February 25, 2013

NYC Letter: Today's Big Stupid -- Stuart Stevens

Day 1,492 of CHOPE
D-minus 1,427 Days

In conversation conservatives sometime remark that Mr. Romney was not a perfect candidate. Some maintain he was not a good candidate. To which we reply, there is no such animal in the first instance, and in the second, Mr. Romney was indisputably a superior candidate to Mr. Obama.

After the election we were confounded. We were at a loss to explain Mr. Romney's loss. [Pause.] Finally, a clue.

TOP ROMNEY STRATEGIST
STUART STEVENS SAYS MEDIA
NOT 'IN THE TANK'
FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA

February 24, 2013 (Mediaite) - Ever since then-Senator Barack Obama first took a lead in the 2008 Democratic primary, the political news media has faced the accusation that they are "in the tank" for the now-second term President Obama. On Sunday morning’s Reliable Sources, the press got a qualified defense from a surprising source: Mitt Romney chief strategist Stuart Stevens.

... "Do you believe, today, that much of the media is in the tank for Barack Obama?" {Host Howard Kurtz] asked.

Stevens replied, "It’s not a yes or a no question. In the tank, I would say no. So, yes or no question, I would say no."

Kurtz pressed the line of questioning several times. "Too sympathetic to the President? How would you put it?" he asked.

"I think after the election, you’ll have a lot tougher questions that will be asked because you’re out of an election environment," Stevens replied. "I think you’re seeing that this past weekend with this whole golf outing. I think they will be more critical now."

A surprised Kurtz asked, "You’re saying the press should be finally more critical about the fact that President Obama went golfing with Tiger Woods?"

"The degree to which there is not a choice between him and a Republican candidate makes it easier for them to be tougher on the President," Stevens replied. "That’s natural."

Stevens took great pains to avoid bashing or blaming the media, but did allow that "there's every reason to believe that a majority of journalists tend to lean Democratic," and that while "that doesn’t mean that you can’t win an argument, I think it means that it makes it more difficult to carry the day in that argument."

"But this is sort of, I think, very old territory that we’ve been through," Stevens concluded.

[We pick ourselves up from the floor.] Perhaps Mr. Stevens is trying to burnish his "independent analyst" creds for a cushy job at NBC. How else to explain such a preposterous misjudgment? Did Mr. Stevens not read the newspapers or walk by a newsstand or watch the network news or browse the Web? Apparently Mr. Stevens spent the campaign sequestered in an information bubble.

Below is a scant sampling of the bias abundantly in evidence.

*      *      *      *      *      *

ROMNEY FAILS IN OVERSEAS TRIP
August 1, 2012 (The Hill)

THE BIG BASH: 86 PERCENT
OF ROMNEY COVERAGE NEGATIVE

August 3, 2012 (TWT) - During Mitt Romney’s overseas visit earlier this week, 86 percent of the coverage on ABC, CBS and NBC "emphasized Romney’s perceived gaffes", according to a content analysis of 21 major news stories by the Media Research Center, which also compared Mr. Romney’s trip to a similar excursion made by President Obama in 2008.

The results: The broadcast networks committed 53 minutes of almost entirely negative coverage to Mr. Romney, and 92 minutes of "gushing" to Mr. Obama.

COVERAGE OF ROMNEY’S 'GAFFE-TASTIC' TRIP
CONTRASTS WITH 2008'S COVERAGE
OF EUROPE'S 'OBAMAMANIA'

July 31, 2012 (Mediaite) - It is fair to say that if the press has had a love-hate relationship with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney before he became his party's presumptive presidential nominee, the love is nowhere to be found in the coverage of the former Massachusetts governor’s trip abroad. Romney’s overseas mission was marred by several incidents and misstatements magnified by brutal coverage in the press. With the awful headlines fresh in mind, it is worth reviewing how then Sen. Barack Obama’s 2008 trip abroad was covered. Here's a spoiler, it was viewed in an overwhelmingly positive light -- but it didn't have to be that way. Obama's trip abroad could have been covered quite differently had any news organization been willing to buck the narrative that Sen. Obama was not prone to failure and highlight his own missteps overseas.

Also see here.

*      *      *      *      *      *

CANDY CROWLEY CORRECTION OF ROMNEY
OVER BENGHAZI FUELS FURY IN RIGHT WING
The Veteran CNN Correspondent Told Romney That Obama
Indeed Had Called The Consulate Attack An Act Of Terror.
She Was Right On The Narrow Question, But Conservative
Bloggers And Pundits Have Condemned Her Correction As
Liberal Bias.

October 17, 2013 (TDB) - After Romney argued that "it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror", Obama replied, "Get the transcript." Crowley, hoping to settle the issue, affirmed, "He did in fact, sir" -- that is, Obama did call it a terrorist attack. Sure enough, according to the White House transcript of the president's Sept. 12 Rose Garden address on the attack, Obama said, "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for."

Sure, it was phrased passively, and sure, it came at the end of the address. But isn't it pretty clear that Romney, in claiming that it took Obama two weeks to call the incident an act of terror, erred?

CANDY CROWLEY: ROMNEY WAS
'RIGHT IN THE MAIN' ON BENGHAZI,
BUT 'PICKED THE WRONG WORD' IN DEBATE

October 17, 2013 (Blaze) - One of the big moments from Tuesday’s presidential debate between Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney occurred when moderator Candy Crowley of CNN injected herself into the discussion...

... However, not long after the debate, Crowley explained during a CNN interview that Gov. Romney was "right in the main", but that he used the wrong word:

I heard the president’s speech at the time. I re-read a lot of stuff about Libya because I knew we'd probably get a Libya question. We knew that the president had said, 'These acts of terrors won’t stand', or whatever the whole quote was. I think, actually, you know, because right after that, I did turn around and say [to Gov. Romney], 'but you're totally correct … they spent two weeks telling us this was about a tape and that there was this, you know, riot outside the Benghazi consulate, which there wasn't.' So [Gov. Romney] was right in the main. I just think he picked the wrong word.

*      *      *      *      *      *

JOURNALISTS COME TO OBAMA'S AID
AFTER ROMNEY'S 'APOLOGY TOUR' ATTACK
October 23, 2013 (FNC)

*      *      *      *      *      *

MSNBC'S BIAS AGAINST MITT ROMNEY
WAS ASTONISHING
November 19, 2012 (BI)

*      *      *      *      *      *

DESPITE MEDIA OUTCRY,
ROMNEY'S 'LIE OF THE YEAR'
WAS TRUE

January 18, 2013 (NewsBusters) - It turns out that the Romney campaign was right to claim that Fiat, who owns Chrysler, would be making Jeeps in China instead of America, even though the media disparaged that case at the time with PolitiFact going so far as to declare the ad "Lie of the Year". According to PolitiFact, the campaign falsely implied the jobs would be outsourced, among other claims.

As Reuters reported yesterday, "Fiat (FIA.MI) and its U.S. unit Chrysler expect to roll out at least 100,000 Jeeps in China when production starts in 2014 as they seek to catch up with rivals in the world's biggest car market."

As the Weekly Standard put it, "Romney's ad never said Jeep was 'outsourcing' existing jobs. Again, a fair reading of the ad would be that it implied that Jeep was choosing to create new jobs overseas rather than in the U.S."

*      *      *      *      *      *

POLITICO'S BYERS DRAGS ROMNEY,
13 YEARS AFTER LEAVING BAIN CAPITAL,
INTO A STORY ABOUT FIRM'S INVOLVEMENT
IN LAYOFFS AT TIME

January 31, 2013 (NewsBusters) - Someone needs to tell Dylan Byers at the Politico that the 2012 presidential smear campaign is over, and their guy won.

Byers seems not to have gotten the memo, and is still engaged in associating Mitt Romney with the firm he left in 1999 any time it has involvement in decisions relating to layoffs. In the current instance, Bain was engaged as an advisor to a new CEO at Time Inc. -- meaning that management of the company involved could have ignored the firm's advice -- and not as an investor. It doesn't matter to Byers, who named Romney anyway, even though Ad Age, the underlying source, didn't.

The Fourth Estate doesn't think itself biased -- at least not in a bad way -- and it thinks thinking so makes itself so. It means well even if that means cramping the facts. It is the friend of the Third Estate, even though you might prefer factual reporting to advocacy journalism. The Fourth Estate no longer seeks to inform your vote. It wants to shape your vote.

That all this somehow escaped Stuart Stevens, Mr. Romney's chief campaign strategist, explains why Team Mitt didn't push back hard on media bias. A successful defense depends on awareness of the attack.

CHOPE.

The Jean-Paul Marat bug.


Posted by Damian at 06:30 AM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2013

NYC Letter: Awesomeness, The Sequel

HAPPY (GLOOMY) NEW YEAR +3

Day 1,440 of CHOPE
D-minus 1,479 Days

Another dollar wasted on a votive candle.

IT'S OFFICIAL:
OBAMA WINS PRESIDENCY

January 4, 2013 (Politico) - The outcome wasn’t a surprise: Barack Obama was reelected Friday to a second term as president. For Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, there were 332 votes cast. Republican Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan received 206 votes.

There was no fretting about Ohio’s 18 electoral votes. There was no doubt about who would take Florida’s 29. And it was just a matter of reading a script to officially cast Virginia’s 13.

Only a handful of members of the House and Senate attended the ceremonial proceedings... There were more spectators in the galleries than members in the chamber.

... The Electoral College, meant to provide a balance instead of a direct popular vote system, has come under fire in the past decade. But the actual proceedings were barely a blip on the radar, taking less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

The upside to a Democrat presidential win is we are spared loser Democrats pronouncing the Electoral College superannuated and demanding it be tossed.

HILLARY CALLS FOR END
TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE

November 10, 2000 (ABC News) - At an airport news conference in Albany, the first lady said she would support legislation seeking a constitutional amendment providing for the direct election of the president.

At the moment, Americans are waiting to see who wins Florida’s 25 electoral votes and thus becomes the next president. Vice President Al Gore leads Republican George W. Bush in the popular vote nationwide, but the unofficial vote count in Florida has him slightly behind Bush. Mrs. Clinton:

We are a very different country than we were 200 years ago. I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it’s time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president.

HRC, a newly elected senator at the time -- on the heels of her eight-year reign in the two-fer presidency -- had no clue what government she had been elected to. The United States is a constitutional federal republic, not a democracy. The will of the American people is expressed through a mix of representative institutions. The mix is meant as a brake on the advantages of power where and when it concentrates. John Samples of the Cato Institute:

The Founders knew that legitimate government depended on the public’s will. James Madison called the Constitution "our complex system of polity", which includes several conceptions of the public will. In some cases, like the House of Representatives, the public will can be measured by direct popular vote. In others, the public will equals "the will of the States in their distinct and independent capacities". What’s clear is that the public will is far more than simple majority rule.

... Madison thought [Electoral College] embodied the "federal will" of the nation. By that he meant that the Electoral College included both the will of the nation as expressed in the popular vote and the will of the states in a federal system (every state large or small gets two electors). As Madison knew, this amalgamation gave small and medium-sized states more leverage in presidential elections than they would have in a popular vote. He found that fair given the influence of large states in other areas.

In our own time, we can see other advantages of the Electoral College. Under direct popular election of the president, the Democratic candidate would probably seek large majorities in major metropolitan areas on both coasts, ignoring the smaller states in between. The alienation of "Middle America" would increase. In contrast, the Electoral College forces all candidates to seek support throughout the nation. Thus our last election found Al Gore in Florida and George W. Bush in Michigan and Oregon. In this way, the Electoral College contributes to the unity of our fractious nation.

Madison's point about federalism is also well taken. The Founders feared the arbitrary exercise of political power, and they hoped strong states would limit an expansive central government. If we abolish the Electoral College, we will make it harder for the states to provide this essential defense of liberty.

Today HRC abides the Electoral College. Perhaps she has since figured out the difference between a republic and a democracy. [Pause.] So at least there's that.

But not all progressives are content to reserve their complaints for lost elections. Right after the November election the NYT renewed its call to fix what ain't broke.

THE TARNISH OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

OP-ED November 15, 2012 (NYT) - The Electoral College remains a deeply defective political mechanism no matter whom it benefits, and it needs to be abolished.

... The best method of moving toward direct democracy remains the National Popular Vote plan, under which states agree to grant their electoral votes to the ticket that gets the most popular votes around the country. Legislators in eight states and the District of Columbia (representing 132 electoral votes) have agreed to do so; the plan would go into effect when states totaling 270 electoral votes sign up.

Brillant. Electoral votes are "granted" on the basis of the popular vote. That renders the Electoral College conceptually void and politically redundant. It replaces what works with what's useless. [Pause.] The NYT thinks this is a good start.

If asked to chose between the collegial genius of the Founding Fathers and the editorial hash of the NYT, unlike Ed Schultz, we would stick with genius.

CHOPE.

CHOPE, season five.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2012

NYC Letter: Congratulations, President Obama!

Day 1,382 of CHOPE
D-minus 1,537 Days

There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own.

Herman Melville (1819-1891)
novelist, essayist, and poet
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851),
Chapter 49.

Now would be one of those times.

You will notice we have had to reset the Obama Gone Clock above, and above that The Days Of CHOPE meter will now run another 1,461 days. Mr. Obama has won re-election. Shortly before 1:00A EST Mr. Romney called Mr. Obama with congratulations and conceded the race.

We called it wrong. Again.

110712_obama_wins_438.png
"I WON"
Again. Yes. Yes He Did.
[Picture source: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP]

OBAMA VICTORY SPEECH:
'THE BEST IS YET TO COME'
November 7, 2012 (Chicago Tribune)

And what will the soon-to-arrive best look like? Here's a peek.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
TO DEFENSE CONTRACTORS:
NO LAYOFF NOTICES UNTIL
AFTER ELECTION, PLEASE
September 29, 2012 (Townhall)

NOVEMBER SURPRISE: EPA
PLANNING MAJOR POST-ELECTION
ANTI-COAL REGULATION
November 4, 2012 (WaEx)

POST-ELECTION FLOOD OF
'OBAMACARE' RULES EXPECTED
November 5, 2012 (Politico)

We will be honest. We are shaken. Outcomes show our confidence to have been misplaced. Our read on the fit of things was not just wrong, but wholly wrong. Unlike our late 2008 call, which we called wrong because calling it right was an affront to hope, we came out in January with our prediction of a one-term presidency. As we saw it the pocketbook issues were too daunting, beyond pivots, beyond significant improvement by the fall. And come fall, that was the case. Our whole assessment of this election was predicated on the kitchen table vote. What has happened in this country that people don't vote their self interests? As a practical matter if pocketbook issues no longer trump celebrity, likeability, and campaign spending then the citizenry has lost sight of its own most basic interests.

Our call was wrong, but, in our own defense, something is achingly wrong in the electorate. And what is most wrong begins with the losers.

You have to show up to win.

CHOPE.

Same old CHOPE in the same old hands.


Posted by Damian at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2012

NYC Letter: ELECTION DAY 2012 -- What's At Stake

Day 1,381 of CHOPE
D-minus 77 Days

Today's the day.

110612_whats_at_stake_w484.png
VOTE
Worse Then He Can Possibly Imagine,
But Not Beyond His Doing.
[Picture source: Slone on Twitter]

Lest you need a reason.

TUESDAY IS THE LAST CHANCE
TO STOP OBAMACARE

OP-ED November 5, 2012 (IBD) - Tuesday's decision is about many things, but none may be more important than stopping ObamaCare from wrecking the greatest health care system in the world.

Despite repeated promises that the more we knew about ObamaCare, the more we'd like it, the law has never been less popular. Just 38% now approve of it, down from 46% when it passed in March 2010, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

But unless voters defeat Obama on Tuesday, they'll never get rid of his disastrous "reform".

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.


Posted by Damian at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2012

NYC Letter: Unintended Alarm -- Michelle Obama

Day 1,380 of CHOPE
D-minus 76 Days

Noted.

Should you need to ponder harder on the consequences of what Mrs. Obama is actually saying, click here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here -- actually click just about anywhere in this site.

CHOPE.

Many thanks to FLOTUS for boosting the vote.


Posted by Damian at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2012

NYC Letter: Truth Be Told -- "I’m Sort Of A Prop"

Day 1,379 of CHOPE
D-minus 77 Days

As the Obama campaign wanes, Mr. Obama's extemporaneities become more revealing.

OVERSHADOWED BY CLINTON,
OBAMA ADMITS TO BEING A 'PROP'
IN HIS OWN CAMPAIGN

November 4, 2012 (WaEx) - "Virginia, we are here tonight not only to listen to Dave Matthews [ZZzzz...], not only to hear the master Bill Clinton* break things down for us, but we are also here because we have more work to do," President Obama explained to a crowd of Virginia voters gathered in the chilly night air at a pavilion in Bristow.

But even the president admitted that while he was waiting backstage for Clinton to finish his speech, he almost missed his cue to go on stage.

"I was enjoying listening to President Clinton so much I had to run up to get my cue," Obama said. "I was just sitting there soaking it all in."

... Afterwards President Obama admitted to voters at a rally in Bristow, Virginia that his role in the campaign was diminishing.

"I was back stage with David Plouffe, as some of you know, he is sort of a mastermind in campaign organization [!], we were talking about how as the campaign goes on, we've become less relevant," Obama joked. "I'm sort of a prop in the campaign."

So true. So false.

090212_clint-eastwood_w484.png
ADDRESSING THE EMPTY CHAIR
He's Not There
[Picture source: zap2it.com]

Mr. Obama subtly disowns his own campaign at the expense of making himself meaningless. If you are voting for leadership from a president, there's your answer.

"The power is not with us anymore," Obama reminded his cheering supporters. "The planning, everything we do doesn’t matter because now it's up to you."

But as Obama was speaking, many people took their cue and began making their way to the exits to beat the parking lot traffic on the way out.

Everyone will read what they will into Mr. Obama's misfires. The jokey intent of characterizing oneself as a prop strikes us as jarring. The crowd hanging on Mr. Obama's words wants a positive affirmation of himself as their candidate. Instead he declares himself an insignificance. His followers want to follow him across the finish line, but in the final stretch Mr. Obama excuses himself from the race. Good luck, go elect me. All this would sound very different were Mr. Obama 15 points ahead, were he a solid 3 points ahead, instead of being at best dead even, worse 5 points behind, or worst yet, buried.

THE GROUND-GLASS ELECTION
By Glenn Harlan Reynolds

OP-ED November 3, 2012 (WaEx) - Last week, I noticed this blog comment:
Romney was not my first, second, or third choice, but I will crawl over ground glass to vote for him.

A lot of Republicans -- and, judging from polls, a lot of independents -- feel this way. If there are enough of them, Romney will win, and win big. ... Will they now pack the voting booths and vote for Romney, and against Obama, in similarly unprecedented numbers? If they do, Romney will win in a landslide.

... Ultimately, the question is whether "a lot of people" will be enough people to overcome Obama's own showing-up mechanisms, which include unions' formidable get-out-the-vote operations and the still-extant remnants of organizations like ACORN.

There's no way to know the answer to that until next week. But if the answer is important to you, I have one suggestion: Show up.

Worth the full read. If you think the published polls hinky, here's a tip.

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.

------------------------------------
* Unofficial Secretary of 'Splaining Stuff.



Posted by Damian at 02:45 PM | Comments (1)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Game Changer

Day 1,379 of CHOPE
D-minus 77 Days

OBAMA VOTERS!
Mr. Obama has an important message
for all his supporters.

OBAMA VOTERS! You have your instructions. Mark your calendars and please remember to vote Wednesday, November 7, 2012. See you then.

CHOPE.

Game changer.


Posted by Damian at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Revenge

Day 1,378 of CHOPE
D-minus 78 Days

Special REVENGE! Edition

In a waning campaign Mr. Obama's followers look for uplift. Instead Mr. Obama went off script Friday, struck a down note, and nobody's sure what he meant.

For eight years, we had a President who shared these beliefs -- a guy named Bill Clinton. (Applause.) ... And at the time the Republican Congress and a Senate candidate by the name of Mitt Romney --

Audience: Booo --

No, no, no -- don’t boo, vote. (Applause.) Vote! Voting is the best revenge.

Mr. Obama,
on the stump, off the teleprompter,
out for REVENGE!
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio November 2, 2012 (White House)

Revenge is an exaction for a wrong. Mr. Obama's invoking revenge sounds like it is meant to mean something, but what? What is the wrong to be revenged? Mr. Romney's candidacy? Does Mr. Obama consider contesting for the office he holds an offense? All Mr. Obama probably meant was voting, not booing, is the best political expression. [Pause.] But that's not what he said. Instead Mr. Obama tangled up his intended message in a commonplace expression, transforming his high-minded civic imperative into a mean-spirited non sequitur. Somebody in Campaign Barry would have to explain all that. [Pause.] Or obfuscate.

Sure enough.

ROMNEY CAMP POUNCES ON PRESIDENT'S
'REVENGE' REMARK —
OBAMA CAMP CALLS IT 'SCARE TACTICS'

November 3, 2012 (ABC News) - At Springfield High School in Ohio Friday, President Obama made a comment that his opponents have seized upon to paint him as divisive and negative.

... The audience of around 2,800 booed.

"No, no, no -- don’t boo. Vote!" the president said, as he does at nearly every rally. "Vote!"

Then he added: "Voting is the best revenge."

In West Chester, Ohio, a few hours later, Mitt Romney asked a crowd of more than 20,000, "Did you see what President Obama said today? He asked his supporters to vote for revenge. For revenge. Instead I ask the American people to vote for love of country."

By Saturday morning, the Romney campaign had produced a TV ad with that same theme, titled "Revenge or Love of Country?" and in Marietta, Ohio, Romney running mater Paul Ryan harped on the same theme to a crowd of roughly 1,000.

... Asked about the revenge kerfuffle, Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said:

The President was simply suggesting if you think the American people deserve better and if you believe the President is offering a better deal for the middle class you have the power to cast your vote.

No, Jen, actually what Mr. Obama said was, "Voting is the best revenge."

OBAMA CAMPAIGN STRUGGLES
TO EXPLAIN 'REVENGE' REMARK
By Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent

CINCINNATI November 3, 2012 (WaEx) - A seemingly offhand utterance from President Obama has turned into a major point of contention between the two campaigns, as Team Obama tries to explain what the president meant when he told a crowd of supporters that "Voting is the best revenge."

... It was an ugly and small-minded moment, especially for the end of a campaign when candidates usually try to stress larger, optimistic themes. Romney incorporated the "revenge" line in his speech in Ohio Friday night, saying that while Obama advises revenge, he, Romney, wants people to vote "for love of country".

As Obama traveled to northern Ohio Saturday morning, campaign official Jen Psaki was asked about the "revenge" remark. According to a White House pool report, Psaki said Obama had been speaking in the context of Romney’s “scare tactics” in Ohio.

... The problem is, the president was actually not speaking in the context of Romney's highly-controversial ads about bailed-out Chrysler adding production of Jeeps in China. In fact, Obama had not said a word about the Jeep controversy when he said "revenge". ... And even after the "revenge" remark, it took Obama six paragraphs to get to his discussion of Jeep. The bottom line is, while it is impossible to know what was in the president’s mind, he simply was not talking about Jeep when he told voters that "Voting is the best revenge."

At least Ms. Psaki in her elliptical go-nowhere dodge recognizes that it is Mr. Obama who is talking revenge. OFA Campaign Manager Jim Messina attributes the call for revenge to Mr. Romney.

Of course the full extent of Mr. Romney's revenge message was to comment on Mr. Obama's revenge message calling for revenge. Mr. Messina's intent is clear, but, if pressed, we suspect he would plead revenge was the Obama campaign's message the day before. Reuters tries the same trick.

AS CAMPAIGN ROARS TO CLOSE,
ROMNEY AND OBAMA TALK
"REVENGE"
DUBUQUE, Iowa November 3, 2012 (Reuters)

Again Mr. Romney's revenge talk was limited to commenting on Mr. Obama's earlier revenge talk. In both cases, far from recommending revenge, Mr. Romney rejects revenge as a motive to vote.

Mr. Obama made an inopportune remark. Mr. Romney has been quick to make him pay. The rest of it -- the parsing, the clarifications, the misdirections, the dodges, one side's enormous outrage matched by the other side's enormous umbrage -- all that is the fun and dopiness of immersive politics. Mr. Obama won't lose this election because the electorate thinks him a vengeful crank. Mr. Obama will lose because the electorate has been buried the last four years under his policies. Just ask Joe Biden.

CHOPE.

Revenge, a dish best not served with politics.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: "America's Comeback Team" -- Freedom To Succeed

Day 1,378 of CHOPE
D-minus 78 Days

In the closing days the campaigns and their affiliated supporters offer starkly contrasting closings.

ROMNEY CLOSES BIG:
'LOVE OF COUNTRY' VS. 'REVENGE'
By Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent

WEST CHESTER, Ohio November 3, 2012 (WaEx) - About midway through Mitt Romney’s speech to a crowd of as many as 30,000 who had gathered for a chilly, outdoor, red-white-and-blue Friday night rally in this suburb of Cincinnati, close Romney aide Stuart Stevens wandered through the throng by himself, getting a feel for how the audience was reacting to Romney's words.

... Stevens grew quiet as Romney reached a critical part of the speech.

"Now, throughout this campaign President Obama has tried to convince you that these last four years have been a success. He wants to take all the things he did in his first term -- the stimulus, the borrowing, 'Obamacare', all the rest -- and then try them all over again," Romney said.

The crowd booed.

"But our big dreams will not be satisfied with the small agenda that's already failed us. And today -- did you see what President Obama said today? He asked his supporters to vote for revenge -- for revenge."

The audience seemed genuinely stunned, taking in its collective breath.

"Instead, I ask the American people to vote for love of country," Romney said, drawing the longest and loudest applause of the night.

Stevens seemed enormously satisfied with Romney's performance.

... Obama said "revenge" about 1:30 Friday afternoon. Team Romney saw it on the candidate’s bus after a rally in Wisconsin. Romney himself wanted it in that night's speech, and it came out of his mouth at the West Chester rally about 8:30, with a campaign camera mounted on a big boom to catch it all. By Saturday morning it was one of the most striking ads of the campaign.

Obama's "revenge" remark was valuable to Romney not because it could be turned into an attack ad. "Revenge" was valuable because it underscored, a thousand times, Romney's new emphasis on the bigness of his own campaign versus the smallness of Obama's. Romney's closing argument is filled with words and phrases that convey a largeness of vision: destiny, renewal, purpose, better life, better days, better future, fresh start, new beginning, a bigger, better country. In the campaign's final days, Romney is pushing hard on the idea that things really can improve with new leadership; in his West Chester speech, Romney used the word "better" a total of 15 times.

We hope to pick up Mr. Obama's "revenge" ad lib a little later.

But whatever happens, Romney is ending his run for the presidency on a high-minded and generous note. Yes, he is pointing out the smallness of Obama’s campaign. But more importantly, he is stressing a big and inclusive vision for a Romney presidency and asking all to join him. He sounds like a winner. Mr. Romney:
There's so much more than just this being our moment. It’s America’s moment of renewal and purpose and optimism… We’re almost home.

Now, here's a look at how the official campaigns are being interpreted by their affiliated supporters. First, the Romney campaign.


THOMAS PETERFFY: ONE MINUTE
AMERICAN DREAM PROPAEDEUTIC
"Yes, In Socialism The Rich Will Be Poorer.
But the Poor Will Be Poorer, Too."
[Picture source: YouTube]

Next, the Obama campaign. BLOG ADVISORY: NSFW


MICHAEL MOORE & MOVEON:
A MESSAGE FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION
About What You'd Expect
[Picture source: YouTube]

Message received.

AS ELECTION DAY NEARS,
OBAMA SUPPORTERS STEP UP
RIOT THREATS
November 2, 2012 (Twitchy)

Twitchy features tweet content. However most of the culled minatory tweets have been deleted. You will need to visit the headline link to see the vestiges of these stupid tweets by Obama supporters.

Just remember every time -- every time -- you hear the left make the charge of extremism against Mr. Romney, they are projecting themselves.

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.


Posted by Damian at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe On The Job XXIX -- Truth Be Told Redux

Day 1,377 of CHOPE
D-minus 79 Days

During the vice presidential debate there was this telling exchange.

Mr. Ryan: And with respect to that quote, I think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way.

(Laughter.)

Mr. Biden: But I always say what I mean. And so does Romney.

So true. So true.

I tell you what. There's never been a day in the last four years i've been proud to be his Vice President. Not one single day. Not one single day. But anyway!

Joe "Crushed" Biden,
Vice President of the United States, serving under
Mr. Obama, the object of his remark
BELOIT, Wisconsin November 2, 2012 (YouTube)

This was said to the cheers of an audience that knows better than to pay attention at a Biden rally. Luckily those who are paid to pay attention heard what they are paid to report.

BIDEN: NEVER BEEN A DAY
I 'HAVEN'T BEEN PROUD' TO BE VP
By Jennifer Epstein

November 2, 2012 (Politico) - Vice President Joe Biden made clear Friday that he enjoys his job and expects to do it for four more years.

"There's never been a day in the last four years when I haven't been proud to be his vice president. Not one single day," he said at a rally here. Some critics didn't hear the "haven't" on the video stream, but from the room -- and the context -- it was clear he said it.

The video stream, dear dupe of the press, is the real time record of what was said. We invite you to click the source link at the quote above to hear for yourself. [We wait on your verification.] Now you have heard what we have heard. We listened to the video severally. There is no "haven't" there. Had Ms. Epstein confined herself to covering for Mr. Biden by just claiming context, the skew would be only reportorial bias. But Ms. Epstein claims both to have heard what wasn't said and that "it was clear he said it", which is a lie. And a ham-handed lie at that.

Mr. Biden makes this sort of gaffe all the time. It's a campaign embarrassment, but it's not big news. The political press makes it news when they report "critics" didn't hear or incorrectly heard what the political press hears in proper "context".

Two days earlier they were happy to provide "context" -- or reportorial magic -- to disappear another the Biden gaffe.

Here is a video clip of the disputed quote. The political press claims what it hears is based on the "clearest audio possible". C-SPAN is the only broadcast source for Mr. Biden's speech, which is the source for the clip. The political press has no "clearest audio possible" other than this original broadcast source. The very same audio you can play and decide for yourself.*

So listening to audio no different than the audio available to you, the keen-hearing political press informs you that while you may think you hear "this" you are wrong because you really heard "the" as the political press hears it.

In the scheme of things this sort of thing is small beer, very small beer indeed. We hammer it because the political press has sought to come to Mr. Biden's rescue with nothing better than it's own superior opinion tarted up as "the" fact of the matter.

CHOPE.

"I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this message."

------------------------------------
* Starting at 28:15 on the C-SPAN video.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2012

NYC Letter: Real Life As Aching Metaphor For The Election -- "Where’s My Plan?"

Day 1,374 of CHOPE
D-minus 82 Days

Where is Mr. Obama's second term agenda?

The "plan" is a glossy 20-page sales brochure of bullet points in small print sketching out Mr. Obama's first second term. Politico spins the history of its publication:

Everything was going great for Barack Obama until about 9:04 on the night of Oct. 3, when Mitt Romney startled everybody [Everybody!] by refusing to live up to his caricature as The Worst Candidate Ever.

This appears to be the very first time that Mr. Obama realized Mitt Romney wasn't a John Kerry* stand-in.

Romney’s late-game comeback -- an unexpected assertion of presidential competence in front of 67 million viewers -- robbed Obama of his momentum and forced the president’s team to make a subtle yet significant change to their closing argument in the critical last two weeks of the 2012 campaign.

Mr. Romney's "late-game comeback" came atop months of successful big-money fundraising, staying competitive on the topline number in national polls disingenuously oversampled for Democrat bias, consistently beating Mr. Obama on the number one issue of the economy in the polls' internals, and consistently peeling away Obama support in the polls' demographics. However if you were a political reporter reading from the Wishing-Barry-Back-In-Office script Mr. Romney's "presidential competence" on October 3 was, indeed, "unexpected".

Instead, the pressure is now on Obama to prove himself -- and oh so late in the game. That led his campaign on Tuesday to release a detailed, bullet-point plan for his second term -- a formal agenda his team had long resisted despite appeals from the likes of Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and James Carville, and an army of basic-cable liberals, who said the president needed to spend less time cutting down Romney and more time elevating himself.

... Top campaign officials authorized the creation of a plan around the time of the convention but chose not to release it before the debates to deny Romney any lines of attack.

At least now we have a comprehensive outline of what Mr. Obama would be up to with another four years. [Pause.] Um. No.

OBAMA RESURRECTS HIS
FAILED 4-YEAR-OLD AGENDA
By Edward Morrissey

October 24, 2012 (TFT) - The Barack Obama reelection campaign began its operation on April 4th, 2011, nineteen months before voters decide to send him back for a second term or send him back to Chicago. ... Day 568 of the campaign, with only 14 days left to go before the election – Obama finally released a 20-page pamphlet purporting to outline a second term agenda, filled mainly with pictures and a collection of campaign sound bites. Most of the document sounds and looks familiar, because they offer what Obama promised in a first term.

... "There's not anything significantly new in here," CNN's Jessica Yellin reported later Tuesday morning. "It's all just compiled in a nice booklet now. You can still critique it," Yellin continued, "for lacking details, such as -- will he pursue immigration reform, what specifically would his tax reform plan look like?"

Don't expect to find answers to any of the above. Obama's plan offers the same tax reform promises of his 2008 campaign. On immigration reform -- which Obama promised in 2008 to pursue in his first year as President -- Obama's agenda offers not even a single mention.

... It took Barack Obama 568 days to offer next to nothing as a case for giving him a second term. It should take voters a lot less than 14 days to refuse it to him.

Ed Rogers at WaPo is even more scathing:

A quick read of the "new" Obama blueprint for the future that the president’s campaign released Tuesday, suggesting this was his bold vision for the future, is little more than silly, stale platitudes. I guess the campaign thought that it would get plenty of coverage from announcing the plan and that very few voters would bother to look at it closely.

Because, gentle undecided voter, you are that stupid.

Even the most cursory review reveals the plan to be just a bunch of glossy, flattering photos of President Obama, assertions that all is well and reiterations that Obama is for helping everybody. To me, this is another example of the Obama campaign having nothing to say.

CHOPE.

Campaign Barry makes its case for four more years of next to nothing.

------------------------------------
* And this.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Being There

Day 1,373 of CHOPE
D-minus 83 Days

There is a time for politicking and there is a time for being president. Unless you're our sitting president, then it's politicking all the time.

Rhetoric.

Reality.

Mooing.

Doing.

The blue-state corridor catches a lucky break having its disaster just before the presidential election when it is important for Mr. Obama to have that presidential doing-something look.

Bad timing, lower Mississippi flood plain (MO 49.4% McCain/49.3% Obama; KY 57.4%/41.2%; AR 58.7%/38.9%; MS 56.2%/43.0%). Tough ta-tas, Texas (55.4%/43.6%). Lousy luck, Louisiana (58.6%/39.9%) -- damn double-dammit!

CHOPE.

The presidency IS the campaign.


Posted by Damian at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2012

NYC Letter: The Genius Of Campaign Barry -- !

Day 1,372 of CHOPE
D-minus 84 Days

The election is 9 days away. Campaign Barry needs its magic back, something to inspire supporters, to win over undecideds, to confound the opposition.

It needs more of this! [Excitement swells, mills about, quietly ebbs away into bewilderment.] This! THIS! [Confused silence.] The exclamation point!

THIS "!", for pete's sake.

HOLY POP! OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN
SNAZZES UP ITS SLOGAN

NASHUA, New Hampshire October 27, 2012 (WaEx/AP) - President Barack Obama's campaign slogan is getting a boost!

Obama's campaign added an exclamation point to placards and banners bearing the campaign's motto. Instead of a stoic period at the end of the single-word slogan, the signs now read "Forward!"

... Obama spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said the campaign pumped up the slogan to reflect "the stakes in this election and energy at our events".

That's it. Really. That's all. That is it. Yeah. OK, try this.

OK. Yeah. How about a dystopic anthem sung by Children Of The Corn? Go on, give it a listen.

    Imagine an America
    Where strip mines are fun and free
    Where gays can be fixed
    And sick people just die
    And oil fills the sea

    We don't have to pay for freeways!
    Our schools are good enough
    Give us endless wars
    On foreign shores
    And lots of Chinese stuff

    ... It's a little awkward to tell you
    But you left us holding the bag
    When we look around
    The place is all dumbed down
    And the long term's kind of a drag

    We're the children of the future
    American through and through
    But something happened to our country
    And yeah, we're blaming you

    You did your best
    You failed the test

    Mom and Dad
    We're blaming you!

Yeah. As of this writing, this voter motivator has 187 Likes and 2,453 Dislikes at YouTube. What we so love about these liberal projects is that they give a deep look into the liberal mind. All the over-the-top end-of-days dopiness -- it's not for show. It's their abiding worldview. Everyday is the day before apocalypse. Everyday they scale the barricades to expose their naked breasts anew to the bayonet charges of extremist Republicans. Everyday heroic progressives beat back the wanton global warmers, polluters, corporatists, warmongers, bitter clingers, and racist Americans -- probably white people -- wholly ignorant of their very own racism. This is the world liberals wake to every single day.

OK. Halloween is coming up, how about a super creepy retweet?

No? OK. [Dead air.] What's left? The magic of spam.

CHOPE.

Same-o lame-o game-o.


Posted by Damian at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: We're Not Saying, We're Just Saying -- So Long, Florida!

Day 1,372 of CHOPE
D-minus 84 Days

There is coincidence. And then there is synthetic irony.

Buh-bye.

RCP Florida Average: 10/17-10/25 | Romney 48.9%/Obama 47.1%
Spread +1.8 Romney

FLORIDA:
Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 48%
POLL October 26, 2012 (Rasmussen)

"ROMNEY HAS PRETTY MUCH NAILED DOWN FLORIDA"
By Guy Benson

October 28, 2012 (Hot Air) - So says Mason-Dixon’s pollster, breaking down the latest Tampa Bay Times poll showing Romney up by six points in the state’s critical "I-4" corridor. Jim Geraghty's top source says the GOP nominee's Saturday swing through the Sunshine State was all about "putting Florida away".

CHOPE.

Later, gators.


Posted by Damian at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- BANG! DMR On The Record

Day 1,371 of CHOPE
D-minus 85 Days

The race in Iowa is very tight. Earlier this week Campaign Barry arranged an interview with the Des Moines Register for Mr. Obama to audition for the newspaper's endorsement -- off-the-record.

Politicians give off-the-record interviews for one reason, so they can deny anything said in the interview. Whether because of the sensitive nature of the discussion or because they are not supposed to divulge what they intend to divulge or because they wish to express themselves "colorfully" or because they are artless interlocutors. Whatever the secondary reasons, the primary reason is denial.

As news, off-the-record interviews are useless. The content of such interviews often finds its way into news stories where it is anonymously sourced, the news equivalent of gossip. It is an accountability dodge, but it is also an insidious practice for shaping the news and testing messages and pushing rumor.

So why would Mr. Obama want an endorsement interview with the Des Moines Register off-the-record?*

OBAMA OFF-THE-RECORD COMMENTS
DESERVE TO BE SHARED WITH VOTERS

October 23, 2012 (DMR) - The Des Moines Register’s publisher [Laura Hollingsworth] and I [Rick Green, editor/vice-president of news] spoke with President Barack Obama this morning -- but we can’t tell you what he said. ... Unfortunately, what we discussed was off-the-record. It was a condition, we were told, set by the White House.

... Romney appeared before our board Oct. 9. We literally met in a barn on a family farm owned by Jeff Koch, just west of Van Meter. We had a wide-ranging conversation in a little under an hour of access. He squeezed us in just before a campaign stop that spotlighted his agriculture policies.

... We repeatedly -- and politely -- have asked Obama 2012 campaign officials in Iowa and Chicago for the same access to the president. I believe it earned serious consideration. But despite at least 28 campaign stops and 11 days in our state, we never could convince his team to carve out a few moments for our editorial board -- in our office, on the trail or even in a barn somewhere in Iowa.

Which takes me back to Monday afternoon’s call from the White House, inviting us to chat with President Obama this morning. It was a "personal call" to the Register's publisher and editor, we were told. The specifics of the conversation could not be shared because it was off-the-record. ... No reason was given for the unusual condition of keeping it private.

We relented and took the call. How could we not? It's the leader of the free world on line one.

For the President of the United States to insist on an off-the-record interview is both curious and inept. The president has minions that can be dispatched for off-the-record remarks, for example his press secretary or the press secretary's deputy press secretary or the deputy press secretary's intern. The point of the president talking directly to the press is for the press to report what the president has said. Better to give no interview at all than gag the interviewer.

Stranger still, this was an audition for the DMR's endorsement. The point of the interview was for Mr. Obama to make his argument for re-election, an argument he has made publicly hundreds of times. Why would he not want that argument on-the-record?*

It’s important that I emphasize the White House’s decision won’t play a factor in our board’s final endorsement decision. That would be petty and ridiculous. We take far too seriously what’s at stake this election and what our endorsement should say.

Wednesday morning Campaign Barry took back the off-the-record condition and released the interview transcript to DMR.

AFTER EDITOR'S BLOG, PRESIDENT OBAMA
RELEASES TRANSCRIPT OF REGISTER INTERVIEW

October 24, 2012 (DMR) - Without comment, campaign officials for President Obama this morning released to the Des Moines Register a transcript of an interview he had Tuesday with Laura Hollingsworth, president and publisher of the Register, and Rick Green, editor/vice-president of news.

The next day the DMR ran this front page.

102512_dmr_front_page_w484.png
OUCH!
DMR Tips Its Hand
[Picture source: Des Moines Register]

Two days later DMR endorses Mr. Romney.

THE REGISTER ENDORSEMENT:
MITT ROMNEY OFFERS A
FRESH ECONOMIC VISION
OP-ED October 27, 2012 (DMR)

We invite you to read the whole endorsement, but here it is distilled:

Romney has made rebuilding the economy his No. 1 campaign priority — and rightly so.

... The president’s best efforts to resuscitate the stumbling economy have fallen short. Nothing indicates it would change with a second term in the White House.

By itself we don't think the DMR endorsement means much. Everyone has an opinion about the vote sway of newspaper endorsements. However, we do think that the DMR endorsement is indicative of a growing realization that if you supported Mr. Obama before, as the DMR did, you do not have to support him again. [Pause for realization.] No. No you don't.

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.

------------------------------------
* Our working theory is that Campaign Barry was worried DMR might question Mr. Obama on Benghazi (DMR didn't). The administration continues to plead ignorance and does not yet have a plausible down-the-line story. The public has taken notice, so Campaign Barry would've wanted any incriminating off-the-cuff answers by Mr. Obama kept off-the-record.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- "Both Financially Illiterate"

Day 1,370 of CHOPE
D-minus 86 Days

Hell hath no fury like a progressive cheated.

Jeff Connaughton is a former aide to Vice President Biden, who, as he describes himself, "came to D.C. a Democrat and left a plutocrat". He has written a book about his transformation. Mr. Biden has a starring role.

FORMER JOE BIDEN AIDE
WRITES ANGRY TELL-ALL

October 25, 2012 (Politico) - Adding another wild-card to the 2012 campaign’s final days, a former aide to Vice President Joe Biden has written a tell-all Washington memoir in which he lacerates the former Delaware senator as an "egomaniacal autocrat" who was "determined to manage his staff through fear".

... Connaughton wrote The Payoff, which came out last month, in the fashion of guilt-racked whistle-blower: he was a party to a corrupt system and now wants to blow the lid off the game.

Mr. Connaughton's book was published September 18, 2012. It took over a month for an insider exposé on one of the major players in this presidential election to catch the political press's attention. Eleven days before the election, Politico thought you might be interested in what Mr. Connaughton had to say about Mr. Biden and this White House. Thank you, Politico.

He is harshly critical of his own party and the Obama administration, arguing that the president is no different than most other Washington Democrats in his willingness to kowtow to Wall Street.

