Romney Campaign

[Magox]

I had this discussion with JA earlier, I contended that ROmney would run a better general election campaign than what we saw in the Primaries, simply because his core is much closer to the middle than that of the most energized which are the far righties.

 

As we all saw, the unveiling of the Bain attacks hasn't been nearly as effective as what the Obama campaign had hoped for, so now they are launching their new line of attack,which is focusing on ROmneys record as Gov. of Mass. Today was the first day, and it started with this on Morning Joe.

 

Deval Patrick isn’t much of an attack dog.

 

And that can’t be making the Obama campaign too happy.

 

Thursday is the day when the president’s camp is hitting rival Mitt Romney with a full-on assault on his record as Massachusetts governor, complete with a State House press conference starring top Obama political advisor David Axelrod.

 

So who better to get the party started than Patrick, the current Massachusetts governor, immediate successor to Romney, and someone who is very close to Obama and some of his top campaign aides.

 

But he could have been a character witness for the defense.

 

Hitting the Thursday morning TV news shows, Patrick barely managed a few yips at Romney - and was more at home cuddling up to Bain Capital and the Republican nominee.

 

Patrick’s performance shows the always-dicey role that surrogates play in a campaign. If they’re on message, they can be a potent way to add another credible voice to pound home the campaign’s message. If they’re off-key, as Patrick was Thursday, it gives the opponent a way to point out that even the candidate’s own friends don’t buy into the attack and seriously blunts its effectiveness.

 

Democratic rising-star and Newark Mayor Cory Booker is a recent example of a surrogate appearance gone wrong - he criticized the Obama campaign’s targeting of Bain as “nauseating” and said it was a “distraction from the real issues.”

 

 

In fact, the RNC was quick to highlight the similarities between Booker and Patrick, as RNC Deputy Communications Director Timothy Miller on Thursday morning tweeted after Patrick’s TV appearances, “Hostage tape imminent” - a reference to Booker’s walk-back of his Bain Capital comments through a YouTube video.

 

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday, Patrick called Bain “a perfectly fine company.”

 

“They have a role in the private economy, and I’ve got a lot of friends there,” Patrick added. “I think the Bain strategy has been distorted in some of the public discussions.”

 

“I think the issue isn’t about Bain. I think it’s about whether he’s accomplished in either his public or private life the kinds of things he wants to accomplish for the United States,” the Massachusetts governor said.

 

“It’s never been about Bain,” Patrick emphasized during another Thursday appearance, on CNN’s “Starting Point.”

 

Afterward, the Romney campaign couldn’t resist a dig.

 

“It’s clear the Obama campaign has no message and no vision when their surrogates continue to repudiate the Obama campaign’s attacks on free enterprise,” said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. “We appreciate all of the Obama surrogates who have praised Mitt Romney’s record.”

 

Patrick’s praise came as the president’s reelection effort had hoped to frame the day as the launch of a new bombing campaign targeting Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts

 

But the Massachusetts-based assault on Obama’s rival started with a whimper not a bang when Patrick lavished praise on Romney during “Morning Joe.”

 

Patrick, who followed Romney as governor in 2007, called the GOP presidential nominee a “gentleman” and said, “He’s always been a gentleman to me, and the people who know him well and personally speak very warmly of him. I haven’t had a lot of interaction with him, but the transition [to Patrick’s governorship] was smooth.”

 

The governor also was asked by an MSNBC panelist about the unemployment rate in Massachusetts when Romney left office - and the answer left “Morning Joe” panelists musing about how low it was.

 

“I think when he left office, it was in the fours. I want to say 4.3 percent, about what the national average was,” Patrick said.

 

“That’s pretty good,” responded host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman.

 

“Yeah, not bad,” said Barnicle, a former Boston Globe journalist, and frequent “Morning Joe” contributor.

 

 

Yikes! However that is not as a result of Romney's campaigns doing, thats just someone who has a hard time demonizing ROmney.

 

This next clip is all a result of ROmney's campaign. You gotta check this video out.

 

 

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod was met with protests from Romney supporters at a press event in Massachusetts today. A frustrated Axelrod, who was shouted down, tells the protesters "they can't handle the truth."

 

After his brief remarks, Axelrod asked for questions from the press but was met with more banter from Romney protesters with slogans like "where are the jobs?"

