Posted on 09/19/2012 9:13:02 AM PDT by ReaganÜberAlles
It is beginning to occur to me, that at some point, it seems that no matter what the Dems throw at Romney it does not sink him. He bounces back. Rasmussen has him up and new polls shows him pulling away in NC and taking the lead in NH.
Could the narrative soon become that because of the dismal economy and seething dissatisfaction with the direction of the country that Romney has "rope a doped" Obama and nothing he throws at him will knock him out?
It is too much to hope for ... but Romney should employ Gingrich as his debate coach...
i’d relax at this point...people DON’T want to vote for obama but has Romney done enough to get the undecideds to vote for him???
btw- must add lets wait till the end of the week until we decide if the latest criminal media attack on Romney has had any effect on the “polls”...
That's how I see it too.
I have a brother who has been a staunch Clinton and Obama-loving liberal for years. Our political rift was so bad all we did was argue when we got together. I haven't seen my brother in three years, and before that another three. Estranged I believe is the word.
I received an e-mail from him this morning and he's done with not only Obama, but liberalism itself. It's a long story and I won't bore anyone with it here, but his catharsis apparently happened over time and he just realized that the embrace of "rugged individualism" can have tremendous personal benefits. Will he vote for Romney? I can't say for sure, but he's done with the Democratic Party.
(oops - I went a little longer below than I planned - but I’ve watched Mitt since the Teddy election - as a voter, I know him well)
I see a few things going on, and one of them is perhaps the most encouraging.
1. When it comes to the economy, (and now foreign policy), it’s not that Mitt himself is bullet proof. It’s that the facts are bullet proof. The economy is terrible and can’t be spun or lied about. The attempted lies about what happened specifically in Libya and in general in the ME, this situation is also bullet proof, because ... reality is bulletproof. America is full of ignorance, for sure, but even ignorance can for only so long deny that a blue sky is ... blue.
2. The attacks on Romney simply don’t rise to the level of a stain on a blue dress. I think all the charges against Romney have in many ways stuck, but they are either minor charges (Olympics), or cliche/caricature charges (Fires and kills people / Hates 47% of the country) - so reduced to minor charges, The third type of charge - the primary charge of the 47% tapes, falls under the actual definition of the word ‘gaffe’ - an unscripted statement of the truth. In this third case, Romney angers the Dem base who never would have voted for him (the are reacting like holy water was tossed upon them,) solidifies the conservative base (how many people here did I read all of a sudden saying ‘WOW - maybe I will vote for this guy - still don’t like him much, hate his abortion stance, but at least he’s basically conservative.’ Finally - there is the element of those who actually are responsible people, who for whatever reason are on the dole - and it’s probably temporary ... but maybe they’ve started to enjoy the safety net. They are ashamed, rightfully, and will fix their thinking now that it has been laid plain before them - vote for Romney out of a re-establishing of their own pride - Obama having tried to addict them the heroin.
3. The third is the most important though: MITT ACTUALLY HAS IMPECCABLE CHARACTER (of course no human is perfect.) The reason you can’t stick a scandal on him is that there are none. The reason you can’t say ‘he hates America’ is because he doesn’t really understand how to hate or despise or resent. He actually loves the country, and would love nothing more than to see it flourishing again - to see the moochers have pride again. Sometimes this works against him - he appears like a naive idiot teenager out of a 50’s TV show sometimes (OK almost all the time.) But though business and politics have made him not-so-naive, nor have they jaded him, and nor has it wiped that silly 50’s look (I mean - he still says ‘why, i think’ ... (nobody says ‘why’ starting a sentence)) ... might as well say ‘why, golly-gee-wiz’.
But, America picks up on this. They may not love him the way one adores a charismatic figure, but they don’t mistrust him (the left doesn’t mistrust him - they hate him, they trust he’ll do what he says).
This type of thing - same as the Reagan election - a little different from WBush - who’s character was good but not especially deep -> popularity based on character rather than charisma simply takes long to grow. It’s a deeper, less emotional popularity - but far more powerful.
So yeah - I agree with you - nothing meaningful is sticking, but it’s different from Clinton. Clinton could sexually harass a 12 year old in front of 100 women and they’d still want to kiss him. But in Clinton’s case - things SHOULD stick to him, but they don’t, because he hypnotizes them with charm (never understood this - women of FR - can you explain???.)
Very different for why things don’t stick to Romney.