President Obama and Biden, he writes, are "both financially illiterate".

Mr. Connaughton continues:

Money is the basis of almost all relationships in D.C. And, in a nutshell, this is why our political campaign system and DC’s mushrooming Permanent Class -- who alternate between government jobs and lawyering, influence-peddling and finance -- mean Wall Street always wins.

Democrats, he argues, aren't much different than Republicans when it comes to selling out. Connaughton describes the Washington taxonomy of the lobbyists, consultants and lawyers he calls "Professional Democrats". Mr. Connaughton:

If the Marine Corps's hierarchy of allegiance is unit, corps, country, God, then the hierarchy for a Professional Democrat is current firm, former-elected-official boss, the congressional Democratic leadership, and the president (if he or she is a Democrat).

Mr. Connaughton is bitter and it shows. But why? He played a game that gamed him. Privilege and advantage, in his telling, were denied him when he thought he was deserving. He didn't lose faith because selling out became too iniquitous. He lost faith because he lost out in a system that rewards selling out. After 25 years working that system, most of those years bereft of youthful idealism, he has come round to the high ground of sanctimony.

Read the whole article if you want damning anecdotes about Mr. Biden. Read the book if you want more. We have culled what has the ring of truth, that Messrs. Obama and Biden are financially illiterate. This both explains and tracks with their lost-at-sea economic mismanagement.

As for the rest, we're already not admirers of Mr. Biden. We do not need Mr. Connaughton's book to confirm our opinion. We came by that opinion through principle and disagreement with Mr. Biden's claims, what he supports, how he operates, and who he pretends to be, not because he has personally gipped us of the spoils of Washington.

CHOPE.

"Better bitter than Biden's boy."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.27.12:


Posted by Damian at 12:00 PM | Comments (1)

October 25, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Now He Tells Us

Day 1,369 of CHOPE
D-minus 87 Days

Math is hard. Phone calls are easy.*

ON LENO, OBAMA ADMITS HE CAN'T DO MATH
ABOVE 7TH GRADE LEVEL...YEAH, WE KNOW

October 25, 2012 (FNC) - Mr. Obama last night on The Tonight Show:

Q: When you help your daughters with their homework, is there a subject you struggle with?

MR. OBAMA: Well, the math stuff I was fine with up until 7th grade. But Malia is now a freshman in High School and I'm pretty lost. It's tough. Fortunately, they are great students on their own. And if something doesn't work I'll call over to the Department of Energy to see if they have a physicist to come over!

No surprise to those paying attention (and this and this).

CHOPE.

Yuck-up for TV suck-up.

------------------------------------
* Echoing Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Handeln ist leicht, Denken schwer; nach dem Gedanken handeln unbequem." ("Action is easy, thinking hard; acting according to the mind uncomfortable." Translation by A Luminous Halo.)


Posted by Damian at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2012

NYC Letter: Lost In America -- Ohio

Day 1,368 of CHOPE
D-minus 88 Days

Don't know much about geography...

WONDERFUL WORLD
Recorded: Sam Cooke, 1959
Lyrics: Sam Cooke, Lou Adler, & Herb Alpert

Joe Biden arrives in Ohio.

'LITERALLY': IN OHIO, BIDEN
SAYS HE’S IN IOWA

October 24, 2012 (WaEx) - Vice President Joe Biden once again misstated the state in which he was campaigning, this time addressing an Ohio crowd as if he is in Iowa. Mr. Biden:
Literally, ladies and gentleman, this is a guy who is running all the ads here in Iowa saying that he is going to get tough on China.

Mr. Biden does not travel, he is shipped. The campaign ships him from place to place. Once delivered, Mr. Biden pops out of his package. Where is he? The locals offer a clue with their placards and banners, but Mr. Biden must solve the clue.

To help him, Mr. Biden is shipped with an entourage of handlers, people hired to answer a single question before Mr. Biden is led to the podium. Where are they? Iowa? Ohio? Both are crucial states on Campaign Barry's electoral map. It's important not to mix them up and rob the turned-out locals of that specialness a campaign event confers, that sense that Joe is there for them -- and their votes. On the other hand, either-or is fifty-fifty, so just hurry Joe along and hope he guesses right. [Loud buzzer.] Wrong! [Awkward moment as turn-out realizes Joe is not there for them. Handlers shrug.] At least Iowa is in America. Mr. Biden is still doing better than his boss.

WHOOPS:
OBAMA TELLS COLORADO AUDIENCE
HE WANTS MORE WIND TURBINES
'MANUFACTURED HERE IN CHINA'
October 24, 2012 (Twitchy)

CHOPE.

Being there. And being over there.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2012

NYC Letter: Real Life As Aching Metaphor For The Election -- "Toilet Overflowing"

Day 1,366 of CHOPE
D-minus 90 Days

Mr. Obama is sliding. Will his base turn out? Aside from disaffection, what sort of impedimenta might keep the Obama voter at home?

MICHELLE: VOTE EARLY BECAUSE YOUR
TOILET MAY BE OVERFLOWING
ON ELECTION DAY

WAUSAU, Wisconsin October 22, 2012 (CNS News) - First Lady Michelle Obama encouraged her husband’s supporters to vote early, because you may find your "toilet overflowing" on Election Day. Mrs. Obama, speaking to a crowd Friday at the University of Wisconsin in Wausau:
You wake up on Election Day—you might have a cold, babysitter gets sick, it's raining, car broke down, I mean I could go on—toilet overflowing. There are so many ways to mess up a day when you don't have a lot of time.

In 32 states, including Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, any qualified voter may cast a ballot in person during a designated period prior to Election Day. No excuse or justification is required.

We don't want to read too much into the high likelihood of Obama voters with backed-up toilets on election day. [Restless pause.] Well, actually, yes we do. Since Mrs. Obama brought it up -- [Potty humor deleted.] HA!

If you melt away in the rain, if life is forever ambushing you, vote early. And if you are a Democrat do your duty and vote again on election day, toilet be damned!

CHOPE.

Backed-up.


Posted by Damian at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2012

NYC Letter: "Me Care So Much" -- How Bout You Vote Barack And Sit Back Down?

Day 1,364 of CHOPE
D-minus 92 Days

During the second presidential debate Michael Jones, who voted for Mr. Obama in 2008, wasn't feeling the magic this time around. He was feeling economically pinched. He asked Mr. Obama what he had done to earn his vote. An attentive listener would have caught that Mr. Jones' concern was about making ends meet in Mr. Obama's economy. Mr. Obama seemed piqued by the question and instead used the occasion to rattle off his talking points laundry list.

Q: Mr. President, I voted for you in 2008. What have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in 2012? I'm not that optimistic as I was in 2012. Most things I need for everyday living are very expensive.

Mr. Obama: Well, we've gone through a tough four years. There's no doubt about it. But four years ago, I told the American people and I told you I would cut taxes for middle class families. And I did. I told you I'd cut taxes for small businesses, and I have.

I said that I'd end the war in Iraq, and I did. I said we'd refocus attention on those who actually attacked us on 9/11, and we have gone after Al Qaeda's leadership like never before and Osama bin Laden is dead.

I said that we would put in place health care reform to make sure that insurance companies can't jerk you around and if you don't have health insurance, that you'd have a chance to get affordable insurance, and I have.

I committed that I would rein in the excesses of Wall Street, and we passed the toughest Wall Street reforms since the 1930s. We've created five million jobs, and gone from 800 jobs a month being lost, and we are making progress. We saved an auto industry that was on the brink of collapse.

Now, does that mean you're not struggling? Absolutely not. A lot of us are.* And that's why the plan that I've put forward for manufacturing and education, and reducing our deficit in a sensible way, using the savings from ending wars, to rebuild America and putting people back to work. Making sure that we are controlling our own energy, but not only the energy of today, but also the energy of the future. All of those things will make a difference, so the point is the commitments I've made, I've kept.

And those that I haven't been able to keep, it's not for lack of trying and we're going to get it done in a second term.

We doubt seriously that Mr. Obama is struggling as Mr. Jones is struggling.* We also doubt Mr. Jones is as stupid as Mr. Obama presumes in arguing that the promises Mr. Obama didn't keep in his first term he magically will keep in a second. What's the plan? The plan is to be re-elected. Now shut up and sit down.

Mr. Romney, who did listen attentively, answered the man's question thus:

Mr. Romney: I think you know better. I think you know that these last four years haven't been so good as the president just described and that you don't feel like your confident that the next four years are going to be much better either.

I can tell you that if you were to elect President Obama, you know what you're going to get. You're going to get a repeat of the last four years. We just can't afford four more years like the last four years.

Mr. Romney went on to detail Mr. Obama's fails on unemployment, deficit reduction, the rise of insurance premiums, and the decline in median family income. Mr. Jones got his answer and took his seat, swallowed up by the anonymity from which he emerged. [Abrupt needle scratch.] Not so fast. Bubba retrieves Mr. Jones and pushes him center stage for a headline.

CLINTON: I THOUGHT OBAMA
'WAS GOING TO CRY'

PARMA, Ohio October 18, 2012 (TWS) - At a campaign event for Barack Obama's reelection campaign, Bill Clinton said that Mitt Romney's argument "is true, we're not fixed":
Governor Romney's argument is, we're not fixed, so fire him and put me in. It is true we're not fixed. When President Obama looked into the eyes of that man who said in the debate, I had so much hope four years ago and I don't now, I thought he was going to cry. Because he knows that it's not fixed.

It's as if Bubba were campaigning for Team Mitt. Oh. Wait a minute! He is!

PAUL RYAN USES BILL CLINTON’S WORDS
AGAINST HIS DEMOCRATIC OPPONENTS

FT. MYERS, Florida October 18, 2012 (ABC News) - Paul Ryan responded to comments President Bill Clinton made Thursday while stumping for President Barack Obama, using them as ammunition aimed right back at his Democratic opponents.

"The president and his allies have said a few revealing things lately," Ryan said at an outdoor rally at a sports complex here. "Bill Clinton said it is true that our economy is not fixed. He is right. … If the economy is not fixed, it is time we change presidents and elect Mitt Romney the next president of the United States."

GEE, THANKS BILL!
CLINTON SAYS ROMNEY IS RIGHT
AND THE ECONOMY IS 'NOT FIXED'
...AND HOW HE THOUGHT OBAMA
'WAS GOING TO CRY' DURING DEBATE

October 19, 2012 (Daily Mail) - Bill Clinton has conceded that Mitt Romney is correct that the economy is 'not fixed' and said he thought Barack Obama was going to cry during Tuesday's debate 'because he knows that it's not fixed'. ... [He] immediately added that Obama offered a better plan than Romney for getting out of the rut during the next four years. But his frank admission about the state of the economy was immediately seized on by the Romney campaign as bolstering the republican argument that a change of leadership in the White House is needed.

... Ironically, it was the kind of question that might have prompted Candidate Clinton in 1992 to look like he was going to cry but Obama was characteristically unemotional in his reply.

All of which prompts the question is Bubba a good fit with Mr. Obama's campaign?

But the 'not fixed' remark underlines the dangers of Obama having Bill Clinton, with whom relations were in the deep freeze after Obama defeated his wife Hillary for the Democratic nomination, as his top campaign surrogate.

In a recent piece for 'New York Magazine', John Heilemann, co-author of the best-selling book 'Game Change' about the 2008 election, wrote that Clinton had been 'baffled by Obama’s failures at the basic blocking and tackling of politics, his insularity, and his alienation of the business community'.

Heilemann also spoke to Neera Tanden, president of the Centre for American Progress and a former top adviser to Hillary Clinton and, subsequently, Obama. She offered a remarkably candid take on Obama, later apologising for her phrasing.

Obama engineered this reconciliation [with Bill Clinton], and I think the whole time he was, like, "Why do I have to do this?" He did it because he wanted to win, and this was the way to do it. But in the process, he’s made Bill Clinton the king of the world.

She added:

People say the reason Obama wouldn’t call Clinton is because he doesn’t like him. The truth is, Obama doesn’t call anyone, and he’s not close to almost anyone. It’s stunning that he's in politics, because he really doesn't like people. My analogy is that it's like becoming Bill Gates without liking computers.

In a recent e-mail exchange with reader DH on the "responsibility buck" passing around the Obama administration and why it stopped with HRC, we speculated:

Our current working theory is that the DOS was getting hammered in the press and Mr. O wasn't going to man up. So Bubba says to HRC, "What the Hell, take the blame and make Barry look like a donkey and you'll look presidential." Damn if that snake wasn't right!

Bubba's not Biden. When he slips, he means to slip. Our suspicion is that Bubba is deliberately undermining Mr. Obama's re-election. Mr. Obama losing takes Mr. Biden out of contention in 2016, as Mr. Biden's only hope was as the incumbent successor. That leaves Andrew Cuomo, who could be sidelined with the №2 plum. That would leave no Democrat of stature to muck up a second run by HRC. She will be a spry 69 in 2016.

We have always maintained that beyond moneyed Democrats the Clinton mystic is weak. How else to explain HRC's botch of the one sure bet of 2008 to a one-term Senator with no brand and no national base? No, it wasn't that fart. Well, not entirely.

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.

------------------------------------
* More hardships here and here and here and here and here and here, to link but an additional half dozen.


Posted by Damian at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up XI

Day 1,363 of CHOPE
D-minus 93 Days

Newspaper endorsements constitute a useful straw poll of how the electorate is trending. Although they contribute to shaping local opinion, newspapers are business enterprises. If for no reason other than commercial appeal, a newspaper's endorsement generally tracks with its customer base.

Greg Mitchell, a writer for The Nation who tracked endorsements during the past two elections while editor of the magazine Editor & Publisher, said he believes that they still matter.

Mitchell told The Huffington Post that while "no one would argue they're the key factor in the race," endorsements have signaled which way the election will tip during the previous two cycles. In 2008, Mitchell predicted which candidates would win 13 "toss-up" states based solely on newspaper endorsements, and he got 12 correct. Four years earlier, Mitchell was 14 for 15.

The challenge for Mr. Romney is to garner endorsements. The challenge for Mr. Obama is to hold on to yesterday's endorsements.

ROMNEY THE LEADER AMERICA NEEDS
TO CREATE MORE JOBS

OP-ED October 12, 2012 (TDT) - Nationally, the one thing that is needed above anything else is job creation. Yet, the president’s economic proposal is to raise taxes on the job-creating class. Why ever would you raise taxes on anyone when real unemployment is around 15 percent? That defies all economic theories.

Let’s face it: Romney is more of a businessman than a politician. You can resent his wealth all you want, but he has a proven record as a turnaround artist.

In 2008 the Daily Tribune endorsed Mr. Obama.

ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT

OP-ED October 16, 2012 (NYO) - While we admire Mr. Obama, we believe he squandered an opportunity to bring positive change to Washington -- and what change he did bring will burden future generations. We continue to rack up debt, buy services we cannot afford and allow unfunded liabilities to continue to grow. This has to end.

... The United States simply cannot afford another four years of weak leadership. The genius of American capitalism and the moral authority of American foreign policy must be restored.

Mitt Romney has a plan to do both. He has the credentials to restore the economy and to defend American values in a hostile world. He has the skills to help create jobs and a brighter future for our country.

... The Observer endorses Mr. Romney’s candidacy and urges readers to support him.

In 2008 the liberalish The New York Observer endorsed Mr. Obama.

TIME FOR ANOTHER CHANGE

OP-ED October 18, 2012 (Tennessean) - The next president must be the one with the best chance to get the crushing, $16 trillion national debt under control, coupled with the more immediate need of enabling a vibrant job market.

It is because the economy is paramount that The Tennessean endorses Gov. Mitt Romney for president.

... Be the man who governed Massachusetts, and you’ll reunite America.

In 2008 the liberalish Tennessean endorsed Mr. Obama.

OUR PICK FOR PRESIDENT: ROMNEY

OP-ED October 19, 2012 (Orlando Sentinel) - Romney has a strong record of leadership to run on. He built a successful business. He rescued the 2002 Winter Olympics from scandal and mismanagement. As governor of Massachusetts, he worked with a Democrat-dominated legislature to close a $3billion budget deficit without borrowing or raising taxes, and pass the health plan that became a national model.

This is Romney's time to lead, again. If he doesn't produce results -- even with a hostile Senate -- we'll be ready in 2016 to get behind someone else who will.

We reject the innuendo [sic] that some critics have heaped on the president. ... But after reflecting on his four years in the White House, we also don't think that he's the best qualified candidate in this race.

We endorse Mitt Romney for president.

In 2008 the liberalish Orlando Sentinel endorsed Mr. Obama.

What all these endorsements have in common, besides Mr. Romney, is that none of them, not one, believes America is in the midst of a "huge recovery".

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.20.12:

NEVADA NEEDS A CHANGE NOW;
ELECT MITT ROMNEY PRESIDENT

OP-ED October 20, 2012 (RGJ) - The Gazette-Journal recommends a vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president of the United States.

... A vote to re-elect Obama promises four more years of the same. In the two debates between the two candidates so far, the president has shown little understanding of how his failures are affecting the nation, and he hasn’t offered any tangible proposals to change course.

... But the United States, and Nevada, cannot afford four more years of the same. The change Obama promised four years ago is needed right now. ... Romney must be the leader to get things moving.

In 2008 the liberalish Reno Gazette-Journal endorsed Mr. Obama.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.21.12:

ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT

OP-ED October 21, 2012 (H-Chron) - The Chronicle's backing of Barack Obama in 2008 broke a 44-year string of endorsing Republican candidates for president. Like so many others, we were captivated by the Illinois senator's soaring rhetoric and energized by his promise to move American politics beyond partisan gridlock and into an era of hope and change.

It hasn't happened. Four years later, President Obama's deeds have failed to match his words, much less his specific vows to cut the national debt by half and bring the nation's unemployment rate to 6 percent. As Texans, it is a particular vexation that this president's attitude toward the interests of our state has occasionally bordered on contempt, particularly in decisions relating to the NASA budget and the energy sector.

... Gov. Romney impresses us as a focused, task-oriented problem solver, both by inclination and by experience -- a "fix-it" guy. A lot needs fixing in America, from a broken economy to a broken-down political system. Mitt Romney offers the leadership we require from the White House.

In 2008 the Houston Chronicle endorsed Mr. Obama.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.22.12:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.27.12:

In 2008 the liberalish Des Moines Register endorsed Mr. Obama. See post here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.28.12:

Unlike the more-in-sorrow-than-affection liberalish newspaper endorsements, the RTD Romney endorsement is full-throated. It also serves as a ringing indictment of the Obama presidency:

Romney also promises to repeal Obamacare -- a singularly necessary step to restore America's entrepreneurial spirit -- and replace it with reforms that will not bust the budget, not trample individual rights, not undermine the independence of patients and medical professionals. Turns out, an economic crisis is no time to insist on an overwhelming and incoherent government program that does little to solve problems but much to suppress job-creation. Repeal may be the most effective stimulus package passed in nearly a decade.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 10.31.12:

MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT

OP-ED October 31, 2012 (Nashua Telegraph) - Did the former Illinois senator do enough to live up to those admittedly high expectations to warrant a second term? After several hours of spirited debate, not unlike conversations taking place in kitchens and living rooms across America, we reached a consensus that he had not. Perhaps more importantly, when we identified the key challenges facing the nation -- jobs, the economy and the national debt -- we concluded he was not the best candidate to meet them.

That person is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and we hereby endorse him to become the 45th president of the United States. ... [W]e are confident Romney is the candidate who would tackle the serious issues facing this nation, starting with jobs, the economy and the debt. In the end, we couldn’t say the same about the president.

In 2008 the Nashua Telegraph, New Hampshire's largest newspaper, endorsed Mr. Obama.

GIVE ROMNEY A CHANCE; OBAMA HAD HIS
OP-ED October 31, 2012 (Statesman Journal)

In 2008 the Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon) endorsed Mr. Obama.


Posted by Damian at 04:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Those Cunning Republicans

Day 1,361 of CHOPE
D-minus 95 Days

"Just Ask Joe" Edition

The human mouth has two commissures. One at the right extremity of the buccal perimeter, and the other, it's opposite, located at the left extremity. Nature has so fashioned the mouth this way for a reason. Why NOT use both of them?

Mr. Biden provides an example.

(A) God love 'em, they’re not hiding the ball, they’re just saying exactly what they believe.

(B) What I find fascinating, though, is that on nearly every issue, they don't tell you what they are for anymore, and they deliberately misrepresent what they say we are for. You saw it again last night in the debate.

Joe "Unshackled" Biden,
(A) talking about Republicans, running the ball
April 1, 2012 (Mediate/CBS)
(B) talking about Republicans, hiding the ball
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa October 4, 2012 (FNC)

Explaining Mr. Obama's miserable performance in the first debate, Mr. Biden went on to say this about Messrs. Romney and Ryan:

It's hard to keep up. You never know what game Gov. Romney is going to come with.

David Axelrod, senior Campaign Barry advisor, concurs:

AXELROD: OBAMA 'TAKEN ABACK
BY THE BRAZENNESS' OF ROMNEY'S
DEBATE PERFORMANCE
WASHINGTON October 7, 2012 (Politico)

Mr. Obama simply lacks the mental agility to keep up, to catch out an opponent, and challenge statements in error or faulty arguments. Many will tell you that is the whole point of debate, the very heart of the art. Campaign Barry pleads Mr. Obama is overmatched in the debates, so, please, don't count that against him.

Similarly Messrs. Obama and Biden were overmatched by the economic crisis upon taking office and guessed wrong pushing their near-trillion dollar stimulus. Their big problem there was calling Jon "Where's The Money" Corzine, literally, for the stimulus blueprint. Don't hold that against them.

Just as they were overmatched by the responsibilities incumbent on the administration for diplomatic security abroad. Who knew Libya was crawling with Islamists holding a grudge against America? Don't hold that against them either.

Vote them back. They're promising a super re-do on the economy and getting to the bottom of what somebody else did wrong on Benghazi. Maybe even squeeze in some intelligence briefings.

What's the alternative? A Republican ticket too clever for Mr. Obama? Is that what you want? People who resort to cheap cleverness to trip up the President of the United States?

CHOPE.

New appellation: Joe "Both Sides" Biden.


Posted by Damian at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- One Last Look At The One And Only VP Debate

Day 1,360 of CHOPE
D-minus 96 Days

Consider this a preview of our complaints about tonight's debate.

Recently correspondent HC took issue with our take on Joe Biden's geography, writing:

The comment is in confusing English, but based on the rules of grammar, I believe Mr. Biden said that "it", that is, Libya, is 5X as large as Syria, and it (Libya) has 1/5 the population. Thus, he was only off by 2X on size, and 20% on population. So maybe it isn’t that big a deal, unless, of course, we are to use the grammatical contortions used to try to cover for Our President’s "you didn’t build that" comment, in which case what Biden said would perhaps be "properly" constructed/contorted to mean Syria is 5X as large as Libya, and Syria has 1/5 the population of Libya (which is indeed what he, Biden, was saying until he threw in the "that is, Libya" part).

To which we replied:

Although we recognize that Messrs. Obama & Biden often depend on the natural looseness of language to talk to their base while parsing away their critics, in this case we think we have read Mr. Biden correctly and he has made an error, if not of fact, than in the procession of grammar necessary for intelligible, if not intelligent, discourse. Here's why we believe our reading of Mr. Biden's response is correct.

Mr. Biden was responding to this question:

n March of last year, President Obama explained the military action taken in Libya by saying it was in the national interest to go in and prevent further massacres from occurring there. So why doesn't the same logic apply in Syria?

In a question-answer format the answer hangs on the question. In this case Mr. Biden's answer, "Different country. It's a different country," the antecedent is Syria not Libya. Were we in doubt about which country Mr. Biden was referring to, he ties off his geography lesson with, "...that is Libya, one-fifth the population, five times as large geographically." A sympathetic interpretation, such as yours, hears this as, "that is to say Libya". What we heard in the thrust of the answer (based on the telecast, which originally piqued our interest, not the transcript), "of the size and population that is Libya" then the iteration.

Are both readings possible? Yes. Are both readings equally plausible? Obviously we do not think so.

Either way Mr. Biden is wrong on the facts as Libya is 9.5x as large as Syria and Syria has 4x the population of Libya.

HC made a good point about how the audience is left to sort out Mr. Biden's factoids from his mangled English. This led to follow-on correspondence where we let fly with our big complaint (slightly redacted below).

Our big complaint here is with the debate format, which is not a debate at all. Nothing in particular is argued. Basically you have a moderator who acts as a switch, turning on one candidate's talking points, then the other's. A real debate would have a definite topic on which the debaters would research facts and prepare their positions. Facts would be wielded to argue the positions. Each cross would be limited to the position statements and rebuttals as given.

Nothing in these political debates is ever argued to a conclusion, which is one of the reasons each camp declares itself the winner (with the notable exception of Mr. Obama's universally panned first debate).

These debates pit two guys desperate to blurt out factoids against a two-minute timer. Unlike "Question Time" at the British Parliament, they are not allowed to bring notes. It's a contest about who has the better grip on the campaign talking points. That -- and as Messrs. Biden & Obama demonstrated in their different ways -- a certain theatricality.

In a real debate on the situation in Syria, both debaters would be clued at a minimum on the relevant geography and national metrics. The guy who got those wrong, would be punished by the other side. And in a real debate, the arguments would be scored for accuracy and persuasion, and a winner determined.

Had Mr. Biden presented his geography in a real debate, he would've been hammered on the facts or the muddle. Instead it passes because nobody present knew to ask him to clarify. Both the moderator and Mr. Ryan took him at his word.

Come January, Mr. Biden will have plenty of time to sort all this out.

The point of a debate is to win an argument. What is the point of the presidential debates? The moderator presents a question that each candidate is invited to answer however they like. They are free to go off topic, interrupt, put on sideshows, and play to camera. It's not a debate. It's more like the boozy cross-talk following last call. Afterwards campaign flacks overwhelm the airwaves claiming a knock-out for their candidate (again, Mr. Obama's debate flop excepted). The curious thing is the candidate never wins or loses in the arena. He never wins or loses the debate at all. That is won by a post-debate spin team -- usually the one with the most obnoxious flacks.

Tonight's "debate" is the most phony -- thus the most despised -- of all the phony debate formats, the folksy town hall.

This is so achingly phony it will test our mettle just to sit through it.

CHOPE.

We hate the debates.


Posted by Damian at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2012

NYC Letter: Who Knew? -- "We Are In The Midst Of A Huge Recovery"

Day 1,359 of CHOPE
D-minus 97 Days

Q: And a lot of anger out there. There's so many people who simply don't think they're better off than they were four years ago. How do you convince them that they are?

Well, I don't think they're better off than they were four years ago. They're not better off than they were before Lehman's collapse, before the financial crisis, before this extraordinary recession that we're going through.*

Mr. Obama,
ABC NEWS INTERVIEW
WASHINGTON October 3, 2011 (RCP)

Yeah. That's what we thought too.

MICHELLE OBAMA: 'WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A

HUGE RECOVERY'

October 15, 2012 (CNS News) - Pablo Sato, co-host of Pablo & Free on WPGC 95.5, a Washington, D.C.-area hip-hop radio station, asked the first lady: "Mrs. Obama, you know what, in your words, tell us what you think the state of the union is in right now?"

Mrs. Obama said, "I mean, we are seeing right now that we are in the midst of a huge recovery. Right? Because of what this president has done."

Free: "Yes."

Somehow this news escaped us, so we are using the great big red type so you won't miss it.

Mrs. Obama: Now, Barack of all people knows that we still have a long way to go to completely rebuild the economy. But we’re headed in the right direction.

Is Mr. Obama the luckiest guy or what? Just before the November election, all of sudden a HUGE recovery!

Mrs. Obama: And when you see all of that truth, it’s hard to understand why are people blocking this? Why are people talking about not raising taxes on wealthy people? Why is it that people don't want to fight to make sure that veterans have job opportunities?

Free: They just like to talk, Mrs. Obama.

Mrs. Obama: Yeah. Yeah.

When you see all that truth, you wonder, why don't people appreciate all that Mr. Obama hath wrought? [Wonder pause.] CNSNews conjures up some of all that truth Mr. Obama hath wrought.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2012, down from 2.0 percent from first quarter 2012.

The BEA data also show GDP growth of (negative) -3.1 percent in 2009; 2.4 percent in 2010; and 1.8 percent in 2011.

In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the national unemployment rate is 7.8 percent, the same rate as when Barack Obama was inaugurated as president in January 2009.

Here's the recovery 23M Americans are in the midst of.


NOT FEELING IT

CHOPE.

Spoiling the truth with facts.

------------------------------------
* On September 20, 2010, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the arbiter of the start and end points of recessions, announced the recession that began in December 2007 had ended in June 2009. [Pause.] That would be over 2¼ years before Mr. Obama's interview above. Did no one think to tell him? No. Wait! 1¼ years earlier the White House announced "Recovery Summer". No. Wait! Two months after that in a NYT op-ed Mr. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, welcomed America to the Obama recovery! No. Wait! It's a recession AND an unstoppable recovery!


Posted by Damian at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Lessons Learned!

Day 1,358 of CHOPE
D-minus 98 Days

Mr. Obama lost his first debate. But don't expect him to lose the second. The first debate was a classic Obama "teaching moment",* and the president was an attentive student.

FAIL: Bitching.

The next day Mr. Knoller tweeted:

Pres Obama told supporters yesterday staying inside all day "is a drag." His debate camp is within eye shot of a number of golf courses.

LESSON LEARNED: Positive exuberance!

FAIL: Day trips.

The next day Mr. Knoller did a follow-on tweet:

Slice of politics: Pres Obama brought six pizzas with him to the field office as a treat for staff and volunteers.

Follow-on tweets (and here):

Pres Obama said an aide told him they were only 15 minutes away from Hoover Dam "and I said well we've got to go check it out."

But when reporters started asking about his debate preps, Pres Obama ended the chat and turned away.

LESSON LEARNED: [Skip this.]

FAIL: Too damn nice.

I mean, you know, the debate, I think it’s fair to say I was just too polite, because it’s hard to sometimes just keep on saying and what you’re saying isn’t true.

Mr. Obama,
solving the mystery** of his awful first debate
TOM JOYNER MORNING SHOW
October 10, 2012 (RCP

LESSON LEARNED: Unspecified adjustments!

Follow-on tweet:

But on Fox News Sunday, Axelrod declines to say what those debate "adjustments" by Pres Obama will be.

FAIL: Lowballing.

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
PREDICTS ROMNEY WILL WIN
FIRST DEBATE VS. OBAMA
September 30, 2012 (NYPost)

LESSON LEARNED: Hype!

OBAMA CAMPAIGN HYPES
EXPECTATIONS
FOR SECOND DEBATE
October 14, 2012 (TPM)

FAIL: Cluelessness.

OBAMA 'BELIEVED HE HAD BEATEN ROMNEY'
IN DENVER DEBATE - AFTER IGNORING ADVICE
OF TOP AIDES ON PREPARATION
By Toby Harnden
October 9, 2012 (Daily Mail)

LESSON LEARNED: The Nixon Defense!

OBAMA: IF PEOPLE READ TRANSCRIPT,
THEY'LL THINK I WON LAST DEBATE
MICHAEL YO! SHOW
October 13, 2012 (WaEx)

Campaign Barry is giving Mr. Obama a forensic makeover. Don't expect to see that piqued fussy Barry fellow at the next debate. When Mr. Obama walks into that arena Tuesday, he will be -- well, we don't know what. More piqued? More fussy? Unless unemployment magically drops to 6% and GDP magically zooms to 4%, it really doesn't matter what theatrical improvements Mr. Obama brings. Even were a revenant Sir Laurence Olivier to recite Mr. Obama's record, the reviews would still be all bad.

CHOPE.

Closing out those incomplete grades.

------------------------------------
* Here is another.

** Here is a companion solution.


Posted by Damian at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The One And Only VP Debate

Day 1,356 of CHOPE
D-minus 100 Days

UPDATE 10.14.12: Welcome, ¡No Pasarán! folk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Fightin' Bitin' Biden Post-VP Debate Edition

Let's begin with real life as an aching metaphor for the election.

Here are the topline numbers on the snap polls.

Not surprisingly the CBS poll is the outlier. CBS has a history of producing fantastic wins for the Democrat in post-debate polls (and here and this*). Here is the junk poll giveaway.

If you watched the debate -- and we did, all of it -- unless you are on the fat end of the OFA payroll there is no way Mr. Biden takes the "more knowledgeable" prize, and no-no way he takes it with a 10 point spread. That is "malarkey". As the fact checks below bear out, Mr. Biden is perhaps the least knowledgeable VP candidate since, well, since the last Democrat VP candidate, John "Love Child" Edwards.

We think Joe Biden is an idiot. We thought so long before last night's debate, long before any debate. We think so now. The Joe Biden we have chronicled here** at E-N! is the same Joe Biden that showed up last night, Joe Biden the idiot. Because being an idiot is an immense forensic liability, Mr. Biden's remit was expanded to that of goom (pronounced gôm), boorish clown, a goop.

Some interruption is expected. Private laughs, exasperated sighs, this sort of thing punctuates a debate. However these were the feedstock of Mr. Biden's rebuttals, whether during his allotted time or his barge-ins. Being rude by itself won't lose a debate.

BIDEN'S 'MALARKEY' AND LAUGHTER DRIVE
ONLINE REACTION DURING VEEP DEBATE

October 11, 2012 (The Hill) - Team Obama quickly began promoting a tweet from Biden to show up at the top of tweets using the hashtag #malarkey, as well, a smart move to keep Biden at the center of the conversation.

But it was Biden's persistent laughing and smiling while Ryan spoke that prompted multiple parody Twitter accounts.

MSNBC compared the laughing to the sighing of Al Gore during a debate in 2000, when Gore's reactions seemed to overshadow the content of the debate in later coverage. CNN's Piers Morgan seemed distracted by the smile [Ed.: Mr. Morgan, called it a "smirk", not a "smile"], but later seemed to come around, saying Biden's expressions [Ed.: Again, "smirk"] were infectious. ABC's Amy Walter didn't think the "laughing/smirking" worked at all, another sign that the laughter will come up in post-debate conversation.

NBC'S TOM BROKAW: IRAN IS A SERIOUS
ISSUE AND BIDEN WAS LAUGHING

October 12, 2012 (RCP) - Tom Brokaw, former NBC anchor, on MSNBC's Morning Joe:
Brokaw: I just don't think he should be laughing during a discussion about thermonuclear war with Iran.

Brzezinski [co-host]: I think, and the discussion about Libya we watched again, he was amused at some of Paul Ryan's approaches towards Iran.

Brokaw: It's a very serious issue and however amused you are, it's about tone --

Even being rude and clownish, even that won't lose a debate. Poor arguments, abused facts, no facts, and fairy tales -- those lose the debate. Mr. Biden brought it all.

032111_joe_biden_w438.png
"SINGLE BEST DECISION"

Before we get into last night's debate, a few things to keep in mind. Mr. Biden was added to the 2008 ticket to mask Mr. Obama's lack of foreign policy experience. Mr. Biden brags that he is both a foreign policy expert and not a foreign policy expert. Two years into his presidency Mr. Obama claimed his VP pick was still "the single best decision" he had made.

In his 2008 debate with Sarah Palin, Mr. Biden said this:

When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, "Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it."

This, of course, was news to Hezbollah, which has enjoyed an uninterrupted presence in Lebanon following the 1982 Israeli invasion to the present day. It was news to the French. Actually it was big news to Mr. Obama, too.

HEZBOLLAH OUT – NATO IN?
By Kathryn Jean Lopez

October 2, 2008 (NRO) - E-mail from a foreign-policy insider:
Joe Biden threw out a lot of bunk on foreign policy tonight... Most ridiculous and downright strange was his contention that the Bush administration let Hezbollah into Lebanon, and then when "we threw them out" -- whatever that means, he and Obama said NATO should go in but nobody took them up on it and now Hezbollah was all over Lebanon and that's a problem. What?

... Don’t remember an Obama position on NATO replacing Israeli occupation then. As for NATO going in after the 2006 debacle, well, I’m the one who rounded up 8,000 French and Italians and a few thousand other Euros to go into Southern Lebanon along with an assortment of others in August 2006 and while working that issue for about 40 straight days I don’t remember a peep from Biden or Obama about NATO.

Did any of the big network fact checkers call Mr. Biden out on his claims? [Intense suspense.] No.

We bring this up to debunk straightaway the "Biden foreign policy expert" myth and illustrate Mr. Biden's trademark empty braggadocio. OK. Let's start with last night's foreign policy. Mr. Biden said this:

Q: In March of last year, President Obama explained the military action taken in Libya by saying it was in the national interest to go in and prevent further massacres from occurring there. So why doesn't the same logic apply in Syria? Vice President Biden?

Different country. It's a different country. It is five times as large geographically, it has one-fifth the population, that
is Libya, one-fifth the population, five times as large geographically.

This is the sort of thing not often served up in these debates, a statement of nonsubjective checkable facts. So we checked.

The land area of Syria is 185,180 sqk, with a population of 22,530,746. The land area of Libya is 1,759,540 sqk (9.5x Syria, Mr. Biden off by a factor of 2), with a population of 5,613,380 (25% of Syria, Mr. Biden off by a factor of 4). Oh, you say, the man just got his facts wrong. Yes, yes he did, but he used the inverted numbers to argue administration policy. If he really understood what he was saying -- if an actual Syrian policy were based on a Libyan geography and population density model -- he would have realized that his numbers were wrong, that his argument was turned on its head. That makes it both a conceptual and a comprehension error, not simply an error of fact. How many post-debate analysts caught this? [Maddening suspense.] Not a one that we know of. Yet everyone was very impressed with Mr. Biden on substance.

We are not going to pretend to tackle the whole 41-minutes and 32 seconds of Mr. Biden's view from Planet Obama. So just some highlights.

Here is Mr. Biden on embassy security in Benghazi:

Q: Why - why were people talking about protests? When people in the consulate first saw armed men attacking with guns, there were no protesters.

Because that was exactly what we were told by the intelligence community. The intelligence community told us that. As they learned more facts about exactly what happened, they changed their assessment. That's why there's also an investigation headed by Tom Pickering, a leading diplomat from the Reagan years, who is doing an investigation as to whether or not there are any lapses, what the lapses were, so that they will never happen again.

Q: And they wanted more security there.

Well, we weren't told they wanted more security there. We did not know they wanted more security again. And by the way, at the time we were told exactly - we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. That was the assessment. And as the intelligence community changed their view, we made it clear they changed their view.

With that Mr. Biden dug Mr. Obama a nice hole to climb out of in his last debate, which focuses on foreign policy. Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News, does an early post-debate carve up. Yes. It's Andrea Mitchell carving up Joe.


"THE STATE DEPARTMENT DID KNOW.
IN REAL TIME."

What would a sit-down with Joe be without a NOT-the-war-on-terrorism macho brag? Friends, it would be one less embarrassment to walk-back. Mr. Biden:

We've decimated Al Qaida central. We have eliminated Osama bin Laden. That was our purpose.

LARA LOGAN: THE IDEA
AL QAEDA IS WEAK IS
A MAJOR LIE

Oct 9, 2012 (Townhall) - CBS News Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan...shredded the Obama administration and Islamist "apologists" in a recent speech for claims Al Qaeda is weakened. Logan made clear the War on Terror isn't in a downslide and said Islamists are as strong as ever with a willingness to attack Americans. Ms. Logan:
Eleven years later, "they: still hate us, now more than ever, Logan told the crowd. The Taliban and al-Qaida have not been vanquished, she added. They’re coming back.

... "There is this narrative coming out of Washington for the last two years." Logan said. It is driven in part by "Taliban apologists", who claim "they are just the poor moderate, gentler, kinder Taliban," she added sarcastically. "It's such nonsense!"

The narrator who kicked off that fairy tale is none other than Mr. Biden, or as he is affectionately known by the NSC, cringing Joe.

REPORT: BIDEN THE ONLY
OBAMA ADVISER TO OPPOSE
BIN LADEN RAID

October 3, 2012 (WaEx) - Reminded of Biden’s opposition to the raid, [John McCain (R-AZ)] replied, "Biden has -- has been consistently wrong on every national security issue that I’ve been involved in in the last 20 years or so. So, I wouldn’t use Biden as a bellwether."

Again Mr. Biden:

The idea that he's [scil., Mr. Ryan] so concerned about these deficits, I've pointed out he voted to put two wars on a credit card. He did --

And it just so happens, so did Joe Biden!

We would remind Mr. Biden that "this man" [scil., Mr. Bush] went to Congress twice for authorizations for use of military force ("AUMF") in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Biden voted for both authorizations (Senate Joint Resolution 23, passed September 14, 2001; H.J.Res. 114, passed October 11, 2002).

Having voted for both wars Mr. Biden then opposed the surge to reverse the situation in Iraq. When the surge succeeded, Mr. Biden shamelessly took credit for the success.

Meet the Press, September 7, 2008:
BROKAW: Here you were, just one year ago, on MEET THE PRESS. This was your take on the surge at that time, so let's listen to that, Senator.

"I mean, the truth of the matter is" "this administration's policy and the surge are a failure," you said, "and that the surge, which was supposed to stop sectarian violence and -- long enough to give political reconciliation, there has been no political reconciliation." ...

BIDEN: No. The surge helped make that--what made is possible in Anbar province is they did what I'd suggested two and a half years ago: gave local control.

It takes a lot of twisting and magic tequila shots to see the surge in the Biden Iraq plan. It was never remotely conceived of as a surge. If it had been, well, wouldn't've Joe recognized his own ideas in the surge policy and supported it, not opposed it?

And that two-war credit card swipe bridges over nicely to Mr. Biden, the budgeteer.

Now, there's not enough -- the reason why the AEI study, the American Enterprise Institute study, the Tax Policy Center study, the reason they all say it's going -- taxes go up on the middle class, the only way you can find $5 trillion in loopholes is cut the mortgage deduction for middle-class people, cut the health care deduction, middle-class people, take away their ability to get a tax break to send their kids to college. That's why they arrive at it.

Q: Is he wrong about that?

MR. RYAN: He is wrong about that.

This had James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute wondering what study was that?

To get out of the thickets on Medicare, Mr. Biden broke away, looked into the camera and directly addressed seniors:

Look, folks, use your common sense. Who do you trust on this – a man who introduced a bill that would raise it 40 - $6,400 a year; knowing it and passing it, and Romney saying he'd sign it, or me and the president?

The debate closed with the moderator asking how the candidates' Catholic faith informed their views on abortion.

My religion defines who I am, and I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. ... With regard to -- with regard to abortion, I accept my church's position on abortion as a - what we call a de fide*** doctrine. Life begins at conception in the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life.

But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the -- the congressman. I -- I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that -- women they can't control their body. It's a decision between them and their doctor. In my view and the Supreme Court, I'm not going to interfere with that.

WAR ON WOMEN? JOE BIDEN VOTED
FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO OVERTURN ROE VS. WADE

October 11, 2012 (WaEx) - In 1982, then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), voted for the Human Life Federalism Amendment, which contradicted Roe by declaring that "the right to an abortion is not secured by this Constitution."

... Biden even bragged about this vote in a letter to one Ms. Juanita Sonnier:

As I am sure you are aware, on Thursday, March 11, 1982 the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of this measure. I voted for this resolution, which passed by a vote of 10-7.

Fast forward to this week, Stephanie Schriock, Emily’s List President:

We hope the Vice President Biden makes [Ryan] answer for his extreme anti-woman, anti-family agenda.

The National Right to Life Committee, which produced these Biden documents, explained their contemporary significance:

Even if Biden has changed his mind on some or all of these issues -- it is one thing to say one has changed one’s mind, quite another to assert that one's previous position was "extreme" or constituted a "war on women".

Mr. Biden continued:

With regard to the assault on the Catholic church, let me make it absolutely clear, no religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic Social Services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy Hospital, any hospital, none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact.

The next day the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement:

This is not a fact. The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to "Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served.