 

"You can't handle the truth, my friends. That's the problem. If you can handle the truth, then you quiet down," Axelrod said.

 

This speaks to the agility of the Romney campaign. This was suppose to be a big day for the Obama attack campaign, and I can't get over how petulant and small Axlerod came off. He Actually told those that were protesting that they should "quiet down".

 

The man was visibly frustrated

[John Adams]

So far, Romney's general election campaign has been flawless (despite an occasional misspelling), I don't agree with him on the issue of gay marriage or immigration(he's got an Obama-like politically motivated "evolving" spin on his POV on that) but I like it so far. He's focusing on the bigger issues. He's stepping over the sh%^storm of stupid small things. He's trying to keep the superPACs on target and have them forget about nonsense like someone's old pastor.

 

If he can run his campaign like this throughout, he's going to garner a lot of support. That article I posted before said that the more negative Romney got, the less likely he'd get support from Independents. So far, he's only attacked on issues and not been ugly. Hope he keeps it up.

 

I remain cautious about his pandering to the right on social issues but as long as those remain low priority issues, I can live with it. I don't get the feeling that Romney is going to put a lot of effort into gay marriage and other nonsense when he's in office.

 

The economic news will help Romney a lot.

 

I'd quibble with you if you suggest that the mob shouting is a good thing or reflects well on anyone. I hate that crap. The left is infamous for it but it's a BS bully tactic whenever it's done.

Edited May 31, 2012 by John Adams

[Magox]

I'd quibble with you if you suggest that the mob shouting is a good thing or reflects well on anyone. I hate that crap. The left is infamous for it but it's a BS bully tactic whenever it's done.

I understand what you are saying, but politics is a contact sport. The reason why the shouting down in this instance from my perspective extremely effective is because today was the launch of ATTACK ROMNEY part deux.

 

The reason why that is significant is because as you probably know, campaigns want to win news cycles, and the news cycle that the Obama campaign wanted for today, was AxleRod going to Mass. and hammering his record, and then of course they would get lots of free coverage on all the News outlets, covering his attack on Romney.

 

Instead of that, my guess is that at least half of the coverage won't be so much the substance of what Axlerod was saying, but an image of AxleRod getting visibly frustrated and stooping down to the same level of some protesters out on the street.

 

This is yet another news cycle that Romney will win, on a day that was suppose to be seen as an important one for the Obama c campaign.

[Doc]

“Hostage tape imminent”

 

 

“It’s clear the Obama campaign has no message and no vision when their surrogates continue to repudiate the Obama campaign’s attacks on free enterprise,” said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. “We appreciate all of the Obama surrogates who have praised Mitt Romney’s record.”

 

:lol:

 

I understand what you are saying, but politics is a contact sport. The reason why the shouting down in this instance from my perspective extremely effective is because today was the launch of ATTACK ROMNEY part deux.

 

The reason why that is significant is because as you probably know, campaigns want to win news cycles, and the news cycle that the Obama campaign wanted for today, was AxleRod going to Mass. and hammering his record, and then of course they would get lots of free coverage on all the News outlets, covering his attack on Romney.

 

Instead of that, my guess is that at least half of the coverage won't be so much the substance of what Axlerod was saying, but an image of AxleRod getting visibly frustrated and stooping down to the same level of some protesters out on the street.

 

This is yet another news cycle that Romney will win, on a day that was suppose to be seen as an important one for the Obama c campaign.

My bet is that the ONLY channel to show Axelrod getting visibly frustrated...will be Fox. The MSM will ignore it and focus on the anti-Romney talking points.

 

As for the mob versus Axelrod, as the saying goes "don't wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it."

[DaveinElma]

This is Reagan/Mondale all over again. Its going to be a blowout.

[B-Man]

Trump This

By Michael Walsh

 

Color me increasingly impressed by Team Romney’s refusal to play by Democratic/Media Complex rules of engagement. You know, the ones in which the Republicans are always being asked to repudiate this or apologize for that. The fundamental juvenility of the crybaby left is hard-wired into their hurt-feelings DNA, and it’s fun to watch them stamp their tiny feet in rage. As Byron York in the Washington Examiner notes:

 

 

Mitt Romney’s refusal to repudiate Donald Trump sends a signal, both to Democrats and the voting public: With the nation’s future at stake in this November’s election, Romney will not accommodate calls that he disown supporters who make ill-considered, unpopular, or sometimes outrageous statements on matters not fundamental to the campaign.

