The Politics Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

Do you think Christie will run in 2016? I know he stated in interviews that he had no aspirations to be the POTUS, and that NJ was his concern.I'll just be glad when the election ends, Barack starts his 2nd term, and Romney fades into the darkness FOREVER. . .

[Vee]

Did you see Christie's speech at the RNC? It was about him, not Romney. He'll run. And he's done a lot in the last few days to build up goodwill with moderates and Democrats - me included.

New ABC poll has Obama up. Basically everyone is saying Mitt can't do it.

I'm hoping for 300+ EV.

[DRW50]

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/blacks-should-vote-republican-ad-ohio.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

[JackPeyton]

Please, Romney is THIRSTY for the fame, the glory, the power. He will be the next Sarah Palin.

[DRW50]

The media is still trying to tell us Mitt's a true moderate. That crush just will not go away. He's secretly our friend! He's so "sensible" and "pragmatic"!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83192.html?hp=t1

[Ann_SS]

The one thing this election has shown is that Politico is a fraud, mostly it is stenography. It offers nothing interesting or original. Instead it steals and summarizes the hard work of relevant reporters.

[Vee]

Politico has been known to lean right for years.

The David Brooks gambit of a few days ago - an editorial declaring that because Mitt is a shapeshifter with no true beliefs or morals that he will be forced to govern "from the center" and magically create more bipartisanship than mean old Obama - was the most hilarious commentary I've ever read.

Good job numbers and finally Rasmussen is beginning his move today back towards the real numbers. Obama up one, Romney down.

[DRW50]

I mostly go back to Politico out of habit, although some of their best people are gone now. They can be incisive at times. They are also the heart of the Beltway, which makes the whole moderate-Mitt fantasy more desperate. David Brooks, the Reasonable Republican, is the same way. There is zero reason to believe Mitt will be a moderate President. If he wants to win his 2016 primary, he can't be. He will have to be the most outspoken Scalia-like President ever, and even that may not be enough.

The goodbye of the Beltway culture could only help politics and our national discourse. It's sad to see Nate Silver, who has done nothing other than talk numbers, attacked again, this time by the New York Times, huffing because he made a bet with Joe Scarborough, behaving like he owes them a big favor because he works at their paper.

I don't think it's as close between Romney and Obama as the press is making out but I still think it's very tight. I just hope that people won't decide they need checks and balances and go in and vote Republican everything else. That will just mean 2-4-infinity more years of gridlock and ugliness.

[Vee]

I just don't see it being that tight when Romney cannot possibly take several of the key states he desperately needs to win. And when the conservative estimates have Obama at 290-295.

[marceline]

The more I see about the thinking of the American populace, the more comfortable I am in saying that they simply don't think that deeply.

I've seen some of the most asinine, flawed, primitive thinking when it comes to this election. "Obama didn't fix the economy in three years." (How on earth was anybody supposed to fix the economy in three years? Even if the Congress had cooperated?) Obama didn't bring about hope and change. (Please articulate to me specifically what you thought "hope and change" would look like. Because if you can't describe it don't blame the man for not doing it.) And my favorite, “I’m tired of the Republicans blaming all the debt on Democrats, so let them take over and see what they do.” (Yes. Someone actually said that. What the [!@#$%^&*]?!) I've seen people complaining that the power isn't back on in NYC and NJ. Who in their right mind thinks you can recover from a hurricane in three days?! We've genuinely become a country of thoughtless, simple-minded infants with absolutely no understanding of the process it takes to get anything accomplished. That's why we have birthers and truthers and people who think the BLS cooked the books last month. As a culture we've completely lost the skill of critical thinking.

And don't get me started on undecided voters.

Edited November 2, 2012 by marceline

[MichaelGL]

+1

[Ann_SS]

I don't think that the election is remotely close, particularly in the electoral college.

[DRW50]

Mostly I meant the polls, some state (I don't pay that much attention to tracking polls).

[Vee]

I think the electorate can be lazy and mean-spirited when it wants to be. God knows we saw the worst of that in the Bush years, and in many other times in our history. But I think we also are capable of greatness as a people. That prismatic state is the same in any country the world over, and I think it's part of the human condition. I think at core most of us believe in the American dream and a spirit of coming together, even if we don't always practice what we preach, even if sometimes it's just superficial lip service to an ideal. But I don't think it's always lip service, and I don't think it's always a sham. I think there's always been greatness possible, and common decency, and I think that's one big reason why Obama is being reelected. People know he's worked hard, people want to see the country continue to recover, they want to have hope. I think they take immense pride in seeing the auto industry recover and seeing people get back to work. A lot of the public likes to cast itself as cynical and jaded for the sake of cool points, but at heart I think we are a very earnest people. Often we just don't want anyone to notice.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Vee

[Ann_SS]

But the state polls do not indicate that the election is close. The overall trend shows that any gains that Romney made after the first debate have long dissipated. Yes, there has been the usual "tightening," but it is clear that the President is poised for another overwhelming victory in the electoral college.

As for Nate, I think that he has more defenders than attackers. I read an interview with him that said that his contract with the NY Times is nearly done and it did not sound like he was planning to re-up with them. I hope that he finds other ways to make money and becomes an independent political analyst again.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Ann_SS