HHS has proposed an additional "accommodation" for religious organizations like these, which HHS itself describes as "non-exempt." That proposal does not even potentially relieve these organizations from the obligation "to pay for contraception" and "to be a vehicle to get contraception." They will have to serve as a vehicle, because they will still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and that coverage will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and abortifacients. They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that the organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be applied, along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and surgeries.

USCCB continues to urge HHS, in the strongest possible terms, actually to eliminate the various infringements on religious freedom imposed by the mandate.

If only Mr. Biden knew what he was talking about. After all the debate night back-slapping and busting out the screw-top champagne over Joe's performance came the morning reality reviews. Mr. Biden had been more flop than pop.

We'll pick up Mr. Ryan, the moderator, and some thoughts on the debate format in a later post.

CHOPE.

"Single best decision." Yeah.

------------------------------------
* Here is our review of that debate.

** Site search "Joe Biden Is An Idiot" and "Joe On The Job".

*** In this case de fide definita. Mr. Biden is showing off but clearly doesn't understand the obligation on faith.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (2)

October 10, 2012

NYC Letter: Quote Of The Day -- Chris & Jane Horton

Day 1,354 of CHOPE
D-minus 102 Days

One of the last things my husband said to me before he was killed, when I would ask him, "Chris, what do you need over there? What can I send you?" he said, "I need a new president."

Jane Horton,
widow of Spc. Christopher Horton,
sniper with the Oklahoma National Guard
October 10, 2012 (ABC News)

From Chris Horton's obituary:

Specialist Christopher David Horton, 26, of Collinsville, Oklahoma was a sniper killed in action on September 9, 2011 while serving in Zormat, Paktia Province, Afghanistan, with the Oklahoma Army National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

Requiescat in pace.


Posted by Damian at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Clueless All The Way Down

Day 1,353 of CHOPE
D-minus 103 Days

The cluelessness starts at the tippy-top and goes all the way down. All the way down.

OBAMA 'BELIEVED HE HAD BEATEN ROMNEY'
IN DENVER DEBATE - AFTER IGNORING ADVICE
OF TOP AIDES ON PREPARATION
By Toby Harnden

October 9, 2012 (Daily Mail) - When President Barack Obama stepped off the stage in Denver last week the 60 million Americans watching the debate against Mitt Romney already knew it had been a disaster for him.

But what nobody knew, until now, was that Obama believed he had actually won.

In an extraordinary insight into the events leading up to the 90 minute showdown which changed the face of the election, a Democrat close to the Obama campaign today reveals that the President also did not take his debate preparation seriously, ignored the advice of senior aides and ignored one-liners that had been prepared to wound Romney.

The Democrat said that Obama's inner circle was dismayed at the 'disaster' and that he believed the central problem was that the President was so disdainful of Romney that he didn't believe he needed to engage with him.

'President Obama made it clear he wanted to be doing anything else - anything - but debate prep,' the Democrat said. 'He kept breaking off whenever he got the opportunity and never really focused on the event.

... During his debate preparation in Henderson, Nevada, Obama broke off to visit a campaign field office. There, he joked with a volunteer about how his advisers were 'keeping me indoors all the time' to practice. 'It's a drag. They're making me do my homework.'

OK. It was one debate. It was a disaster. Nothing that a refocused campaign with a compelling message can't turn around.

OK. It's just one tweet. Mr. Obama has several fundraisers and rallies today. He's sure to be hitting on the important issues in this election.

Poor Jen Psaki. As a campaign spokeswoman she has to defend stupid stuff like this everyday.

OBAMA CAMP: BIG BIRD AD
A RESPONSE TO 'GRASSROOTS OUTCRY'

October 9, 2012 (Politico) - Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the campaign was tapping into a "grassroots outcry" when it put together an ad attacking Mitt Romney for wanting to de-fund Big Bird. Ms. Psaki, aboard Air Force One:
There's been a strong grassroots outcry over the attacks on Big Bird. This is something that mothers across the country are alarmed about, and you know, we're tapping into that.

Jen, no, mothers across the country are not alarmed about unfunding Big Bird. Really. They're not.

While some have questioned the campaign's seriousness and intent to put money behind the ad in swing states, Psaki maintained that it is running on cable networks - albeit during comedy shows - that swing-state viewers watch. ... She lashed out at Romney and other Republicans for criticizing the Big Bird campaigning.

You know, Jen, they're going do that unless Mr. Obama talks about a second-term agenda.

Sesame Workshop moved to protect its brand and sent a cease-and-desist to Campaign Barry to take down a campaign ad featuring Big Bird.

Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.

Surely Mr. Obama, Big Bird's champion, was quick to remediate his campaign's violation and affirm and respect the property rights of Sesame Workshop.

Nice. Sesame Workshop says thanks for looking into it.

[Pause.] This is a loser. LOO. Zer. Let it go, Barry. [Pause.] No way! No worries. He's smarter than anybody that works for him. Campaign Barry knows what it's doing.

Just a thought, Chicago might want to take a peek at the latest Democrat-oversampled polls. Seriously, take a peek, Chicago.

Here's the bedrock of cluelessness. This is what Campaign Barry is building on.

ONLY 15 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS
BELIEVE ECONOMIC NEWS IS BAD

WASHINGTON September 20, 2012 (CBSDC) - With just 47 days before the general election and Mitt Romney attempting to pivot the focus of the election back on the state of the economy, citizens with Democratic leanings are actually doing an about-face on the economy compared to their Republican counterparts, according to a recent study from the Pew Research Center.

New data found that just 15 percent of Democrats believe that recent economic newsis mostly poor, a percentage that took a significant drop from the 31 percent of Democrats polled last month who did think that economic news was mostly bad. According to the study, the 15-percent clip is among the lowest percentages during President Barack Obama’s nearly four years in office.

But with those citizens with Republican leanings and no political leanings at all, the outlook remains the same. Sixty percent of Republicans find that most of the economic news is bad. Among independents, the percentage is 36 percent. Both of these data sets remain virtually unchanged from a month ago, according to the study.

CHOPE.

Top to bottom. Clueless.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Markers

Day 1,353 of CHOPE
D-minus 103 Days

We thought he did a very theatrically aggressive performance. Is that going to change minds in places like Ohio, Nevada and Virginia? We’ll have to see, but that’s the measure.

David Plouffe,
senior Obama adviser, laying down markers
to score first debate a win for Mr. Romney
October 4, 2012 (WaPo)

CITIZENS UNITED POLL CLAIMS TIGHT RACE IN OHIO

October 5, 2012 (Politico) - The Republican-leaning outside group Citizens United is releasing a poll showing a tight presidential race and a tight Senate contest in Ohio, the key battleground where Mitt Romney has consistently been behind in public and private polls.

The survey, by Wenzel Strategies, has Romney in a statistical dead heat with President Obama, 48 percent with leaners to 47.3 percent for Obama, and 4.7 percent undecided.

Note, the headline studiously avoids announcing Mr. Romney ahead.

ELECTION 2012: VIRGINIA PRESIDENT
Virginia: Romney 49%, Obama 48%
POLL October 5, 2012 (Rasmussen)

ROMNEY'S STRONG DEBATE HELPS HIM
CLOSE GAP WITH OBAMA IN MICHIGAN,
POLL SHOWS

LANSING October 8, 2012 (DFP) - Obama’s 10 percentage point lead (47%-37%) in a poll conducted last month by EPIC-MRA of Lansing dropped to 3 points (48% to 45%), according to the poll of 600 likely voters conducted by EPIC-MRA of Lansing. The gap between Romney and Obama was within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Undecided voters shrank from the September survey’s 16% to just 7%.

SWING STATE POLLING SNAPSHOT

October 8, 2012 (AJC) - There have been some interesting poll numbers in recent days from a few states showing a bump for Mitt Romney in the wake of last week's debate victory; in coming days, it will be important to note whether that is just a blip or a real trend.

  • Florida (29 Electoral Votes): Mitt Romney stumped in Florida both on Saturday and Sunday, his first full weekend of campaigning in months. Two new polls out on Friday - which were both taken after the first debate - showed Romney ahead in Florida. The poll average in this state is now a tie.
  • Ohio (18): The President has spent a lot of time in Ohio of late (he will be back on Wednesday again) and it shows, as the poll average has him leading by 3 percent; but two polls taken after the first debate showed a definite bump for Romney.
  • North Carolina (15): After the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the President enjoyed a big bump in the polls in the Tar Heel State - but that seems to have waned in recent weeks, as several polls put Romney ahead. That may increase after last week's good debate for the GOP challenger.
  • Virginia (13): Even before the first debate, the polls had started to close in Virginia, with three straight polls that had the President ahead by only two points. Two polls taken after the debate gave Romney a narrow lead, while another had Obama still ahead.
  • Wisconsin (10): Wisconsin is another swing state that went big for the Democrats in the aftermath of the Democratic convention, with several polls giving the President a double digit lead. One poll taken after last week's debate by PPP had that lead down to just 2 points. "There's also been a big uptick in Republican enthusiasm about the election," the PPP poll concluded.
  • Colorado (9): Voters in the Centennial State got to see the candidates up close before and after last week's debate in Denver, where the polls have been on both sides of the ledger in recent weeks, resulting in a poll average that's a tie, as the race has swung back from a slight edge for the Democrats.

BATTLEGROUND POLL: ROMNEY
UP 16 WITH INDEPENDENTS,
UP 13 IN ENTHUSIASM

October 8, 2012 (Breitbart) - In 2008, President Barack Obama won the independent vote over John McCain by a margin of eight points, 52-44. This morning, a new Battleground Poll has Mitt Romney massacring Obama among indies by a whopping 16 points, 51-35.

ROMNEY’S STRONG DEBATE PERFORMANCE
ERASES OBAMA’S LEAD

POLL October 8, 2012 (PRC) - Mitt Romney no longer trails Barack Obama in the Pew Research Center’s presidential election polling. By about three-to-one, voters say Romney did a better job than Obama in the Oct. 3 debate, and the Republican is now better regarded on most personal dimensions and on most issues than he was in September. Romney is seen as the candidate who has new ideas and is viewed as better able than Obama to improve the jobs situation and reduce the budget deficit.

... In turn, Romney has drawn even with Obama in the presidential race among registered voters (46% to 46%) after trailing by nine points (42% to 51%) in September. Among likely voters, Romney holds a slight 49% to 45% edge over Obama. He trailed by eight points among likely voters last month.

... More generally, the poll finds Romney’s supporters far more engaged in the campaign than they were in September. Fully 82% say they have given a lot of thought to the election, up from 73% in September. The new survey finds that Romney supporters hold a 15-point advantage over Obama backers on this key engagement measure. Supporters on both sides were about even in September.

More ouch in the internals.

Romney also holds a significant 49% to 41% advantage on improving the job situation, despite the fact that most of the interviewing was conducted after the October jobs report, which showed the unemployment rate falling below 8%.

... Romney also has once again opened a double-digit advantage as the candidate who can deal with the budget deficit (51% vs. 36%). Romney led by 14 points on the budget deficit in July, but had lost that advantage last month.

... Romney continues to hold a decided edge over Obama on jobs and the budget deficit. By a 37% to 24% margin, more swing voters say Romney would improve the job situation. Swing voters favor Romney on the deficit by a two-to-one (41% vs. 20%) margin.

ROMNEY NARROWS VOTE GAP
AFTER HISTORIC DEBATE WIN
By Record-High Margin, Debate Watchers Say Romney Did Better

POLL October 8, 2012 (Gallup) - Registered voters' preferences for president are evenly split [47%/47%] in the first three days of Gallup tracking since last Wednesday's presidential debate. In the three days prior to the debate, Barack Obama had a five-percentage-point edge among registered voters.

And this kick in the teeth.

An Oct. 4-5 Gallup poll finds roughly two in three Americans reporting that they watched the Oct. 3 debate, similar to what Gallup measured for each of the three 2008 presidential debates. Those who viewed the debate overwhelmingly believe Romney did a better job than Obama, 72% to 20%. Republicans were nearly unanimous in judging Romney the winner. But even Democrats rated Romney as doing a better job than Obama, 49% to 39%.

Across all of the various debate-reaction polls Gallup has conducted, Romney's 52-point win is the largest Gallup has measured. ... Romney's debate performance is also notable from the standpoint that U.S. debate watchers judged Obama the winner of all three 2008 debates with John McCain.

We'll go out on a limb here and award Mr. Romney the win.

Last word, last Wednesday spin room, Stephanie Cutter:

We feel pretty good about the President’s performance in there tonight.

Last last word, last Wednesday spin room, Mr. Plouffe:

We are very happy with the president’s performance.

CHOPE.

Taking Mr. Obama's measure.


Posted by Damian at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2012

NYC Letter: The New Civility -- Supporting Mr. Obama

Day 1,352 of CHOPE
D-minus 104 Days

Liberals overwhelming support Mr. Obama.

The hallmark of liberalism is civility. Liberals pride themselves on their civility in all things. These gentle creatures are tolerant and welcoming. [Cue Morgenstemning. Rainbow spreads. Birds chirp. Flowers bloom. SKA-raaatch!] Unless you fall outside their charmed circle. Then [EXPLETIVE.] YOU, [EXPLETIVE.]!

MULTIPLE TWITTER USERS THREATEN
TO ASSASSINATE MITT ROMNEY:
'SHOOT HIM DEAD'
October 8, 2012 (Blaze)

Not every Obama supporter is planning on killing the Romneys -- because you go to jail for that and you never know if the Big House has the cable channels you like.

OBAMA SUPPORTER THREATENS
TO KICK "NIGGA" MITT ROMNEY'S ASS
IN PROFANITY-LACED TIRADE
October 8, 2012 (GWP)

Actual foot-to-bum ass-kicking will also get you jail time. When expressing your strong opinion the important thing is not to get caught. Wait until the offending opinion holder has left the scene. When the coast is clear, exercise your First Amendment right and absquatulate. Later you can tweet the details to everyone in the world! What a bad ass your are! The police will never connect you to your Twitter account!

DEMOCRATS GONE WILD:
OBAMA SUPPORTERS 'KEY' CARS DISPLAYING
PRO-ROMNEY BUMPER STICKERS
October 7, 2012 (Twitchy)

Other successful First Amendment expressionists.

More of this here.

UNHINGED LIBERALS URINATE
ON ROMNEY-RYAN YARD SIGNS;
UPDATE: NO APOLOGIES
October 7, 2012 (Twitchy)

Where are the grown-ups in Obamaland?

HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER TELLS
STUDENT HER ROMNEY T-SHIRT IS
THE SAME AS A KKK OUTFIT

October 4, 2012 (Daily Mail) - Samantha Pawlucy, 16, chose to wear a pink Republican t-shirt for a uniform-free 'dress-down' day at Charles Carroll High School in Port Richmond. She claims her geometry teacher publicly humiliated her and urged other teachers and students to mock her. During the incident, Ms. Pawlucy said the teacher told her that Carroll High is a 'Democratic school' and wearing a Republican shirt is akin to the teacher, who is black, wearing a KKK shirt.

... [Ms. Pawlucy] decided to wear the shirt after researching both presidential candidates and deciding that she’s a Romney supporter, particularly due to his opposition to partial-birth abortion.

Aw, all better.

Pawlucy’s parents met with the teacher, who apologized and explained she was only joking.

HA! Back in the day overbearing teachers joked with us like that all the time, and, if we joked back, they'd joke back and suspend us. HA! Students privately joked about it and gave it a joke name: bullying. HA! Sitting outside the principal's office, tears of mirth streamed down our cheeks. HA! The joke was always on us. HA! How we laughed and laughed at all the funny humiliations. HA!

[Pause.] This, not so funny.

Aw, pity party.

It's time for some of that celebrity Presidential Pledge high-minded servant-of-the-president-and-mankind stuff. Obama celebrities need to lead by example here.

SNOOP DOGG PROMOTES TEN REASONS
TO NOT VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY

October 5, 2012 (CBS) - Snoop Dogg highlighted a list of top ten reasons to not vote for Mitt Romney as well as why one should vote for President Obama. ... Snoop Dogg, who recently changed his name to Snoop Lion [!], revealed the list, which is not his own, via Instagram. He took a photo of a notebook with the handwritten lists in two columns: "Why I’m Not Voting For Romney" and "Why I Am Voting For Obama". (See list here.)

The number one reason cited for not voting for Romney is because "He a white n****." Romney’s debate performance, that most polls say he won, is also a subject of discussion: "B**** I will beat the s*** out of you." The list also calls Romney a "ho" (reason No. 4) and makes three different references to his name: "This mutherf***a's name is Mitt" (Nos. 2, 6, 10)

This report originally headlined by reason No. 8: "He's a Mormon but he ain't got no hoes." [Pause.] Is Snoop Lion just a low information voter? Oh, wait. He's a multiple felon. No, wait. He's still eligible to vote if not on parole (CA Election Code 2201.c). He's just low information. "Mental incompetency", obviously, is an eligibility issue (CA Election Code 2201.b, ibid.)

Good night, Ellen. Donkey.

CHOPE.

Vitriol as civility.


Posted by Damian at 06:45 PM | Comments (3)

October 07, 2012

NYC Letter: Mystery Solved! -- Debate Fail

Day 1,351 of CHOPE
D-minus 105 Days

Like everything else attached to this president, Mr. Obama's debate performance last Wednesday was not his fault. Someone certainly is to blame, just not Mr. Obama.

Mystery solved.

BLAME OBAMA'S LOUSY
DEBATE ON JOHN KERRY!
Obama’s Tepid Debate Performance
Isn’t Entirely His Fault
By Matt Latimer

October 5, 2012 (TDB) - If you did not watch Wednesday night’s presidential debate, here’s how bad it was: the Democrats are now looking to Joe Biden to turn things around.

... In the debate’s aftermath, Michael Moore began the blame game over Obama’s bloodless performance by honing in on Senator Kerry. ... This after all, was the guy who praised the Ohio State Buckeyes in Michigan, managed to call our troops in Iraq "uneducated", and made one of the biggest political gaffes of all time ("I was for it before I was against it"). Oddly, the guy who sounded most like Kerry last night was Obama, ponderous and lecturing. In fact, at his worst Obama is more like Michael Dukakis, the passionless, know-it-all technocrat, who famously answered a question about his wife’s theoretical rape and murder as if he were debating a new study on the benefits of ethanol.

Whose stupid crazy idea was it to pick John Kerry in the first place?

OBAMA PICKS JOHN KERRY TO PLAY ROMNEY
IN MOCK DEBATE REHEARSALS
June 18, 2012 (WaPo)

OK. So Valerie Jarrett is to blame.

CBS HIGHLIGHTS KERRY'S DEBATE PREP HELP
FOR OBAMA; OMITS HE LOST '04 ELECTION
October 2, 2012 (NewsBusters)

In hindsight, that seems like useful information.

012312_john-kerry_black_eyes_w438.png
MR. KERRY TAKES ONE FOR THE TEAM
Discharging Himself From WRNMMC Following Debate Post-mortem
[Picture source: Weasel Zippers]

Back to Mr. Latimer:

The idea that the Mitt Romney who showed up in Denver would be [Campaign Barry's] best-case scenario demonstrates the depth of arrogance and overconfidence within the president’s team. That overconfidence was exacerbated by nearly every media outlet in America declaring the election over and Romney an almost certain debate loser. The day of the debate, an article mused about what might happen if Romney completely flopped. It was a good question, and certainly a possibility, but the same apparently was not asked of President Obama. By anyone. Obama thus went into the debate with enormous expectations. A large majority of Americans polled before the debate assumed Obama would win it handily, which made his loss—and it was a loss—even worse.

The president would have been better off having a Magic 8-ball as a debate partner. I mean that only partly in jest. One of the advantages of being someone like Mitt Romney is that he can be anything to anybody on any day. He changes his views with such abandon that nearly every one of his Republican opponents out and out called him a liar. But he got away with it. That’s how good he is. John Kerry is a liberal Democrat committed to a certain set of ideas. He doesn’t know how to sound like a Tea Partier one day and a gay-rights activist the next. He’s the world’s worst flip-flopper.

What the president needs as a debate partner is a guy filled with ambition, someone desperate to please, able to recite facts and figures as if they mean something while biting his lip, talking about his “Mama,” and trying to sound as “average American” as possible. A guy who has no problem abandoning any position if it helps his chances, and gets away with it by pretending he hasn’t changed a thing. Don’t know who I mean? Here’s a hint: he’s on the phone right now in Chappaqua telling anyone who’ll listen how much better he (or Hillary) would have done last night. Yes, bring Bill in as debate coach. He might be helpful. But hey, at this point maybe Obama ought to ask for pointers from Vice President Joe Biden. He can’t foul things up any worse for the ticket. Right?

Just a few -- the usual -- comments on the liberal disconnect between criticism and advice. Mr. Latimer thinks Mr. Romney's positional changes a bad thing, a mark against him. He then argues Mr. Kerry's problem is not that he is a flip-flopper, but a bad one and certainly not up to Mr. Romney's master-class flip-floppery. So he looks around for what is needed and hits on Mr. Clinton. Mr. Clinton and the Democrats are trying so very hard to reinvent the former president as a statesman, and here is Mr. Latimer letting the cat out of the bag. He's just that lying Bubba we've known all along.

Mr. Latimer argues half in jest, he says. The other half is in earnest.

Campaign Barry prepped for a long version of a Bain attack ad. Slapping Mr. Romney around for 90 minutes, easy-peezy. The smartest guys in the room wishfully thought the Obama record would never take center stage. Brilliant stuff. Next. [Abrupt needle scratch.] But that did't work. Mr. Obama can't bring the attack to Mr. Romney because Mr. Obama is getting tripped up by his own record, not his performance. Besides its many flops, that record is rife with flip-flops.*

In his 2006 second memoir, Mr. Obama describes himself as a blank screen available for all to scribble up with their own political views. In 2008 this was approvingly reported by the political press as a good thing, a politician so shapeless that he could be mistaken as anything anybody wanted him to be -- mistaken by everybody! A lot of people were led to believe Mr. Obama was something he wasn't. Once in office as he gave shape to his policies, every policy became a flip-flop for somebody. It's these people Mr. Obama is losing to Mr. Romney. So when Mr. Latimer posits Mr. Romney is vulnerable on dissemblance, it is obvious he has not taken a hard look at Mr. Obama's career.

Mr. Latimer and the liberal herd believe Mr. Obama can win his remaining debates with a change of style. Mr. Obama will not lose his next debate on style. He'll lose it on his record. To win his debates, Mr. Obama needs to improve his record before the end of the month.

CHOPE.

No one to blame but his record.

------------------------------------
* Ah, but a lefty flip-flop isn't a flip-flop lefty apologists argue -- as liberal columnist Eugene Robinson does here. It's actually shrewdly timed political expedience, the reality of politics, or foxy concessions to lull the opposition with everything it wants, the reality of Washington -- to hear lefty apologists tell it.


Posted by Damian at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The Post-debate In 25 Zingers

Day 1,351 of CHOPE
D-minus 105 Days

Cheap Shots & Zingers Edition

100612_hope_change_payne_w438.png
OBAMA AND ROMNEY DEBATE
[Picture source: Henry Payne, October 3, 2012]

Are we having too much fun? Probably.

    Sidebar: In a special election in May 2011, Republican Jane Corwin lost a 3-way race in NY-26, a R+6 CD. Liberal columnist Eugene Robinson gleefully exclaimed, "You know, if Republicans can't win in New York 26, they really can't win, period." Nine months earlier, just before the 2010 mid-terms, the same Mr. Robinson mused: "The American people are acting like a bunch of spoiled brats." The Demos went on to lose big in the mid-terms.

    On September 14, 2011, the Demos lost their own special election in a 2-way race for NY-9, a D+5 CD, with a three-to-one Democrat advantage in party registration, a district that hadn't voted a Republican to the House since 1922. DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th) opined on the loss: "It’s a very difficult district for Democrats." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, 8th) spun the loss as a "good day" for Democrats. Mr. Robinson chimed in: "I think voters are in a bad mood."

    Our point being, the left is forever ready to write obituaries for the right. The right tends to take these very much to heart. Even when it wins, the right will schedule a doctor's visit to see if it still has a pulse. Meanwhile the left never acknowledges actually losing. Losses are merely postponed wins. Losses are wins waiting on a better tempered voter.

It is not bad advice to be wary in victory, but at the same time winning isn't losing. If wins aren't gladdening, what is? From here until election night the MSM will be doubling down on blackening our Christmas, so we snort while we can. Herein we invite you along.

100612_slugfest_w438.png
ROCKY II
The One Where The Supposed Loser
Beats The Supposed Winner
[Picture source: Tea Party Tribune]

OBAMA FINALLY GETS IN HIS WITTY REPLIES
TO ROMNEY - 48 HOURS LATE. DID THE
TWO TELEPROMPTERS HELP A BIT?
FAIRFAX, Virginia October 5, 2012 (Daily Mail)
By Toby Harnden

100612_the_empty_chair_ramirez_w438.png
THE EMPTY CHAIR
[Picture credit: Michael Ramirez/IBD]

100612_caption_contest_w438.png
CAPTION CONTEST
Mr. Obama's Podium Body Language
[Picture source: Drudge via PJM]

PJ Tatler ran a caption contest for the above leg shot of Mr. Obama. We have culled the zingers and added our own intracranial captions:

  • I wonder if Obamacare covers restless leg syndrome.
  • [In Obama's head.] HA! I'll beat him standing on one foot.
  • Even standing still, Obama trips up.
  • [In Obama's head.] Wait! The left is my lucky foot!
  • Smirkfoot
  • [In Obama's head.] Is it a curtsy for the press? No, no, that's the queen.
  • Wow, I’m kicking my own ass!
  • [In Obama's head.] Romney's killing me on posture. What's he got on his feet? Allen Edmonds?

And these from the unhappy left.

Here's that weather-change in real time with Samuel "Wake The F*CK UP!" Jackson. He tweets at 7:00P PDT:

Back again at 8:13P PDT for his victory lap:

Yeah, SLJ. That's a zing and a miss.

Uh-ho. Is-is that, is that cover the N-New Yorker?

100612_new_yorker_cover_w438.png
ONE ON ONE
Ouchy-Ouchy
[Picture source: New Yorker]

BILL MAHER RIPS OBAMA’S DEBATE PERFORMANCE:
'LOOKED LIKE HE TOOK MY MILLION
AND SPENT IT ALL ON WEED'
October 5, 2012 (Mediaite)

JON STEWART BAFFLED BY
OBAMA DEBATE PERFORMANCE,
TELLS PREZ 'WAKE THE F*CK UP'
October 5, 2012 (HuffPo)

Final word:

100612_interview_e-card_w438.png
SOON TO BE JUST AS UNEMPLOYED
[Picture source: someecards.com]

Final final word:

Final final final word:

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The First Presidential Debate In One Taiwanese Animation

Day 1,350 of CHOPE
D-minus 106 Days

WARNING! This video is not safe for viewing by the token conservative at events hosted by liberal friends. If you are an unlikely winner of a Dinner With Barack raffle, not safe for viewing before OFA pays the tab. Not safe for viewing while a guest panelist on MSNBC. Not safe for viewing during interviews with government thought police.

This is only round one. Even now the smartest guys in the room at the MSM are working on how to turn their candidate into the comeback winner in round two. But before Mr. Obama's blazing resurrection from the ashes of low expectations, Mr. Biden will have a go.

HEAT ON BIDEN TO OUTPERFORM
PREZ IN DEBATE VS. RYAN
Biden: "I Am Looking Forward To It. I Really Am."

October 5, 2012 (Boston Herald) - It will fall to gaffe-prone Vice President Joe Biden to do everything his boss failed to do -- from playing pit bull to breaking out a little charm -- during Wednesday’s debate against the young but wonkish U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, pundits said.

BIDEN DEBATE GOAL: ACCURACY

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa October 5, 2012 (USA Today) - As the debate focus shifts next week to Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, the vice president says his goal is accuracy about what he calls a shifting Republican record.

"I don't want to say anything in the debate that's not completely accurate," Biden told reporters during his visit to Iowa yesterday.

Accurate, of course, according to Mr. Biden, which, of course, is often wildly inaccurate. We do not expect Mr. Biden to do well in his debate because we do not have a high opinion of Mr. Biden or his abillities. However we think it is a mistake for the opposition to ridicule or gloat about Mr. Biden's performance before he actually performs.

SARAH PALIN: BIDEN SHOULD
SKIP RYAN DEBATE
August 30, 2012 (Politico)

All this headline does is lower the low Biden bar going in. Mr. Biden need only show up for Ms. Palin's mock to go flat.

JOHN BOEHNER: JOE BIDEN-PAUL RYAN
DEBATE WILL BE 'GREATEST SHOW
ON THE PLANET'
August 30, 2012 (AJC)

Mr. Boehner makes the opposite mistake raising the bar into the hyperbolic stratosphere on Mr. Ryan. A lackluster but serviceable performance by Mr. Biden spoils Mr. Boehner's advertised event. Even a clear Ryan win -- but without the entertaining annihilation of Mr. Biden -- won't count as much of a win when handicapped by Mr. Boehner. Keep in mind that the press will be doing all it can to cover for Mr. Biden.* It is Mr. Ryan they will put under the microscope, not Mr. Biden.

If Mr. Biden is going to flop, let him flop first before smirking. He could surprise. Stranger things have happened.

CHOPE.

All things in their season.

------------------------------------
* Here is the report Ms. Couric filed on September 22, 2008 (CBS has changed the dateline inexplicably to February 11, 2009). The FDR-slash-Depression botcheroo, which went unchallenged by Ms. Couric during the interview, has been edited out.


Posted by Damian at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 05, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Top Five Theories For Mr. Obama's Debate Fail

Day 1,349 of CHOPE
D-minus 107 Days

Having slept on the reviews of his debate performance, Mr. Obama came back strong yesterday with his debate zingers. Mr.Romney, who chose not to tag along, didn't offer a single rebuttal.

100412_presidential_debate_w484.png
MR. OBAMA EXPLAINS HIS POSITION ON SOMETHING
Any Position. Same Explanation.
[Picture source: Mary Katharine Ham]

With prepared remarks, a teleprompter, and no opponent to rebut him, Mr. Obama demolished the straw Romney he introduced to his audiences. It was the winning performance that had been expected of him during the debate. Why then had the physically present Mr. Romney proved so formidable the night before?

There are several theories.

    Theory №5 -- No Teleprompter!

BARNICLE: "THE PRESIDENT HAD
NO TELEPROMPTER LAST NIGHT"

October 4, 2012 (RCP) - Mike Barnicle, broadcast journalist, on MSNBC's Morning Joe:
There's another element here that perhaps should be under discussion. The president had no teleprompter last night. He speaks almost all the time off of a teleprompter. Forced now to stand on his feet after four years in the bubble, getting pushed back a little, he didn't do too well. He didn't do too well.

OBAMA SUPPORTERS: PRESIDENT SHOULD
HAVE TELEPROMPTER AT DEBATES
October 4, 2012 (Rebel Pundit via BBTV

    Theory №4 -- Thin Air

EXCUSES, EXCUSES: GORE BLAMES ALTITUDE
FOR OBAMA DEBATE PERFORMANCE

October 4, 2012 (ABC News) - After the debate and early today, Democratic partisans have gone to air and print with some excuses for Obama’s prostrate performance. The most intriguing concept came from former Vice President Al Gore. Speaking on his Current TV, the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee asked his audience to consider the geography:
I’m going to say something controversial here. Obama arrived in Denver at 2 p.m. today – just a few hours before the debate started. Romney did his debate prep in Denver. When you go to 5,000 feet, and you only have a few hours to adjust -- I don’t know…

Hhmmm.

Comedian and political commentator John Fugelsang, also on the [Current TV] roundtable, knew exactly what Gore was talking about.
The first time I ever did stand-up in Denver, I had the same exact effect. I flew in that day and your lungs aren’t acclimated to that kind of air, yea, it makes you drawn, it makes you off. The president had an off night.

It's true, Mr. Obama's stand-up was off, not funny.

Crack political analysis like the above on Current TV all the time.

    Theory №3 -- Commercial Self-interest Of The Press

PLOUFFE: PRESS WANTED
'THE ROMNEY COMEBACK STORY'

October 4, 2012 (WaPo) - Aboard President Obama’s plane, adviser David Plouffe argued that Mitt Romney’s victory in Wednesday’s debate was in part the product of a media desire for a certain narrative.

"You guys may disagree with me," he told the media he was critiquing, but "people are itching to write the Romney comeback story." Plouffe said it would only be a true comeback if Romney’s poll numbers in key battlegrounds improve. Mr. Plouffe:

We thought he did a very theatrically aggressive performance. Is that going to change minds in places like Ohio, Nevada and Virginia? We’ll have to see, but that’s the measure. Is he going to take the lead in Ohio? If he doesn’t, he’s not going to be president.

Say this for Mr. Plouffe, he puts down a marker that won't walk-back. You may remember he threw down this bold marker for the 2010 mid-term elections. Yeah.

    Theory №2 -- The Romney Changeling!

OBAMA TAKES SHOTS AT ROMNEY
IN FIRST POST-DEBATE SPEECH:
'THAT WAS NOT THE REAL MITT ROMNEY'

October 4, 2012 (Mediaite) - The morning after the first presidential debate, President Barack Obama was back on the campaign trail speaking at a rally in the frigid Colorado weather. He opened his speech by going after Republican opponent Mitt Romney, blasting the candidate for not being "the real Mitt Romney" by contradicting his own campaign beliefs while on stage last night. Mr. Obama:
It couldn’t have been Mitt Romney because the real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts in favor of the wealthy. The fellow on stage last night said he didn’t know anything about that.

Oh. Wait.

CUTTER CONCEDES $5 TRILLION ATTACK
ON ROMNEY IS NOT TRUE

October 4, 2012 (RCP) - Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter admitted on CNN's OutFront tonight that their claim that Mitt Romney's tax plan costs $5 trillion is untrue.

Now. [Drum roll.] The. Number. One. Theory. [Rimshot.]

    Theory №1 -- The Specter Of "Angry Black Man-ness"

MSNBC'S ED SCHULTZ, MICHAEL ERIC DYSON
PULL RACE CARD TO EXPLAIN WEAK
OBAMA DEBATE PERFORMANCE

October 4, 2012 (RCP) - Network host Ed Schultz on Thomas Roberts's 11 a.m. Eastern MSNBC Live:
It was just very frustrating to watch a guy [scil., Mr. Romney] lie to the American people and not be counter-punched because we're [?] afraid he's going to be called an angry black man. When I see the president, I don't see a black man. I see a president who has inherited an untenable position and turned it around to a great positive to where we are right now. He has brought it down to 8 percent unemployment [Ed.: From 7.8%] without any help from the Republicans.

The very next hour, on MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner, panelist Michael Eric Dyson similarly suggested that fear of being seen as an "angry black man" held Obama back from forcefully debating and possibly winning last night's contest. Mr. Dyson:

Obama has just been subject to the Fox News treatment of Angry Black Man, again. ... Lest we forget this, lest we pretend that that doesn't make a difference, the specter hanging over his neck that, "I can't come off as too vigorous because then it looks like I'm being an angry black man."

And because of the angry black man phenomenon, Mitt Romney is able to be a vigorously engaged man who's able to play to his strength.

We hope you are following Messrs. Moore, Schultz & Dyson. Their argument is that Mr. Obama lost on style. That Mr. Romney's facts and better arguments where just style points over Mr. Obama's lack of facts and rebutted arguments. Ramp up the style (i.e., risk "angry black man-ness") and Mr. Obama wins hands down with the same lack of facts and rebutted arguments.

Mr. Dyson continues:
Here's the reality: Obama doesn't have the latitude that white guys who speak with vigor do. Now, I'm not suggesting he can't have passion. I'm not suggesting his stylistic approach -- which he's been noted for as Gov. Rendell has indicated -- but I tell you all of that Fox News, "you're a black, angry man" plays on him like (unintelligible, drowned out by cross-talk).

We hope you are following Mr. Dyson, because we don't. Maybe you could drop us a line and fill out those intriguing incomplete sentences. Here's our gist: Mr. Obama is capable of passion, but a sinister inhibitor -- Fox News, a news network the president disdains -- denies him the white man's "vigor", because when black people speak with the white man's vigor it becomes "angry black man-ness", which [Incomplete sentence fill-in.] is then exploited to stoke racism in America. Did we get that right?

The solution? Mr. Obama needs to go out there and be really black and mete some bad-ass angry. [Pause.] Here's the reality: Mr. Obama isn't going to win any debates defending his record. Unless "angry black man-ness" comes with its own heretofore unknown set of indisputable facts and killer arguments, we don't see this helping Mr. Obama much other than MSNBC scoring him a win on style.

We have our own pedestrian theory about Mr. Obama's debate loss. Going in Mr. Obama knew he had neither the facts not the arguments on his side and past the 60-minute mark he lost interest in his losing effort. That simple.

CHOPE.

Win from behind. Not so winning.


Posted by Damian at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The First Presidential Debate In 25 Tweets

Day 1,348 of CHOPE
D-minus 108 Days

The first presidential debate is over. (Transcript here.)

Campaign Barry and the Democrats waged a pre-debate press offensive to lower expectations for Mr. Obama's performance. [Pause.] They missed the mark.

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE PREDICTS
ROMNEY WILL WIN FIRST DEBATE
VS. OBAMA

September 30, 2012 (NYPost) - Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse tells Fox News he thinks Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will win.

Mr. Woodhouse's prediction was not based on Mr. Obama losing on defending his record, but Mr. Romney winning because he's so practiced at debate and Mr. Obama is so busy being president. The so-busy-being-president brag going into the debate quickly became the post-debate mewl.

Mr. Obama's problems began at the beginning.

JOHN KERRY TO PLAY ROLE OF MITT ROMNEY
FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA’S DEBATE PREP
June 18, 2012 (Boston Globe)

Cooped up with Mr. Kerry and doing homework proved to be too much, and Mr. Obama skipped out for a little diversion.

OBAMA TAKES DEBATE-PREP BREAK
TO TOUR HOOVER DAM
HENDERSON, Nevada October 2, 2012 (LAT)

Focused. Focused like a laser beam. [Pause.] At this point it's hard to grasp what is going on in Mr. Obama's head. A tight race, an abysmal record, a forum all about defending that record, and Mr. Obama goes truant. We begin to sense Mr. Obama has done one celebrity fundraiser too many. He appears to think he only needs to deliver a great stump speech and leave the building. Our other working theory is that he doesn't much care, because he doesn't much want the job anymore. Losing the debates is the easy way out.

Sure enough, he loses the debate.

ROMNEY TAKES DEBATE TO OBAMA
OVER ECONOMY, HEALTH CARE

October 4, 2012 (CNN) - A CNN/ORC International poll of 430 people who watched the debate showed 67% thought Romney won, compared to 25% for Obama.

... "It looked like Romney wanted to be there and President Obama didn't want to be there," noted Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville. "The president didn't bring his 'A' game."

What exactly Mr. Obama's "A" game might be, we have no idea. Mr. Obama's problem isn't his game, it's his record. The big surprise among Obama stalwarts was the unhappy discovery of how indefensible that record is when not couched in the media's forgiving "analysis" and commentary.

So the loss is attributable to a failure of the media to beat back Mr. Romney and make Mr. Obama's case. As debate moderator, Jim Lehrer failed.

On cue.

'THOROUGHLY PASSIVE' JIM LEHRER
GIVES ROMNEY AN OPENING
The PBS Moderator Didn’t Challenge Facts Or
Assertions, Or Ask Piercing Or Detailed Questions.
By John Aloysius Farrell
October 3, 2012 (National Journal)

Mr. Farrell thinks Mr. Lehrer was the third debater. Our position on debate moderating is that it should be limited to time checks. The only qualification for moderator is possession of a stopwatch. It is not the moderator's job to shape the debate nor challenge facts or arguments. Those are jobs for the debaters themselves. Let the debaters debate whatever they like under some broad rubric with agreed upon time constraints enforced by the moderator.

OBAMA'S STEPHANIE CUTTER
KNOCKS LEHRER
October 3, 2012 (Politico)

Mr. Lehrer wasn't going to save Mr. Obama. He couldn't've even had he tried. The only person who could save Mr. Obama was Mr. Obama.

The best part of the debate is the post-debate snark and dismay.

It wasn't all damns. Adulators still gave Mr. Obama adulatory reviews.

Keep in mind, as things stand, this is the man next in line for the presidency. [Grim dark pause.] Couldn't make the choice any starker.

Final word.

Good job.

Mr. Obama,
congratulating Mr. Romney on his debate
DENVER October 3, 2012 (AP)

CHOPE.

New Campaign Barry strategy: win from behind.


Posted by Damian at 09:45 AM | Comments (2)

October 03, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe On The Job XXVIII -- Truth Be Told

Day 1,347 of CHOPE
D-minus 109 Days

The curse of Charlotte.

How they [scil., Romney/Ryan] can justify … raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years?

Joe "Best Single Decision" Biden,
letting the Obama tax cat out of the bag*
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina October 2, 2012 (WaPo

Finally, a post-partisan hands-across-the-aisle moment.

WaPo** wryly connects the big dots:

Of course, Obama was in office when those people were "buried".

Why, yes. Yes he was.

CHOPE.

Truth will out.

------------------------------------
* It begins here and skids here and crashes head-on into the middle class here.

** WaPo slaps with the one hand and pets with the other:

Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith also clarified Biden’s initial remarks in a statement Tuesday. "As the Vice President has been saying all year and again in his remarks today, the middle class was punished by the failed Bush policies that crashed our economy — and a vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan is a return to those failed policies," she said.

As we have pointed out before, revision is not a clarification. Nothing in Ms. Smith's remarks "clarifies" Mr. Biden's "initial remarks" because nothing she says addresses Mr. Biden's claim that "the middle class...has been buried the last four years". WaPo admits as much in its headline: VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN CORRECTS HIMSELF. Corrections are not clarifications.


Posted by Damian at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2012

NYC Letter: Operation "Not Victory" VI -- Campaign Triumphalism

Day 1,346 of CHOPE
D-minus 110 Days

A stump speech is a rote a candidate delivers after he gives the local shout-outs. It is by design unoriginal and plodding. It is meant to touch all the campaign talking points and enforce message discipline. However sometimes events require an adjustment. If attention is required by virtue of incumbency. If the candidate isn't cocooned in the campaign. If the campaign is paying attention.

Here is a long slow over-the-plate lob that Campaign Barry and the eponym himself missed without swinging.

US MILITARY DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN
HIT 2,000 AFTER 11 YEARS OF WAR
KABUL September 30, 2012 (WaPo)

This was not unexpected. The NYT, using a different calculus, already reported the 2,000th death over a month ago. Two months before that, CBS filed its own 2,000th death story. Given the frequency of "blue on green" attacks on American personnel in Afghanistan, you might think Campaign Barry would be following the news from the theater and finessing Mr. Obama's stump speech to reflect developments. You might think that Mr. Obama would not wait on his campaign and rework his speech to reflect his concern as the CINC, the man directly responsible for the troops deployed under his command. [Pause.] You might think all that, contemplative skimmer, and you would be wrong.

The same day WaPo published its report, September 30, Mr. Obama gave his stump speech at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas. Here, with its context, is all Mr. Obama had to say about Afghanistan:

Four years ago, I said I’d end the war in Iraq -- I did.* (Applause.) I said we’re going to wind down the war in Afghanistan -- we are. (Applause.) And while a new tower rises above the New York skyline, al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead. (Applause.)

... Well, as we saw a couple of weeks ago, we still face serious threats around the world. And that’s why, so long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will make sure we always have the strongest military the world has ever known. (Applause.)

But you know the thing that makes our military strongest is the amazing men and women in uniform. (Applause.) So when they take off that uniform, when they come home, we’ve got to serve them as well as they’ve served us — (Applause.) — because nobody who fought for us should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their heads, or the care they deserve, when they come home. Nobody. (Applause.)