 

Romney aides believe that cooperating with Democrats and media figures who are demanding a Trump disavowal would most certainly lead to more calls for more disavowals of other figures in the future — leaving Romney spending as much time apologizing for his supporters as campaigning for president. Team Romney views it as a silly and one-sided game designed to distract voters from the central issue of the race, which they remain convinced will be President Obama’s handling of the economy.

 

Bingo

 

 

No more defensive McCain crouch this time out. No more falling for Alinsky’s famous Rule No. 4, “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”

 

Michael Walsh

 

 

.

[....lybob]

I think Romney's attention to detail is the best in Amercia.

[Doc]

I think Romney's attention to detail is the best in Amercia.

Yep. All 57 States of it.

[WorldTraveller]

Yep. All 57 States of it.

Watch it, that sort of rhetoric could land you in a polish deathcamp.

[Doc]

Watch it, that sort of rhetoric could land you in a polish deathcamp.

Is that where you shine shoes until you die?

[IDBillzFan]

Watch it, that sort of rhetoric could land you in a polish deathcamp.

That would be harsh. They probably don't even have cars in Poland that run on algae.

 

The truth is, people don't care about this stuff.

 

Joe Biden knows what matters. (Hey libs...we can do this for days.)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-eeWow_WU

[Doc]

That would be harsh. They probably don't even have cars in Poland that run on algae.

 

The truth is, people don't care about this stuff.

 

Joe Biden knows what matters. (Hey libs...we can do this for days.)

 

youtube.com/watch?v=bq-eeWow_WU

There are 3 types of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can't.

[3rdnlng]

Well we know that Obama admits that he was born in Hawaii, which is part of Asia.

Edited June 1, 2012 by 3rdnlng

[/dev/null]

This is Reagan/Mondale all over again. Its going to be a blowout.

So you think Obama's re-election will net a 500+ electoral vote victory?

 

I think it will be more like W's Red State/Blue State strategery in 2004. Know your opponent, know yourself, and pick the battlefields that favor you and steer the battle in your favor

[dayman]

We are 4 years into the crisis, in the US the gov’t acted quickly and massively (though not massively enough as is now apparent) to stimulate the economy. In Europe by contrast many governments quickly turned to austerity measures cutting spending across the board to reduce budget deficits. The results? The US economy is expected to grow 2-3% this coming year while the Eurozone will contract .3% (a simple google search will confirm this if you do not believe me). Spain and Britain are in a double dip disaster. IMF numbers predict even Germany’s average growth rate over the next 5 years will be only 40% of what America’s will be.

 

Ultimately Obama will return to his primary theme, “economy built to last.” The debate will be framed by his campaign as a choice between public investments v. budget cuts. He has proposed a nearly $500 billion infrastructure plan, a increase hick in R&D spending (5ish%), incentives for manufacturing and job training programs to help solve the 1 year + out of worker crowd, funds to increase pools of college students with a focus on science and engineering…

 

Choose between these investments to spur long term growth or budget cuts. The choice is yours. That is the primary theme you will see as things get closer to the election. Things such as the buffet rule, Bain…those are regionally targeted to be honest and yes it is somewhat of a quagmire b/c nothing is regional in this environment but non-the-less they’ve chosen to go that route early in an effort to match Bain w/ the Auto bail out and win the rust belt….whether that is wise only time will tell but no doubt if you were going to play that card to win that region you had to do it earlier rather than later. The same can be said for getting women and gays on board to best of their ability.

 

As for Romney’s theme….I am not sure what it will be other than he’s not Obama and the recovery has been too slow. The GOP screams for budget cuts and he says he’ll lower taxes on his “first day in office” so…we’ll see…how the things that stifled Europe and got them behind us coming off this crisis will allow us to leap further ahead is a mystery to me.... I believe those policies will hurt America and stifle our economy while raising our debt. But every voter can make their choice and then we will ALL live the results.

Edited June 1, 2012 by TheNewBills

[IDBillzFan]

We are 4 years into the crisis, in the US the gov’t acted quickly and massively (though not massively enough as is now apparent) to stimulate the economy. In Europe by contrast many governments quickly turned to austerity measures cutting spending across the board to reduce budget deficits. The results? The US economy is expected to grow 2-3% this coming year while the Eurozone will contract .3% (a simple google search will confirm this if you do not believe me). Spain and Britain are in a double dip disaster. IMF numbers predict even Germany’s average growth rate over the next 5 years will be only 40% of what America’s will be.

