsmith]

Be liberty slug with me

[SylviaB]

[SylviaB]

http://www.colorado.edu/news/release...ado-study-says

[halapenyo]

http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/electoral-map

its pretty close. will probably come down to florida again.