Governor Romney has got a different set of ideas. He thinks the way I ended the war in Iraq is "tragic".** He won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. We don’t know. I have, and I will. And I’m going to use the money we’re no longer spending on war to do some nation-building here at home -- (Applause.) -- rebuilding our roads and our bridges, and putting Americans back to work. That’s part of what makes America strong. That’s what we’re going to do. (Applause.)

Which is the very same thing he had to say four days earlier at Kent State University. This is a stump speech. It's as fresh and lively as a pail of spit. But given the news of the day -- news the campaign should have anticipated, news about which the CINC should have been informed -- given the news of the day, of the month, of the year, Mr. Obama might have toned down the brags on Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama likes to preen on Afghanistan but don't expect him to own it whole and entire.

70% OF U.S. MILITARY FATALITIES
IN 11-YEAR AFGHAN WAR HAVE OCCURRED
ON OBAMA'S WATCH

July 2, 2012 (CNS News) - Of the 1,912 U.S. military personnel who have died in the now nearly 11-year-long war in Afghanistan, 1,343 have died since President Barack Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009.

... So far this year, 155 U.S. military personnel have died in Afghanistan. That is about 22 percent less than the 198 U.S. military personnel who were killed in Afghanistan from January to June last year. May was the deadliest month so far in 2012 with 40 deaths. It was also deadliest May of the war.

The three years of the Obama [administration] have been the three deadliest for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In 2009, 303 U.S. service members perished there. In 2010, 497 did. In 2011, 399 U.S. military personnel died in Afghanistan.

On the same day Mr. Obama gave his stump speech at Desert Pines High School proclaiming "al Qaeda is on the path to defeat", Gen. John Allen, the American commander in Afghanistan, flat out contradicted his preening CINC.

TOP AFGHANISTAN GENERAL:
'AL-QAIDA HAS COME BACK'

October 1, 2012 (WaEx) - Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, leader of the International Security Assistance Force [ISAF, also Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A)], told 60 Minutes last night, per the Armed Forces Press Service:
Al-Qaida has come back, [and] is a resilient organization. But they’re not here in large numbers. But al-Qaida doesn’t have to be anywhere in large numbers.

His remark seems to undercut President Obama’s foreign policy boast from this weekend in Nevada. "And while a new tower rises above the New York skyline, al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead," the president said yesterday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blamed al-Qaida for the terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens as well as several other American embassy personnel.

... Allen also addressed the recent string of insider attacks, in which presumed allies among the Afghan security forces kill American soldiers. Gen. Allen:

I’m mad as hell about them, to be honest with you. We’re going to get after this. It reverberates everywhere across the United States. We’re willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign, but we’re not willing to be murdered for it.

The President of Afghanistan concurs.

KARZAI: TERRORISM IN AFGHANISTAN
'HAS NOT GONE AWAY. IT HAS INCREASED'

October 1, 2012 (CNS News) - "The reason for the NATO and American intervention in Afghanistan was terrorism," Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the CBS program 60 Minutes in a report that aired on Sunday. But, he added, "Terrorism has not gone away. It has increased."

Karzai listed a number of foreign groups that he says are sending fighters to his country: "Name them al Qaeda, name them Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, name them Haqqani, name them Taliban, whatever. They're still there. And they have the ability to continue 10 years on to come and hurt us and kill your troops and kill our troops, kill our civilians. We must then question how come they've returned?"

Karzai told [Lara Logan of CBS News], "Something must have gone wrong" for the foreign troops to have returned.

Mr. Obama's signature policy in Afghanistan was his own troop surge announced December 1, 2009 after a protracted review. Unlike Mr. Bush's successful surge in Iraq, which combined troop strength with a new counterinsurgency strategy backed by steadfast political support, Mr. Obama's surge was wasted on a mission that lurched from defeating al Qaeda to peace-partnering with the Taliban.

MILITARY’S OWN REPORT CARD
GIVES AFGHAN SURGE AN F

September 27, 2012 (Wired) - The U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan ended last week. Conditions in Afghanistan are mostly worse than before it began.

That conclusion doesn't come from anti-war advocates. It relies on data recently released by the NATO command in Afghanistan, known as ISAF, and acquired by Danger Room. According to most of the yardsticks chosen by the military -- but not all -- the surge in Afghanistan fell short of its stated goal: stopping the Taliban’s momentum.

... But that suppressive force provided by the surge did not tamp down insurgent activity to levels seen in 2009, when Afghanistan looked sufficiently dire that a bipartisan consensus of Washington policymakers came to believe that a surge was necessary.

... And there’s a number missing from ISAF’s latest set of war data. That’s 988 -- the number of U.S. troops killed in action in Afghanistan or who died from their combat wounds since Obama announced the troop surge.

We realize that adjusting his stump speech poses inconveniences: the rote has been intenalized, the teleprompter will have to be reprogrammed, rehearsals will be needed. But sooner or later, someone will call out Mr. Obama on his Afghanistan brags. For anyone paying attention, events have already banjaxed his campaign triumphalism.

CHOPE.

Adjustment needed.

------------------------------------
* Mr. Obama campaigned in 2007 for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, out by the end of 2008. In 2008, out became out by mid-2010. Once in office, out became 2011, the "out" date already negotiated by the Bush administration:

The Bush administration negotiated the Status of Forces Agreement ("SOFA") to withdraw American troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. However, modern precedent leaves a residual force in a pacified theater for years after the end of hostilities. Team Barry failed to negotiate a post-SOFA military presence in Iraq.

** Mr. Romney is not alone in that assessment. An assessment borne out by events (and here).


Posted by Damian at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2012

NYC Letter: Prescript For Thee, Not Me -- Viva Las Vegas! Redux

Day 1,345 of CHOPE
D-minus 111 Days

You can't get corporate jets -- (applause) -- you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime. (Applause.) There's got to be some accountability and some responsibility, and that's something that I intend to impose as President of the United States. (Applause.)

Mr. Obama,
announcing things you can't do while he's president
but OK for him to do while he's president
TOWNHALL
ELKHART, Indiana February 9, 2009 (White House)

Déjà vu all over again! Chumps!

THIS IS THE VEGAS RESORT WHERE
OBAMA WILL SPEND THE NEXT 3 DAYS
PREPARING FOR THE DEBATE

lake_las-vegas_b_w438.png
WESTIN LAKE LAS VEGAS RESORT & SPA
Gotta Prepare! Gotta Prepare!
[Picture source: Business Insider]

October 1, 2012 (BI) - President Barack Obama arrived in Nevada last night to begin three days of debate preparation at the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort, a luxurious golf community just a few miles from the Las Vegas strip.

According to the White House pool report, the "resort is a strange mix of desert sand pits, green lawns, palm trees and new homes. We passed a replica of the Ponte Vecchio and some luxurious lakeside estates, also unfinished lots and a browning golf course. The president's hotel has a Middle Eastern theme and a view of the lake from the lobby."

lake_las-vegas_a_w438.png
LAKE LAS VEGAS
Gotta Prepare! Gotta Prepare!
[Picture source: Business Insider]

Terrycloth robes, room service, and in-room Moulay massage. Th-the HUMANITY!

The location itself provides ambient prep for questions about "getting the middle class".

They don't get us, they don't get who we are. They don't understand, it seems to me. They're not bad, they just don't get it.

Joe "Marie Antoinette" Biden,
VP and blue collar empath, bemoaning the
working class "ungettability" of Republicans
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio May 16, 2012 (Examiner/YouTube)

Yeah.

Yeah.

TAXPAYERS SPENT $1.4 BILLION
ON OBAMA FAMILY LAST YEAR,
PERKS QUESTIONED IN NEW BOOK*

September 26, 2012 (TDC) - Taxpayers spent $1.4 billion dollars on everything from staffing, housing, flying and entertaining President Obama and his family last year, according to the author of a new book on taxpayer-funded presidential perks.

In comparison, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family.

... "The most concerning thing, I think, is the use of taxpayer funds to actually abet his re-election," [Author Robert Keith Gray, Presidential Perks Gone Royal], who worked in the Eisenhower administration and for other Republican presidents, said in an interview with TheDC on Wednesday.

You think?

CHOPE.

Getting it. A lot of it.

------------------------------------
* That big number looks a little flimsy. Mr. Gray has included everything plus the kitchen sink in his big number. For example, how does the First Family directly benefit from the hiring of White House policy czars? Those salaries are executive expenses not household expenses. It is our understanding that Congress is under no obligations to pay for executive officers not established in law or whom it does not vet. This First Family has a lot of needless high-priced staff and certainly lives large at the taxpayer's expense, so Mr. Gray needn't gild the lily to impress us with their extravagance.


Posted by Damian at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2012

NYC Letter: Send Allen West To Congress -- AGAIN!

Day 1,343 of CHOPE
D-minus 113 Days

Allen West (R-FL, 22nd) is running for election to Florida's 18th CD in 2012. His opponent is Patrick Murphy.

Here is all we know about Mr. Murphy.

Oh, ouch. Most election ads are feeble claims made into feeble PowerPoint slides made into feebler videos. Mr. West's campaign takes a historical coincidence to argue a compelling choice. Without knowing much about either candidate, the casual viewer will come away pretty sure the DEP is the better pick over the D&D.

092912_ouch_w438.png
FIVE-STAR OUCH!
There Is No Higher Rating
[Picture source: Telegraph/Reuters/Toru Hanai]

Mr. West currently enjoys a lead over Mr. Murphy. We don't push many candidates at E-N!, because we follow -- and therefore are informed about -- only a few races. Col. West caught our attention last election and has proved to be the goods as advertised (and here and here and here and here and here and this, for examples).

We encourage you to support his campaign.

CHOPE.

Not pulling punches.


Posted by Damian at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Fabulous Obama Collectibles

Day 1,340 of CHOPE
D-minus 116 Days

Remember this?

092012_obama_flag_w438.png
ONE FLAG TO RULE THEM ALL
No Red States Or Blue States, Only Obama States
[Picture source: Ross Bruggink and Dan Olson,
Studio MPLS for Artists for Obama]

Hope you got your order in early.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN'S FLAG POSTER
NO LONGER APPEARS IN STORE

September 23, 2012 (BF) - The item, known as "Our Strips: Flag Poster" redesigned the American flag using the Obama for America logo. The print was the target of conservative backlash last week.

A page where the flag was now returns as error page. A cached version of the website still shows the product but returns a error page when attempting to add the item to the cart. An Obama campaign aide says the item quickly sold out and that sold out items are automatically removed. However, a similar item to the flag print that was also sold out was not automatically removed and appears on the site with "out of stock" below it.

If memory serves -- and at this point that's all that serves since the cache link above is dead -- there were 250 flag prints at $35 a pop, so it's conceivable that 250 willing buyers snapped up this Obama classic. It's not hard to believe there's $8,750 of stupid money out there ready to be soaked up.

Another great poster for the bedroom wall! [Pause.] Just a guess, Money Team Barry will forgo restocking this fabulously popular item.

CHOPE.

No CHOPE collection complete without one of these.


Posted by Damian at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Charity & Taxes

Day 1,340 of CHOPE
D-minus 116 Days

OBAMA: IF WE LOSE IN 2012,
GOVERNMENT WILL TELL PEOPLE
'YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN'
SAN FRANCISCO October 26, 2011 (ABC News)

They don't get us, they don't get who we are. They don't understand, it seems to me. They're not bad, they just don't get it.

Joe "Marie Antoinette" Biden,
VP and middle-class poseur bemoaning the
Republican "ungettability" of the working class
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio May 16, 2012 (Examiner/YouTube)

Messrs. Obama and Biden aren't incapable of getting it, they just don't get it. Americans are generous on a personal level. Government is generous on a confiscatory level. Messrs. Obama and Biden think government is the only reliable charitable giver probably because they personally lack the knack of generous giving.

ROMNEY DOUBLES OBAMA'S
CHARITABLE GIVING

September 21, 2012 (TWT) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is releasing a brief summary of 20 years of tax returns on Friday, and his accountant says it will show he gave 13.45 percent of his adjusted gross income to charities.

That's nearly twice the rate of President Obama, who according to his tax returns from 2000 through 2011 donated just less than 7 percent of his adjusted gross income to charities.

... [Brad Malt, Romney financial trustee,] said the Romneys would have had an even lower tax burden if they'd claimed the full deduction for all of their charitable giving in 2011, but said they "limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the governor's statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years."

When charitable contributions and federal and state taxes are combined, it amounted to 38.5 percent of the Romneys' income, the trustee said.

Mr. Malt said the Romneys have owed taxes in each of the years in question — which contradicts a charge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, issued earlier this summer.

ROMNEY GAVE 1,000 TIMES AS MUCH
TO CHARITY IN A YEAR AS
BIDEN GAVE IN A DECADE

September 24 (TWS) - The release of Mitt Romney’s 2011 tax returns shows that he freely gave away more than $4 million to charity last year (about 30 percent of his income [more than $10,000 a day to charity]). In comparison, when Joe Biden was first running for vice president, his tax returns showed that he had given away just $3,690 to charity over the previous ten years (about 0.2 percent of his income [an average of $1.01 a day]). In other words, Romney gave away a thousand times as much to charity in one year as Biden gave in a decade. That’s despite the fact that the Bidens earned well over $2 million over that decade.

OBAMA IS THE 99% WHEN IT COMES TO KEEPING
HIS MONEY AWAY FROM CHARITY
By Jim Treacher

BLOG January 24, 2012 (TDC) - So now I’m supposed to care how much of Romney’s money he gave away, voluntarily or not. Does that go for all the candidates? Bloomberg News reported back in March 2008:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign.

The Obamas increased the amount they gave to charity when their income rose in 2005 and 2006 after the Illinois senator published a bestselling book. The $137,622 they gave over those two years amounted to more than 5 percent of their $2.6 million income.

Giving your money to charity is annoying, because you have to choose how much money you give and who gets it. Why bother? You should pay that money in taxes instead. That way, the government gets its cut and then passes along as much of the rest as it finds appropriate, to those it finds appropriate. What makes you think you can figure that out for yourself, stupid?

Biden gave even less to charity than Obama, an average of $369 a year. But so what? They should be glad for every penny. Whereas Romney has given a significant proportion of his money away, but it doesn’t count because he’s a Mormon. (And a “racist”!)

Mr. Biden is a habituated niggard. His family's financial struggles apparently impressed upon the young Biden that misfortune and disaster are as likely as prosperity and good fortune to be around the corner. Mr. Biden holds back and braces for the worse.

Mr. Obama is an uneven giver. He gives more with improvement in his personal and political fortunes. As a wealthy high profile politician he benefits by a show of charity and gives accordingly. As a penurious and obscure political wannabee, he was, like Mr. Biden, mingy. It is unlikely that Mr. Obama will ever suffer financial hardship again in his life, so count on him to settle in around the traditional Christian tithe.

Neither Democrat headliner impresses with their generosity. Mr. Biden because he is simply not generous. And Mr. Obama because he is an opportunity giver, which is to say not naturally generous. Still they both think there is a little something extra to squeeze (and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze) out of the rest of us not yet hanging off the government teat.

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Mark 12: 41-44 (KJV)

CHOPE.

No give. All take.


Posted by Damian at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Low-Information Creepy

Day 1,338 of CHOPE
D-minus 118 Days

We pick up where we left off.

U.S. DISTRUST IN MEDIA HITS NEW HIGH

POLL/WASHINGTON September 21, 2012 (Gallup) - Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Distrust is up from the past few years, when Americans were already more negative about the media than they had been in years prior to 2004.

... More broadly, Republicans continue to express the least trust in the media, while Democrats express the most. Independents' trust fell below the majority level in 2004 and has continued to steadily decline.

... Despite their record-low trust in media, Republicans are the partisan group most likely to be paying close attention to news about national politics, with the 48% who are doing so similar to the 50% in 2008 and up significantly from 38% in 2004. Independents and Democrats are less likely than Republicans to be paying close attention, with their levels of attention similar to 2008 and 2004.

Only 39% of Democrats are paying attention to national political news, of which 58% have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. Yet Democrats boast high numbers in election enthusiasm (68%). So low-information Democrats are pretty excited about voting back Mr. Obama and his failed presidency.

Democrats are liking what they hear from the media. Because Democrats like Mr. Obama's irreality.

STUDY: ONLY 15 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS
BELIEVE ECONOMIC NEWS IS BAD

WASHINGTON September 20, 2012 (CBSDC) - New data found that just 15 percent of Democrats believe that recent economic news is mostly poor, a percentage that took a significant drop from the 31 percent of Democrats polled last month who did think that economic news was mostly bad. According to the study, the 15-percent clip is among the lowest percentages during President Barack Obama’s nearly four years in office.

Supporting your candidate to the point of denying your interests isn't politics, it's a cult. On cue.

ACTRESS JESSICA ALBA ASKS VOTERS
TO PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO OBAMA

September 20, 2012 (WaEx) - The Obama campaign has launched its “For All” campaign, encouraging supporters to take pictures of themselves with their hands on their hearts and a note explaining why they support President Obama.

Actress Jessica Alba uses the Pledge of Allegiance as an example of the campaign in an email to supporters.

"Growing up, my classmates and I started every day with a ritual: We’d stand up, put our right hand over our hearts, and say the Pledge of Allegiance," explains Alba. "To me, that gesture was a promise. A promise to be involved and engaged in this country’s future. A promise to work for liberty and justice — and for affordable education, health care, and equality — for all."

Alba joins Hollywood actresses Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson by photographing herself with her hand on her heart pledging to vote for Obama.

We imagine they pledge in front of this.

092012_obama_flag_w438.png
[Picture source: Ross Bruggink and Dan Olson,
Studio MPLS for Artists for Obama]

[Frisson.] They are clueless how creepy this is.

Before they demand you pledge your heart and mind, they strip you of your vote.

COLLEGE SUSPENDS PROFESSOR FOR
ALLEGEDLY ATTEMPTING TO FORCE
STUDENTS TO VOTE FOR OBAMA

September 17, 2012 (campusreform.org) - A college professor has been placed on leave after she allegedly forced her class to sign a pledge to vote for President Obama in the upcoming elections.

Early last week Professor Sharon Sweet at Brevard Community College (BCC) allegedly told students to sign a pledge that reads: "I pledge to vote for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket."

The pledge was printed off of GottaVote.org, a website funded by the Obama campaign.

... Sweet’s actions may have also violated Florida’s election laws. Section 104.31, of Title IX in chapter 104, states:

No officer or employee of the state... shall... use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or nomination of officer or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof.

There are three knocks on the door in the Orwellian procession. The first knock is to silence you, to inform you that criticism is not tolerable. For example, criticism of Mr. Obama is racism. Not racism in any real sense, but racism as a stigma. The stigma invalidates the criticism and marks the critic for removal from political discourse. The second knock is to demand your allegiance, to make you complicit in the establishment of the authority over your private self. The small concessions made to the nanny state, to political correctness, preview the eventual demand for all-in conformity. The third knock is the loudest. The third knock on the door demands your existential self, which is to say a re-made self with no clingings of your old self.

You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline. You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one. Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane.

George Orwell (1903-1950),
honest democratic socialist and author
Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part III, Chapter 2
(London: Secker and Warburg, 1949)

You cannot ignore the third knock. You cannot hide in the bathroom and pretend no is home. The third knock on the door must be answered. The door must be opened. It is too late to resist. Opening the door is only a formality, because the door is no longer a barrier to the forces without. Throwing the bolt, in that last brief moment of opening the door, you know, standing behind the opened door, you are lost. And that, dear Winston, is the last thought that is wholly your thought.

CHOPE.

Creepy is as creepy does.


Posted by Damian at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Campaign Like It's 2008!

Day 1,337 of CHOPE
D-minus 119 Days

Mr. Obama is pretty excited about changing Washington. Again.

(A) Obviously the fact that we haven’t been able to change the tone in Washington is disappointing. ... And I think that I’ve learned some lessons over the last four years, and the most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside.

(B) We don’t want an inside job in Washington. We want change in Washington. (Applause.)

Mr. Obama,
(A) making the case to keep the insider, Mr. McCain, out
and vote the outsider, himself, in
TAMPA September 20, 2012 (FNC)
(B) reprising 2008 to vote in the Washington insider, himself!
WOODBRIDGE, Virginia September 21, 2012 (White House)

Mr. Obama is treating his first remark as a deep political insight, as something consistent and intelligible in the context of his political career.

In 2008 Mr. Obama was preaching this very lesson he now claims he has only recently learned. Mr. Obama,"The American Promise", August 28, 2008:

You have shown what history teaches us, that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens — change happens because the American people demand it, because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time. America, this is one of those moments.

Either he was spitballing then or he's faking now. Rick Richman at Commentary does the carve-up:

Back when he first noted the lesson that change came to Washington, not from Washington, change was something produced by "defining moments" — such as the night he clinched the Democratic nomination (which he called a "defining moment" — the "moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal"); or the night he was elected (which he called a "defining moment" — when "change has come to America"); or the day he was inaugurated (which he called "a moment that will define a generation"). The change-producing moments were his nomination, election, and inauguration. He was change personified.

Four years after the generation-defining moment, he teaches what he has purportedly learned from the last four years, but it is what four years ago he said history had already taught him. It is the same lesson both times, but this time the lesson is offered not as a reason to elect him, but as an excuse for what he has failed to do since he was elected. The underlying message is the opposite of the prior one: this time it is don’t blame him — change comes from outside.

[Pause.] Yeah. He's faking.

As for the tone in Washington, that hasn't changed in large part because Mr. Obama has set the tone. He stoked the prevailing tone going in. He notched it up. His is the tone, his is the attitude, he is the circus he decries. Now irremediable "tone in Washington" is an all-purpose excuse for failing to accomplish anything with the divided Congress the public voted him.

Mr. Obama is pushing what clearly was a flub as political deep-think. The press is playing along with "hitting Mitt back hard" storylines. Dear CHOPEster, they think you are this stupid.

CHOPE.

The inside out candidate.


Posted by Damian at 09:30 AM | Comments (2)

September 16, 2012

NYC Letter: Quote Of The Day -- Inheritance

Day 1,331 of CHOPE
D-minus 125 Days

We wish we had said it first.

The table-setter:

And then what we discovered was that because of irresponsibility, because of economic policies that had failed and a lack of oversight when it came to regulations, we inherited the worst financial crisis and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Mr. Obama,
REMARKS AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT
CINCINNATI July 16, 2012 (White House)

The money quote:

If Obama is re-elected, just think of the mess he will have inherited.

CATS1COWBOY,
commenter, previewing the next Obama excuse
ready and waiting in the 2013 wings
September 15, 2012 (BBTV)

CHOPE.

Preview.


Posted by Damian at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The "Smart Power" Ticket

Day 1,327 of CHOPE
D-minus 129 Days

My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly. ... You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can't visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally.

Mr. Obama,
lording his diplomatic experience over Campaign Mitt
DNCC ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
CHARLOTTE September 6, 2012 (ABC News)

Developments in Libya and Egypt are the big stories. Naturally we go with the little story.

Listening to Mr. Obama's acceptance speech the above quote stuck out. In his speech Mr. Obama didn't mention current unemployment (though surely he was privy to the dismal jobs report the BLS would release the next morning), didn't mention the current national debt (topping $16T during his convention), and didn't mention the current deficit (a record-spending August pushed it over $1T for the year), instead he waved his foreign policy résumé. Specifically he chided Mr. Romney for remarks he made in London about Olympic readiness as a point of comparison with his own astute diplomacy.

ROMNEY IN LONDON FOR OLYMPICS:
CANDIDATE ANGERS BRITS

LONDON/NEW YORK July 26, 2012 (ABC News) - In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams on Wednesday, Romney expressed some reservations when asked whether London was "ready" for the Games, calling some aspects "disconcerting" in an interview. Mr. Romney:
It's hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials... that obviously is not something which is encouraging.

That didn't sit well. The quote screamed across the headlines of British papers Thursday morning.

And that sold some newspapers for Fleet Street. However as transatlantic crises go, Mr. Romney's remarks about readiness problems at the Olympics -- problems already reported in the British press -- who's fooling who? The British public managed to contain their ire and Grosvenor Square was not besieged, the ambassador was not killed, and the American flag flew unmolested above its embassy.

Which brings us back to Mr. Obama, whose re-election will ensure another four years of blusterless blunder-free diplomacy with "our closest ally".

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S BIGGEST BRITISH GAFFES
By Charlie Spiering
July 27, 2012 (WaEx)

We give an abridged list from the article.

March 2009: Obama "Too Tired", To Properly Host Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to visit the President at the White House, but the British press reported there was no "full-blown press conference" or "formal dinner", as has been customary. The British Press reported that the President was "too tired" to properly host the Prime Minister because he was dealing with the economic crisis.

Even worse was this reported quote from an anonymous State Department official: "There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment."

Blusterless diplomacy.

March 2009: Obama Gives Prime Minister Gordon Brown A Box Of DVDs

While visiting the United States, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave the president a pen fashioned out of the same wood as the Resolute Desk. What did Obama give him in return?

"Barack Obama, the leader of the world’s richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films – a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks," reported the Telegraph.

What’s worse, the set of DVDs was coded for the United States and unreadable by UK DVD players.

Blunder-free diplomacy.

April 2009: Obama Gives Queen Elizabeth An iPod

White visiting the Queen, the Obama family gave her an iPod, prompting raised eyebrows from the British Press. The MP3 player came pre-loaded with photos from President Obama’s inauguration and audio files of the president’s speech as a senator to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and his 2009 inauguration address.

The queen reportedly already had an iPod.

September 2009: Obama Refuses Private Meeting With Prime Minister Gordon Brown During UN Summit

During a United Nations summit in New York, Obama refused five separate requests from the Prime Minister for a private meeting.

"Our closest ally".

April 2009: First Lady Michelle Obama Breaks Protocol By Touching The Queen’s Back

Via the Telegraph: "Some observers winced at the sight of that hand pressed firmly across the royal back. They thought it an appalling solecism and an offence against the Queen’s dignity."

Blunder-free diplomacy.

January 2011: Obama Calls France America's 'Strongest Ally'

While President Obama was visiting France, the British Press was particularly vexed when he told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that France was America’s strongest ally. [Ed.: FRANCE!]

"The UK has lost nearly 350 troops in the war against the Taliban – seven times as many as France," noted the Daily Mail.

"Our closest ally".* [Pause.] When Mr. Obama went looking for takers of Gitmo detainees to push along closing the terrorist detention camp -- a French special project -- France deigned to take -- one. In Afghanistan our "strongest ally", over successive governments, provided steadfast defense of the cocktail lounge at Kandahar airport (and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here, in chronological order), but must now bid us adieu (here and here).

May 2011: After Toasting The Queen, Obama Continues Speaking As The Band Starts Playing 'God Save The Queen'

This awkward moment had both countries wincing, as the President presumed to keep speaking even though the band started playing. The BBC notes: According to protocol, however, he (Obama) should have stopped after the toast.

December 2011: President Obama Refers To The British Embassy As The "English Embassy"

From the Daily Mail: In an interview yesterday, Mr Obama said: "All of us are deeply disturbed by the, err, crashing of, err, the English Embassy, err, the embassy of the United Kingdom."

Blunder-free diplomacy.

June 2012: President Obama Refers To The Falkland Islands As 'The Maldives'

This was a mistake on top of a gaffe, as the Maldives are actually in the Indian Ocean. Obama was trying to say "Malvinas" — the name given to the Falkland Islands by the Argentine government, a British possession which Argentina invaded in 1982. This was the British equivalent of suggesting that the U.S. hand Pearl Harbor over to the Japanese. As the Telegraph's Nile Gardiner writes: "This is a position that Britain views as completely unacceptable, and with good reason."

"Our closest ally".

Perhaps you, like us, are dizzied at this point by the steady blustering and blundering of Mr. Obama's diplomacy. How, you might wonder aloud, does Mr. Obama with his record of blundering and blustering get away with disparaging Mr. Romney for commenting on reports in the British press? [A moment to let the question hang in the air.] Ah, dear naïf, it is the same "how" for all Mr. Obama's warts and pimples. He owns the press charged with reporting his warts and pimples. They cannot bear to look, instead, like Shem and Japheth, they advance backwards to cover Mr. Obama with the cloak of a favorable interpretation.

CHOPE.

Running on his record. Vote accordingly.

------------------------------------
* France also has a special relationship with the Britain.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Still More Reasons To Re-elect Mr. Obama

Day 1,324 of CHOPE
D-minus 132 Days

The DNCC is over. You are an unemployed college graduate. As a freshman in college you voted for Mr. Obama. He wants your vote again, but he can't convince you. As November approaches you are wracked by fears that outside of academia you have slipped back into acculturated racism. But you can't think of a single honest reason to vote him back.

We are here to help (and here and here to help, too).

    Reason №1

Mr. Obama is not satisfied with, ah-um, Mr. Obama. Who knew?

Are we where we want to be? No. Is the President satisfied? No.

Bill Clinton,
former president, liberal fantasy hotness and
proposed Secretary of Splaining Stuff,
assessing Mr. Obama's first term to make
the argument for an Obama second term
DNCC SPEECH PUTTING MR. OBAMA'S
NAME IN NOMINATION
CHARLOTTE September 5, 2012 (ABC News)

As President Clinton said, 'Is Barack Obama satisfied?' Absolutely not. Is anyone in this arena satisfied, absolutely not.

Michelle Obama,
FLOTUS and absolutely unsatisfied DNCC denizen
INTERVIEW
CHARLOTTE September 6, 2012 (ABC News)

And the man himself.

(A) So we’ve got a lot more work to do to recover fully from this recession. But I’m not satisfied just to get back to where we were before the recession; we’ve got to fully restore the middle class in America.

(B) Are we satisfied? Of course not. Too many of our friends, too many of our family are still out there looking for work.

(C) Now, we’re not satisfied. We’re not satisfied when so many of our friends and family are still looking for work. We’re not satisfied when neighbors have homes underwater. We’re not satisfied when there are young people who are still looking for opportunity, states are still facing severe budget crunches, teachers are still being laid off, first responders. A crisis this deep will not be solved overnight. Anybody who says it will aren’t [sic] telling you the truth. We’ve got more work to do. And we know that.

(D) Now, are we satisfied? Of course not. We've still got friends out there, and family who are looking for work.

(E) But we can’t be satisfied, because our goal was never to just keep on working to get back to where we were back in 2007.

(F) Look, nobody is satisfied with our pace of growth. Nobody is satisfied.

Mr. Obama,
making the case for a second term premised on
the unsatisfactory performance of his first term
(A) DETROIT September 5, 2011 (White House)
(B) SEATTLE May 10, 2012 (White House)
(C) DENVER May 23, 2012 (White House)
(D) DES MOINES May 24, 2012 (White House)
(E) POLAND, Ohio July 6, 2012 (White House)
(F) LEESBURG, Virginia August 2, 2012 (White House)

So if you're not satisfied, neither is Mr. Obama, which is to say he's with you. Vote him back as a your champion of dissatisfaction.

    Reason №2

Consider Mr. Obama's record. [Start film.]

THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART

It could have been worse. [Pause.] Somehow.

Equally convincing, Nancy Pelosi makes the argument for worseness (and here).

    Reason №3

Mr. Obama is incomplete.

OBAMA GRADES HIMSELF: 'INCOMPLETE'

NEW YORK May 15, 2012 (TWS) - Barack Obama was asked to grade his performance on the View this morning, but shied away from giving himself a letter grade. Mr. Obama:
You know, I won't give us a letter grade. I think it's still incomplete.

That’s why I’m running for a second term. (Applause.) I’m not done yet.

Mr. Obama,
explaining that he needs a second term to finish
the work of his first term
WATERLOO, Iowa August 15, 2012 (White House)

OBAMA AGAIN RATES HIMSELF
'INCOMPLETE' ON ECONOMY

September 4, 2012 (ABC News) - With 63 days to go to the election, President Obama says he still deserves an "incomplete" – rather than a letter grade – when asked to rate his performance on fixing the economy.

"You know, I would say incomplete," Obama said in an interview with Boulder, Colo., TV station KKTV.

It's a simple argument. You elected him in 2008 to do stuff he promised to do. He's not done doing that stuff so technically your 2008 vote is still in force for 2012.

CHOPE.

Vote for a reason.

Posted by Damian at 08:45 AM | Comments (3)

September 08, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The Entire DNCC In 25 Tweets

Day 1,323 of CHOPE
D-minus 133 Days

UPDATE 09.10.12: Welcome, ¡No Pasarán! folk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iowahawk et alios tweet the DNCC.

It's day one and we start with the syrupy tribute to Ted Kennedy.

We jump to San Antonio mayor Julian Castro's keynote speech.

Mr. Castro talks about his family and tells his American dream story -- reshaped around Campaign Barry talking points. For example, this curiosity:

And that's the middle class-- the engine of our economic growth. With hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there. And with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there -- and go beyond.

"Stay there -- and go beyond." A nice big slice of cake that you can both eat and still have -- if you are willing to reach below your squat and get your fingers dirty. We would guess the ambitious Mr. Castro's story is the going beyond, while Campaign Barry's persistent 8%+ unemployment is the staying put.

Mr. Castro received rave reviews based on wowing Democrats at the DNCC. Tough crowd. There were comparisons with Mr. Obama's 2004 keynote speech. You've been warned.

Next up, Mrs. Obama. Mrs. Obama's speech got adoring reviews, because not to adore is a suspicion of racism. The good news, once again in her life she's proud of her country. Mrs. Obama takes a stab at answering the tough election year question, "Are Americans better off than four years ago?" Senior Obama adviser David Plouffe couldn't answer that toughie.

So the Obamas are doing OK. That's four down, just the rest of us to go! Mrs. Obama denies Campaign Mitt one of its most damning lines of attack!

Sure. That's because she answers the tough questions straight up!

Before you nod off, no, we are not going to reprise every speech. That would be cruel. These are political speeches. Most are strangely sans policy, instead filled with personal gush pushed with breathy earnestness over a lip quiver. If you are a Democrat this is three days of all-you-can-eat dessert. If you are not a Democrat this is something different entirely.

[Pause.] We wish we had thought of this tweet gimmick earlier, but we didn't. So we are only skimming the cream in 25 tweets. Nineteen to go.

Day two, the day three finale is moved from Bank Of America Stadium back to the Time Warner Cable Arena because of forecast lightning, stranding the 75% differential of the capacity stadium crowd with the TWCA, already occupied to capacity by delegates, officials, guests, volunteers, security and arena personnel, and media. This is a terrible injustice at a "people's convention".

OBAMA BACKERS LAMENT BEING
KEPT OUT OF DNC SPEECH
CHARLOTTE September 6, 2012 (WaEx)

There's some news. Mr. Obama apparently follows Iowahawk.

For those who haven't, domestic turkeys left outside during a storm tilt their heads back, mouths agap, to marvel at the rain. And drown.

Of course, the DNC could simply be lying about a stadium-brimming crowd to cover for tiers of empty seats. If that's the case, the injustice diminishes in inverse proportion to the lie. The emptier the stadium, the less grievous -- by headcount -- the injustice of the venue change. Maybe only a few hundred injustices.

Meanwhile there was a quick fix-up to restore God and Jerusalem boilerplate to the party platform. A "technical oversight" had omitted the previous convention's language. Insider baseball as Mr. Obama might say. We only mention it because the God and Jerusalem amendment was voted down by at least half the convention on a voice vote. Luckily the remaining two-thirds majority prevailed to boos from the one-half minority. Democrats and arithmetic.

Iowahawk ties the day together.

Political oddity Sandra Fluke gives a speech. This is pretty thick aggrieved feminist gumbo. We are surprised to learn that the election is not about jobs or unemployment -- not even about the deficit or national debt. It's about government contraception. Vote accordingly.

Bill Clinton gives a speech. If you can swallow this sort of this thing whole, if bubba-liciousness is to your taste, this is your speech. Exculpatory exposition so much better than Mr. Obama's exculpatory expositions, that Mr. Obama muses on a Bill Clinton appointment.

OBAMA: I SHOULD MAKE BILL CLINTON
'SECRETARY OF ‘SPLAINING STUFF'
PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire September 7, 2012 (TPM)

Um, yeah.

Can day three come any faster?

As Mr. Obama prepares to give his all-important "ready for a do-over" speech, an urgent e-mail goes out (via Ann Althouse):

8:05: As a tribute to servicemen and women goes on at the convention, email from Obama comes in, saying, "Ann -- Before I go on stage to accept the nomination, there's one thing I need to say... Can you pitch in $25 or more right now?"

James Taranto is also squeezed. No crisis wasted.

Fun for all! Joe Biden gives a speech "literally" on the hem of prime time.

Next up, Dick "Litotes" Durbin introduces Mr. Obama.

Now! Finally! What everyone's been waiting for, the hardest working man in show business! Barack Obama gives a speech!

A slip. Teleprompter reads, "We are making things up again."

And -- fade to black.

A reminder, today's choice:

OBAMA CAMP: OUR CONVENTION WILL BE BETTER

August 31, 2012 (Politico) - Obama campaign officials predicted on Friday that Democrats will do a much better job delivering a substantive message at their convention than they say Republicans did at theirs. Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager:
Our goal next week is to bring the choice in the election into focus for the American people, and I think throughout the week, that choice will be crystal clear.

OK. If you think that this election is about the government preventing Sandra Fluke from reproducing at all costs, then Mr. Obama is your man. If you think 43 straight months of 8%+ unemployment is not a foundation for growth, well, you will want to consider Mr. Romney. Crystal clear.

CHOPE.

That's all folks.

Posted by Damian at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2012

NYC Letter: The Genius Of Campaign Barry -- Bank Of America Stadium

Day 1,322 of CHOPE
D-minus 134 Days

We Know What We're Doing Edition

Teaser.

You can’t believe a thing this administration says. This campaign promised you, rain or shine, the president would be speaking there. Then when they couldn’t get a crowd they brought it inside. I think those facts speak for themselves.

John Sununu,
former NH governor and Campaign Mitt honey badger
commenting on the DNC bailing on the
stadium that dare not speak its name
CHARLOTTE September 5, 2012 (TDC)

It's quite a story.

On February 1, 2011 Charlotte, North Carolina -- a right-to-work state* that would go on to enshrine traditional marriage in its constitution** even as Mr. Obama "evolved" -- was picked as the host city for the DNC convention. The convention site would be the Time Warner Cable Arena. The TWCA has a maximum capacity of 20,200, which, minus the 5,556 delegates in attendance, left the DNC with 14,644 seats to fill for prime time TV coverage of the grand finale, Mr. Obama's repeat acceptance speech.

But where's the challenge in easy-peezy? The DNCC, under direction from Mr. Obama, would be a "People’s Convention". Mr. Obama was certain that "the people" could be tapped for the $36M convention tab, an improbable supposition.

Wait! said the DNC, didn't the wildly hyped Mr. Obama pack Denver’s Invesco Field (76,125 capacity) with an overcapacity crowd of 84,000 CHOPEsters in 2K8, a show of strength that clinched Colorado? Why, yes, yes he did, the DNC mused back. So the DNC decided to move the finale of the "People's Convention" from TWCA to Bank Of America Stadium, with a capacity of 73,778 -- and bigger ticket sales and lucrative skyboxes. Even though the president's approval had been trending down, the DNC knew what it was doing. Mr. Obama could be hyped again. History repeats more often than not.

THE 'PEOPLE’S' CONVENTION?
DNC In Charlotte To Feature Million-Dollar Tickets,
Luxury Suites, Concierge Services For The 1 Percent

February 9, 2012 (WFB) - Democrats are billing the upcoming Democratic National Committee’s annual convention as a "People’s Convention", funded by "the people". At President Obama’s request, the host committee in Charlotte—which must raise $36.6 million to pay for the convention—has promised to refuse donations from corporations, lobbyists or other special interest groups, including unions.*** Individual contributions are limited to $100,000.

But living up to these ambitious self-imposed rules is proving more difficult than party leaders expected. Local sources say the DNC is approaching wealthy Bank of America executives in an effort to unload some of its premier convention packages. A number of these executives have been shocked at the audacity of the proposition, given the administration’s attacks on not only the bank but also on wealthy Americans in general.

... Steve Kerrigan, the committee CEO, recently convened a meeting with lobbyists and other Beltway power brokers at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington D.C. Democratic sources told Bloomberg that Kerrigan, a former national political director for Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), touted an expensive array of convention "packages" that were aimed at attracting ultra-wealthy donors.

One of the options is the $1 million "Presidential" level, which includes a "premier uptown hotel room" and "concierge services", as well as the $500,000 "Gold Rush" package.

Convention leaders have also sought to court ultra-wealthy donors by moving the president’s acceptance speech to Bank of America Stadium (the bank is headquartered in Charlotte), the 74,000-seat home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the decision was intended to allow "greater participation from all walks of life." However, Democratic sources confided that the move would allow convention organizers "to sell more skyboxes to wealthy donors", according to Bloomberg.

... Still, the decision was criticized on the left by those who were not pleased with the idea of Obama accepting his party’s nomination under the banner of the country’s second-largest financial institution, which received a $45 billion taxpayer-funded bailout during the financial crisis. Obama himself has directed some tough rhetoric toward Bank of America. For example, when the bank proposed charging a $5 monthly fee to debit card users [Ed.: Thank you, Dick Durbin (D-IL)!], Obama complained that the bank was "using financial regulation as an excuse to charge consumers more".

Thus began the pushme-pullme saga -- the "people's convention" push against the convention financing pull -- to fill the stadium that dare not speak its name.

DEMS’ DIRE SEAT-UATION

August 6, 2012 (NYPost) - Top aides on President Obama’s re-election team are terrified that there will be scores of empty seats when he makes his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, party insiders said.

Obama, once the biggest draw in politics, won’t likely attract crowds as large as those at the 2008 convention because voters have gone sour on the poor economy, insiders said.

... In June, the party announced a contest in which participants have a chance to go to the convention for just $5.

DEMS GIVING AWAY FREE TICKETS
TO OBAMA’S SPEECH AT BARS
August 31, 2012 (WeaselZipper)

OBAMA CAMPAIGN SAYS IT WILL FILL
FOOTBALL STADIUM FOR CONVENTION’S FINALE

September 1, 2012 (The Hill) - Team Obama promises it will fill every one of the seats in Charlotte’s mammoth football stadium Thursday night when President Obama closes the Democratic National Convention with a speech accepting his party’s nomination.

For weeks, Democrats have been concerned about filling Bank of America Stadium, home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. They feared a devastating image of an enthusiasm gap if Obama spoke to empty upper decks at the venue.

But the Obama campaign says it’s got it covered, and that all 73,778 of the stadium’s seats will be spoken for. The campaign also insists this success will showcase a ground operation that will help Obama win North Carolina for a second cycle in a row this November.

DEMS BRING IN CROWDS BY THE BUSLOAD
TO FILL STADIUM FOR OBAMA SPEECH

CHARLOTTE September 3, 2012 (FNC/AP) - College students from across North Carolina will arrive in Charlotte by the busload. Same with members of predominantly black churches in neighboring South Carolina. Their goal: help fill a 74,000-seat outdoor stadium to capacity when President Obama accepts the Democratic nomination Thursday night.

Democrats have been fretting for months over whether the president can draw a capacity crowd at Bank of America Stadium. Polls show voter enthusiasm is down, as are Obama's crowds for his battleground state campaign rallies.

Obama advisers insist the stadium will be filled when Obama delivers his speech. ... Officials say the outdoor event will go on rain or shine, except if there is severe weather.

... Convention delegates, volunteers and other Democratic officials already in Charlotte for the party gathering could make up as much as one-third of the crowd.

One-third of 73,778 is 24,592. [Blinding insight.] Why, that's a snug fit in the convention's Time Warner Cable Arena (maximum capacity: 20,200)! And without the anxiety of ginning up a "people's" crowd, everybody's already there! But to change venues, to revert to the original venue, that would be an unspinnable disaster, an advertisement for a punked out president closing his nomination convention on a losing note. It would take even more moxie to switch back than the original switch.