 

Ultimately Obama will return to his primary theme, “economy built to last.” The debate will be framed by his campaign as a choice between public investments v. budget cuts. He has proposed a nearly $500 billion infrastructure plan, a increase hick in R&D spending (5ish%), incentives for manufacturing and job training programs to help solve the 1 year + out of worker crowd, funds to increase pools of college students with a focus on science and engineering…

 

Choose between these investments to spur long term growth or budget cuts. The choice is yours. That is the primary theme you will see as things get closer to the election. Things such as the buffet rule, Bain…those are regionally targeted to be honest and yes it is somewhat of a quagmire b/c nothing is regional in this environment but non-the-less they’ve chosen to go that route early in an effort to match Bain w/ the Auto bail out and win the rust belt….whether that is wise only time will tell but no doubt if you were going to play that card to win that region you had to do it earlier rather than later. The same can be said for getting women and gays on board to best of their ability.

 

As for Romney’s theme….I am not sure what it will be other than he’s not Obama and the recovery has been too slow. The GOP screams for budget cuts and he says he’ll lower taxes on his “first day in office” so…we’ll see…how the things that stifled Europe and got them behind us coming off this crisis will allow us to leap further ahead is a mystery to me.... I believe those policies will hurt America and stifle our economy while raising our debt. But every voter can make their choice and then we will ALL live the results.

Wow.

 

Can you let us know when, precisely, we can expect the US economy to grow 2-3%? When you say "this coming year," are you talking about the rest of this year, or are we expected to remain BELOW 2% for the rest of this year, and THEN go to 2% next year? Is 2% really a good number, or does it just look that when you you suggest that the Eurozone will contract .3%? Isn't that kind of like proving to everyone Hillary Clinton is hot by making her stand next to Helen Thomas?

 

We've had almost four years of Obama's economy. It's not built to last. It's built to collapse. The lack of leadership on behalf of Obama to address our debt and deficit, coupled with his ridiculous belief that we can spend our way out of this mess, will be his downfall this year and believe it or not, every business owner I know is convinced that simply getting rid of an in-over-his-head Obama is addtion by subtraction. The fact that Romney has a proven record of turning around disasters like the crap Obama has created is undeniable, and any objective person can see this clearly.

[Magox]

Thanks to Obamas "Growth" Policies, he has successfully lowered the price of Gasoline over the past month.

 

 

 

 

On a more related note to the original point of the thread, what I like what the Romney campaign is doing is that they are taking the fight to the Obama administration, this isn't like the McCain campaign, where McCain played mr. nice guy allowing himself to get bludgeoned by the Obama hit squad. That's what they thought was going to happen, they fully expected Romney to just take it, and they aren't doing that.

 

The strategy is smart, it helps consolidate and galvanize the base in the early stages, solidifying and hardening support to help create passion and troops on the ground and as the campaign moves forward, more of the swing voters will begin to tune in and then at that point he can begin to pivot more to the middle, by touting his bipartisan record in MA, which is something that moderates and independents like hearing, which is something that the president has massively failed at during his presidency.

 

After a day spent waging bi-coastal combat with the Obama campaign, Mitt Romney's team in Boston earned the highest compliment Rush Limbaugh has ever paid them Thursday afternoon: "I'm telling you," he said. "This is not the McCain campaign."

 

Once-skeptical conservatives knew exactly what he meant. In the eyes of many on the right, John McCain's 2008 presidential bid was a disaster not because he lost, but because he refused to fight. Conservatives believe McCain bought into a liberal media narrative that personal attacks on Barack Obama were unseemly and even racist. The conservative caricature of Candidate McCain that emerged in the wake of the Republicans' defeat wasn't of an unreliable moderate rather, it was one of an Establishment figure paralyzed by political correctness, and unwilling to go blow for blow with Obama.

 

But if the Vietnam veteran disappointed conservatives with his gun-shy campaign in 2008, Romney is uniting the right by playing the role of the bomb-thrower.