In Romney’s case, things don’t stick to him either because the ‘things’ are blatant cliches or lies or caricatures ... or they don’t stick because people get that he’s a good, decent man, and so he gets the benefit of the doubt where the gaps in information lay. Therefore, America gets that the 47% comment was
1. not elegant, but also not in a setting demanding elegance, and not about hatred/division
2. was about political calculation but in a practical sense - not calculation to deceive - but calculation to succeed. Planning, rather than manipulation. (No one can claim he was being manipulative.)
For America to read between the lines and judge it ‘practical’ and not ‘cynically calculating’ is what I mean by #3 above. His good character and his track record - not of perfection - but of being a decent man - fill in all the blanks where American’s are left to themselves to interpret ‘what was actually in the man’s heart and mind.’
I followed Mitt for a long time in Massachusetts, since his first run against Teddy - 16 years ago? At heart - he’s a conservative, not ideologically, but because conservativism is the only possible outcome of ‘good-character + correct-assumptions + rational-logical-thinking + wisdom-and-experience.’ Thus he is conservative by default, axiomatically, not by his own choosing.
Had he not flip flopped, he would have gotten no where in this state (Mass) and hence no where any where. Some purists can argue, fine, then he never should have run in Massachusetts if he had to compromise his beliefs. I disagree. I think spiritually they don’t come with a hell of a lot more integrity, and wisdom dictates that you do the most good possible without setting back the good. You take what you can get, and fight the other stuff tomorrow.
What’s encouraging to me is that I think many in the country are beginning to realize this. Character and the deeper nature of men (especially if it’s quietly good) takes a long time reveal itself as others, and it must be tested over and over again (so, thank you, Obama campaign, and thanks for the FR’s who’ve been lambasting him) He is way far from perfect - this is a fallen world - but compared to what both the right and left have to offer, he’s as good a man as Reagan, what he does with that is still to be seen. If the turf of the day were right, he’s be fighting against the Fed (anyone schooled in business knows why the Fed is suicide) ... and he’s be fighting against abortion. Legislation is not a way to permanently change defective views. When the defective views are near enough corrected ... then the last step is legislation.
On the level of ‘just a voter’ (I’m just a dopey guy who cares about politics) ... I’ve lived in Mass for 30 years, am one of the only 4 conservatives :-), but as ‘just a voter’ and not an insider in any way - I can tell you that Mitt is about as good and wise a man as conservatives are going to get for a long long time. He’s the perfect mentor for guys like Ryan and the rest of the often younger group. They’ll be the fire and the charisma, he’ll be the manager.
HIs policy will never get distracted by scandal. (I love Newt too, but he would not have been effective). He will put in place policy that is possible at the time he puts it in place (Sorry Ron - you’re a great voice, I hope you’l be chief of staff, and frankly you’re right on almost everything - but you would not in fact change the country at all, and in fact you might drive it left unintentionally).
As for abortion - that work needs be done on the hearts and minds level before the legislative level. Younger guys like Ryan, and women, will connect better with the generation that’s forming it’s ideas on things like this - their charisma will naturally draw in the younger generation. Mitt knows that as a leader of a country, if he uses his leadership in the presidency to calmly remind the next generation that life is life, and that the left has reduced life to a secular sack of mechanized biochemical chaos, that’s the fastest most realistic route to ending the slaughter. Legislation, though, is a generation away. Screaming about it is not better policy then pragmatically ending it as soon as possible.
Summary: You can’t really catch Mitt doing anything wrong. Why? Because he’s a total 50’s geek with the odd twist that he’s been schooled in the the brutal business/financial world - so he’s wise, practical, pragmatic - his strength comes from his character, but his pragmatism (often hated here) comes from his broad knowledge of how the world actually works here on a fallen Earth.
Teflon Don... Romney.....
Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
This is good news.
Can you elaborate by state area?...Northeast, Central, Southwest? or Cuyahoga, Summit, Medina, Stark vs. Franklin vs. Hamilton counties?
The fun thing is, he said something very like that in response to some heckler a few months ago. It was along the line of, "If you like free stuff, then vote for Mr. Obama, because that's what he's all about."
Dayton, 45 min north of Cincy and central.
You knew what I was asking for.....I use to live there and I'd like to know.
If you can't share then just don't respond....
Aw. I hurt your feelings, didn’t I? Sorry, I didn’t realize you were a n00b. Next time I’ll be gentle.
Oh man, not at all. I’m new here but I’m 58, hell,...I’ve meant lots worse jackasses then you.
Probably not - I’m a pretty big jack@ss. Welcome to FR.
I don’t know what the status is in Cleveland or Columbus, or even really Cincy.
Maybe but to stop it the borders have to be closed. And even then it’s a long shot.
Thank you....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.