DEMOCRATS SET TO MOVE OBAMA'S BIG SPEECH
FROM 74,000-SEATER OUTDOOR STADIUM
TO 20,000-SEATER INDOOR ARENA

CHARLOTTE September 4, 2012 (Daily Mail) - Democrats are poised to avoid the danger of President Barack Obama accepting his party’s nomination before a partially-empty stadium by shifting his speech to an indoor arena and citing 'severe weather'.

WHOA! ¡Ésos son algunos grandes cojones, Sr. Villaraigosa!

'BEST WEATHER OF THE ENTIRE WEEK':
LOCAL METEOROLOGIST PUZZLED
BY OBAMA SPEECH MOVE
CHARLOTTE September 5, 2012 (TDC)

A procession of tweets from Brad Panovich of WCNC-NBC TV, the meteorologist of the headline:

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air wryly comments:

I’d guess the answer would be no. Then again, I’ve never heard that the Carolina Panthers have trouble filling the stadium, either.

CHARLOTTE ARENA PACKED
AFTER DNC VENUE CHANGE
CHARLOTTE September 7, 2012 (WGHP8)

Mission accomplished!

Oh, Brad, they'll get over it. You only get one chance to play to the prime time cameras on your big night at the "people's convention". Better bussed-in supporters get a thrill in a half-filled stadium -- OR -- the president address the paying customers in a crowded shoebox venue? It's not about the votes you have, Brad, it's about the votes you need. Mr. Obama needs a lot of votes, and a half-filled stadium is a vote loser.

A reminder, today's choice:

OBAMA CAMP: OUR CONVENTION WILL BE BETTER

August 31, 2012 (Politico) - Obama campaign officials predicted on Friday that Democrats will do a much better job delivering a substantive message at their convention than they say Republicans did at theirs. Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager:
Our goal next week is to bring the choice in the election into focus for the American people, and I think throughout the week, that choice will be crystal clear.

So. Is it the guys who actually dealt with inclemency and delivered as advertised -- OR -- the big talkers who stiffed their supporters with a phony forecast? Crystal clear, Steph.

CHOPE.

They knew what they were doing. No skybox refunds. Suckers.

------------------------------------
* Brilliant secure-the-base strategy!: UNIONS SHRUG AT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, September 3, 2012 (Politico). In August AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka wrote union officials:

In recognition of the changes we have made in our political program, however, and our desire to engage in politics in a more effective and grass-roots way, this year we will not be making major monetary contributions to the convention or the host committee for events or activities around the convention. We won’t be buying skyboxes, hosting events other than the Labor Delegates meeting or bringing a big staff contingent to the convention.

** The DNC anticipated every contingency: LIBS PETITION TO MOVE DNCC OUT OF NC, May 9, 2012 (WFB)

*** Or maybe not: OBAMA CAMPAIGN ASKS UNIONS TO HELP COVER CONVENTION COSTS, April 25, 2012 (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Posted by Damian at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- "The Single Best Decision"

Day 1,321 of CHOPE
D-minus 135 Days

Here's all you need to know.

I've had to make a lot of decisions over the last twenty-four months. Both before I was president and since. The single best decision that I have made [Emphatic pause.] was selecting Joe Biden as my running mate. Single best decision I've made. I mean that. [Turns to Mr. Biden. They close. They hug.]

Mr. Obama,
admitting to the limits of his judgment
SENATE CANDIDATE COONS FUNDRAISER
WILMINGTON October 15, 2010 (RCP)

Not a good decision, not one of his best, but the single best decision he has made, bar none. Repeat, underscore. Reaffirmed, double-underscore.

DESPITE GAFFES, BIDEN REMAINS A FORCE,
WILL INTRODUCE OBAMA AT CONVENTION

CHARLOTTE September 5, 2012 (DFP/USA Today) - Republicans freely made fun of Vice President Biden at last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa. Biden’s speech here tonight could go a long way toward giving him the last laugh.

... Since becoming vice president in 2009, Biden has visited 37 countries, flown more than 560,000 miles and held more than 530 official and political events. "He didn’t want to be pigeon-holed," as vice president, says his chief of staff, Bruce Reed. "Most of all, he wanted to be the last guy in the room and someone the president could always turn to."

If* Romney and Ryan win in November, said Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, "Won't it be nice to have a second-in-command who can spend his days doing more than prying his foot out of his mouth?"

When he takes the stage tonight immediately before President Obama, Biden presumably will remove the foot — and have Obama's back.

Last laugh on you coming up, Reince!

DICK DURBIN, BARACK OBAMA
GET PRIME-TIME SPEAKING SLOTS,
BUT NOT JOSEPH BIDEN

CHARLOTTE September 6, 2012 (RollCall) - Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) will introduce President Barack Obama during prime time this evening at the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will address delegates at the Time Warner Cable Arena during the 9 p.m. hour, convention organizers announced. And no one is more disappointed about Biden’s speaking slot than Republicans, who have taken to Twitter to campaign for the gaffe-prone vice president to speak during the nationally televised 10 p.m. hour instead.

... Romney’s running mate, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI, 1st), did get a prime time address last week at the Republican National Convention.

HA! Wha-huh? Wait a minute. That's not a last laugh. The "Intellect Of The Democratic Party" has been banished to the darklands of C-SPAN3 beyond prime-time viewership! In a last minute switcheroo!

And who's getting the plummy TV spot to introduce the DNC headliner? Dick "The Dodger", Dick "Litotes", Dick "The Clueless Excuser" Durbin? Wh-what's going on? Where's Campaign Barry's confidence in Joe being Joe? Who had Mr. Biden's back tonight?

A reminder, rack the focus!

OBAMA CAMP: OUR CONVENTION WILL BE BETTER

August 31, 2012 (Politico) - Obama campaign officials predicted on Friday that Democrats will do a much better job delivering a substantive message at their convention than they say Republicans did at theirs. Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager:
Our goal next week is to bring the choice in the election into focus for the American people, and I think throughout the week, that choice will be crystal clear.

So here's today's focused choice: Mr. Romney, a president partnered with Paul Ryan, math wiz -- OR -- Mr. Obama chained to Joe Biden. Whaddya think, Steph? Crystal clear.

CHOPE.

The single best decision to save Mr. Obama's convention appearance.

------------------------------------
* Mr. Priebus did not say "if". It is USA Today that couches the statement in the mushy conditional. In context, Mr. Priebus is affirming a future certainty. Judge for yourself:

Let me tell you about my friend Paul Ryan—a man of true integrity. He doesn't descend to the gutter politics of the other side. He rises above it to chart a better path. He's my buddy, my congressman, and I can't wait to call him our vice president!

And won't it be nice to have a second-in-command who can spend his days doing more than prying his foot out of his mouth?

Nice try, USA Today.

Posted by Damian at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2012

NYC Letter: One Billion Dollars One Pizza At A Time

Day 1,320 of CHOPE
D-minus 136 Days

090512_pizza_money_w438.png
BECAUSE HE'S DONE SO MUCH FOR YOU!
Your Family Will Still Love You Come November.
Barack May Not.
[Picture source: Weasel Zipper]

MICHELLE OBAMA ASKS SUPPORTERS
TO FORGO PIZZA DINNERS SO THEY
CAN DONATE TO CAMPAIGN
BLOG September 5, 2012 (Weazel Zipper)

Obligatory salam to WZ for the stamina -- the sort we lack -- to suffer Money Team Barry's daily e-gropes for money.

[Your name here]

I know your life is full — with work, or school, or family — and yet you still find the time to help out when you can.

You may have a tight budget, but you give what you can afford.

A woman recently told the campaign her family skipped a pizza dinner at their favorite place so that they could make a difference in this election.

That is the commitment that drives this campaign.

If you can support Barack with a donation today, please know it makes a huge difference. If we win, it will be because of what you did at moments like this:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Our-Week

Thanks,
Michelle

P.S. — It meant a lot to me to speak with you and everyone else last night. Thank you for everything you do.

We are jaded, but, really, come on. A "do without" e-beg pushed over the signature of Mrs. Obama, a woman who flaunts living large, while the Democrats conspicuously soak up booze and heated canapés in Charlotte? [Pause.] Where to begin? Let's start with the campaign that so desperately needs your family's pizza-treat money.

LAS VEGAS: PRESIDENT OBAMA FEASTS
ON WORLD FAMOUS PIES FROM
DOM DEMARCO'S PIZZERIA

LAS VEGAS January 26, 2012 (Obama Foodorama) - Delivering a dozen pizzas and 20 cannolis to President Obama on Wednesday night in Las Vegas was "like being in a movie," Albert Scalleat, co-owner and general manager of Dom DeMarco's Pizzeria & Bar told Obama Foodorama.

... Scalleat brought the President six square Brooklyn-style thick crust pizzas, which sell for $27 each, and have 12 slices. There were 3 cheese pizzas, one sausage, one pepperoni, and one combo, which had sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms. Scalleat also brought six round, thin-crust pizzas, with exactly the same toppings. Those sell for $18 for the cheese, and $24 for the meat, and have 8 slices each.

The 20 cannolis, all oversized, were vanilla cream with chocolate chips, and go for $6 each, Scalleat said.

$1 MILLION PIZZA PARTY
OBAMA FUNDRAISER PLANNED BY
METRO DETROIT'S DENISE ILITCH
April 11, 2012 (HuffPo)

April Fools +10! No pizza was served, just ordinary rich people food. Denise Ilitch is the daughter of Little Caesars' founders Mike and Marian Ilitch. When asked what she planned to serve, Ms. Ilitich, the daughter, had joked: "Pizza! But, we’ll be serving it on sterling silver plates!"

AFTER A VISIT FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA,
BOULDER'S 'THE SINK' RESTAURANT
NAMES SPECIALS IN HOMAGE

BOULDER April 25, 2012 (Obama Foodorama) - In the midst of a three-stop college tour, President Obama dropped by The Sink bar and restaurant in Boulder, Colorado on Tuesday evening for an "unscheduled" eat n' greet. ... The Sink has also renamed the pizza the President ordered... Formerly known as "The Sinkza," it is now "The POTUS Pie", and just happens to have ingredients that are Presidential pizza favorites: Pepperoni and sausage, green peppers, black olives, and red onions. The President ordered a large, which goes for $20.99.

PRESIDENT OBAMA ORDERS PIZZA
AT 'BOB ROE'S POINT AFTER'
IN SIOUX CITY, IOWA

SIOUX CITY September 1, 2012 (Obama Foodorama) - The President ordered a pepperoni pizza ($15.25) to go. Later, holding a cardboard pizza box aloft, he asked an crowd outside the sports bar "Hey everybody, who wants some pizza?"

We're guessing here, but the family that donated their pizza-treat dollars are probably takers.

Next stop, the Obamas.

THE OBAMAS ORDER OUT
FOR PIZZA – FROM
ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS April 9, 2009 (People)

MICHELLE OBAMA'S
SATURDAY NIGHT
PIZZA PARTY

WASHINGTON April 10, 2011 (Obama Foodorama) - First Lady Michelle Obama had a swell time with daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, at popular Capitol Hill eatery We, The Pizza on Saturday evening, according to a hip ObFo tipster who was there for dinner at 8:00 PM, enjoying one of chef Spike Mendelsohn's gourmet pies. Mrs. Obama was also accompanied by a big party of about 15-20 pals and staff, and the group dined upstairs, at a single large table. Multiple pizzas were spotted on the table, and there was much laughter, according to the source.

PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS
DEL RAY PIZZERIA
$60 In Gourmet Pizza Pies Are Comfort Food
After A Christmas Gift Jaunt...

December 21, 2011 (Obama Foodorama) - [The] President dropped in to nearby Del Ray Pizzeria where he greeted excited customers after ordering three thin-crust pizza pies to go--two of which were special orders.

... Abrams [Del Ray server/manager] said the President ordered one large (14") thin crust "Supreme Clientele" pizza, which has red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, red onions, olives, and mushrooms, and sells for $19.

The President's two other pizzas were special orders: A 14" thin crust pepperoni and sausage pie, and a 14" thin crust pie with green peppers and red onions. Each was $20. The total bill was more than $60 with tax, and the President paid in cash, Abram said.

It occurs to us, if you are begging pizza out of the mouths of middle-class families, it's probably not great that there's a Web site devoted exclusively to what a swell time you're having ordering gourmet pizzas for yourself. Yeah, OK. That's just us.

Conspicuous highlifers asking for your family's night-out pizza-treat dollars might not seem so [We search for the difficult word.] -- Marie Antoinette-ish?* -- if Mr. Obama were presiding over a prosperous America, if pizza treats could be had for the asking, or if you weren't already docked for Sandra Fluke's hardship contraception. But he isn't, they aren't, and you are.

DEBT TO HIT $16 TRILLION
AS DNC KICKS OFF
September 4, 2012 (Politico)

BETTER OFF? LET'S COUNT
THE WAYS WE'RE NOT

OP-ED September 4, 2012 (IBD) - All weekend, Democratic party leaders kept fumbling their answer to a simple question: Are we better off than we were four years ago? There's a good reason for that: We're not.

... By most measures the country isn't making slow progress; it's falling further behind. Some examples:

  • Median incomes: These have fallen 7.3% since Obama took office, which translates into an average of $4,000. Since the so-called recovery started, median incomes continued to fall, dropping $2,544, or 4.8%.
  • Long-term unemployed: More than three years into Obama's recovery, 811,000 more still fall into this category than when the recession ended.
  • Poverty: The poverty rate climbed to 15.1% in 2010, up from 14.3% in 2009, and economists think it may have hit 15.7% last year, highest since the 1960s.
  • Food stamps: There are 11.8 million more people on food stamps since Obama's recovery started.
  • Disability: More than 1 million workers have been added to Social Security's disability program in the last three years.
  • Gas prices: A gallon of gas cost $1.89 when Obama was sworn in. By June 2009, the price was $2.70. Today, it's $3.84.
  • Misery Index: When Obama took office, the combination of unemployment and inflation stood at 7.83. Today it's 9.71.
  • Union membership: Even unions are worse off under Obama, with membership dropping half a million between 2009 and 2011.

And things don't look to improve before pizza-treat night in November.

FOOD INFLATION MAY RISE
TO 3% TO 4% IN 2013
AFTER DROUGHT
July 25, 2012 (Bloomberg)

MANUFACTURING DROP
"SHARPEST" IN 3 YEARS
IN AUGUST
BLOG September 4, 2012 (Hot Air)

To quote Mr. Biden:

These guys don’t have a sense of the average folks out there. They don’t know what it means to be middle class.

True, Joe. True.

CHOPE.

Pizza for POTUS. Can we count on your support and send you the bill?

------------------------------------
* Not really the right word -- the Queen never begged her brioche (second footnote) from the mouths of the third estate -- but it suggests the boorish cluelessness of the Obamas, as it does here also.

Posted by Damian at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Welcome To Charlotte!

Day 1,319 of CHOPE
D-minus 137 Days

Superficially Authentically Diverse DNC Edition

The DNC opened yesterday in Charlotte NC. Against the advice of Nancy Pelosi a lot of Democrats are attending. To make the Democrats more comfortable with the week's hard work of phony outrage (and this), feigning sunshine, lying straight-up on camera, unsluicing the scripted gush, and soaking up convention booze, the Tar Heels inverted their state motto as an act of hospitality and a better fit with Democrat convention themes: Videri quam esse. "What seems" over "what is". The shinola over the shit. Welcome, Donkeys!

090412_dnc_freakshow_imaksim_w484.png
THE CHARLATANS AT CHARLOTTE
The Circus Is In Town
[Picture source: Maksim]

It's going to be busy, so let's get started right away. First, the Tar Heel Welcome Wagon.

ROMNEY LEADS IN NORTH CAROLINA
AS DEMOCRAT CONVENTION BEGINS

September 3, 2012 (Red State) - As the delegates to the Democrat Convention gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, they are greeted with a discouraging headline in the Charlotte Observer, "As DNC begins, Romney Gains in N.C."

The headline is a reference to the new Elon University/Charlotte Observer Poll shows the GOP presidential candidate leading President Barack Obama 47 percent to 43 percent among likely voters in North Carolina.

Welcome, Donkeys!

BEDBUGS AN INCREASING CONCERN AT DNC HOTELS
Charlotte Seeing An Uptick In Pest Reports
CHARLOTTE September 3, 2012 (TWT)

Welcome, Donkeys!

DEBT TO HIT $16 TRILLION
AS DNC KICKS OFF

September 4, 2012 (Politico) - Bad timing for Democrats: The gross national debt is set to hit $16 trillion Tuesday as the party’s convention gets under way, and Republicans are pouncing.

Welcome, Donkeys!

Everyone's so excited! Everyone ready to do their bit!

POWERHOUSE PLANNED PARENTHOOD
RALLY DRAWS PALTRY CROWD
By Mary Katharine Ham

CHARLOTTE September 4, 2012 (Hot Air) - A vagina costume lay abandoned in a sad, pink heap 20 yards from the stage at a Planned Parenthood rally in Charlotte Tuesday. The pink-clad crowd of women didn’t come close to filling its unlikely venue in the plaza of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The numbers stayed stubbornly low throughout a relatively star-studded event emceed by comedian and voiceover star of "Archer", Aisha Tyler, who introduced Newark Mayor Cory Booker, "House M.D." actress Lisa Edelstein, and the most famous woman ever to be incapable of a trip to the CVS— Sandra Fluke. Downtown Charlotte (Uptown to the locals) was papered aggressively with flyers blaring, "YES WE PLAN!" and "2012" in which the zero is a birth-control dispenser.

Welcome, Donkeys!

CBC CHAIR: BLACK VOTERS AREN’T YET
'ENERGIZED' ENOUGH FOR OBAMA TO WIN

CHARLOTTE September 4, 2012 (Wa Ex) - Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO, 5th), said that President Obama needs black voters to be more enthusiastic about voting for him this fall than they are at the moment, adding that the Democratic National Convention must revive their interest in this election.

... Cleaver said that Obama must remind black voters of the government programs that he wants to provide them, but not do so explicitly.

... Obama’s support for gay marriage also threatens to depress black turnout this year. In North Carolina, for instance, a prominent black pastor who helped lead the push in that state to ban gay marriage has recorded a radio ad telling black voters to stay home.

Welcome, Donkeys!

PROTESTERS TO OCCUPY OBAMA CAMPAIGN OFFICES
NATIONWIDE DURING DNC ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
September 4, 2012 (BB)

Welcome, Donkeys! Welcome, Donkeys! Welcome, Donkeys! [Exhausted pause.] Welcome to Charlotte.

CHOPE.

This is going to be great.

Posted by Damian at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- President "Incomplete"

Day 1,319 of CHOPE
D-minus 137 Days

He's the Hardest Working Man In Show Business. He's the Common Man President. He's Sleepless In D.C. A name for every claim and an excuse for every name, Mr. Obama completes our list of colorful epithets with his latest pronounced attribute -- "incompleteability". Ladies and gentlemen, please give a hand -- and anything else that might be missing -- to President Incomplete.

OBAMA: I GIVE MYSELF AN
"INCOMPLETE"
ON THE ECONOMY
By Ed Morrissey

BLOG September 4, 2012 (Hot Air) - Barack Obama spoke to KKTV in Colorado Springs last night, which didn’t ask the tougher question of the week — are we better off than we were four years ago? — but did ask Obama to grade his performance on the economy.  Obama gave himself an incomplete, which as BuzzFeed notes is the same grade Obama gave himself in 2010 and 2011.

2009 was a different story. In his first year Mr. Obama, confident he would make all the right choices he hadn't already made, was just Obamacare away from an A-!

Q: What grade would you give yourself for this year?

Ah um. [Mentally scoring.] Good solid B+.

Q: A B+?

Yeah. I mean I think that we have inherited the [Pause to organize excuse.] biggest set of challenges of any president since, ah, Franklin Delanor [sic] Roosevelt. Ah, we stabilized the economy. Prevented the possibilities of a great depression or a significant financial meltdown. [Counting up fingers.] Ah, the economy is growing again. We are on our way out of Iraq. Ah, I think we have the best possible plan for Afghanistan. [Counting down fingers.] We have reset our image, ah, around the world. Ah, we are, ah, we have achieved an international consensus around the need for Iran and North Korea to disable their nuclear weapons. Ah, and I think we're going to pass the most significant piece of social legislation since, ah, Social Security and that's health, ah, health insurance for every American.*

Q: [Stepping on drone of accomplishments.] So B+. What could you have done better?

Well, B+ because of the things that are undone. Health care is not yet signed. If I get health passed, we tip into A-. [Amused self-chuckle.]

Mr. Obama,
demonstrating why students do not grade themselves
CHRISTMAS AT THE WHITE HOUSE:
AN OPRAH PRIMETIME SPECIAL
WASHINGTON December 13, 2009 (Mediaite/ABC)

Of course it was nearing Christmas back then, so maybe Mr. Obama found that "solid B+" in a stocking. Or maybe he just reached below and pulled out an easy grade for a record floating on not much more than media fumes. The same place where easy "incompletes" can be pulled out whole and entire, year on year, without a wit of embarrassment and without fear of being challenged -- most of the time.

STEPHANIE CUTTER DEFENDS
OBAMA’S ‘INCOMPLETE’ GRADE:
'HE’S NOT DONE YET'

September 4, 2012 (WaEx) - Speaking at an ABC/Yahoo News forum this morning, Stephanie Cutter defended [!] President Obama’s "incomplete" grade on the economy.

ABC’s Jake Tapper reminded her that it had been four years since the president took office.

"Does that answer cut it?" Tapper asked, "An incomplete after a full term?"

Cutter reminded Tapper of the gravity of the recession when Obama took office and said that it Obama had turned things around "pretty quickly" [!!].

"We’re on a path forward [!!!], we’re on our way up [!!!!] and there is a lot more that he wants to get done [!!!!!]," Cutter said. "He’s not done yet [!!!!!!]."

Intrepid politicos like Mr. Obama are never done, they're never bested. [Pause.] What is maddening here, aside from the utter baselessness of Ms. Cutter's Pollyannaism, is that Mr. Obama laid down his marker way back in February 2009 while the CHOPE was still hot out of the inaugural oven:

One nice thing about the situation I find myself in is that I will be held accountable. I've got four years.

Q: You're going to know quickly how people feel about what's happened.

That's exactly right. And a year from now I think people are going to see that we're starting to make some progress, but there's still going to be some pain out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition.

Mr. Obama,
providing the prize soundbite of 2012
TODAY INTERVIEW
WASHINGTON February 1, 2009 (RCP/MSNBC)

Before the year was out it quickly became obvious the three-year timeline was a pipe-dream. Two and a half years away from Mr. Obama's marker Team Barry readied a killer response to turn back impatient critics and absolve Mr. Obama when his marker eventually came due.

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN ADMITS THAT
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
'MISREAD' THE ECONOMY
WASHINGTON July 05, 2009 (NYDN/AP)

Oopsie. Honest mistake. Anyone can make an honest -- well, er, anyone who calls a sharpie like Jon Corzine for "What do you think we should do?" advice is bound to make mistakes. Mystery solved. Team Obama, self-assured in February, completely blndsided in July. Don't blame them, they weren't elected to act outside their cocoon of preconceptions.

The problem here is that what is a "solid incomplete" for Mr. Obama would for any sitting Republican be a fell "F". The Democrats would have -- have had -- no trouble assigning such a grade and the press would have -- has had -- no trouble promoting it. But Mr. Obama is different. He is the darling of a party and a press steeped in the not-so-soft-bigotry of low expectations. He is a protected species of politician, the black liberal Democrat,** protected by racism turned on its head.

CHOPE.

Incompleteability, it's like a superpower of the inept.

------------------------------------
* We address each of these claims here.

** It's always open season on black conservative -- and black moderate -- politicians.

Posted by Damian at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2012

NYC Letter: We're Not Saying, We're Just Saying -- The Sandman

Day 1,318 of CHOPE
D-minus 138 Days

There is coincidence. And then there is synthetic irony.

From Wikipedia:

Sandman (William Baker a.k.a. Flint Marko) is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. [He is a] shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand.

Because super villains must be defeated but not terminally dispatched, Sandman meets his end, one of them, slowly sifting down a drain.

090312_sandman_w500.png
AN ACCIDENT OF SCIENCE
[Picture source: Marvel]

And then there is Mr. Obama, The Sandman, who is also a shapeshifter by an accident of politics, sifting down a drain. At the DNC Mr. Obama, The Sandman, will hop from metaphor to 15½ tons of white sand.

090312_obama_sandman_w438.png
AN ACCIDENT OF POLITICS
Obama Sandman At The EpiCentre
[Picture source: Doug Ross]

Uh-ho.

DEMS REMOVE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SAND
FROM RED STATE MYRTLE BEACH

September 1, 2012 (themorningspew.com) - It’s being reported that Democrats have removed over 15 tons of sand from Myrtle Beach, SC in order to erect a giant Barack Obama sand sculpture at the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte, NC. Why am I perplexed and not merely amused? Because in 1998, the Army Corp of Engineers spent $60 million of public money to put sand back into the beach!

From the Myrtle Beach Visitor’s Bureau:

Myrtle Beach area beaches are wider than ever, the result of a two-year renourishment project completed in 1998. It pumped almost five million cubic yards of new sand onto the shores. This $60 million enhancement plan was conducted by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers with federal, state and local funding in cooperation with Myrtle Beach area municipalities and a national dredging company.

... It’s also puzzling that Democrats, who consider themselves bastions of environmental policy, would actually think that utilizing sand for this purpose was a good idea, especially when beaches remain a fragile habitat for many types of endangered wildlife.

The horror abates. Myrtyle Beach itself sponsored the sculpture to promote tourism to its sandless beach. You can't lay every outsized megalomaniacal project at Mr. Obama's feet.

WHA-A! OH NOS!

HEAVY RAINS WASH AWAY
'MOUNT OBAMA' IN CHARLOTTE

CHARLOTTE September 1, 2012 (TWT) - A torrential downpour that struck Charlotte on Saturday afternoon damaged the Mount Rushmore-style sand sculpture bust of President Obama — an ominous beginning to what many fear is a plagued convention.

... The sand sculpture was protected from above, and Mr. Obama's face didn't see too much damage. But the storm was so strong that its heavy winds blew the rain sideways, pelting the president's right side and leaving the sand pockmarked and completely erasing his right elbow.

Democrats' choice of Charlotte has drawn criticism from unions that don't like North Carolina's labor laws, and the state seems to be tilting away from Democrats politically.

The large Mount Rushmore-style sculpture drew comparisons to Mr. Obama's 2008 convention in Denver, when he accepted his party's nomination on a stage that looked like a Greek temple.

And now a Kultur Korner reading on the impermanence of big things:

Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822),
poet
Ozymandias (London: The Examiner, 1818) Lines 11-14

CHOPE.

Mr. Obama, where fabulous meets sabulous.

Posted by Damian at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2012

NYC Letter: Soaring Oratory XII -- Fort Bliss

Day 1,317 of CHOPE
D-minus 139 Days

UPDATE 06.04.12: Welcome, Hot Air folk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

As commander-in-chief Mr. Obama can capture an audience -- the troops under his command -- at his beck. But as the saying goes, you can march an audience to Mr. Obama, but you can't make it applaud.

OBAMA SPEECH TO SOLDIERS
MET WITH SILENCE

August 31, 2012 (TDC) - President Barack Obama was greeted with fleeting applause and extended periods of silence as he offered profuse praise to soldiers and their families during an Aug. 31 speech in Fort Bliss, Texas.

His praise for the soldiers — and for his own national-security policies — won cheers from only a small proportion of the soldiers and families in the cavernous aircraft-hangar.

The audience remains quiet even when the commander-in-chief thanked the soldiers’ families, and cited the 198 deaths of their comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The audience’s reaction was so flat that the president tried twice to elicit a reaction from the crowd.

"Hey, I hear you," he said amid silence.

The selected soldiers who were arrayed behind the president sat quietly throughout the speech.

CNN and MSNBC ended their coverage of the speech before it was half-over.

Don't want people seeing that!

Throughout Friday’s speech, the loudest reactions came when the president name-checked the nicknames of the soldiers' brigades. Major military units have their own rival cheers, and those could be heard from portions of the audience when he referred to individual units.

The troops' silence continued through several obvious applause-lines.

There was isolated cheers when Obama said his withdrawal policy would ensure "fewer deployments ... more time to prepare for the future, and it means more time on the home front, with your families, your home and kids."

The silence deepened when the president lauded his strategy of withdrawal from the war. "Make no mistake, ending the wars responsibly makes us safer and our military even stronger, and ending these wars is letting us do something else; restoring American leadership," he said amid complete silence.

When he said demobilized soldiers would find jobs because "all of you have the skills America needs," he got little reaction.

There was no reaction when he promised stepped-up recruitment of soldiers for police jobs.

He won some applause when he announced his support for soldiers injured in combat.

The most enthusiastic applause came when he lauded the soldiers' military mission, and promised continued support for that professional task.

An anecdote about his meeting with a wounded soldier was met with a tepid response, until he described the soldier’s determination to recover and return to his unit. "He’s where every soldier wants to be – back with his unit," Obama said, generating applause.

Similarly, his declaration that "around the world there’s a new attitude toward America, a new confidence in our leadership" yielded only silence, while his next sentence — "When people are asked ‘Which country do you admire most?’ one nation always comes out on top, the United States of America" — prompted relative enthusiasm.

The White House’s video-feed cut off 10 seconds after the president finished his speech, before the audience’s reaction overall could be gauged by viewers.

Don't want people seeing that!

So when Mr. Obama brags on himself, silence. When he promises something, a smattering of applause. When he recognizes the military, cheers. Now why is that? [We consider why that is.] Perhaps it's because they sense the depth of his sincerity (and this). Perhaps it's because they have experienced his support first-hand (and this and this). Then again, perhaps they've been fooled once too often.

INTERNAL ARMY POLL:
ONLY 26% OF OFFICERS SAY ARMY
HEADED IN RIGHT DIRECTION --
'POLITICAL CORRECTNESS' CITED

August 31, 2012 (CNS News) - An internal Army survey that was conducted in 2011 and published this year discovered that only 26 percent of active-duty Army officers say yes [the U.S. Army is headed in the right direction]--and that one of the two main themes cited by those who say no is that the Army is now adversely impacted by "political correctness" imposed by both outside policymakers and senior Army leaders.

The 26 percent who said the Army was headed in the right direction in 2011 was the lowest percentage who gave that response since the Army began conducting this survey in 2005. It was also significant drop from the 33 percent who had said the Army was heading in the right direction in 2010.

In the 2011 survey, in contrast to the 26 percent who said the Army was heading in the right direction, 38 percent said it was headed in the wrong direction and another 36 percent remained neutral on the topic, neither agreeing nor disagreeing that the army is heading in the right direction.

The report said that 24 percent of those who believed the Army was not headed in the right direction provided additional comments on why they believed that was the case. "Two themes stood out in these comments," said the report. The first was concern over the downsizing of the Army and the impact it might have on national security.

... "Secondly," said the report, "several comments indicated that political correctness or the influence of politics in the Army is a reason the Army is not headed in the right direction. These comments generally cited the negative influence of government policy makers (outside the Army) as being detrimental to the future of the Army, and indicated that senior Army leaders themselves felt the need to bow to 'politically correct solutions' to appease policy makers, or to 'play politics' within their own organizations."

For example, this.

The public trusts the military. The military is wary of its current leaders. We'll see if the public votes in November to reassure those who defend and protect them.

CHOPE.

One hand clapping.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (2)

NYC Letter: "America's Comeback Team" -- Mr. Eastwood's Speech

Day 1,314 of CHOPE
D-minus 142 Days

I wasn’t quite sure what I was watching last night.

Jay Carney,
WH press secretary and Clint Eastwood fan,
remarking on Mr. Eastwood's RNC speech
PRESS GAGGLE ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE
EL PASO (En Route) August 31, 2012 (White House)

In truth, neither were we.

090212_clint-eastwood_w484.png
ADDRESSING THE EMPTY CHAIR
He's Not There
[Picture source: zap2it.com]

Oh, but some people were all too sure what they saw. Just see the round-up of liberal reaction at the picture link above.

Mr. Eastwood is a popular actor, an established director, a celebrity. So the celebrity-dominated left was uneasy about rumors Mr. Eastwood was preparing to speak at the RNC. He wouldn't be going to the RNC to prop up Mr. Obama. When the rumors proved out, there was the tricky business of marginalizing Mr. Eastwood without appearing to attack one of their own. That sort of thing would only undermine Hollywood's self-image as a bastion of liberalism, and falling afoul of Mr. Eastwood's fan base might be bad for box office.

The Atlantic got busy and did no less than three "move along nothing to see here" pieces on Mr. Eastwood before his RNC speech. For example, Christopher Orr wrote:

Whatever the 82-year-old star has to say at the RNC tonight, it would be wise not to take it too seriously.

Because wisdom resides with Mr. Orr, who, he points out twice, wrote an essay for Salon (Salon mind you!) on Mr. Eastwood's variable politics. This makes Mr. Orr the last word on taking Mr. Eastwood seriously. So don't.

If you haven't watched the speech, please do before slogging through our take. (Video and transcript here. Watch the speech before doing the read.) [Ten minutes and forty seconds later.] Alright. Now you've watched what we've watched. [Pause.] Mr. Eastwood blindsided us. We were expecting a Clint Eastwood persona, the Stranger With No Name or Dirty Harry, giving a polished hard-hitting scripted performance. Instead Mr. Eastwood pulled the needle hard across the vinyl.

But it worked. How do we know it worked? Because we are still puzzling over it, replaying the simple dagger blows, and thinking on the empty chair. We also know that it worked because liberals are out in force complaining about the speech or disparaging Mr. Eastwood. Box office be damned! For example, cable exile and go-to jackass, Bill Maher shot off this tweet:

That Mr. Eastwood has opinions that are not Mr. Maher's opinions is conclusive evidence of Bill Maher Certified Asshole-ism -- according to Mr. Maher, who on any given day works at being an asshole because he is paid to be an asshole. Yet what Mr. Maher finds objectionable are not Mr. Eastwood's opinions, it is Mr. Eastwood's successful selling of those opinions.

BILL MAHER: EASTWOOD 'KILLED' IT

August 31, 2012 (Politico) - On his HBO show on Friday, Maher gave the actor "props" for pretending that President Obama was sitting in an empty chair next to him onstage. Mr. Maher:
As a performer, as a stand-up comedian for 30 years who knows how hard it is to get laughs, excuse me, he went up there … without a net, on a tightrope. There was no teleprompter. He did a bit with just an empty chair and killed. He committed to it, it was consistent and it worked.

Not to get too sentimental, Mr. Maher showed his liberal mettle and repeated his tweet line -- verbatim -- for the show. What has Mr. Maher and his ilk sputtering is not the speech. It's the persistent afterimage of Mr. Eastwood's empty chair. It is the afterimage that they cannot unstick from people's minds. Whether an accident of genius or the finding of some Mad Men behavioral focus group, the empty chair has become the election meme. A single image supporting a multitude of criticisms of the Obama presidency, criticisms that now can be recalled or reinforced in a single glance.

090212_empty_chair_w438.png
MEET THE PRESIDENT
The President Is In. Or Maybe Not. Same Difference.

   
EASTWOODING
[Picture sources (L to R): Liza Donnelly, LA Mag, Ola Betiku, UOL Tecnologia
Click to enlarge.]

The left is snorting among themselves at Mr. Eastwood and his empty chair. They are having their superior snark. They are Eastwooding, riffing on the empty chair, as fast as they can tweet happy-snaps of their unoccupied Eames Loungers. Each funny photo just burns the empty chair deeper into the public's psyche. It's not the joke that burns in, it's the message.

The left has set its head afire and will realize it soon enough, but it will be too late. They won't find that so funny.

CHOPE.

The argument against the empty chair to the empty chair.

Posted by Damian at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe On The Job XXVII -- "This Guy Just Isn’t Bright"

Day 1,316 of CHOPE
D-minus 140 Days

Ladies and gentlemen. The Vice President of the United States [Presentational pause.] Joe Bidenopoulos. [Orchestra strikes up entrance theme.]

032111_joe_biden_w438.png
"HE’S JUST NOT VERY SMART."
That's Just Joe Being Joe

VP: 'I'M JOE BIDENOPOULOS'

WARREN, Ohio August 31, 2012 (Politico) - The vice president strode into a local restaurant here with a message for the Greek-Americans enjoying their lunch: "I'm Joe Bidenopoulos."

"Ask George," he told some men gathered around a table at the Mocha House. It was unclear who George was, maybe someone at the table, but it was clear that the vice president was talking about himself when he said something about "the most Greek Irishman he's ever known."

It's lame but we are expected to think it cute. Joe being cute. It's always Joe being cute. Here it's Joe being cute retail politicking. [Pause.] No. Really, it's lame. There's no cute. Mr. Biden is lame all the way down. For example, there is this anecdote from No Easy Day by Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette (writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen):

Bissonnette writes less flatteringly of meeting Vice President Joe Biden along with Obama at the headquarters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment after the raid. He says Biden told "lame jokes" no one understood, reminding him of "someone's drunken uncle at Christmas dinner."

Better to suffer Mr. Biden's lame jokes than his lip-lock.

BIDEN DOES RETAIL POLITICS
Kisses Supporter On Lips.

August 31, 2012 (TWS) - From the pool report:
One woman, who the pool later identified as Bev Kalmer, of Poland, Ohio, told the VP: "Welcome to Ohio." His response: "I've been waitin' all day to be here."

She said "You gotta keep the chair" to him -- a reference to Clint Eastwood's speech last night at the RNC -- and he gave her a kiss right on the lips. She swooned. Asked if she wants Biden to run for president in 2016, she told the pool: "I don't know. We've got to keep the chair." She paused. "You got that? The invisible chair."

The truth is only Mr. Biden thinks he is a 2016 contender. His own party has already clued him twice.* And Mr. Biden has obviously not considered a 2016 Obama bid following his failed 2012 re-election. We seriously doubt Mr. Biden will be invited to ride shotgun on a revenant Obama candidacy. It sounds cruel, but Mr. Biden is a small-time politician past his prime and far beyond his station. Improbably, he has back-slapped and ring-kissed his way to the vice presidency. Congratulations, but that's the end of the line, Joe. You're an idiot. It shows. And, no, you can't be president.

I think the vice president of the United States has become a laugh line on late night television. I mean, I’ve never seen a vice president that has made as many mistakes, said as many stupid things. ... There’s a real fear if, God forbid, he ever had to be entrusted with the presidency, whether he really has the mental capacity to handle it. I mean, this guy just isn’t bright. He’s never been bright. He isn’t bright. People think, 'Well, he just talks a little too much.' Actually, he’s just not very smart.

Rudy Guiliani,
former NYC mayor and GOP presidential wannabe,
stating the obvious that dare not speak its name
THE KUDLOW REPORT
August 15, 2012 (Politico/CNBC)

CHOPE.

The presiding member of the "Cracked Head Club".

------------------------------------
* From our October 2, 2008 post [amended]:

Mr. Biden has twice failed to convince his own party that he is presidential material (1988 garnering 2 delegates [out of 4,103.75] and most recently 2008, when he garnered none [out of 4,419]).
Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2012

NYC Letter: "America's Comeback Team" -- It's Mitt!

Day 1,313 of CHOPE
D-minus 143 Days

Fuse-Is-Lit Edition

IT'S OFFICIAL: MITT ROMNEY IS
THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

TAMPA August 28, 2012 (LAT) - Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu formally put Romney's name into nomination just before 5 p.m. EDT. After the nomination was seconded [by Ron Kaufman], the long, raucous and colorful process of state-by-state voting commenced.

New Jersey's 50 votes put Romney over the 1,144 needed for nomination at about 5:40 p.m., prompting a polite and rather restrained demonstration on the convention floor.

We admit it. During the primaries we were not too jumped up over the plodding eventuality of Mr. Romney's nomination.

henry-payne_20120406_w484.png
YEAH. YAY. WHATEVER.
Not Too Excited During The Primaries.
[Picture source: Henry Payne April 6, 2012]

Other candidates seemed brasher, pugnacious, more righteously angry. Mr. Romney's slow-and-steady didn't suit our mood for a preview of a gloves-off slug fest with Mr. Obama. While several candidates flared then flopped, Mr. Romney stayed focused on the delegate arithmetic. The Romney campaign went largely underestimated or under-appreciated. It was criticized for style. It was criticized for failing to ignite the base.

But unbeknownst to his critics, Campaign Mitt was plodding like a fox.

In retrospect it seems obvious -- to us at least -- that Mr. Romney has shrewdly paced his campaign to peak in the fall, not spend itself in the summer slow-news cycles. Mr. Obama has spent a good portion of his campaign's cash on summer attack ads that didn't buy him the breakaway lead he needed going into the fall. The attacks themselves look to have been sprung too early, allowing too much lead for effective rebuttals and debunking. Come October another round of attacks on Mr. Romney's business experience and acumen will pack all the wallop of a spaghetti-punch.

With no "big mo" from the summer attacks, Money Team Barry continues to underperform on fundraising, resorting to non-stop "we're going to lose" e-begs. A "we're going to lose" plea is usually reserved as a motivator of last resort -- to scare the sympathetic but unengaged to vote. Springing it this early won't improve fundraising, but it will convince the unmotivated that there are better things to do November 6 than stand in line for a loser.

In sharp contrast the money has been pouring in for Money Team Mitt.

Mr. Romney made one more shrewd calculation -- Mr. Obama would stick with Joe Biden. Or more pointedly, Mr. Obama was stuck with Joe Biden. At this late date there would be no way to spin a switcheroo. It would be read as an acknowledgement that something was fundamentally wrong with the ticket and the judgment behind the ticket. Swapping out Joe for anyone else would cause more damage than excitement, but keeping Joe is a rolling disaster. Mr. Romney on the other hand had his VP pick in reserve. The right pick would dominate the news, fire up the base, catch the notice of the unengaged, and define the tenor of the post-Labor Day campaign.

Mr. Romney picked rightly.

So while Campaign Barry risibly claims its low-turnout rallies are by design, Romney and Ryan rallies draw bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger crowds who patiently wait hours for the candidates to make an appearance.

082812_romney_nomination_w438.png
IT'S MITT!
Timing The Win
[Picture source: LAT/Tannen Maury/European Pressphoto Agency]

Election campaigns are meant to not just argue the best ideas, but to demonstrate a candidate's ability to organize and run a successful enterprise. (In 2008 Mr. Obama cited his own campaign as conclusive proof of his executive skills.) The election campaign serves as a preview for how a candidate who succeeds at the ballot will succeed in office. Campaign Mitt has shown that it has more strategic depth than its critics, that its thinking extends beyond the news cycles, and that it can execute the long view.

Our enthusiasm for the 2008 GOP ticket was based in large part on the match up between Sarah Palin, an accomplished executive, versus Mr. Obama, a disaster-in-waiting. This time around we're pretty stoked about the Romney-Ryan ticket.

CHOPE.

Hope and change changes hands.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- With Charlie Crist, Republican Independent!

Day 1,312 of CHOPE
D-minus 144 Days

Campaign Barry is still looking for a campaign theme they can sell that the public will buy. This seemed to preview well (and here and also the subtle troika version). Presenting Mr. Obama as a retreaded Mr. Clinton seemed a bit of genius.

OBAMA: I'M RUNNING FOR
CLINTON'S 3RD AND 4TH TERMS
April 29, 2012 (WaEx)

Alas, the rollout proved disappointing. People quickly figured out that Bill Clinton wasn't heading the ticket. So it was back to square one trying to sell an incumbent who can only lose running on his record.

The next big idea -- raid the opposition for disaffected lifelong-Republicans-voting-for-Obama. Americans for Prosperity had already run a "disaffected Democrats" ad to good effect (and what works gets a second go-round). Campaign Barry put out its copycat ad but to different reviews.