 

The unapologetically aggressive tone of Romney's campaign is manifest at every turn from his aides' fierce Twitter wars, to the candidate's surprise press conference at failed green solar company Solyndra, and the campaign's continued refusal to apologize for Donald Trump's outlandish conspiracy theories about Obama's birth certificate. It's all part of a deliberate and, so far, successful strategy aimed less at convincing undecided voters, and more at rallying the Republican Party around its candidate.

 

There were a lot of folks who didnt think hed have the edge to really take on the president, a Romney advisor, who outlined the campaign strategy on the condition of anonymity, told BuzzFeed, refrring to the Santorum people and conservatives who have been off the bandwagon.

 

Theyve been pretty surprised and impressed at how willing Boston has been to push back, the advisor said. Were raising money, and Im getting calls from people saying, This is amazing… I didnt think this would happen.

 

Now theres a narrative that this guy is going to fight back and thats not going to be a McCain situation where they get to attack you and everything you say is off limits, he said.

 

The conventional wisdom of the chattering class has been that Romney is captive to the Republican Party's conservative base, desperate and anxious to maintain their tepid support. But his new appeal to the right marks a recognition that he can court conservatives without, in any traditional sense, "tacking right." His aggressive tactics stand in for the sort of policy compromises that could damage him in November; better, his advisers argue, to court conservatives with a press conference shouting match than with a high-profile fight over abortion or gay marriage. Whats more, they say, the media obsession with Romney pandering to the right represents a misunderstanding of conservatives, who can live with Romneys moderate record as long as hes a fighting moderate.

 

"I thought we were going to see John McCain all over again, said Brad Thor, a bestselling novelist and popular figure on the right who supported Santorum. But you know what? That fire I've felt for previous candidates, I'm starting to feel it. And that surprise presser at Solyndra was like pouring accelerant on the fire."

 

Thor said when he heard about the Solyndra stunt, he cheered aloud: "Way to go Mitt!"

 

"My God, this is right out of Breitbart's playbook. I love it!" he said. "I swear to God, if he roller skates into the DNC convention, or hijacks an Obama press conference if he does either one of those Im going to give my kids college money to his Super PAC.

 

That appetite for confrontation has a particular appeal for the vibrant online right.

 

"I unquestionably see more excitement on the right as Mitt Romney takes the gloves off and comes out fighting," said Kat McKinley, a Tea Party activist and blogger. "The more he does the opposite of what John McCain did, which was NOT fight, the more conservatives will like him.

 

Romneys aides and advisors tick off a series of punches and counterpunches that form the core of this new brand of conservative outreach, beginning with his staffs decision to turn Democrats absurdist attacks on his treatment of a family dog into an absurdist assault on Obamas memory of having eaten dog meat as a boy in Indonesia.

 

Same thing with the Mormon issue, said the advisor, noting the course of MSNBC host Lawrence ODonnells attack on Romneys faith. The nex thing you know youve got Ricketts talking about Jeremiah Wright a planned Super PAC, unconnected to the campaign, which threatened to air ads attacking Obamas former pastor and David Axelrod comes out and says everything is off limits.

 

Also part of this pattern has been the campaign's refusal mystifying to liberals and the media that praised McCain to stand up Trump's birther crusade. President Obama has even questioned the candidate's "moral leadership" as a result of his alliance with The Donald. But the Romney campaign sees instances like McCain's publicly rebuking a supporter who called Obama an "Arab" as moments of political weakness the equivalent of throwing the base into an ice bath when he most needed them fired up.

 

His campaign's most recent muscle-flexing stunt came Thursday, when Romney pulled off the surprise visit to Solyndra in San Francisco, using the bankrupt company's headquarters as a backdrop to hammer the president for "picking winners and losers" in the economy. Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away, campaign aides, interns, and volunteers crashed a press conference scheduled by senior Obama adviser Axelrod on the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse. The rowdy crowd drowned out the speakers at times with loud boos, blew bubbles at them when they were talking, and interrupted with chants of, "Five more months!"

 

"They were on our home turf," campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said. "They had this botched sneak attack. This was personal for us since they were right up the block. Were not just going to sit by and let them do that we're not weak."

 

Kevin Madden, a Romney adviser, said they're simply making good on their promise in the primaries to take the fight to Obama.

 

"As a campaign, we won't cede even an inch when it comes to delivering the governor's message," he said.

 

And Romney himself said his supporters were merely responding to rowdy Democratic behavior.