TWO IN 'REPUBLICAN WOMEN FOR OBAMA'
AD EXPOSED AS DEMOCRATS

August 25, 2012 (TDC) - Although the ad got a lot of playtime on MSNBC Friday, a recent so-called “Republican women for Obama” video advertisement has turned out to be a disingenuous campaign ploy.

... First pointed out by Zeke Miller of Buzzfeed, one of the featured actors in the video, Maria Ciano had been a registered Democrat since October 2006, according to Colorado voter registration records.

John Hinderaker of Powerline took it a step further and investigated Ciano’s Facebook page and found some of her Facebook “likes” fall under many left-on-center causes. ... But Hinderaker also discovered that Ciano’s mother, Delia Ciano is another one of the women in the ad, who also has a history of pro-Obama support on her Facebook as well.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air does the carve-up:

It’s certainly possible that Ms. Ciano had at one time been Republican. Her conversion to Democrat had nothing to do with Mitt Romney, or even Barack Obama, however. And it’s difficult to ascertain exactly what about Romney would have driven the rest of them off, either.  One woman cites Romney’s desire to see Roe overturned, as if she’s never heard that argument in the four decades that Republicans have been making it. George W. Bush made it just as much of an issue when running for President, if not more; every Republican nominee for President since Reagan has taken that position, as have most of the candidates who failed to get the nomination. This must be one of the most low-information groups of voters ever featured in a national campaign.

He also cocks his head at the whole Demo copycat strategy:

It occurs to me that playing the apostasy card makes perfect sense for Republicans in this cycle. They need Obama voters [from] 2008 to change their minds in order to win the election. I’m not sure, though, why Team Obama feels the need to push that angle. If they hold their 2008 coalition, they would cruise to victory in this cycle. They don’t need McCain voters to switch — they just need Obama 2008 voters to turn out in 2012 and not to have changed their minds. Instead of building off of brand loyalty, though, they’re trolling for Republicans — and doing it badly. That should tell us all we need to know about their confidence in this cycle.

The Republicans meanwhile snagged a genuine former lifelong Democrat to speak at their convention.

ARTUR DAVIS’S CONVERSION
The Former Democratic Congressman
Is A Threat To His Old Party.
By John Fund

August 27, 2012 (NRO) - Republicans have decided to showcase former Democratic congressman Artur Davis of Alabama as a "headline" speaker at their convention. Davis, a moderate black Democrat who voted against Obamacare in 2010 and was crushed later that year in a Democratic primary for governor, has since left the Democratic party and is backing Mitt Romney. He was an early Obama supporter — the first Democratic congressman outside Illinois to endorse the candidate in 2007. He seconded Obama’s nomination for president at the 2008 Denver convention.

And what is Mr. Davis's message?

"The Obama I endorsed was the constitutional-law professor who said he supported the rule of law," Davis explained to me. "Instead, we got someone who always went to the left whenever he reached a fork in the road." Now Davis spends a great deal of time describing his conversion to Republican audiences. Even Jamelle Bouie, a writer for the left-wing American Prospect who doesn’t find Davis’s conversion story all that compelling, acknowledges its power. "Davis, like Joe Lieberman before him (and Zell Miller before that), can tell a credible story of ideological alienation," Bouie wrote in the Washington Post. "He thought the Democratic Party was a big tent, but now — under Barack Obama — it is a haven for intolerant leftism."

That is a big ouch. Mr. Davis is not disillusioned, he is betrayed.

The Democrats scoured the ranks of Republicans for a counter-punch to Mr. Davis. They reached low, and there at the bottom of the barrel, there was Charlie Crist!

CHARLIE CRIST TO SPEAK
AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

TAMPA August 27, 2012 (TBO/AP) - The former Republican governor confirmed Monday that he will be speaking at the Democratic National Convention next week in Charlotte, N.C. It's news that comes as Republicans hold their convention to nominate Romney as their presidential candidate - an event being held across Tampa Bay from Crist's St. Petersburg home.

... Crist left the party in 2010 after declaring he would run for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

Mr. Crist ran a bizarre do-anything-say-anything Senate campaign. (More bizarrerie here and here.) He was handily defeated by Marco Rubio in a three-way race (48.9%/29.7% with Democrat Democrat Kendrick Meek pulling 20.1%).

Crist on Sunday endorsed Obama.

And what will Mr. Crist's message be before the DNC?

CRIST 2008: SARAH PALIN MORE QUALIFIED
TO BE PRESIDENT THAN BARACK OBAMA
August 27, 2012 (WaEx)

Mr. Crist is just the sort of feather in the wind you want to build an endorsement campaign on.

CHOPE.

Desperately seeking Republicans.

Posted by Damian at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Botch Cluster

Day 1,310 of CHOPE
D-minus 146 Days

The Daily Mail makes our job easy with a single article collection of Mr. Obama's latest botches.

IT'S ADMIRAL MCRAVEN, MR PRESIDENT!
OBAMA BOTCHES RANK OF TOP NAVY SEAL

August 23, 2012 (Daily Mail) - Barack Obama has always been known for his silken words, soaring rhetoric and ability to use language to his advantage. Lately, however, the president seems to be losing command of the details.

Botch №1.

In a speech at a fundraiser in New York on Wednesday night, he took aim at Todd Akin, the political punch bag du jour on both sides of the political aisle. Mr. Obama:
Recently, some of you have been paying attention to the commentary of the Senator of Missouri, Mr Akin, who - the interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology, but somehow missed science class.

The problem is, Akin is a congressman who is running for a US Senate seat in Missouri. Senator Claire McCaskill, Obama’s favourite Senator until a few months ago when she started to distance herself from him in an effort to win re-election, might not particularly appreciate the President having conceded her seat already.

Botch №2.

Then there was the stop at Sloopy’s bar on the campus of Ohio State University where Obama posed will students to spell out the four letters in Ohio. Except that, initially at least, the President and the student on his right got their letters wrong, spelling: 'O-I-H-O'.

Ouch.

Headline botch, №3.

Perhaps most seriously, however, was Obama’s slip in an interview with KSDK in St Louis, Missouri when he was asked about the new 22-minute film ‘Dishonorable Disclosures’ by a group of former Special Forces troops and intelligence operatives. Mr. Obama:
I won't take this film too seriously. I gather that one of the producers is a birther who still doesn't think I was born in this country. ... I'd advise that you talk to General McRaven, who's in charge of our Special Ops. I think he has a point of view in terms of how deeply I care about what these folks do each and every day to protect our freedom.

The difficulty with this is that William McRaven is and admiral not a general. As a SEAL, he is member of the US Navy, not US Army or US Marines.

Obama has made mistakes with military terminology before. In February 2010, he mispronounced 'corpsman' – as 'corpse-man' instead of 'core-man' several times. Last year, he mixed up two Medal of Honor recipients, saying that 'Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honour to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously'.

Jared Monti was killed in action in Afghanistan and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

For servicemen, ranks are important – they have worked hard and, in many cases, risked their lives, to earn them. And it’s one thing to omit a rank [Ed.: Or a whole branch of the Armed Services.] and another to botch the rank of the highest-ranking Special Forces operator in the country.

Perhaps the broader question is why Obama though it appropriate to talk about how Admiral McRaven had 'a point of view in terms of how deeply I care about what these folks do each and every day to protect our freedom'. Military leaders should be respected as non-partisan figures. It is unseemly, at best, for Obama to use Admiral McRaven for political purposes as a character referee to tell voters how much he cares about American troops.

Each by itself is not a big mistake, but when mistakes start to pile up, the impression runs counter to someone running on his connection with people and their circumstances. These are not slips, Mr. Obama does not catch the error and correct himself (with the possible exception of the O-I-H-O fumble). And whereas any of these mistakes by Mr. Bush, Ms. Palin, or now Mr. Romney would be reported as stupidity, incompetence, and disconnection, respectively, not so Mr. Obama. He leads a charmed media life and these are reported simply as mistakes -- if they are reported at all. It seems to us that as Mr. Obama's re-election bid becomes more desperate, he becomes sloppier and sloppier. Enough of that and it makes an irredeemable impression.

CHOPE.

Not big on details.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- "Better Then"

Day 1,309 of CHOPE
D-minus 147 Days

Back in June accidental reader BIFF pointed out a typo -- which we corrected and thanked him for his sharp eye. But BIFF wasn't done with us.

In BIFF's mind there is a jump from typo to moron.

If you're so razor-smart yourself, Damian, why is it you don't know the difference between "then" and "than" in *the first friggin' sentence of your post*?

Glass houses and stones, pal.

Mind you, BIFF makes his claim not based on a sampling of our use of "than" and "then" throughout the site but on this one instance only. That's all BIFF needs to size us up as a moron. And our typo so enraged BIFF he broadened his complaint.

And I am tired of *you* sticking me with *your* crappy elected representatives.

Yup, liberals are smarter than you. Because they don't vote for people who turn right around and screw them over. That's what *your* *Republican* "elected Representatives" do. *All the time*.

Moron.

There you go. All that for a single typo. BIFF the smartest guy at E-N! We answer BIFF's various complaints in the thread (at the first link above), but we bring him up here to establish the liberal marker for moron, to show how very little is required for a BIFF-styled liberal to feel intellectually superior to a non-liberal. [Pause.] And to table-set the below.

082512_campaign_barry_air_banner_w438.png
NOT PHOTOSHOPPED
[Picture source: CBS News via Weasel Zipper]

The above is one of many responses (and here) to Mr. Romney's gutterball politics.

"AMERICA IS BETTER THEN BIRTHERISM"
By Jim Treacher

BLOG August 25, 2012 (TDC) - That’s the message in the skies above today’s Romney/Ryan rally in Powell, Oiho Ohio.

Maeve Reston at the LA Times says MoveOn.org is responsible for this. That makes sense, because they’re super-smart.

MoveOn.org is chock-a-block with liberals, so -- per BIFF -- it's like Brainiac Central.

Speaking of words that people don’t know how to use, I’ve been informed by my old pal Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) that I’m a "birther". The reason I’m a "birther" is that I think Obama was born in Hawaii. I’m also a "birther" because when Obama wants me to believe he went over 15 years without reading his own literary bio that falsely claimed he was born elsewhere, I get a little skeptical. [Photo inset of Mr. Obama's literary bio claiming he was born in Kenya.]

... "Birther" means whatever it needs to mean at the moment a liberal uses it. People who think Obama wasn’t born in Hawaii are "birthers". People who think Obama was born in Hawaii, and who wonder why he used to claim otherwise, are also "birthers". The word has been rendered meaningless. Now it’s just an epithet to throw out when you don’t feel like thinking.

Let's start by noting MoveOn.org spelled all its words correctly, including that toughy, "birtherism". That they failed at the various project levels to catch the grammatical error, we think is an embarrassment for them, snarky fun for us. Are they morons? Certainly, but not because they slipped up with a production error on "than".

CHOPE.

Liberals, they're smarter then us. Shut up.

Posted by Damian at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Gutterball Politics

Day 1,309 of CHOPE
D-minus 147 Days

This is OK.* Nothing factually wrong with this.** This is just funning.***

But this [A gesture of dismissive disgust.], this, ladies and gentlemen, this is beyond the pale.

Now I love being home, in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital, I was born in Harper Hospital. No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place where both of us were born and raised.

Mr. Romney,
campaigning in his home state
COMMERCE, Michigan August 24, 2012 (RCP)

First things things first. Mitt Romney is lying.

Now that that's out of the way, proceed to makeup for outrageously outraged red-pancake. When the red light goes on, that's your cue for on-camera outrage.

OBAMA'S PSAKI CALLS ROMNEY
COMMENT "GUTTERBALL POLITICS,"
SAYS DOG JOKE WAS "SHORT, LIGHT MOMENT"

August 24, 2012 (RCP) - Obama 2012 Traveling Press Secretary Jen Psaki says Mitt Romney's birth certificate joke is "gutterball politics."

Psaki when asked about President Obama cracking a dog joke about Romney:

It was a light moment in a longer speech about the wind energy tax credit and how important that is for jobs in Iowa, jobs in Colorado, investing in clean energy to help put people back to work. It was a short, light moment and otherwise, a very substantive policy speech that was laying out the substantive choice in this election. So it really was nothing more than that.

Mr. Romney's remark on the other hand was no light moment. Mean-spirited, vicious, a point of personal hurt to Campaign Barry's delicate feelings. An affront to the hardest working man in show business ("Well, look, Brian, I can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead.")

Ga-ga-gutterball! Pour it on! drown in it! Diluvial rage raging!

ROMNEY BIRTHER JOKE DRAWS OBAMA SLAM:
'AMERICA DOESN'T NEED A BIRTHER-IN-CHIEF'

August 25, 2012 (HuffPo) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign intensified its rebukes of Mitt Romney Friday evening for a remark made by the presumptive Republican nominee about the president's birth certificate earlier in the day.

... The Obama campaign responded with a 15-second attack ad posted to YouTube Friday evening -- titled "America Doesn't Need A Birther-in-Chief" -- that recycles video of Romney's joke, while a narrator intones, "Holding out hope Romney had a vision for the middle class? Think again."

Campaign Barry is so outraged it has removed its best-selling line of "Obama Made In The USA" jokey tee-shirts. Mr. Romney's joke has spoiled Money Team Barry's joke. That will cost Money Team Barry precious apparel dollars. A loss, not just of dignity, but a loss of dollars! That calls for Pelion-sized outrage atop Ossa-sized outrage! Scale the heavens with outrage!

The campaign also sent a fundraising email to supporters, with the subject line: "A new low for Mitt Romney."

Swells and torrents of outrage sweeping away everything in its path! It cannot be dammed! Ga-ga-gutterball! Apologies demanded but not accepted!

ROMNEY SAYS "BIRTHER" JOKE
WASN'T A SWIPE AT OBAMA

August 24, 2012 (CBS News) - Romney was on the campaign trail in his home state of Michigan Friday when he made a crack at the "birther" suspicions that ultimately drove Mr. Obama to release his long-form birth certificate to prove he was born in the United States.

... Romney told [CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley] that taking the stage in Michigan Friday was an emotional moment for him and his wife Ann. Mr. Romney:

You just felt, you know, you felt sort of everything that happened to us here - how we grew up, how we met here, the sacrifices that our families made - coming to Michigan, you know, it all sort of just washed over me as we got up on that stage. It was a very emotional feeling. It's a feeling of coming home. ... This was fun about us, and coming home. And humor, you know -- we've got to have a little humor in a campaign.

Ga-ga-gutterball! No, Mr. Romney, do not try smoothing us down with your hometown excuses, your inconsiderate personal moment! Feelings have been hurt! Campaign Barry is aghast and appalled! There's only one way to make this right. One way, sir! Lie down and take your beating! Take it and like it!

Alas, rage exhausts and phony outrage, with no natural spur, requires double the effort, which spends double the energy. After the Sunday talk shows Campaign Barry will slump back in its Aeron chair to gather its energies anew for the outrages that will be needed at the end of the trail.

Is it too late for adult intervention? An adult speaks up:

I don't think [Mr. Romney] stepped on anything. It wasn't an unforced error, it wasn't a forced error. It wasn't a error. It wasn't an error at all, it was a joke. And this outrage response from Obama campaign, I think the most absurd example of fake umbrage in the history of fake umbrage. Give me a break. Romney dismissed the birthed issue from the beginning. There's no implication that he is believes in this stuff. Obama himself has joked about his birth certificate. ... The press swallows it up. I think it's another example of what we heard the other night of the press -- I think it was Chuck Todd who said that the press tends to follow the Obama campaign and what it wants to emphasize. This is a non-story of a non-story.

CHOPE.

Ga-ga-gutterball!

------------------------------------
* Oh no, wait.

** It's the enthymemes! The lying enthymemes!

*** Just completely inaccurate.

Posted by Damian at 03:15 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2012

NYC Letter: The Greats Of Political Whoredom -- Joe Biden Redux

Day 1,308 of CHOPE
D-minus 148 Days

Dope-On-Dope Slam Edition

They’re going to put y’all back in chains.

Joe "Unshackled" Biden,
stoking the plantation Democrats
DANVILLE, Virginia April 1, 2012 (RCP)

Sometimes even political whores tire of whoring for the party whores.

RANGEL: BIDEN WAS TALKING
ABOUT SLAVERY WITH CHAINS COMMENT

August 24, 2012 (RCP) - Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY, 15th):
The Vice President said he’s going to put y’all in chains. Was he talking about slavery? You bet your ass he was. Was he using the vernacular? Yes, he was. Did he think it was cute? Yes, he did. Was it something stupid to say? You bet your life it was stupid.

Bang, bang, bang, bang. Mr. Rangel doesn't waste time hammering all the nails. Right to the points. None of the usual Biden softeners.

Mr. Rangel is usually a reliable party whore, not known around here for unequivocation. What gives? Perhaps a little payback for this. Yeah. Wasn't too happy about that.

CHOPE.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The Eternal Plan "B"

Day 1,306 of CHOPE
D-minus 150 Days

Vote like it's 2008.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT CAMPAIGNS FOR OBAMA:
WE’RE GOING TO BLAME BUSH 'FOREVER'

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colorado August 21, 2012 (WaEx) - [Former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright tells] a story about an exchange with a man during a Truman Foundation event, as he asked her how long Democrats would blame the previous administration for their problems.

"All of a sudden this man gets up and says, 'How long will you blame the previous administration for all of your problems?'" Albright recounted. "I said, 'Forever.'"

The story prompted laughter and applause from the crowd.

Because that worked so well in 2010. This is it. All Bush, all the time, for all time, till the very sun is nothing but a cold cinder. The vision thing, the I-deserve-it thing, the tax-the-rich-2%-to-fix-everything thing, the need-more-time thing, all the pleas and promises of Campaign Barry 2012 hinge on the we'd've-done-better-if-Bush-hadn't-made-our-job-so-hard thing. Mr. Obama and his campaign minions think that is this cycle's winning message, because -- and they're going for broke -- Americans want a whinger in the White House. [We detect your recoil.] Of course you do, because Americans are all about the guy with all the answers but no results. Because in our national heart the guy who takes credit for everything we've done, who takes no responsibility for anything he's done, and who thinks we are too stupid to follow his moves -- that's the guy who rules our heart.

The four years of Mr. Obama's rule have educated our opinion. We no longer think of him as the amateur, the black Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Mr. Obama is everything he told us not to expect. He is everything he told us he would not be.

CHOPE.

Aren't you curious? Vote him back to see if he means what he says this time. Chump.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (1)

August 20, 2012

NYC Letter: Pigs Fly -- Newsweek: "Hit The Road, Barack"

Day 1,304 of CHOPE
D-minus 152 Days

Another bit of slippage. Newsweek positions its Christmas gift subscription drive for the preference cascade.

082012 newsweek_obama_cover_w438.png
AND DON'T YA COME BACK NO MO, NO MO
From Sainted Gaylo To Political Hobo

Academe and former McCain adviser Niall Ferguson is given an unlikely platform to pound Mr. Obama and promote Mr. Romney.

OBAMA’S GOTTA GO
By Niall Ferguson

August 19, 2012 (Newsweek) - In his inaugural address, Obama promised "not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth". He promised to "build the roads and bridges, the electric grids, and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together". He promised to "restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost". And he promised to "transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age". Unfortunately the president’s scorecard on every single one of those bold pledges is pitiful.

Mr. Ferguson lists a long but not exhaustive bill of particulars against Mr. Obama, but this struck us as especially damning for a campaign claiming to fight the fight for the middle class.

Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit. We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits.

Campaign Barry brags on battling for a middle class that Mr. Obama has put on a path to extinction. As we argue here, the tension between productive winners and needy losers in the redistributive state eventually snaps and overwhelms the winners:

[S]ocialism is premised on net winners leveling up the losers in society. Winners are those who can pay for their own housing, food, clothing, and healthcare. The goal of socialism is to have everyone at the level of winners.

... Socialism raises losers at the expense of winners.

To pay for all the socialist candy, winners are extravagantly taxed. At tax rates over 50%, a winner is foremost working for the state, though the winner is still responsible for his own paycheck.

Socialist tax booty is redistributed to the losers without any productivity offset by them. As greater state obligations squeeze winners from the system (and this), more citizens come to live off the state than to work for the state. To compensate, socialism raises the tax burden on winners. The level rises as losers begin to gain on winners. Eventually the burden of supporting losers comes to overwhelm the productivity of winners [Cheerless pause.] and the system fails.

And that is a terrible surprise to the losers. [Pause.] What the state giveth with ease, the state taketh away with ease.

Back to Mr. Ferguson, who, having run through Mr. Obama's catalogue of failures, goes on to assess the leadership behind the outsized failures.

On paper it looked like an economics dream team: Larry Summers, Christina Romer, and Austan Goolsbee, not to mention Peter Orszag, Tim Geithner, and Paul Volcker. The inside story, however, is that the president was wholly unable to manage the mighty brains—and egos—he had assembled to advise him.

According to Ron Suskind’s book Confidence Men, Summers told Orszag over dinner in May 2009: "You know, Peter, we’re really home alone ... I mean it. We’re home alone. There’s no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes [of indecisiveness on key economic issues]." On issue after issue, according to Suskind, Summers overruled the president. "You can’t just march in and make that argument and then have him make a decision," Summers told Orszag, "because he doesn’t know what he’s deciding." (I have heard similar things said off the record by key participants in the president’s interminable "seminar" on Afghanistan policy.)

This problem extended beyond the White House. After the imperial presidency of the Bush era, there was something more like parliamentary government in the first two years of Obama’s administration. The president proposed; Congress disposed. It was Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts who wrote the stimulus bill and made sure it was stuffed full of political pork. And it was the Democrats in Congress—led by Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank—who devised the 2,319-page Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank, for short), a near-perfect example of excessive complexity in regulation.

The complexity and urgency of what lands on the president's desk leaves Mr. Obama staring into the headlights. What was evident to anyone paying attention in 2008 proved out with Mr. Obama's ascent to the White House -- he was woefully unprepared for the job.

We return to Mr. Ferguson who has just finished savaging Mr. Obama's budgetry and foreign policy and is now ready to spring the whole point of his article, Paul Ryan.

I first met Paul Ryan in April 2010. I had been invited to a dinner in Washington where the U.S. fiscal crisis was going to be the topic of discussion. So crucial did this subject seem to me that I expected the dinner to happen in one of the city’s biggest hotel ballrooms. It was actually held in the host’s home. Three congressmen showed up—a sign of how successful the president’s fiscal version of "don’t ask, don’t tell" (about the debt) had been. Ryan blew me away. I have wanted to see him in the White House ever since.

... But one thing is clear. Ryan psychs Obama out. This has been apparent ever since the White House went on the offensive against Ryan in the spring of last year. And the reason he psychs him out is that, unlike Obama, Ryan has a plan—as opposed to a narrative—for this country.

Before you impetuously subscribe to Newsweek, Mr. Ferguson's article is a one-off, a bizarrerie calculated for newsstand sales. Tina Brown is still in charge and the magazine still bangs out a solid dollar's worth of liberal mush every week for the low, low price of five-and-change at the newsstand. Yet. We can't help but sense the left's punditry bracing itself for Mr. Obama's defeat in the fall. When Mr. Obama is voted out and Mr. Romney (and Mr. Ryan) are voted in, there will be a great abandoning of Mr. Obama. He will be a loser. Without the prestige of office to shield him, people will begin asking, "How did that Barack fellow ever get elected president in the first place?" Newsweek will toss its head and snort, "You know, we were wondering that exact thing back in August."

CHOPE.

It begins.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- What Is Not Got

Day 1,304 of CHOPE
D-minus 152 Days

They don't get us, they don't get who we are. They don't understand, it seems to me. They're not bad, they just don't get it.

Joe "Marie Antoinette" Biden,
VP and blue collar empath, bemoaning the
working class "ungettability" of Republicans
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio May 16, 2012 (Examiner/YouTube)

From the ranks of the ungotten (via AOS). Presented in its delicious entirety.

As a small business owner all I can say is that I think the current sentiment in the small business community is that we didn't sign up for this shit. Y'all can vote for whatever the hell you want but we are not going to be a part of it.

I have seen more owners get out of the business or retire in the past couple of years than ever before and with the ACA on the horizon the jobs these businesses produced will not be replaced. The economics no longer work. This is why unemployment is always so high in socialist countries. What you have to go through to have employees is just brutal.

But here's the thing about what Obama said --- he has it exactly backwards. The government didn't build any of that shit he is talking about --- we built it. We are the ones who paid for it. Not only did we build our businesses we built the schools and the roads and everything else he thinks was generated out of thin air. If you want to get technical about it the businesses and taxpayers that came along before we did built it all and now we are building what comes next.

And not only that, but we did it with the albatross of a predatory, corrupt and overbearing government hanging around our necks at every juncture.

And now we have had enough.

I haven't made more than $50k from my business but one or two years of the past 15. But now that it is time to cash out after providing literally hundreds of jobs I get the stink eye and get castigated for being a member of the 1%. Even though I can remember sitting on the edge of the bed and holding my head in my hands wondering what I had done risking everything I had to create a business and wondering how it would all work out when I had just finished working several days in a row with no sleep... I am the enemy. Even though I didn't take a paycheck for the first year of the business and later skipped other paychecks to meet payroll or to pay taxes I am somehow at fault for the fact that all of these people sitting on their asses or working their cushy government jobs with the large pensions funded by armies of tax collectors and regulators may have to go without.

Well, I already went without so they can bloody well shut the fuck up and take their turn in the barrel! If they want to risk everything they have or work their asses off with no guarantee of success only to be told at the end that they were not responsible for their own success and don't deserve their rewards then they are welcome to go down that path and see what it is like. But the number of people who will pursue the American dream and build the economy from the roots up will be greatly decreased in the current atmosphere and all of these self-entitled idiots will sit around wondering why the government is still going broke and why no one is hiring.

No country can survive socialism. It just doesn't happen. Sooner or later the bill comes due. But before it does you always get demagogic idiots like Obama, or Chavez who try to blame their failures on the only people who are keeping everything afloat. It is not enough they sank the damn ship... they have to come after the people in the life boats too.

That is the sort of mentality we are dealing with.

Posted by: Voluble at August 18, 2012 12:58 PM

The comment was posted to the AOS topic, Preference Cascade Watch: Small Business Owners Take A Stand Against Obama, Big Government. What is a preference cascade you ask, sweet make-no-waves skimmer? Here is Glenn Reynolds a decade ago prefiguring the 2012 general election to come:

[Totalitarian] regimes have little legitimacy, but they spend a lot of effort making sure that citizens don't realize the extent to which their fellow-citizens dislike the regime. If the secret police and the censors are doing their job, 99% of the populace can hate the regime and be ready to revolt against it - but no revolt will occur because no one realizes that everyone else feels the same way.

This works until something breaks the spell, and the discontented realize that their feelings are widely shared, at which point the collapse of the regime may seem very sudden to outside observers - or even to the citizens themselves. Claims after the fact that many people who seemed like loyal apparatchiks really loathed the regime are often self-serving, of course. But they're also often true: Even if one loathes the regime, few people have the force of will to stage one-man revolutions, and when preferences are sufficiently falsified, each dissident may feel that he or she is the only one, or at least part of a minority too small to make any difference.

Mr. Obama's presidency is not a totalitarian regime -- yet -- but the electoral mechanics are the same.

ROMNEY, OBAMA, AND THE
2012 PREFERENCE CASCADE
By John Hayward

BLOG May 25, 2012 (Human Events) - This analysis doesn’t have to be confined to the study of repressive, dictatorial regimes, or even politics. Consider the phenomenon of celebrity without merit -- that is, people who are famous for being famous. Their popularity tends to evaporate in a preference cascade eventually, as people in the audience begin wondering if anyone else is tired of hearing about the ersatz "celebrity", and soon discover that everyone is.

... That’s what began happening over the past couple of weeks: a large number of people discovered it’s okay to strongly disapprove of Barack Obama. His popularity has always been buttressed by the conviction -- very aggressively pushed by his supporters -- that disapproval of his personal or official conduct is immoral. You’re presumptively "racist" if you disagree with him, or at least a greedy tool of the Evil Rich, or a "Tea Party extremist".

A negative mirror image of this narrative was installed around Mitt Romney, who is supposedly a fat-cat extremist (and, thanks to the insidious War On Mormons, a religious nut) who nobody likes -- even though large numbers of people in many different states voted for him in the primaries. Of course he has his critics, and I’m not seeking to dismiss the intensity or sincerity of that criticism -- but the idea was to make Romney supporters feel isolated going into the general election, particularly the people who don’t really get involved in primary elections.

Both of those convergent narratives began crumbling this week: Obama is deeply vulnerable, and his campaign has no real answer to criticism of his record -- they’ve even tried floating an outright fraud, the now-infamous Rex Nutting charts that presented Obama as some kind of fiscal hawk. (Stop laughing -- major media figures took this garbage seriously for a couple of days, and Team Obama did push it.) Major Democrats, beginning with Newark mayor Cory Booker, expressed criticism of the Obama campaign -- and the Left reacted with shrieking hysteria and vows of personal destruction for the "traitors".

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney effectively presented both substantive criticism of Obama, and a positive agenda. Attacks on his business record that were supposed to destroy him through class-warfare tactics failed to draw blood. The idea that he can win became widely accepted. That doesn’t mean he won the 2012 argument -- but unlike Barack Obama, he is offering one.

It happened fast, as preference cascades always do.

This -- and fantastical Democrat oversampling (and here and here and here and this whopper) -- is why we think Mr. Romney is doing much better with the electorate than the head-to-head polls show. If you take how Mr. Obama polls on job approval (The Hill Poll: Majority Of Voters Believe Obama Has Changed Country For Worse [56%/35%], July 9, 2012; Rasmussen: Approval Index August 19, 2012, 48%/51%) or the themes he pushes (Gallup: Americans Like Having a Rich Class [63%/34%], May 11, 2012; Rasmussen: 57% Say Venture Capital Firms Better Job Creators Than Government Programs, July 18, 2012; WaPo Poll: 74% Of Americans Support Voter ID Laws, July-17-19, 2012) or his accomplishments (The Hill Poll: Voters Blame President Most For Slow Economic Recovery, July 23, 2012; CNN Poll: Number of Americans Who Say Economy Getting Worse Jumps Sharply -- 63%, August 10, 2012; NYT/CBS Poll: Americans Strongly Oppose Obama Mandate [57%/36%], March 13, 2012; Rasmussen: 56% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law, August 13, 2012) or his political bearings (Rasmussen: 42% Are Fiscal Conservatives, 11% Liberal on Money Issues, January 27, 2012; Gallup: In U.S., Nearly Half Identify as Economically Conservative [46%/20%], May 25, 2012) or his ideology (USA Today/Gallup Poll: Majority of Americans Say Obama "Too Liberal", Presidency Has Been A Failure, February 22, 2012; Rasmussen: 59% View Obama As More Liberal Than They Are, March 12, 2012), it is hard to explain how he is staying even in the presidential polls. Mr. Obama's "likeability" is not so great that he can be at such variance with so many dispositions of the electorate and still stay ahead. We expect to see pollsters abandoning their bias and oversamplings as the election nears. They did their best to push Mr. Obama along, but they can't manufacture a predicted vote. Mr. Obama has to actually win the election. As a commercial proposition pollsters need to be in the ballpark come November 7 -- or throw in the towel on accuracy and go all in on vanity polling for losers.

CHOPE.

Who knew the votes were there?

Posted by Damian at 03:30 AM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- More Fail, Please

Day 1,302 of CHOPE
D-minus 154 Days

Wish granted!

Oh yeah!

A reminder:

Remember, putting Slow Joe a heartbeat away from the nuclear button was Obama’s first executive decision.

Glenn Reynolds,
BLOG August 18, 2012 (Instapundit)

And another:

I am 1,000 percent for Tom Eagleton and I have no intention of dropping him from the ticket. This is what I said yesterday and I am repeating it to assure no misunderstanding on my position.

George McGovern (D-SD),
then-presidential candidate, backing his VP pick
before dumping him a few days later, July 1972
The Eighteen-Day Running Mate
By Joshua M. Glasser
(New Haven: Yale University Press, August 1, 2012), 197

CHOPE.

Chains.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Chains

Day 1,301 of CHOPE
D-minus 155 Days

Chains, my baby's
Got me locked up in chains
And they ain't the kind
That you can see

CHAINS
Recorded: The Cookies, 1962
(Beatles cover, 1963)
Writers: Gerry Goffin/Carole King

It looks like Campaign Barry is no longer about Mr. Romney's successful career at Bain. Mr. Biden is now what the campaign is all about. For the time being.

BIDEN REFERS TO RYAN AS 'GOVERNOR'

BLACKSBURG, Virginia August 15, 2012 (CNS News) - During a campaign stop at Virginia Tech University, Biden said:
Congressman Ryan and the congressional Republicans, as one person said, had all, have already passed in the Republican House what Governor Ryan is promising to give the whole nation.

This was the same speech in which Mr. Biden rhetorically asked, "Folks, where's it written we cannot lead the world in the 20th century in making automobiles?" The answer being it is written in the present century. Now these are not big-big gaffes, but they come on the heels of Mr. Biden's "chains" minstrelsy, which was a big-big gaffe.*

BIDEN: ROMNEY IS
'GOING TO PUT Y’ALL BACK IN CHAINS'
DANVILLE, Virginia August 14, 2012 (WaEx)

So big-big a gaffe that damage control is sucking the oxygen out of Campaign Barry. The big man himself stepped in on defense to do patty-cake interviews with PEOPLE Magazine and Entertainment Tonight while shunning the White House press corps.

To squash speculation about the ticket, the campaign must issue denials and pro forma confidence bulletins.

HILLARY DISMISSED VP POSSIBILITY
TWO WEEKS AGO

August 17, 2012 (TDC) - During Thursday night’s The Kudlow Report on CNBC, The Amateur author Ed Klein said that according to sources within the Clinton camp, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was approached about the possibility of beingPresident Barack Obama’s running mate in November. And, Klein said, she turned it down.

Nothing but confidence in the Number Two -- all the way down.

BIDEN SENT HOME TO DELAWARE
TO START WEEKEND EARLY

August 16, 2012 (TDC) - Vice President Joe Biden is going home to Delaware.

The updated White House calendar for Aug. 17 reports that "in the morning, the Vice President will meet with senior advisers. Later, the Vice President will be in Wilmington, Delaware. ... There are no public events scheduled."

... Biden’s retreat home during the increasingly frenetic 2012 race comes amid increased criticism for his campaign-trail performance. ... Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday provided a tepid defense of Biden when he was asked if the vice president would remain on the ticket.

... A review of Biden’s schedule for the last several weeks shows that he’s been kept on a very short chain, and has spent many days in Delaware, rather than on the campaign trail or even at the Vice-President’s mansion in D.C.

Nothing but confidence here!

JOE BIDEN PRESS SHOP LITERALLY
TRYING TO EDIT MEDIA REPORTS

August 16, 2012 (NewsBusters) - As reported by left-leaning Politico reporter Jonathan Martin:
His staff’s response is effectively to try to save Biden from himself. During the Virginia trip reporters were hustled out of retail campaign stops in diners and other intimate settings, aides tried to edit media pool reports for any potential landmines that could be seized on by Republicans and even hovered at close range to eavesdrop on journalists’ conversations with attendees at Biden rallies.

... What’s perhaps most striking about the Biden staff’s attempts at press management is its effort to influence what goes in the pool reports from his off-schedule stops. Because the entire press corps cannot easily jam in, say, a diner or private home, it is standard practice to have a single designated reporter take notes and share the material with colleagues from other news organizations. These reports are designed entirely for the media, but are distributed by White House staffers. In the case of Obama, as with his predecessors, the reports are simply forwarded without comment by email to a news media distribution list.

But on two occasions during Biden’s Virginia trip, his staff sought to have certain elements in the reports highlighted while reporters drafted them and discussed the contents with the reporters after the summaries had been sent but before they had before sent to the broader media.

Staffers spinning reporters to frame events the best they can is, of course, commonplace in politics. But attempting to intervene in the drafting of accounts that reporters share with one another is all but unheard of and reflects the deep concern Biden’s team has about offering any fodder to the opposition.

You know this type of behavior is unprecedented when it raises the ire of liberal NBC News political director Chuck Todd who called the editing attempts “outrageous” and said that he opposed allowing the vice president’s communications shop to ever be allowed distribute pool reports again.

And this exudes confidence!

BIDEN'S UNSCRIPTED MOMENTS KEEP
CAMPAIGN ON ITS TOES

DANVILLE, Virginia August 17, 2012 (LAT) - There are other indications that aides are attempting to minimize the dissemination of uncomfortable moments — whether they be genuine gaffes or moments they worry will be misrepresented. The White House press office has not released a complete transcript of any Biden speech, whether campaign or official, in more than two months. Transcripts for all of Obama's speeches, however, are distributed quickly, as they are for many of the first lady's events.

Aides acknowledge that Biden was vulnerable to a "gaffe-watch", given his reputation.

And yet. [Pause.] The same press that Mr. Biden's handlers fret will destroy him are at pains to excuse him. Politico suggests Mr. Biden's howlers are the price of "authenticity" and "spontaneity" that he brings to the campaign. LAT cloaks Mr. Biden's dopiness with high marks for his mastery of "face-to-face, hand-to-hand retail campaigning". So while Touré, MSNBC's angry young black man from central casting, parses Mr. Romney's double instance of the word "anger" as "niggerization", Linda Feldmann over at CSM wonders aloud in a headline whether Mr. Biden's "chains" were an intentional pander to black voters. Gee, Linda, we dunno. Why would you bother with an opinion piece that doesn't deny Mr. Biden's intent if it weren't so?**

That's more doubleplusnotgood than we can manage.

CHOPE.

Chains.

------------------------------------
* The same speech in which he misidentified the venue.

** The propriety of the remark, it's divisive subtext, and the substance of its claim -- that's all uncritically bundled into the prophylactic of Campaign Mitt's partisan challenge. Ms. Feldman doesn't have an opinion on any of that in her opinion piece. Instead she scores the positive ("If it’s really a political dog whistle – audible only to certain voters – then maybe this little skirmish ends up playing to Obama’s benefit.") and negative ("If the controversy reaches the attention of white working-class voters in key battleground states like Ohio and Virginia, then maybe Romney wins.") of the remark for Campaign Barry. She ends her piece by blowing off Mr. Biden's racially charged remark entirely by reminding us that there are darker forces at work:

Regardless, there are much larger issues at play in the campaign having to do with race. Those include the effort in some states to require voters to show ID to cast a ballot and the effort to remove ineligible voters from the rolls.

CSM has already determined that Campaign Mitt will run racist ads. To help you spot the racism -- because racism might not be obvious enough to you -- they charge you with five questions to ask yourself when subjected to the Mitt pitch. You can just soak in the Barry ads. No need to question any racism there.

Posted by Damian at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2012

NYC Letter: Lost In America -- North Carolina

Day 1,299 of CHOPE
D-minus 157 Days

Don't know much about geography...

WONDERFUL WORLD
Recorded: Sam Cooke, 1959
Lyrics: Sam Cooke, Lou Adler, & Herb Alpert

After a week at the beach Mr. Biden returns to the campaign fail trail, rested, alert, and ready to "just be Joe".

Straight out of the gate he does just that.

We can only imagine the bemusement of Mr. Biden's Danville audience. [Pause.] The city of Danville is in south-central Virginia along the North Carolina border.

Mr. Obama carried the city of Danville by 9.1% (59.12%/40.02%). He carried the state of North Carolina by only 0.3% (49.7%/49.4%). Mr. Biden's scheduling staff obviously missed its mark.

The idea behind barnstorming is to personalize support among the locals. You praise the local scenery, you kiss the mayor's wife, and you give shout-outs to the local pols. Most importantly you correctly identify where you are. Confusing Virginians with North Carolinians won't win votes in either North Carolina or Virginia -- or any of the remaining 56 states for that matter.

CHOPE.

No points for close.

Posted by Damian at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2012

NYC Letter: Shop And Compare -- Stokédness

Day 1,298 of CHOPE
D-minus 158 Days

Shoppers, see our special in the right aisle and the not-so-special in the left aisle.

This began as a lift from Ed Morrissey at Hot Air.

Right Aisle Special.

Waukesha, Wisconsin
Population (2010): 70,718

PAUL RYAN WELCOMED HOME
WITH MASSIVE RALLY IN WISCONSIN

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin August 12, 2012 (NBC News) - The largest crowd of the campaign so far for a Mitt Romney event welcomed home favorite son Rep. Paul Ryan at a massive rally here in the congressman's district Sunday night, pushing the GOP's vice presidential nominee to tears as he took the stage, setting off cheers with two simple words: "Hi mom."

... "I'm a Wisconsinite through and through," Ryan said to cheers from a crowd which contained many members of Ryan's extended family, and which the campaign estimated to be more than ten thousand strong, likely the largest turnout ever for a Romney event.

Hot Air gives a crowd estimate of 13,000. But let's not get cocky, let's say 10,000. That puts the rally turnout at 14% of the city population.

Left Aisle Not-So-Special.

Mr. Obama also had a paid-admission rally in his hometown on Sunday as part of his extended birthday party.

Chicago, Illinois
Population (2011 Est.): 2,707,120

Half empty? Oh! Not so says Politico.

OBAMA CAMP: 1,000 ATTENDED
'HALF-FULL' FUNDRAISER

Let us jump in here before Politico smears the Vaseline on its reportorial lens. A 1,000 count is 0.0004% turnout of the city population. Now the astute liberal will point out that this is apples-to-oranges, and it is. We offer the contrasting numbers only as a metaphor for the two campaigns. That and a nose-tweak.

CHICAGO gust 12, 2012 (Politico) - Republicans quickly jumped on a report that President Obama’s largest fundraiser here Sunday was only "half full", but the crowd for the event was larger than the Obama campaign had initially anticipated.

"At Obama fundraiser in Chicago. Admission only $51, but room is half full," New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor wrote on Twitter. ... (Kantor quickly followed up with additional tweets noting that only some tickets to the event cost $51 and that the campaign said the event was sold out.)

... But the crowd for the afternoon fundraiser at the Bridgeport Art Center totaled 1,000, an Obama campaign official said – more than the 850-person estimate the campaign offered earlier in the weekend. ... And, to this reporter [scil., Jennifer Epstein] and several others in the White House press pool, the room seemed plenty full. There was empty space at the back of the large loft space during and immediately after the president's remarks, but the crowd was densely packed to get close to the stage at the front of the room where Obama spoke.

Not to worry, Campaign Barry, Politico has your back! [Pause.] Half full or sold out? Apparently it didn't occur to Politico to look into the party space itself. The Bridgeport Art Center has only one event space, an 18,000 square feet loft on the top (5th) floor. It has an occupancy limit of 900 people. Occupancy limits are established by fire code. So. For an event space with a legal capacity of 900 Politico passes on Campaign Barry's brag of 1,000 in attendance. But where an over-capacity crowd should have had everyone pressed wall-to-wall, Politico stills reports "empty space at the back of the large loft space". Unlike Politico, we question Campaign Barry's defensive brag, which is in violation of fire code, and think Ms. Kantor is the reporter who is doing the actual reporting.

And Ms. Kantor's report would track with Mr. Obama's fading magnetism.*

THOUSANDS TURN OUT FOR OBAMA,
BUT OHIO ARENA GOES UNFILLED

RICHMOND May 5, 2012 (ABC News) - Thousands turned out for President Obama today at his first re-election campaign rallies in Ohio and Virginia but there were no overflowing crowds — a distinct contrast from the scenes in the 2008 campaign, which Republicans are gleeful to point out.

In Ohio, Obama wasn’t able to fill the stands at the 18,300-seat Schottenstein Center (about 4,300 seats were empty). His rally at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University was at its 8,000-person capacity.

"Not the 'overflow' crowd he promised," tweeted Ryan Williams, a spokesman for Mitt Romney who had found his way inside the Ohio State University event and snapped this  photo.

And this related tweet.

DEMS’ DIRE SEAT-UATION

August 6, 2012 (NYPost) - Top aides on President Obama’s re-election team are terrified that there will be scores of empty seats when he makes his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, party insiders said.

Obama, once the biggest draw in politics, won’t likely attract crowds as large as those at the 2008 convention because voters have gone sour on the poor economy, insiders said.

"It’s always a concern about making sure there aren’t empty seats, but this is different," said one Democratic official familiar with the convention plans. ... "They’re worried they can’t fill the stadium." [Ed.: Bank Of America Stadium, capacity 80,000]

NEW OBAMA PANIC:
ROMNEY CROWD SIZES

August 13, 2012 (WaEx) - The recent frantic email theme to supporters from Team Obama about Mitt Romney's run-away fundraising successes has been expanded to the crowd size gap between the thousands who rushed out over the weekend to see Romney and new running mate Rep. Paul Ryan and the hundreds who cheered on President Obama.

The big worry expressed in a new email from Obama's Chicago HQ: "The Republican base is energized." The reason: Romney attracted 15,000 at a rally over the weekend.

All of this points to the mood of the respective bases.

CBS/NYT POLL SHOWS VOTER ENTHUSIASM
AMONG GOP SHARPLY RISING
By Ed Morrissey

BLOG July 18, 2012 (Hot Air) - After spending tens of millions of dollars trying to demonize Mitt Romney over the last two months, Barack Obama and his campaign had hoped to erode any enthusiasm for the Republican nominee.  According to the new CBS/NYT poll, not only have they failed, the effort may be backfiring:
Meantime, three and a half months before election day, Republican enthusiasm about voting this year has shot up since Mitt Romney clinched the nomination in April, from 36 percent of Republicans saying they were more enthusiastic in March to 49 percent now.

President Obama was helped to election in 2008 by a wave of voter enthusiasm among Democrats, however this year, Democratic enthusiasm is down a bit since March. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats said they were more enthusiastic about voting this year than they were in past elections, compared to 30 percent four months ago.

... The big takeaway, though, is that 49% of Republicans and 29% of independents express increased enthusiasm for this election, while only 27% of Democrats say the same thing. If Obama’s attacks are depressing enthusiasm, it’s pretty clear whose enthusiasm he’s depressing. That was always the risk for a candidate whose main qualification for office was hope and change, and whose signature outcome has been economic stagnation.

DEMOCRATIC VOTER ENTHUSIASM WANES

July 25, 2012 (HuffPo) - Democratic enthusiasm about this year's election is down sharply from previous campaign cycles and has continued to drop in recent months, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Only 39 percent of Democrats said they were "more enthusiastic about voting than usual," compared to 45 percent in February. The falloff from past elections is even greater: In the summer of 2008, 61 percent of Democrats reported higher enthusiasm levels, as did 68 percent in the summer of 2004.

CHOPE.

Stoked vs. stoved.

------------------------------------
* Also see last item here.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- "A Lot On His Plate"

Day 1,297 of CHOPE
D-minus 159 Days

Remember when Mr. Obama was elected to be president?

(A) But I want you all to know, I will not rest until anybody who's looking for a job can find one -- and I'm not talking about just any job, but good jobs that give every American decent wages and decent benefits and a fair shot at the American Dream. (Applause.) That's what I'm fighting for every single day. (Applause.)

(B) And I promise that I won't rest until America prospers once again.

Mr. Obama,
promising the sleepless presidency
(A) WARREN, Ohio September 15, 2009 (White House)
(B) WASHINGTON November 6, 2009 (White House)

Whatever happened to that "jobs and prosperity" guy?

CARNEY ON WHY JOBS COUNCIL
HASN'T MET IN SIX MONTHS:
OBAMA HAS "A LOT ON HIS PLATE"

WASHINGTON July 18, 2012 (RCP) - Transcript.
Q: On the Jobs Council, obviously they've reported to haven't met formally or publicly for six months. Why is exactly is that?

CARNEY: Look, the president solicits and receives input and advice from members of his Jobs Council and others about economic initiatives all the time. ...

Q: So there's no reason they haven't met publicly?

CARNEY: No, there's no specific reason except that the president's obviously got a lot on his plate.* But he continues to solicit and receive advice from numerous folks outside the administration about the economy, about ideas he can act on with Congress or administratively to help the economy grow and help it create jobs.

We found a specific reason Mr. Obama doesn't meet with his Jobs Council. He doesn't like its advice. Why waste valuable time away from the links meeting with them?

OBAMA ADVISERS PUSH
OIL PIPELINES FOR JOBS
January 17, 2012 (TWT)

OBAMA TO OBAMA JOBS COUNCIL:
I DISAGREE
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.

January 19, 2012 (Heritage) - President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness released its third report January 17 entitled "Road Map to Renewal", a worthy description of serious issues affecting the American economy coupled with set of proposals that, with few exceptions, can best be described as pretty thin gruel.

... In the case of the Jobs Council report, the President set a new land speed record of about 24 hours before explicitly repudiating one of the council’s key recommendations [scil., streamling drilling and pipeline permits].

CHOPE.

You gotta believe the spin if he's gonna win.

------------------------------------
* Mr. Bush quit playing golf out of respect for the families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. His last round was on October 13, 2003, two years and 10 months into his presidency, for a total of 24 rounds. Mr. Obama tied the Bush golf count in the first 10 months of his presidency and, as noted above, has gone on to best him -- by 433%.

Posted by Damian at 12:15 PM | Comments (2)

August 11, 2012

NYC Letter: "America's Comeback Team"

Day 1,295 of CHOPE
D-minus 161 Days

Back in 2000 the Republican presumptive nominee George W. Bush had a long short list of possible VP picks: Dick Cheney, John Danforth, Elizabeth Dole, Bill Frist, Chuck Hagel, John Kasich, Frank Keating, John McCain, George Pataki, Tom Ridge, and Fred Thompson. Each brought something, good and bad, to the ticket. Asked at the time who Mr. Bush might pick, we speculated that if Mr. Bush wanted to win foremost he could pick anyone among the telegenic media favorites, if he wanted to govern he would pick the crusty Mr. Cheney. Mr. Bush chose to govern.

Mr. Romney had a similar choice and chose similarly.

MITT ROMNEY NAMES
PAUL RYAN VP NOMINEE

August 11, 2012 (ABC News) - Mitt Romney has selected Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI, 1st), a seven-term Republican from Janesville, Wis., to be the GOP's vice-presidential nominee, the campaign announced early Saturday morning.

... Romney and Ryan are expected to campaign together in Virginia today, where Romney will announce his decision in person in front of the U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va. Romney will kick off a bus tour through the critical swing state at that event.

Early Saturday morning, the website RomneyRyan.com went live, without any direct reference to Ryan on the site. In its announcement, the Romney campaign pitched Romney and Ryan as "America's Comeback Team".

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air explains the Ryan pick exactly right:

An election which thus far has been pretty much about nothing more than lies, damned lies, dogs and dancing horses may be on the verge of getting very serious. And it’s a conversation which the nation desperately needs to have. In the words of one analyst this morning on CNN, the Republicans were "going to have to talk about the Ryan plan anyway. Why not put forward the best person to defend it?" Without question, Paul Ryan is that man.

RYAN PUTS SPENDING AT
CENTER OF CAMPAIGN
[Original Title]
By Byron York
August 10, 2012 (WaEx)

While Democrats are not serious about the fisc, Mr. Ryan is.

Coincident with the Ryan pick, today is the 1,200th day without a budget from the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Republican-controlled House passed its budget -- Mr. Ryan's budget -- on March 29 with no Democrat support.

Then there is the impact of the Ryan pick on Mr. Ryan's home state, Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes.

PAUL RYAN VP SELECTION GIVES ROMNEY
THE CHANGE [SIC] TO WIN WISCONSIN,
AN IMPORTANT SWING STATE
IN ELECTION 2012
August 11, 2012 (PolicyMic)

Mr. Romney trails Mr. Obama by ~5 points in Wisconsin. If nothing else the Ryan pick forces Campaign Barry to spend more time and treasure in the purplish state.

One more plum that comes with the Ryan pick. Mr. Ryan's VP debate with Joe "I'm No Economist" Biden. Don't expect Campaign Barry to dust off their 2008 playbook and run Mr. Obama against Mr. Romney's VP pick.

CHOPE.

Game on.

Posted by Damian at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Pitching The Fail Mellow

Day 1,292 of CHOPE
D-minus 164 Days

Dear [Your name here],

Yeah, we're losers -- but that's OK by me.

Send $3 now -- right this minute -- and be automatically enrolled in whatever long-odds gimmick we have going this week.

Thanks,
Jim Messina
Money Team Barry

MESSINA: BEING OUTRAISED
IS 'OK BY ME'

August 7, 2012 (Politico) - In an email to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina says he's totally fine with being outraised by Mitt Romney's campaign.

"Look, no one expects this campaign to keep pace with the Romney money juggernaut. That's OK by me," Messina wrote in a fundraising email to supporters.

You're buying this, right?

Here is Mr. Messina in June: "We got beat." And again: "If the general election were held today, President Obama would lose to Mitt Romney." He's so down with losing.

Or maybe Money Team Barry's misconceived loser e-begging has contributed to low enthusiasm and low energy among supporters, which depresses their donations.

Now Mr. Messina pretends it's no big deal for the campaign to be outraised -- repeatedly -- but, hey, send in "whatever you can afford" to Mr. Obama's losing cause. Chump.

CHOPE.

Keep the money coming. Losing is expensive.

Posted by Damian at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Pitching The Fail Redux

Day 1,291 of CHOPE
D-minus 165 Days

Dear [Your name here],

We're losers. Send $3 now.

Thanks,
Money Team Barry

First, the table-setter.

ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PARTY RAISE
$101.3 MILLION IN JULY
WASHINGTON August 6, 2012 (Reuters)

Now Money Team Barry's July numbers.

Yeah. Thanks, tightwads. Cue loser e-mail.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN:
'IF WE DON'T STEP IT UP,
WE'RE IN TROUBLE'

STAMFORD, Connecticut August 6, 2012 (CSM/AP) - In an email to supporters after the July numbers were announced, the Obama campaign said, "If we don't step it up, we're in trouble."

... Obama officials say they expected Romney to outraise the president through the summer and have made contingency plans if the disparity continues. Part of that planning has involved heavy spending on ads through the spring and summer in an attempt to define Romney for voters before he has access to most of his general election funds.

With the election still three months away, Obama and the DNC have spent more than $370 million since January of last year. In June, the campaign spent more than it brought in.

... A huge spending advantage in the final months of a close election can help a campaign as it seeks to sway undecided voters.

Before you swipe Mr. Obama a fiver from your EBT card, don't.

Mr. Obama has been fundraising since April of last year. Mr. Romney only began pulling in the big money after he emerged as the presumptive Republican candidate in May. Money Team Barry has raised some $375M to date and spent $204,901,024 through June. Money Team Mitt has raised $255M and spent $131,044,967. Campaign Barry has outspent Campaign Mitt by 56%. The problem for Campaign Barry -- aside from an incumbent with job approval persistently below 50%, unemployment persistently above 8%, a phthisic economy, $1T+ deficits three years running and no end in sight, and an administration thick with scandal (and this and this and this) and incompetence (and here and here and here and here) -- aside from those details, the problem is Campaign Barry has spent its money precipitately in hopes of an early breakaway in the polls. That strategy has flopped and now its base is tapped out just as Mr. Romney's support is rallying.

Spending is key to all Obama ventures. Mr. Obama believes he can spend America back to prosperity (and here). Campaign Barry is betting it can spend Mr. Obama back into the White House. [Pause.] Mr. Obama is wrong and Campaign Barry can't. The spring-summer negative ad offensive saturated media markets with Campaign Barry's best shot. Those markets are soaked. It's not likely that a summer-fall offensive will do any more damage. Especially since Campaign Mitt will be spending pari passu or outspending Campaign Barry in all competitive markets by then. Mr. Obama will lose his re-election bid on the issues of unemployment and the economy. No amount of ad buys is going to change that.

What is obvious to anyone not clinging to polls of over-sampled Democrats (like this doozy) is that Campaign Barry cannot dodge Mr. Obama's record. And Mr. Obama's record is a loser.

CHOPE.

Send money. Support our un-success.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 06, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up X

Day 1,290 of CHOPE
D-minus 166 Days

July was rough for Campaign Barry. Mr. Obama soured in the national polls, his lead in Virginia evaporated, and his modest 2008 share (39%) of the white male blue-collar vote sunk to historic lows (29% Quinnipiac).

Then there is the really bad news. Money.

Money Team Barry has raised $300,134,364 so far, which puts it off pace this cycle for that $1B warchest that the media bragged on before Jim Messina decided it was complete "bullshit". Of course, there're still 91 days left to close that $699,865,636 gap on a pace of 78% per each remaining month of everything it has raised so far. Worse, Campaign Barry has already spent 68% of what it's collected and is carrying $2.4M in debt.

Meanwhile Mr. Romney continues to catch up while running a debt-free campaign.

ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PARTY RAISE
$101.3 MILLION IN JULY

WASHINGTON August 6, 2012 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee raised $101.3 million in July, turning in another big month of financial strength for their battle to defeat President Barack Obama on November 6.

In addition to the July numbers, the Romney campaign also planned to announce on Monday that Romney, the Republican National Committee and state party participants have $185.9 million cash on hand.

... Romney brought in $106 million in June, $35 million more than Obama raised that month, and the Democrats have warned they are in danger of being outspent in the run-up to the election.

Here's the bad news for Campaign Barry, whose strategy is to alienate the middle class electorate from Mr. Romney.

While big donors have powered much of the Republicans' fund-raising numbers, the Romney campaign said 94 percent of all donations received in July were for $250 or less.

Good thing Mr. Obama chucked principle and embraced super PACs. Uh-oh. According to the Sunlight Foundation, as of June Democrat super PACs had collected $77,365,653, but Republican super PACs with $218,877,900 have out-raised them by 283%.

Maybe some desperate e-mails will boost donations.

OBAMA SUPPORTERS BARRAGED
WITH PLEAS FOR CASH

August 1, 2012 (NYT) - Each plea for money from President Obama and his allies has become more urgent and desperate than the last.

... "My upcoming birthday next week could be the last one I celebrate as President of the United States, but that’s not up to me — it’s up to you," Mr. Obama said to his supporters in an e-mail late last week.

... In briefings with reporters, Mr. Obama’s campaign predicted total spending on Mr. Romney’s behalf of $1.25 billion. "Make no mistake, we will be outspent," a top adviser to Mr. Obama said at a Washington briefing for the media in July.

... One of the many e-mails sent by the Obama campaign to supporters on Monday had the subject line: Romney defeats Obama?

The e-mail from Mr. Biden warned that such a headline might be possible on the day after the election if supporters don’t dig deep into their pockets now. ... Not to be outdone, Mr. Romney’s campaign manager forwarded Mr. Biden’s e-mail to the Republican’s list of supporters, describing the vice president’s appeal as "quite telling".

How about those crazy donation gimmicks?

OBAMA WEDDING REGISTRY
FUND-RAISING STRATEGY NOT
A HIT WITH BRIDES

July 16, 2012 (NYPost) - President Obama’s bizarre marriage-theme fund-raising scheme — where he asks couples to request campaign donations from their guests in lieu of wedding gifts — has been a total flop.

... [W]edding industry pros called the ploy tasteless and divisive....And only a few hundred links to the registry have been shared on Facebook — even though Obama has more than 27 million fans on the site, according to [social-media tracking firm] Topsy.

... The Obama campaign didn’t return requests for comment.

The Obama brand is failing, but how is Mr. Obama -- the president, not the brand -- doing with the electorate?

GALLUP: OBAMA'S APPROVAL RATING
WITH BUSINESS OWNERS DROPS

POLL July 26, 2012 (USA Today) - President Obama's approval rating dropped to 35% among business owners in the second quarter of 2012, according to a Gallup daily tracking poll released today. ... "The data precede Obama's much-discussed July 13 comments that small-business owners have had help from others to achieve success," Gallup notes. "Thus it is not yet clear whether those comments have led to further deterioration in Obama's standing among small-business owners."

Obama said, "If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

So how did that message play?

RASMUSSEN: 72% THINK
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
DID "BUILD THAT"
POLL July 23, 2012 (Hot Air)

Other polls, more bad news.

MAJORITY OF VOTERS BELIEVE
OBAMA HAS CHANGED COUNTRY
FOR WORSE

POLL July 9, 2012 (The Hill)- Two-thirds of likely voters say President Obama has kept his 2008 campaign promise to change America — but it’s changed for the worse, according to a sizable majority.

A new poll for The Hill found 56 percent of likely voters believe Obama’s first term has transformed the nation in a negative way, compared to 35 percent who believe the country has changed for the better under his leadership.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE FALLS
TO LOWEST LEVEL OF THE YEAR
POLL July 13, 2012 (LAT)

GALLUP: VOTERS DON’T SHARE
OBAMA'S CLASS-WARFARE PRIORITIES
BLOG July 30, 2012 (Hot Air)

OBAMA’S RICH-TAX MISFIRE
Last On Voters' List
July 31, 2012 (NYPost)

GALLUP: OBAMA APPROVAL RATING
BELOW 50% IN 37 STATES
POLL August 4, 2012 (Newsmax)

Finally there are the esoteric voting models that crunch an assortment of metrics and -- voilà -- give us the next president of the United States.

ADD IT UP: THE PREDICTION MODELS
LOOK DISMAL FOR OBAMA.
CAN HE STILL WIN?
By Jeff Greenfield

July 31, 2012 (Yahoo!) - If President Barack Obama is to win, he is going to have to overcome a set of numbers that no incumbent President, or incumbent party, has ever managed to surmount.

The jobless rate has been stuck at just above 8 per cent for months; you have to go back to 1936 to find a President re-elected with a higher unemployment rate. And in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s case, it was a far better number than he had inherited. Plus, growth was booming.

Today, real growth is at 1.5 per cent. In the economic forecasting models, this portends what even the liberal arts majors have been predicting: a very close election.

The core question for many voters—"Are you generally satisfied with the country’s direction, or has the U.S. gone off on the wrong track"—gets a 32.7-60.7 negative answer, according to the RealClearPolitics average. Generally, an incumbent party needs to have at least a 35% positive response to this question to win the election, says the Gallup Organization.

The consumer confidence level is now about 60 per cent. No incumbent party has ever kept the White House with a number anything like that. (It was slightly higher, at 65 per cent, in 1980 when Carter lost in a landslide.)

Now, try this as a thought exercise. Forget who is running, what the latest gaffe of the day is, who is outraged and what latest insult to what group has been perpetrated by the candidate or his staff. Ignore whom you’re rooting for, and just look at those numbers with the ice-cold heart of a bean counter.

What you would conclude, I think, is that there is no way an incumbent President could get re-elected given these current numbers.

Mr. Greenfield goes this far, which for Mr. Greenfield is daringly far, but can't go any further and embrace his own conclusion. Why? Because Mr. Greenfield does not believe Mr. Romney is the man to beat Mr. Obama, "The Republicans have nominated a bad candidate."

James Pethokoukis at AEI is positively exuberant about the findings of the Hibbs Bread and Peace model he reports on.

ECONOMIC FORECASTING MODEL
PREDICTS OBAMA WILL LOSE
IN NEAR-LANDSLIDE
By James Pethokoukis

August 2, 2012 (AEI) - Political scientist Douglas Hibbs looks at two factors when forecasting presidential elections: a) per capita real disposable personal income over the incumbent president’s term, and b) cumulative U.S. military fatalities in overseas conflicts.

And he’s predicting a near-landslide win for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama, with Obama losing by about as big a margin in 2012 as he won back in 2008. Under Hibbs Bread and Peace model, Romney wins 52.5% to Obama’s 47.5%.

It's not all bad news. One of the most reliable election predictors still has Mr. Obama winning handily. Intrade, an online trading (i.e., betting) exchange, has Mr. Obama over Mr. Romney 58.3/39.6. However, Intrade -- like the polls -- doesn't become meaningful till Labor Day, after which we live and die by its odds.

We have convinced ourselves if no one else that Mr. Obama cannot survive his record as president. Excluding partisans, objectively why would any voter vote Mr. Obama back? Historical novelty only plays once. Even Mr. Obama recognizes his economy is less than good, what voter is going to vote for more of the same? Mr. Obama will get some votes in November. But he won't deserve them.

CHOPE.

Add it all up.

Posted by Damian at 06:45 AM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: The Common Man Presidency XIV -- A Day At The Beach

Day 1,290 of CHOPE
D-minus 166 Days

Yesterday we mocked the Obamas' common touch brag for inter alia clearing the beach at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella, Spain so Mrs. Obama and her 40-strong grieving circle could have a private swim two years back.

Nothing special about the common man having a beach to himself. Alas, not for a little sun and fun with the family or friends, but for the hateful business of getting to and from fundraisers where the common man president must mingle with the superrich and beg their cash for re-election.

OBAMA FUNDRAISERS TO DENY
THOUSANDS A DAY AT THE BEACH
By Keith Koffler

August 4, 2012 (WHD) - A popular Connecticut park and its 234 acres of wetlands, woodlands and beach on Long Island Sound will be shut down all day Monday so that President Obama can use the location as a base for fundraising nearby.

The Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Connecticut will have to turn away thousands of bathers so that Obama can get to and from his events, including a $35,800 per head bash at the 9,000-square-foot, $8.3-million waterfront estate of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, according to The Connecticut Post.

The Obama incursion is already creating an uproar in the state, according to the Post. House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. (R-Norwalk, 142nd):

Could you imagine if a Republican ever did such a thing? They’d be screaming from every corner. This is supposed to be the party and the president of the people? To close this state park in August for purely partisan political reasons is outrageous. People are going to be on their one-week vacation and they can’t get into Sherwood Island?

The state senator [Toni Boucher (R-Wilton, 26th)] representing the area that includes the park, which is set on a peninsula that juts out into the sound, said other less intrusive landing points were available to the president.

And more from the The Connecticut Post:

State Representative Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport, 136th), a Democrat whose district includes Sherwood Island, said the landmark Citizens United case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court set the scene for the proliferation of so-called Super PACs, has made fundraising even more important than when Obama first ran four years ago. Mr. Steinberg:
I know President Obama has to raise the money to be competitive with the Koch brothers and (Sheldon) Adelson, but it's a sad state of affairs.

Requests for comment from the White House were deferred to the Chicago-based Obama campaign, which did not reply.

Too bad Mr. Obama foreswore Super PACs and doesn't have any of his own to relieve a bit of his discommoding-the-common-folk fundraising. Oh. Wait.

Senator Boucher again:

I'm flabbergasted. It's unfathomable that someone would make that kind of decision. The perception will be that they're taking advantage of a public park for a private purpose. And they call Mitt Romney an elitist.

Ah, but Mr. Romney doesn't brag on having the common touch, Senator, so he deserves his lumps. Mr. Obama on the other hand fundraises from the fabulously wealthy to fight for the middle class. The first four years of his class warriorship haven't worked out so well -- in fact they've been a disaster for the middle class -- but if re-elected Mr. Obama promises to do better and "will make sure that this economy is going full guns".

CHOPE.

Just like you if you're him.

Posted by Damian at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2012

NYC Letter: The Obama Economy, Part XVIII -- 8.3% 8.254% Unemployment

Day 1,288 of CHOPE
D-minus 168 Days

Here it is, Q3 2012. That means Mr. Obama's $862B stimulus has knocked unemployment down to 5.6%. No? Well, unemployment shouldn't be higher than the 6% Team Barry forecast without its stimulus. No again?

But I want you all to know, I will not rest until anybody who's looking for a job can find one -- and I'm not talking about just any job, but good jobs that give every American decent wages and decent benefits and a fair shot at the American Dream. (Applause.) That's what I'm fighting for every single day. (Applause.)

Mr. Obama,
insomniac president, assuring all
not a wink till zero unemployment
WARREN, Ohio September 15, 2009 (White House)

We have a suspicion that Mr. Obama is sneaking off-camera to snooze.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISES TO 8.3 PERCENT
AS U.S. ADDS 163,000 JOBS IN JULY
August 3, 2012 (HuffPo)

Hold on!

OBAMA ADVISER: JOBLESS
RATE IS REALLY 8.254%

Hurray! That's 0.046% less bad news! That's a step in the right direction!

August 3, 2012 (USA Today) - Rather than 8.3% -- the rounded-up figure -- Obama economic adviser Alan Krueger writes on the White House website that the real jobless rate is 8.254%. ... He added: "Acting BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) Commissioner John Galvin noted in his statement that the unemployment rate was 'essentially unchanged' from June to July."

... Republican Party spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said, "23 million people struggling for work isn't a rounding error. And the White House's attempts to argue show just how out of touch they are."

Hold on.

IS THE JULY JOBS REPORT
COMPLETELY BOGUS?
By James Pethokoukis

August 3, 2012 (AEI) - Did the Labor Department blow it? Here’s AEI economist Aparna Mathur:
There is something clearly wrong with the BLS jobs report for July. The household survey shows that households claimed to have lost 195,000 jobs. But the establishment survey shows that the economy added 163,000 jobs! That’s why even though the overall employment went up a lot(as per the establishment survey), the unemployment rate went up too (as per the household survey).

As it so happens, the New York Times presciently warned of this very issue yesterday:

… one possible distortion that has arisen in recent years, thanks to the weakness of the economy, is that "seasonal adjustments make things look better than they are in the winter, when fewer workers are being let go than the government expects, and worse in the spring and summer, when the workers who were not let go cannot be rehired."

The issue will loom particularly large on Friday, because the report for July is annually adjusted by a larger amount than for any other month save January, when holiday workers lose their jobs.

In the last 10 July jobs reports, dating back to 2002, the agency has added an average of 1.33 million jobs to its original estimate. Last year, for example, the agency estimated that payrolls declined by 1.3 million jobs in July, but it reported a seasonally adjusted increase of 96,000 jobs.

That places a huge premium on the accuracy of the adjustment: A 5 percent error in the adjustment would have shifted the reported total last July by two-thirds.

And even in the best of times, the bureau’s estimates are rarely that accurate. The government has estimated an average change of 149,700 jobs in the last 10 July jobs reports, but it has since revised those estimates by an average of 92,900 jobs per year. In other words, the initial estimate is generally off by about 62 percent.

In three of those 10 years — 2002, 2003 and 2007 — the agency wasn’t even correct about whether the economy gained or lost jobs.

So take Friday’s report with a measure of caution.

So maybe the economy really did create just 100,000 jobs or so last month, as analysts expected. That would seem to sync better with many of the weak internals in the jobs report such as wages and hours, not to mention the household survey. Indeed, note what IHS Global Insight said today about the jobs aspect of the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index report, also out today:

The main negative for the index, however, was employment, which slipped to 49.3 from 52.3, the first contraction reading since last December. Yet this result is at odds with the July Employment Report, which also came out today.

Elsewhere Mr. Pethokoukis drives home the gloom with bullet points:

  • Not only is the 8.3% unemployment rate way above the 5.6% unemployment rate that Team Obama predicted for July 2012 if Congress passed the $800 billion stimulus plan. It’s way above the 6.0% unemployment rate they predicted if no stimulus was passed.
  • Job growth, as measured by nonfarm payrolls, has average about 75,000 jobs a month during the Obama recovery for a total of 2.7 million jobs. Context: During the first three years of the Reagan Recovery, job growth averaged 273,000 a month for a total of 9.8 million. If you adjust for the larger U.S. population today, the Reagan Recovery averaged 360,000 jobs a month for a three-year total of 13 million jobs.
  • This continues to be the longest stretch of 8% or higher unemployment since the Great Depression, 42 straight months.
  • If the labor force participation ["LFP"] rate was the same as when Obama took office in January 2009, the unemployment rate would be 11.0%.
  • Even if you take into account that the LFP should be declining as America ages, the unemployment rate would be 10.6%.
  • If labor force participation rate hadn’t declined since just last month, the unemployment rate would have risen to 8.4%.
  • The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes "all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons," ticked up to 15.0%.

Team Obama waves off its own wildly inaccurate forecasts by claiming everyone had the severity of the recession wrong. This is an excuse -- based on a phony claim -- that goes unchallenged by the press. Even to this day Mr. Obama can forget the severity of the recession. Joe "I'm No Economist" Biden says "millions and millions" of Americans are in a depression. [Pause.] How can Team Barry talk about the Obama economy as if it were an ongoing recession or depression? Isn't everything going in the right direction?

Our growth rate is measly. And, ah, with a measly growth rate there's no secret -- there're not going to be very many jobs. Ah-ah, I-ah haven't seen any change in the dynamic in the last three or four months.

Austan Goolsbee,
former brief chair of the White House Council
of Economic Advisers, solving the mystery of unemployment
August 3, 2012 (BBTV/CNBC)

Ow. Just don't quote him! Mr. Goolsbee actually thinks the July jobs report was "good". Off the Team but still in thrall. Mr. Goolsbee made this same point about growth back in May. Since then the dynamic has changed: GDP slowed from 2.0% in 1Q to 1.5% in 2Q, off the measly pace of 2011's 1.8%; unemployment has ticked up from 8.2% to 8.3% 8.254%. So don't quote his quote given one minute before he learned of the "good" July jobs report.

That could pass for Campaign Barry's new slogan: Vote'em, don't quote'em!

CHOPE.

Always look on the bright side of life.

Posted by Damian at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2012

NYC Letter: Amateur Hour Arithmeticians -- Campaign Barry

Day 1,286 of CHOPE
D-minus 170 Days

Now, if you’ve been lucky or you've been successful, so that you're in the other 2 percent of Americans, like I am, all we’re asking is that we pay a little bit more so that we can pay down our deficit and so we can invest in things like education that will help us grow. (Applause.)

Mr. Obama,
asking the rich for a little more
REMARKS AT CAMPAIGN EVENT
AKRON, Ohio August 1, 2012 (White House)

Hey! Just kidding about taxing the rich! Everybody saves under Mr. Obama's plan!

THE OBAMA LIE MACHINE
Obama Tax Calculator Offers Tax Cuts For Millionaires

August 2, 2012 (WFB) - The Obama campaign unveiled a new website Thursday as part of a major communications push to convince voters that Mitt Romney’s tax plan favors the rich.

The website includes a tax calculator that allows voters to compare their tax savings under President Obama’s and Gov. Romney’s competing plans.

However, the tax calculator seems to be doing some fuzzy math. President Obama has promised to raise income taxes on all Americans making more than $200,000 and all families making more than $250,000 a year. ... Millionaires and billionaires who go to the website will be surprised to find that they, too, will receive "tax savings" under Obama’s plan. Indeed, it appears that any income will generate "tax savings" under the president’s tax proposals, according to the campaign website.

For example, a married individual who enters an annual household income of $50,000 and claims two dependents would see "tax savings" of $2,168 in 2013 under Obama’s plan, the calculator claims.

But a married individual who enters an annual household income of $400,000 and claims two dependents would see even greater "tax savings" of $8,225.

A married individual who enters an annual household income of $1,000,000 and claims two dependents would receive even greater "tax savings" of $8,295.

The calculator does not appear to have the computational ability to determine the "tax savings" of a married individual with an annual household income of a billion dollars.

However, anyone making up to $999,999,999 would still see a "tax savings" of $8,295, according to the calculator.

The fuzzy math extends to the calculator’s estimates of the tax savings individuals and families would see under Governor Romney’s proposals. The calculator claims that individuals making $1 million or more a year would see “tax savings” of $245,551 under Romney’s plan. That would amount to almost a quarter of that family’s total income.

But watch how the savings increase for big earners calculated under the Obama plan (all calculations based on single filing status and two dependents).

  • If your annual family income is $50,000,
    your 2013 savings are $2,168.
  • If your annual family income is $100,000,
    your 2013 savings are $3,999.
  • If your annual family income is $250,000,
    your 2013 savings are $7,655.

$250,000 in annual family income is the point at which your taxes go up. Yet Mr. Obama's plan both raises your taxes and still produces "tax savings" for you. [Pause for astonishment.]

  • If your annual family income is $400,000,
    your 2013 savings are $8,225.
  • If your annual family income is $1M-$999M,
    your 2013 savings are $8,295.

There's more muddle when you match up Mr. Obama's rhetoric to the calculator numbers. Mr. Obama:

Now, let me make sure people understand this. They're asking you to pay an extra $2,000 not to pay down the deficit, not to invest in our kids’ education -- Mr. Romney is asking you to pay more so that people like him get a tax cut. ... In order to afford -- we can break it down further. In order to afford just a tax cut for somebody like Mr. Romney, 125 families like yours would have to pay another $2,000 in taxes each year -- and every year. Not just one year, every year.

The calculator shows 2013 "tax savings" in every income bracket under Mr. Romney's plan. How can middle-class taxpayers pay an additional $2,000 in taxes and still net "tax savings" under Mr. Romney's plan? Who knows? Campaign Barry offers no explanation of the calculator's methodology.

Team Barry struggles with arithmetic. Campaign Barry can't manage it at all.

CHOPE.

Arithmetik ist schwer.

Posted by Damian at 09:30 PM | Comments (1)

August 01, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Mooch

Day 1,285 of CHOPE
D-minus 171 Days

Mr. Obama has counseled Americans on responsible personal debt management. He is going around the country calling on everyone to pay his fair share. [Pause.] Chumps.

SPRINGFIELD ASKS OBAMA
TO PAY UP FOR CAMPAIGN EVENT

February 6, 2012 (NBCC) - Three and a half years after a rally by then candidate Barack Obama in Springfield, city officials in the state capitol say they are left holding the bill for police overtime [$55,000]. Alderman Frank Edwards:
There are a lot of things that they asked for.

City Budget Director William McCarty:

They contacted the DNC. They contacted the Obama campaign [but no one wanted to pay]. That’s when the finger pointing began because the Obama campaign said we are a private organization, we are not responsible for the security.

Mr. McCarty notes the $55,000 owed would have covered the salary and benefits of a laid-off municipal worker for a year.

To try and cut through the clutter Edwards asked the President to intercede: "…sometimes only the executive himself can cut through such inter-departmental differences of opinion," he wrote in last year’s letter. There was no immediate response. On November 15, 2011 the Deputy COO of Obama for America, replied the Obama team wasn’t responsible for security or other costs.

... There have been other big visits to Springfield, including President Bush in April 2005 to dedicate the Lincoln museum. And the February 2007 presidential announcement by Barack Obama. Neither left outstanding bills.

The Obama 2012 campaign declined to be interviewed but a official reiterated on background without attribution that the campaign does not pay for police overtime.

Springfield remains stuck with the bill.

Campaign Barry paid its bills in 2007 because the bad press for arrears would have killed the obscure campaign before it began.

VERMONT POLICE SEND
OBAMA CAMPAIGN BILL
FOR SECURITY

April 6, 2012 (FNC) - A Vermont police chief said President Obama’s re-election campaign has failed to reimburse local taxpayers after his officers had to work overtime to provide security at two fundraising events. Trevor Whipple, the police chief in South Burlington, told Fox News that his department incurred $4,200 in overtime expenses as a result of separate fundraising events featuring President Obama and the First Lady.

... Whipple said the overtime was even more significant because of First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit. He said his department was not given advance notice. And for a town of 17,000 people, he said it’s a good bit of money.

And separately:

The police chief in the city of Burlington has also submitted a similar request to the Obama campaign – asking to be reimbursed for several thousand dollars. “Here we are in April and we still have this outstanding debt of approximately $2,100,” Burlington police chief Andi Higbee told television station WCAX.

ANONYMOUS DONOR FOOTS OVERTIME
COSTS FOR OBAMA'S NH VISIT

BOSTON June 25, 2012 (CNN) - When the Obama campaign informed Durham [New Hampshire] officials on Thursday morning that it had been selected as the site for the president's rally on Monday, Town Administrator Todd Selig sent a formal request on behalf of the Durham Town Council that the campaign reimburse the town for any security-related costs incurred during the president's visit. Mr. Selig:
In this case our position was that we should make the request because it was a campaign related event. Ultimately, the campaign declined the town's request.

... But just one day before the president's scheduled arrival, the conflict over who would pay the overtime costs for Durham police and firefighters was averted when an anonymous Durham resident stepped forward and offered to reimburse the town up to $20,000 in order to allow the president's campaign rally to go on as scheduled. According to Selig, the donation was made not out of partisan loyalty, but to allow Durham the "privilege" of hosting a sitting president. Mr. Selig:

The donor wanted us to make public his/her sentiment that our Town had done the right thing in asking the campaign to do its part.

... The council's request is not without precedent. ... [P]olice officials informed Selig that when George W. Bush visited Durham prior to his election in 2000 the town requested similar reimbursement and the Bush campaign agreed.

SHORT END OF THE STUMP
Obama Leaves Hub On Hook For Fundraising Stop

BOSTON June 26, 2012 (BH) - Outraged taxpayer advocates slammed President Obama for lavishly politicking on the taxpayers’ dime last night, as Boston ran up a hefty tab providing security so the Democratic incumbent could breeze in and out of town for a series of re-election events. David Tuerck, a government ethics watchdog with Suffolk University:
It’s an atrocious waste of taxpayer money. There is no taxpayer interest in any of this. It’s all about getting him re-elected, and the campaign should pay for everything.

... City Hall refused to provide a cost estimate, but one city official predicted it could run between $150,000 to $200,000 to provide security for Obama, in town on a $3.1 million fundraising tear. The Boston Police Department had hordes of officers outside Hamersley’s Bistro in the South End and at Symphony Hall. Boston police will also likely provide security as Obama stays the night and leaves this morning.

"Given that many municipalities are facing budget crunches of their own, squeezing them even further for political events can grate on a lot of residents’ nerves," said Pete Sepp, vice president of the conservative-leaning National Taxpayers Union. He argued that presidents from both political parties should pick up their campaign tabs.

We're all for that.

OC CITY SAYS OBAMA CAMPAIGN
HASN'T PAID ITS BILL

NEWPORT BEACH, California July 30, 2012 (WaEx/AP) - Chicago-based Obama for America hasn't coughed up $35,000 for the cost of providing police protection during the president's February fundraiser in Corona del Mar, leaving Newport Beach stuck with the bill, the Orange County Register reported Monday.

... The bill was sent in May and was due in June. City officials also contacted the Democratic National Committee about payment, but the DNC said the Secret Service is responsible for presidential security. Agency spokesman Max Milien told the Los Angeles Times that it does not have the budget to pay for those expenses.

... City spokeswoman Tara Finnigan noted that Mitt Romney's campaign promptly paid a bill of $10,441 for his June fundraiser at the Balboa Bay Club.

Just as candidate Obama breezes in and out of cities large and small sticking the locals with his tab, President Obama will breeze out of office sticking the American public with his ginormous tab.

Because right now we’re seeing that voters have a choice between two very different men.

Joe "Send Money" Biden,
stating the obvious
E-BEG July 30, 2012 (WaEx)

Yes. That choice is becoming obviouser and obviouser.

CHOPE.

Big and small, Campaign Barry stiffs them all.

Posted by Damian at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2012

NYC Letter: One Billion Dollars Three Dollars At A Time -- The Tie That Binds

Day 1,283 of CHOPE
D-minus 173 Days

They don't get us, they don't get who we are. They don't understand, it seems to me. They're not bad, they just don't get it.

Joe "Marie Antoinette" Biden,
VP and middle-class poseur bemoaning the
Republican "ungettability" of the working class
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio May 16, 2012 (Examiner/YouTube)

The people who Mr. Biden gets are the people who bankroll Mr. Biden.

BIDEN CALLS DONORS
HIS 'SECOND FAMILY'

July 30, 2012 (WaEx) - Vice President Joe Biden warned supporters that if he loses his job, it will be because they didn’t donate enough when they had the chance.

... Then Biden soft-pedaled the closing argument. "Barack and I honestly wish we could thank everyone who contributes to this campaign personally. You’re our second family, you know."

Here are extended excerpts from Mr. Biden's e-beg:

[Your name here] –

This isn’t hyperbole or exaggeration:

If we don’t win this election, it will be because we didn’t close the spending gap when we could.

Because right now we’re seeing that voters have a choice between two very different men.

And the only way someone like Mitt Romney — who’s asking Americans to put him in charge of their taxes while refusing to come clean about his own, who wants to repeal Obamacare, end Medicare as we know it and give more tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them — defeats someone like Barack Obama, is if the other side spends us into oblivion.

So for Mr. Biden the election will not be decided on the issues nor ideas nor results nor will the better man be determinative. It all comes down to money. Mr. Biden is not asking for your vote. (Money Team Barry never even perfunctorily solicits votes.) He is asking for your money. And while the left screams that the right is buying the election -- an act of civic turpitude* -- Mr. Biden begs here for the wherewithal to buy it back.

Elections are ultimately decided by votes and Mr. Biden believes the votes can be bought** by running positive ads touting Team Barry's many accomplishments -- if only Campaign Barry has enough cash.

OBAMA’S TEAM TAKING
GAMBLE GOING NEGATIVE

CHICAGO July 28, 2012 (NYT) - The president’s prospects for re-election now rest in part on one of the biggest gambles of his career: that the benefits of trying to eviscerate Mr. Romney outweigh the costs to his own image and reputation.

With a political climate ripe for unseating an incumbent, the president’s campaign team signaled long ago that it had no intention of trying to replicate the 2008 race, and made it clear last year that if Mr. Romney won the Republican nomination, they would rush to aggressively define him before turning to a forward-looking message in the fall.

... The president not only approves of his television ads, as federal election law requires him to say in each commercial, he also screens many of them in advance, either on his iPad or during a regular Sunday evening meeting with political advisers at the White House.

OBAMA DEFENDS HIS
NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING

NEW YORK July 30, 2012 (WaEx) - "And this phase of the campaign I think you’re seeing a lot of negative ads and a lot of contrast ads — although when people start saying how terrible it is," Obama said during a fundraiser at the NoMad Hotel in New York City, "I just have to remind them [to] take a look at what Jefferson and Adams had to say about each other, and democracy has always been pretty rough and pretty messy." ("Contrast ad" is the Obama campaign’s preferred term for their hits on Romney).

Here is what Mr. Obama is careful not to remind his audiences.

OBAMA PROMISED IN 2008
HE WOULD NOT RUN
NEGATIVE ADS

July 30, 2012 (BF) - President Obama has taken heat for the negativity of his 2012 campaign. In an April 2008 speech, Obama promised to not run negative ads saying it "was a different time" that required "a different kind of campaign". He later ran many negative ads against John McCain. Mr. Obama:
And there's one last choice. And that is, do we want to have the same old attack politics that we that we've become accustom to, the same slash and burn politics? Well, a-a, um, on of the things I'm proud of -- I said this, thissa different time. This is, this is an extraordinary time. We got to run a different kind of campaign. So we're not going to go around doing negative ads. We're going to keep it positive. We're gonna talk about the issues.

Mr. Biden in closing:

Tomorrow is the most urgent fundraising deadline of this campaign so far. [Emphasis in the original.]

Needless to say every appeal -- and they are legion -- and every deadline are the "most urgent so far". No matter how much you give the next beg will be the "most urgent", but probably not the most desperate. Those will come in September as the campaign runs out of begging time.

But we’re running out of time to close the money gap when it really matters.

Please donate $3 today, and help make sure our message can get through to as many voters as Mitt Romney’s does.

... Barack and I honestly wish we could thank everyone who contributes to this campaign personally. You’re our second family, you know.

Mr. Biden speaking for Money Team Barry would like more of your money so Mr. Obama can run the negative ads he forswore in 2008 because Campaign Barry has no positive message in 2012. So pony up $3. It's family.

CHOPE.

Desperate cash, thicker than blood.

------------------------------------
* Civic turpitude only when the wrong side is buying. in 2008, Mr. Obama's outspending his opposition -- and killing public campaign financing along the way -- was celebrated, not as a civic horror, but as genius campaign generalship.

** Ad buys, of course, are not "vote buys" because an advertiser is paid for services, not the voter for his vote. The ad is meant to persuade or, more usually, dupe or overwhelm the intelligence of the voter for his vote. A lot of cash means a lot of buys, which means a lot of ads, which means one message dominating a media market. In a textbook example of projection by the left this becomes "vote buying" when the right threatens to out-buy them, though not when they employ the same strategy (vid supra).