 

And at some point you say, You know what, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,'" he said. "If theyre going to be heckling us, why were not going to sit back and play by very different rules. If the president is going to have his people coming to my rallies, and heckling, why, well show them that, you know, we conservatives have the same kind of capacity he does.

 

That kind of talk has won approval from the Republican grassroots figures who took McCains civility for surrender in 2008.

 

"Time and again, he pulled back from lines of attack that could have been productive against Obama," said Rick Wilson, who cut slashing ads for the National Republican Trust PAC, an outside group McCain denounced. "He undercut surrogates and supporters. His consulting team acted like it was wine-tasting night at the Borgia's."

 

"Conservatives want a fighter, and Romney's been stepping up fast on that front, he said.

 

Romney aides, too, privately contrast their no-holds-barred approach to McCain apologizing for his party's rowdy base in 2008. And for now while swing voters go on vacation, and activists stay tuned in the campaign is welcoming the comparison to a confrontational icon of the conservative movement.

 

Told that conservatives were comparing Romneys tactics to Breitbarts, one aide responded: "Oh great, that's what we were going for."

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/mitt-romney-fighting-moderate-wins-over-the-righ

 

And with the lousy economy that Obama is incapable of turning around the way it should be, it's gonna make Mitt's job that much easier.

Edited June 1, 2012 by Magox

[dayman]

LaBillz I hope you will consider Europe and actual policies the GOP propose. Cut spending and taxes right now will fix this? If you are not happy with 2% growth I understand...nobody should be. But radically changing course and implementing policies that cut spending stifling growth while at the same time cutting taxes (that come from the stifled base anyway) will not only hurt the economy but will balloon the debt further. It's not putting it all on Bush and saying it's not "Obama's fault" to speak the truth which is that the recovery was always going to be grueling and will continue to be so. But if we don't have the right policies in place after this election because we got frustrated we can just look across the pond and see what can happen....

[erynthered]

Wow.

 

Can you let us know when, precisely, we can expect the US economy to grow 2-3%? When you say "this coming year," are you talking about the rest of this year, or are we expected to remain BELOW 2% for the rest of this year, and THEN go to 2% next year? Is 2% really a good number, or does it just look that when you you suggest that the Eurozone will contract .3%? Isn't that kind of like proving to everyone Hillary Clinton is hot by making her stand next to Helen Thomas?

 

We've had almost four years of Obama's economy. It's not built to last. It's built to collapse. The lack of leadership on behalf of Obama to address our debt and deficit, coupled with his ridiculous belief that we can spend our way out of this mess, will be his downfall this year and believe it or not, every business owner I know is convinced that simply getting rid of an in-over-his-head Obama is addtion by subtraction. The fact that Romney has a proven record of turning around disasters like the crap Obama has created is undeniable, and any objective person can see this clearly.

 

Nice post.

 

I deal with hundreds and hundreds of small, medium to large business across this country, and you know what? They're all saying the same thing that I've highlighted above. Not ONE wants to see obama in for another 4 dreadful, mind boggling years of this empty suit idiot.

[IDBillzFan]

..what the Romney campaign is doing is that they are taking the fight to the Obama administration, this isn't like the McCain campaign, where McCain played mr. nice guy allowing himself to get bludgeoned by the Obama hit squad. That's what they thought was going to happen, they fully expected Romney to just take it, and they aren't doing that

 

The biggest mistake the Obama campaign is making about Romney is they are forgetting (or more likely as just unaware of) precisely what you, as a person, must do to be successful in private business. You don't open a door and get business. You compete for it, often times against the same competitors. You plan, you market, you anticipate, you create need, you stay focused on your message, you elminate objections, and then you close. It's a non-stop effort that someone like Obama and Axelrod will never, ever understand.

 

Romney ain't McCain and watching the vaunted Obama campaign absolutely embarrass itself these past few weeks has been terrific. Obama may be able to campaign, but he can't genuinely compete, as is evidenced by how he has managed to win his previous elected seats: dig up dirt and shame the opponent to leave the race.

 

WaPo story on Romney cutting a kids hair? Failure.

 

Dog on the roof? Failure.

 

Bain attacks? Epic failure.

 

Trying to convince people that 4.7% Mass. unemployment under Romney was terrible? Massive failure.

 

To re-purpose Tom's comment, they're no longer throwing the gun. They're throwing the box the gun came in.