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2012

NYC Letter: Trust Team Barry, Part XXIII -- "It Worked"

Day 1,282 of CHOPE
D-minus 174 Days

Just like we’ve tried their plan, we tried our plan -- and it worked. That’s the difference. (Applause.) That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.

Mr. Obama,
campaigning on Bill Clinton's record
REMARKS AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT
OAKLAND, California July 24, 2012 (White House)

Whichever of the many apologists' spins you pick for the "context" of Mr. Obama's above quote, it is obvious Mr. Obama is bragging on his ability to produce results. The White House, which we would take as the definitive spinner, assures us the "context" of Mr. Obama's campaign remarks is Mr. Obama's record, which only makes sense.

Q: My question is, is [President Obama] running on the Clinton economy or the Obama economy?

He is running on his record.

Jay Carney,
WH press secretary mistakenly giving a straight answer
PRESS BRIEFING
WASHINGTON Jul;y 27, 2012 (RCP)

Let's start with Mr. Obama's economy.

GDP REPORT: U.S. ECONOMY SLOWED
IN SECOND QUARTER

NEW YORK July 27, 2012 (CNN) - Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic health, grew at an annual rate of 1.5% from April to June, the Commerce Department said Friday.

... The economy needs to grow around 3% a year to bring the unemployment rate down significantly, and since consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the economy, it too needs to grow around 3%. But spending slowed to 1.5%, down from 2.4% in the first quarter, showing that households are continuing to deleverage three years after the recession.

... As usual, the U.S. also imported more goods and services from foreign countries than it exported, which subtracts from economic growth.

One point five percent annual growth? Wha-what happened to Team Barry's zip-a-dee-doo-dah economy of 2009? The Recovery Summer of 2010? [Pause.] They never showed up. Team Barry treats its cheery predictions as results. When results don't match predictions, Team Barry just ratchets down the previous year's rosy predictions and wishes up new cheering predictions. James Pethokoukis at AEI gives the history:

The new data also show just how weak the Obama recovery has been, expanding at an annual average pace of just 2.2% vs. 5.7% for the Reagan recovery. In addition, the GDP report shows the Obama administration has continually and wildly overestimated the positive impact of its economic policies, including the $800 billion stimulus plan:
  • In August of 2009, the White House—after having a half year to view the economy and its $800 billion stimulus response—predicted that GDP would rise 4.3% in 2011, followed by 4.3% growth in 2012 and 2013, too. And 2014? Another year of 4.0% growth.
  • In its 2010 forecast, the White House said it was looking for 3.5% GDP growth in 2012, followed by 4.4% in 2013, 4.3% in 2014.
  • In its 2011 forecast, the White House predicted 3.1% growth in 2011, 4.0% in 2012 and 4.5% in 2013, 4.2% in 2014.
  • In its most recent forecast, the White House predicted 3.0% growth this year and next, and then back to 4.0% after that. The current consensus is for 2013 growth to be a lot like 2012 growth [i.e., 2% or less].

Not even close.* Not to worry, says Team Barry.

WHITE HOUSE ON GDP REPORT:
HEY, AT LEAST IT WASN’T NEGATIVE!
By Ed Morrissey
BLOG July 27, 2012 (Hot Air)

The health of the economy affects the wealth of the nation.

POVERTY LEVELS ON RISE

July 22, 2012 (Politico) - The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest since 1965.

... Poverty is closely tied to joblessness. While the unemployment rate improved from 9.6 percent in 2010 to 8.9 percent in 2011, the employment-population ratio remained largely unchanged, meaning many discouraged workers simply stopped looking for work. Food stamp rolls, another indicator of poverty [Ed.: Not so much under Mr. Obama.], also grew.

Let's look at joblessness.

8.2% UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
UNCHANGED IN JUNE
July 6, 2012 (USA Today)

That is 41 straight months of 8% or greater unemployment out of the 42 months of the Obama Presidency. Not to worry, says Team Barry.

WHITE HOUSE ON WEAK JOBS REPORT:
'DON'T READ TOO MUCH' INTO IT
July 6, 2012 (ABC News)

Let's look at food stamps.

GOVERNMENT WANTS
MORE PEOPLE ON FOOD STAMPS
June 25, 2012 (CNN)

Team Barry can't figure out a policy for prosperity, which would get people off food stamps, so it's genius policy is to double-down on subsidizing poverty.

This is an inescapable record. It is a record that will not substantively improve but most likely will worsen before the November elections. All of Mr. Obama's sunshine and rainbows are somewhere on the far side of 2013 -- so we are told. Yet. [Pause.] Yet gloom prevails.

LONG-TERM OPTIMISM ABOUT U.S.
ECONOMY FALLS TO NEW LOW
POLL July 25, 2012 (Rasmussen)

Not everyone is gloomy. The party that gave us Mr. Obama, thinks things are swell.

PARTISAN ECONOMICS: DEMOCRATS
BELIEVE ECONOMY GETTING BETTER

POLL July 23, 2012 (Rasmussen) - Currently, just 36% of Democrats believe the economy is in poor shape, according to new Rasmussen Reports polling. Nearly twice as many Republicans (67%) offer such a pessimistic view. So do 54% of those not affiliated with either major party.

The Democrats own Mr. Obama, and Mr. Obama owns the economy.

There is an epigram by Martial that goes something like this, everyone loves their own. He was writing about farts.

Posted by Damian at March 29, 2012 11:45 PM

At this point, our sign-off reminder should be unnecessary.

We own the economy.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th),
DNC chair and proud owner of the Obama economy
WASHINGTON June 15, 2011 (Politico)

CHOPE.

Some record.

------------------------------------
* Here are the revised year-end numbers from the latest BEA release, July 27, 2012:

Revisions To The 2009-2011 Estimates: The percent change from the preceding year in real GDP was revised up from a decrease of 3.5 percent to a decrease of 3.1 percent for 2009, was revised down from an increase of 3.0 percent to an increase of 2.4 percent for 2010, and was revised up from an increase of 1.7 percent to an increase of 1.8 percent for 2011.
Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2012

NYC Letter: The Obama Economy, Part XVII -- Back To The 90s!

Day 1,280 of CHOPE
D-minus 176 Days

Just like we’ve tried their plan, we tried our plan -- and it worked. That’s the difference. (Applause.) That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.

Mr. Obama,
campaigning on Bill Clinton's record
REMARKS AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT
OAKLAND, California July 24, 2012 (White House)

Our plan? Ahem. Whose plan?

OBAMA NOW PARTLY RUNNING
ON BILL CLINTON’S RECORD - 'OUR PLAN'

July 26, 2012 (ABC News) - Faced with an stagnating economy and unemployment over 8 percent on his own watch, President Obama on the stump now invokes the economy during the era of former President Bill Clinton.

The president’s invocation of Clinton is part of his pitch to raise taxes on higher income brackets, as did President Clinton in 1993; and as a contrast to his current Republican opponents who seek to extend all the Bush-era tax rates, including those on the top wage-earners, which President Obama opposes.

Essentially, within this construct, President Obama is trying to cast the choice voters face as Bill Clinton versus George W. Bush, with Bill Clinton’s economy as his, and George W. Bush’s economy as Mitt Romney’s. Clinton’s economy saw the creation of tens of millions of jobs, an economic boom and a projected federal budget surplus. Mr. Obama:

Let me just point out that the approach that I’m talking about has also been tested. Just like their theories have been tested and didn’t work, my theories have been tested. The last time they were tried was by a guy named Bill Clinton. And we created 23 million new jobs, went from deficits to surplus, and we created a lot of millionaires to boot.

Mr. Clinton will be surprised to learn he actually oversaw the Obama economy, implementing Mr. Obama's theories.

Mr. Obama has tried for years to convince us he was managing the Bush economy, that the Obama economy was the Bush economy.* Now he's trading up to manage the Clinton economy. [Snort in our sleeve.] But Mr. Obama's economy is not Mr. Clinton’s economy. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air does the carve-up:

Obama apologists are screeching once again that his critics are taking him out of context. Obama was referring to the Clinton tax-hike plan, they insist, which worked. There are a number of problems with this, not the least of which is that the Clinton tax hikes took place in 1993, well after the recovery from the 1990-1 recession began, and the real boom took place after 1997, when tax cuts got put in place. But there is a more fundamental problem with this argument: Obama put into place his own plan, not Clinton’s, in 2009 — a massive stimulus bill that cost $838 billion and flopped at its expressed goals, keeping unemployment below 8% and stimulating better-than-usual recovery growth. During Obama’s first two years in office, he had plenty of time to push Clinton’s policies through a Congress with large majorities in both chambers had he wanted to do so. Finally, Obama wasn’t even in politics in 1993 when Clinton passed his tax hikes, so he can hardly call it "our plan".

If one accepts the "context" of Obama’s apologists on this point, then one would have to conclude that Obama himself considers his own plan a failure, and that we need to revert back to the 1993 plan in which Obama had no part at all. That’s not the case, as Obama has talked about another round of stimulus spending, making it clear that it is his own plan to which he referred in Oakland, as he needs a second term to pursue it. And it’s equally clear from the results that Obama’s plan hasn’t worked at all.

People will not be voting on the Bush economy nor the Clinton economy come November. They will be voting on Mr. Obama's economy. Just his, which is all his.

We own the economy.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th),
DNC chair and proud owner of the Obama economy
WASHINGTON June 15, 2011 (Politico)

CHOPE.

Forward! -- to the 90s!

------------------------------------
* Yet Mr. Obama perpetuated the centerpiece of the Bush economy. As he does today, Mr. Obama originally opposed the Bush tax rates before extending them -- all of them -- bowing to economic realities, a bow which he refuses to bow today.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2012

NYC Letter: Chin Music

Day 1,277 of CHOPE
D-minus 179 Days

With one slap Scott Brown (R-MA) delivers a double-smack to Mr. Obama and Elizabeth Warren.

072312_popeye_double-slap_w438.png
CHIN MUSIC
Returning The Slap In The Face To American Businesses
[Picture source: Popeye The Sailor Meets
Sindbad the Sailor (1936)]

SCOTT BROWN AD:
"LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN"

July 23, 2012 (RCP) - VIDEO TEXT: [Bright American flag, hoisted and flowing, fills screen.] How Did We Go From This…

JOHN F. KENNEDY: "I believe in an America where the free enterprise system flourishes for all other systems to see and admire – where no businessman lacks either competition or credit - and where no monopoly, no racketeer, no government bureaucracy can put him out of business that he built up with his own initiative."

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: "A government that understands that jobs must come from growth in a vibrant and vital system of free enterprise."

PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON: "I am so proud of our system of government, of our free enterprise, where our incentive system and our men who head our big industries are willing to get up at daylight and work until midnight to offer employment and create new jobs for people."

PRESIDENT GERALD FORD: "I have faith in America. Through our system of democracy and free enterprise, the United States has achieved remarkable, unbelievable progress."

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: "Small business is the gateway to opportunity for those who want a piece of the American Dream. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear a little more about the forgotten heroes of America, those who create most of our new jobs, like the owners of stores down the street, the faithful who support our churches, synagogues, schools and communities. The brave men and women everywhere who produce our goods, feed a hungry world, and keep our families warm while they invest in the future to build a better America. That’s where miracles are made. Not In Washington, DC."

VIDEO TEXT: [Small desaturated American flag abandoned on ground.] To This…

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, 'well it must be because I was just so smart.' Because if you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

HARVARD PROFESSOR ELIZABETH WARREN: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for."

VIDEO TEXT: Let’s Remember What America Is Supposed To Be About

U.S. SENATOR SCOTT BROWN: "When you do well, everyone else does well. And I promise you this, I will never demonize you as business leaders and business owners for the work you do or the opportunities you create because I think we should not be blaming you – we should be thanking you."

VIDEO TEXT: Let America Be America Again

VIDEO TEXT: Scott Brown He’s For Us

Describing Republican positions going into November, Joe "They Don't Get Me" Biden inadvertently describes the desperate go-for-broke clarity of the Democrat candidates:

God love 'em, they’re not hiding the ball, they’re just saying exactly what they believe.

CHOPE.

Slapping down the class-baiters.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2012

NYC Letter: Trust Team Barry, Part XXII -- "Me Care So Much"

Day 1,276 of CHOPE
D-minus 180 Days

Mr. Obama apparently thinks that if you were stupid enough to elect him, you are too stupid to care when he lies to your face.

Let’s keep taking care of our extraordinary military families. For the first time ever, we’ve made military families and veterans a top priority not just at DOD, not just at the VA, but across the government. As Richard [DeNoyer, VFW National Commander] mentioned, this has been a mission for my wife, Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden. Today, more people across America in every segment of society are Joining Forces to give our military families the respect and the support that they deserve. (Applause.)

Mr. Obama,
striking a pose to hide a position
REMARKS TO THE 113TH NATIONAL CONVENTION
OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
(RENO July 23, 2012 White House)

Last year we gave a guarded defense of the Obamas' military family initiatives. [Pause.] Fooled us! Team Barry's earlier attempts to cut military benefits were not political missteps, they are a policy push that will not die.

OBAMA TO SOLDIERS: PAY UP
Threatens To Veto Bill Unless It Hikes
Health Care Fees For Service Members

June 29, 2012 (WFB) - The Obama administration on Friday threatened to veto a defense appropriations bill in part because it does not include higher health care fees for members of the military.

... President Obama’s most recent budget proposal includes billions of dollars in higher fees for members of TRICARE, the military health care system, and is part of the administration’s plan to cut nearly $500 billion from the Pentagon’s budget.

Some fear the administration’s proposal is an effort to increase enrollment in the state-run insurance exchanges mandated under the president’s controversial health care law.

... The House bill has significant bipartisan support, and easily passed by a margin of 299 to 120.

Not everyone is fooled by Mr. Obama's "me care so much" applause lines, most notably the military for whom they are intended. In The Military Times annual survey of military personnel released this March, there was an overall decline in satisfaction among respondents on all aspects of military life (except housing). Quality of military life dropped a whooping 23 points from the previous poll (2010, Excellent: 90%/2011, Excellent: 67% 2012). Mr. Obama's overall job approval among the military that he commands is a dismal 25%.

And there is this.

MARINES DOWN ON OBAMA

March 21, 2012 (WaEx) - The Marine Corps Times previews its cover story about anti-Obama Marines at their 'Battle Rattle' blog.

According to the article, of the 792 active-duty troops and mobilized reservists who responded to this year's Military Times Poll, 44 percent said that they disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job as commander in chief.

Given a choice, likely-voter veterans are ready to choose differently.

AMONG MILITARY VETERANS:
ROMNEY 59% OBAMA 35%

POLL July 22, 2012 (Rasmussen) - Most military veterans don’t like the job President Obama is doing and prefer Mitt Romney in November’s election.

New Rasmussen Reports polling finds that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters who have served in the military favor the Republican challenger, while 35% support the president. Five percent (5%) of these voters like some other candidate in the race, but only two percent (2%) are undecided.

Mr. Obama wants to "keep taking care of our extraordinary military families". [Pause.] At least till the November election.

CHOPE.

He can't lie fast enough.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Pitching The Fail

Day 1,269 of CHOPE
D-minus 187 Days

Everyone likes a winner. And elections are about winners. People donate money to campaigns they want to win that have a chance of winning. Not Campaign Barry. In a race that will likely remain close until Labor Day, Money Team Barry hopes to raise $1B pitching the imminent demise of Mr. Obama's candidacy.

Let's start here.

OBAMA FRETS AFTER 'TERRIFYING' RECALL VOTE

June 6, 2012 (The Hill) - President Obama will need to double down on his efforts to keep Wisconsin safely in his column after Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) resounding victory in Tuesday’s recall election.

... In an email to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina called Tuesday’s outcome — and, more specifically, the super-PAC money spent on Walker — a "terrifying experiment". Messina said the money "swung the election". "This kind of corporate and special-interest spending is exactly what we could be up against this fall," he said before asking supporters to donate $3 or more to the president’s reelection campaign.

Mr. Messina decries money "swinging an election" as he begs for money to swing an election. He was back the next day with more doom.

MESSINA: WE GOT BEAT BY
MEAN RICH PEOPLE

BLOG June 7, 2012 (WHD) - The Obama Campaign today admitted that the Mitt Romney outraised President Obama by some $17 million last month.

In an email to supporters with the subject line "We got beat", Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina acknowledged the obvious and asked for more money. ... What Messina leaves out is that the Obama campaign got beat at the very same game it won in 2008. ... The problem for the Obama campaign is not, in this case, that there’s more fat cats in the game than in 2008. It’s that there’s more enthusiasm on the Republican side.

Doom.

IF WE'RE DRASTICALLY OUTSPENT
By Julianna Smoot, Deputy Campaign Manager
June 27, 2012 (barackobama.com)

If we're drastically outspent in this election, there's a very good chance we will lose to Mitt Romney.

This is a distinct possibility. The financial landscape in this race has changed over the last few weeks.

What concerns me is the Obama supporters I've encountered who don't understand that this is what we're facing.

The fundraising deadline this week is a test: Are we going to allow the other side to dominate us, or are we going to prove that elections are decided by everyday Americans pitching in what they can?

Ready to fight? Please donate today, ahead of the FEC deadline.

So how'd that test go? Doom.

Date: July 9, 2012

[Your name here.] —

Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

Good news first: June was our best fundraising month yet. We exceeded expectations — more than 706,000 people stepped up and pitched in for a grand total of $71 million raised for this campaign and the Democratic Party.

Bad news? We still got beat. Handily. Romney and the RNC pulled in a whopping $106 million.

So, to recap: We had our best fundraising month yet, and we still fell about $35 million short. We can win while being outspent — but we need to keep it close.

You know what that means. We’ve got some work to do.

Pitch in $3 or more right now to start closing the gap.

This is no joke. If we can’t keep the money race close, it becomes that much harder to win in November.

But this election isn’t about how much money our campaigns can raise — none of us would be fighting this hard just to win a money war. We’re here because we believe in something bigger — because none of us wants to see this country go back to the policies that drove our economy into a ditch, which is exactly what the other side wants to do.

- Ann Marie

Ann Marie Habershaw
Chief Operating Officer
Obama for America

More doom.

From: Julianna Smoot, BarackObama.com
Subject: This is potentially devastating
Date: July 13, 2012
To: [Your name here.]

[Your name here.] —

We got outraised last month, and not by a little bit.

Part Two of getting outraised is getting outspent. That translates into a potentially devastating sweep of negative, misleading messaging that’s going to flood the airwaves in swing states — over and over and over — until November 6th. It’s already started, and it’s only July.

Will you make a donation of $5 or more to help close this gap? ...

Thanks,
Julianna

Julianna Smoot
Deputy Campaign Manager
Obama for America

More doom. More doom.

Campaign Barry is not in trouble because it can't match Republican fundraising. Campaign Barry is in trouble because it is premised on four more years of Mr. Obama, and Campaign Barry can't sell that. Making the theme of its fundraising the perpetual demise of Mr. Obama's candidacy simply advertises the failed effort.

Mr. Obama, the advantaged incumbent, tried to cast himself as the improbable underdog long before the presumptive Republican candidate emerged. To beg for dollars, Campaign Barry has recast him again -- this time as the probable loser.

CHOPE.

All doom, all the time.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2012

NYC Letter: Mr. Romney's Speech To The NAACP

Day 1,264 of CHOPE
D-minus 192 Days

Mitt Romney proves he is not afraid to campaign for the presidency. That means pitching the tough crowds not just the fleeced adulators.

This is the headline that got the attention.

ROMNEY DRAWS BOOS FROM NAACP,
SUPPORT FROM CONSERVATIVES
HOUSTON July 11, 2012 (CNN)

Here is Mr. Romney's speech. We encourage you to read it through. It is a measured, serviceable, and, most importantly, clear argument on the distinctions between himself and Mr. Obama. It also has the virtue of being short.

Mr. Romney was booed -- for a full 15 seconds, as CNN Breathlessly reports -- for this:

Our high level of debt slows GDP growth and that means fewer jobs. If our goal is jobs, we must, must stop spending over a trillion dollars more than we earn. To do this, I will eliminate expensive non-essential programs like Obamacare, and I will work to reform and save Medicare and Social Security, in part by means-testing their benefits.

Black unemployment shot up almost a full percentage point in June (14.4%) from May (13.6%), over 6 points higher than the national unemployment rate (8.2%) and almost twice white unemployment (7.4%).

But there were also cheers.

NAACP CROWD CHEERS MITT ROMNEY
FOR ‘DEFENDING TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE’
HOUSTON July 11, 2012 (Mediaite)

Mr. Romney was cheered for saying this:

Any policy that lifts up and honors the family is going to be good for the country, and that must be our goal. As President, I will promote strong families – and I will defend traditional marriage.

And then here is the headline few MSM readers and viewers saw.

ROMNEY GETS STANDING OVATION FROM NAACP,
BUT CNN CALLS RECEPTION 'VERY NEGATIVE'

HOUSTON July 11, 2012 (NewsBusters) - "[N]o question about it, this was a very negative reaction to what Mitt Romney had to say here earlier this morning," [CNN's Jim Acosta] rounded out his post-speech report. However, NBC's Garrett Haake tweeted that Romney got a standing ovation as he finished his speech, and National Review's Jim Geraghty noted the cordial reception by the NAACP.

That Mr. Romney was both booed and cheered is not too surprising. Scripturally the Mormon Church taught blacks were under the "curse of Cain" and had been racially excluded from the priesthood -- until recently (1978). So going in, politics aside, Mr. Romney had a hard row to hoe. But the NAACP has also knitted up its political fortunes in the "evolving" Mr. Obama. That Mr. Romney took Mr. Obama's signature achievement head on and was booed makes headlines, but is hardly news.

ROMNEY SAYS HE KNEW
HE'D BE BOOED AT NAACP
July 11, 2012 (ABC News)

Were he not booed, that would be news.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama skipped the NAACP conference this year.

BLACK PASTORS TO PROTEST
NAACP SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE

HOUSTON July 11, 2012 (WaEx) - A coalition of 1,300 black pastors will go to Houston for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) convention this week — to host a protest against the NAACP’s decision to follow President Obama in backing gay marriage. Rev. William Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors
The Black church founded the NAACP, and it is not the organization for the advancement of gays and lesbians–whatever the merits of that movement. Return to your roots and stand with the Black Church on marriage.

No tough crowds, thank you.

CHOPE.

Taking the message to a tough crowd.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- A Hard Sell

Day 1,261 of CHOPE
D-minus 195 Days

Mr. Obama is pitching his re-election with another bus tour in one of his two Canadian-built buses. This time to the battleground states Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he both claims to have righted the economy and that the economy is an intractable mess that he inherited. He both reminds folk that the economy is growing but that the growth is not very impressive.

It's a hard sell.

060811_auto_industry_w438.png
BUMP. BUMP. BUMP.
The Bumps Are From The Steering

For the second time this year the Democratic polling and strategy firm Democracy Corps warns Campaign Barry that voters can't be fooled by Pollyanna pronouncements on a sluggish economy.

It is elites who are creating a conventional wisdom that an incumbent president must run on his economic performance – and therefore must convince voters that things are moving in the right direction. They are wrong, and that will fail. The voters are very sophisticated about the character of the economy; they know who is mainly responsible for what went wrong and they are hungry to hear the President talk about the future. They know we are in a new normal where life is a struggle – and convincing them that things are good enough for those who have found jobs is a fool’s errand. They want to know the plans for making things better in a serious way – not just focused on finishing up the work of the recovery.

Short story, Mr. Obama has an abysmal economic record, he can't run on results or yesterday's promises, therefore he must run on tomorrow's promises as results.

The reliable angels in the media* amen corner still megaphone Mr. Obama's pitch, but even they can't skirt the deadening crush of ineluctable economic reality.

FOR OBAMA, A JOBS REPORT
THAT KEEPS STINGING

POLAND, Ohio July 6, 2012 (WaPo) - Campaigning across Ohio on Thursday, President Obama walked a line between talk of economic optimism and expressions of economic realism. On Friday, reality hit home with a vengeance as the latest jobs report showed the economy added just 80,000 jobs in June and that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent.

... Obama’s message on his two-day bus tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania has been twofold. First, he pointed to modest signs of progress in rebuilding the economy--the health of the auto industry [And here.] is his principal case study across Ohio’s northern tier. At the same time, he warned that the medicine offered by Romney and the Republicans is exactly the wrong prescription.

As he said here Friday morning, "We tried it, and didn’t work."

But it has become increasingly difficult for the president to argue that what he has tried is working well, or that he has something new to offer. Each month that the economy produces fewer jobs than are needed just to keep pace with population growth [scil., 125K] adds to the burden the president faces as the clock ticks toward November.

A quick turnaround doesn’t appear likely, given recent analyses. The Federal Reserve’s latest assessment projecting slower growth than previously forecast bodes ill for the incumbent.

Don't blame the Obama economy on Mr. Obama! It's those unliberated Republicans! -- as Mr. Obama explains in this WLWT News 5 interview, July 5, 2012:

We've been successful in moving us in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go. ... I suspect that most people in Cincinnati would acknowledge that I've tried real hard, and we haven't gotten the Republicans to engage on a whole range of issues. That, I wish had happened.

Don't blame Mr. Obama! It's those irresponsible Europeans and-and Mr. Bush!

DEMOCRAT: "IT'S HARD TO SELL
THAT WE’RE IN THIS MESS
BECAUSE OF BUSH AND THE EUROPEANS"
BLOG July 07, 2012 (JWF)

THE JOBS DOLDRUMS
AND OBAMA'S FUTURE
By Robert Reich, former Clinton Labor Secretary

July 7, 2012 (HuffPo) - Bad news for the U.S. economy and for Barack Obama. We're in the jobs doldrums. Unemployment for June is stuck at 8.2 percent, the same as in May. And only 80,000 new jobs were added.

Remember, 125,000 news jobs are needed just to keep up with the increase in the population of Americans who need jobs. That means the jobs situation continues to worsen.

... In Ohio yesterday, Obama reiterated that he had inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression. That's true. [It's not. Just ask Mr. Obama.] But the excuse is wearing thin. It's his economy now, and most voters don't care what he inherited.

Don't blame Mr. Obama! He made all the right choices!

Here is what isn't clicking with Mr. Obama. He didn't get the job done. For some odd reason Mr. Obama thinks going around the country telling voters the economy -- the Obama economy -- isn't good enough will get him re-elected. It won't. [Pause.] He is going to be fired. Not because he's black, not because he's a bad golfer -- because he didn't do the job he was hired to do.

Since Mr. Obama needs reminding who owns the Obama economy, you may, too.

We own the economy.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th),
DNC chair and proud owner of the Obama economy
WASHINGTON June 15, 2011 (Politico)

CHOPE.

All bumps. No ride.

------------------------------------
* And this.

Posted by Damian at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2012

NYC Letter: Grubbing For Dollars -- Bottomless Cup Of Joe

Day 1,258 of CHOPE
D-minus 198 Days

Money Team Barry has reached down, far down the barrel of campaign begs, touched its miry bottom, and fetched up the bottom-of-the-barrel beg. [Pause.] Literally.

BIDEN TO SUPPORTERS:
GIVE ME $3 AND I’LL BUY
YOU A CUP OF COFFEE
BLOG July 5, 2012 (Weasel Zippers)

Three dollars doesn't buy what it used to.

From: Joe Biden
Subject: I want to buy you a cup of coffee
Date: July 5, 2012 1:08:45 PM EDT

To: [Your name here]

[Your name here] —

Want to have a cup of coffee sometime soon?

I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about, but mainly I just want to say thanks for helping out.

Make a donation of $3 or whatever you can to grow this grassroots campaign, and be automatically entered for the chance to come hang out — flight, hotel, and coffee on us. You can even bring a guest.

Barack and I know that we ask you for a lot. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t believe that folks like you are going to decide this election.

The spending on the other side this year is literally unprecedented. If nothing changes, Barack is on pace to be the first president in modern history to get outspent in his re-election campaign.

What you do will determine how this goes.

Make a grassroots donation today, and you’ll be automatically entered to win:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Coffee

Last week was a big one for this campaign. The truth is we need every week to be that big. We need to dig deeper and deeper every day if we want to win.

Hope to see you soon,
Joe

"Joe". Because Mr. Biden is a friendly approachable political whore. For $3 he's your best friend. [Your name here], come on and dig into what's left of your kid's college fund, your hollowed out savings, the second mortgage. It's for your good pal "Joe". Like Mr. Biden, Mr. Obama also wants to be your best friend for $3. But Mr. Obama will spring for dinner. Mr. Biden can only expense two cups of coffee from the quilted aluminium canteen on the corner.

"Flight, hotel, and coffee on us." But not the booze or salty snacks!

OBAMA CAMPAIGN WARNS WINNERS OF CONTEST
TO EAT DINNER WITH BARACK AND MICHELLE
NOT TO USE HOTEL MINIBAR
BLOG June 26, 2012 (Weasel Zippers)

[Your name here]—

One of my responsibilities as chief operating officer of this campaign is to sign off on travel costs — so I see every expense for a hotel room or plane ticket.

If you win Dinner with Barack, I’ll be the one approving your flight arrangements from your town to your dinner with the President and First Lady.

Managing the logistics of these dinners is tough, but we do it because giving supporters a seat at the table — literally — is a huge priority for this campaign. You guys are out there knocking on doors, making calls, and working hard to re-elect the President. You deserve a thank you.

And don’t forget — I see the hotel bills, too, so don’t break in to that minibar.

Good luck,
Ann Marie

Ann Marie Habershaw
Chief Operating Officer
Obama for America

Hey! [Your name here], we're new best pals and all, but not such best pals that you can raid the minibar! [Pause.] Vote back the cheapskates.

CHOPE.

Dig deeper and deeper. Everyday.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up IX

Day 1,256 of CHOPE
D-minus 200 Days

Special Obamacare On The Fail Trail Edition

Mr. Obama won a big victory last week when the Supreme Court ruled on Obamacare. Team Barry and Demos are bragging on the headlines but are hoping the electorate doesn't spot the actual ruling.

What the Court ruled is that Obamacare levies a big new tax on the middle-class.

Team Barry in the person of Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued the Obamacare mandate wasn't a tax on day one before the Court. On day two he was back arguing it was a tax. Justice Alito caught the legal bizarrerie:

JUSTICE ALITO: General Verrilli, today you are arguing that the penalty is not a tax. Tomorrow you are going to be back, and you will be arguing that the penalty is a tax. Has the court ever held that something that is a tax for the purposes of the taxing power under the Constitution is not a tax under the Anti-Injunction Act?

VERRILLI: No.

The day-two argument prevailed, but Team Barry is shilling the day-one argument that failed.

WHITE HOUSE MEMO URGES ALLIES
TO MISLEAD ON OBAMACARE TAX

June 29, 2012 (CNS News) - A memo published by White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe advises allies to mislead when they discuss the recent Supreme Court decision on the individual mandate, saying they should call it a penalty when it is in fact a tax. Mr. Plouffe:
For those that can afford health insurance but stay uninsured—forcing the rest of us to subsidize their care for free—a penalty is administered.

... Roberts rejected the idea that the mandate was a penalty, saying that even the Obama administration agreed that the mandate was not, in fact, a penalty.

"In distinguishing penalties from taxes, this Court has explained that 'if the concept of penalty means anything, it means punishment for an unlawful act or omission'," Roberts wrote. "The Gov­ernment agrees with that reading, confirming that if someone chooses to pay rather than obtain health insur­ance, they have fully complied with the law."

In other words, because the law does not punish people for not having insurance beyond taxing them, the mandate is not a penalty.

How's that winning message doing?

POLL: MAJORITY VIEWS INDIVIDUAL MANDATE AS A TAX

July 2, 2012 (The Hill) - A strong majority of Americans say the individual mandate is a tax, rather than a penalty or a fee, according to a CNN-ORC poll released on Monday.

Sixty percent said they view the individual mandate as a tax, versus 39 that said it’s not a tax.

OK. Still Obamacare is the signature accomplishment of Mr. Obama's presidency and SCOTUS has let it stand. That's sure to impress.

GALLUP: ONLY 6 PERCENT OF
AMERICANS SAY HEALTH CARE IS
THE TOP U.S. PROBLEM
POLL July 3, 2012 (CNS News)

OK. OK. Americans have put Obamacare behind them, resigned to the government telling them how to spend their money. It's now settled law. Time to move on.

52% FAVOR REPEAL OF PRESIDENT’S
HEALTH CARE LAW
POLL July 2, 2012 (Rasmussen)

OK. OK. OK. At least the Republicans have settled down and muted their opposition.

CANTOR: HOUSE WILL VOTE
ON REPEAL ON JULY 11

June 28, 2012 (Politico) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA, 7th) said Thursday that the Republican-led House will vote on repealing the health care law soon after the July 4 recess.

MCCONNELL: I'LL REPEAL OBAMACARE
AS MAJORITY LEADER

June 29, 2012 (Politico) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declared Friday that repealing the health care law would top his priority list if he controls the chamber come 2013. Mr. McConnell Fridayon Laura Ingraham’s radio show:
If [Mitt] Romney is in the White House and I am the majority leader of the Senate, I assure you repeal of Obamacare is the first item on the agenda. ... We need to start all over and not make things worse, and I think that's the message for the fall election.

BOEHNER PUSHES REPEAL,
WANTS HEALTH LAW
'RIPPED OUT BY ITS ROOTS'

July 1, 2012 (The Hill) - House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying the law, which the Supreme Court ruled as being constitutional this week, should be "ripped out by its roots." Mr. Boehner on CBS's Face The Nation:
This has to be ripped out by its roots. This is government taking over the entire health industry. The American people do not want to go down this path. It has to be ripped out and we need to start over one step at a time.

FIFTEEN GOVERNORS REJECT OR LEANING
AGAINST EXPANDED MEDICAID PROGRAM

July 3, 2012 (The Hill) - At least 15 governors have indicated they will not participate in the expansion of Medicaid under the healthcare law, striking a blow to President Obama’s promise of broader insurance coverage.

Before Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling, states had the option of either increasing their Medicaid rolls or being penalized by the federal government. The high court struck down that offer as unconstitutional.

OK. OK. OK. OK. The SCOTUS ruling must be a blow to Republicans campaigning against Obamacare.

MITT ROMNEY CASHING IN ON
SUPREME COURT HEALTHCARE RULING

June 28, 2012 (Observer) - According to Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul the Supreme Court decision upholding President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law led to a windfall for Mitt Romney. Ms. Saul told The Politicker supporters donated at least $100,000 in the 50 minutes between the immediate aftermath of the ruling, which was issued at approximately 10:10 a.m. Shortly before 11:30, Ms. Saul said the total donations had reached over $300,000. By 1:30 p.m., Ms. Saul claimed the Romney campaign had raised $1 million following the ruling.

ROMNEY RAISES $5.5M
AFTER HEALTH RULING

June 29, 2012 (The Hill) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has raised $5.5 million since the Supreme Court ruled that President Obama's healthcare law is constitutional.

Romney started raising funds immediately after the decision, and in a message to supporters Friday morning his campaign spokeswoman said he had raised $5.5 million from 55,000 donations.

Obama's campaign blasted Romney's team for touting its fundraising success. Obama outraised Romney after the decision, the president's reelection team claimed, but they did not share their fundraising numbers.

Campaign Barry throws a snit over Campaign Romney touting its fundraising success, then turns around and touts its own fundraising success claim with the empty brag that it outraised Campaign Romney. Yeah.

OBAMACARE RULING
FILLS REPUBLICAN COFFERS
A Windfall For Candidates Up And Down The Ticket.

July 3, 2012 (BF) - While both the Romney and Obama campaign boasted that the decision had juiced their small contributions, the spillover to candidates for the Senate and House appears, by the early anecdotal evidence, to have been more pronounced for Republicans. Many Democrats, after all, continue to avoid talking about the unpopular legislation, while Republican candidates have now sharpened their mission: To repeal ObamaCare.

South Carolina-based Republican consultant Wesley Donehue said it was the best week of fundraising for his clients since Congressman Joe Wilson shouted "You Lie," at President Barack Obama in 2009. Mr. Donehue:

We raised a crap ton of cash for clients at all levels of government, from State Senate to U.S. Senate.

Contributions to Republican candidates reached a "historic scale" in the hours after the decision, said Rob Saliterman, the account executive at Google who focuses on selling search ads to Republican campaigns.

The SCOTUS ruling is nothing for Campaign Barry to celebrate. The political momentum remains against Obamacare. Expect that momentum to increase as Republicans make sure voters know the Court ruled the mandate a tax -- not Mr. Plouffe's wistful shinola that it is a penalty for complying with the law.

CHOPE.

Losing for winning.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Even More Reasons To Re-elect Mr. Obama

Day 1,250 of CHOPE
D-minus 206 Days

You are a CHOPEster. You are going to vote for the CHOPEster-in-Chief. When your friends ask why, you draw a blank making you look like a witless political groupie of a celebrity president.

We are here to help (and here to help, too).

    Reason №1

IMPORTANT POLL: TWO-THIRDS SAY
OBAMA IS BETTER SUITED THAN ROMNEY
TO DEAL WITH AN ALIEN INVASION
By Allahpundit

BLOG June 27, 2012 (Hot Air) - National Geographic Channel survey: Nearly 65% think Barack Obama would be better suited than Mitt Romney to handle an alien invasion.

... As for the data, I’m guessing that this question operates for most respondents as a de facto referendum on the incumbent president’s war record. As long as you’ve shown some hawkish inclinations in office — and O’s liquidated enough terrorists and Qaddafi henchmen that he passes that test — then voters are probably going to prefer you in a military hypothetical to the guy from the other party whom they barely know. ... [G]enerally the public’s going to give the guy who ordered the hit on Bin Laden the benefit of the doubt.

Is this really the guy to take out these guys? [Eyebrow arch.] We're just asking.

    Reason №2

There is no Reason №2 for this post. You're going to have to lean hard on the Will Smith/Captain Steven Hiller connection.

CHOPE.

Yeah. Pretty thin.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The Hispanic Vote

Day 1,246 of CHOPE
D-minus 210 Days

In 2008 Mr. Obama won the Hispanic vote 67%/31%. Hispanics were fired up but only represented 9% of the vote. Mr. Obama lost the white vote 43%/55%, which represented 74% of the vote. He has all but given up on wooing white votes in 2012. That makes getting the same big shares of minority votes as in 2008 while boosting minority turnout crucial. [Pause.] Big shares and big turnout are going to be some trick. Nobody, but nobody, is very fired up for Mr. Obama in 2012.

2012 isn't sexy, as Mr. Obama likes to tell supporters. It's desperate, as Mr. Messina likes to remind donors. And desperation calls for desperate measures.

Last year Mr. Obama pleaded manaña-manaña on progressive immigration reform at the Annual Conference of National Council of La Raza, an Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Mr. Obama:

We have a system that tolerates immigrants and businesses that breaks [sic] the rules and punishes those that follow the rules. We have a system that separates families, and punishes innocent young people for their parents' actions by denying them the chance to earn an education or contribute to our economy or serve in our military. These are the laws on the books.

Now, I swore an oath to uphold the laws on the books, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know very well the real pain and heartbreak that deportations cause. I share your concerns and I understand them. And I promise you, we are responding to your concerns and working every day to make sure we are enforcing flawed laws in the most humane and best possible way.

Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own. (Applause.) And believe me, right now dealing with Congress —

AUDIENCE: Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can! Yes, you can!

Believe me — believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. (Laughter.) I promise you. Not just on immigration reform. (Laughter.) But that’s not how — that’s not how our system works.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Change it!

That’s not how our democracy functions. That’s not how our Constitution is written. So let’s be honest. I need a dance partner here — and the floor is empty. (Laughter.)

This year who cares how our democracy functions or how our Constitution is written when pandering for votes?

IN ELECTION-YEAR SHIFT, OBAMA HALTS
DEPORTATIONS OF YOUNG IMMIGRANTS,
OFFERS WORK PERMITS

June 15, 2012 (Miami Herald) - President Barack Obama unveiled a major, election-year policy shift on Friday that will allow hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children to remain and work in the United States.

About 800,000 people who arrived before they turned 16 will not be deported and will be able to apply for work permits. Both changes track legislation stalled in Congress known as the DREAM Act — though, unlike that proposal, Obama’s executive order is temporary and will not provide a path to U.S. residency or citizenship.

This year a stroke of the presidential pen is "the right thing to do, period", because last year doing the "right thing" would have dissipated its political benefit to Mr. Obama before the general election. That's the sucker-punch politics of doing the "right thing". That and this.

OBAMA BLAMES GOP FOR PLAYING
'POLITICS' ON IMMIGRATION
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida June 22, 2012 (Politico)

¡Ésos son algunos grandes cojones, Sr. Presidente!

Having blatantly gamed immigration reform, Mr. Obama is ready for a grateful Hispanic community to vote him back into office. Ruh-roh!

It's still the economy, stupid!

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds "that economic issues -- particularly unemployment and economic growth -- are more important to Hispanic voters nationwide than immigration." That finding is true for Hispanic voters "Born outside the U.S.", "Parent born outside the U.S.", and "Self and parents born in U.S."

In the same poll Mr. Obama enjoys a commanding lead among Hispanics (66%/25% with 9% undecided), but has not improved his 2008 share. Even were Mr. Romney to pick up the entirety of the undecided vote he'd only be treading the 2008 waters. We suspect the numbers for Hispanic likely voters might change the mix a little but not much at this point. If Hispanic turnout is low, as it was in the recent California primary, Mr. Obama's big share won't translate into a big advantage.

So Mr. Obama still needs to charm Hispanics to actually show up and vote for him. Time to work the crowd. Trouble is, Mr. Obama doesn't trust Hispanics with forks.

FORKLESS FRIDAY AT OBAMA EVENT

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida June 22, 2012 (Politico) - Does a fork or dinner knife pose an unacceptable danger to President Barack Obama? One wouldn't think so, given the hundreds of lunches and dinners he's attended ranging from state dinners to political fundraisers to run-of-the-mill stops on the rubber-chicken circuit. However, at one such lunch Friday afternoon, guests heard an unusual announcement that they needed to hand over their silverware for security reasons.

"It's very important that you use your utensils as soon as possible," National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials board member Raquel Regalado told about 1000 delegates at the group's annual conference.

Regalado hurried the diners to finish up their salads and pre-cut chicken breasts, saying that the Secret Service required that there be no knives at the tables and that the forks be rounded up before Obama entered the room.

"As you know, we're having another speaker and there is some Secret Service involved. So there's a reason why there’s no knives at your table and the forks will be collected. ... And I’m not joking," Regalado told the audience in a ballroom at Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World. "So, like the good Hispanic mother I’m here to tell you to please, eat your lunch."

... "The Secret Service coordinates this process with staff and host committee to ensure tables are cleared of material that may be deemed hazardous prior to the arrival of the president," Special Agent Max Milien told POLITICO. "Any implication that this was unique for this event is completely inaccurate."

In other words, the announcement at the Latino officials' event may have been unusual, but the removal of the silverware usually takes place without anyone realizing it's a security measure.

Still, there are a wide variety of breakfasts, lunches and dinners the president attends where diners still have the full complement of silverware as Obama speaks. Milien declined to comment on the discrepancy.

Nothing says "I appreciate your vote" like table service disarmament. Smooth move, Campaign Barry.

CHOPE.

Taking a fork for the president.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2012

NYC Letter: The Subtle Art Of The Quiet Slam -- Ann Romney

Day 1,241 of CHOPE
D-minus 215 Days

Sometimes just politely answering the question is more effective than verbally mauling the opposition.

ANN ROMNEY NEEDLES OBAMAS FOR TRIPS

June 18, 2012 (The Hill) - Romney was responding to a question from WJR Detroit's Frank Beckmann, who asked Romney if her family would be vacationing abroad as frequently as the Obamas.

"I doubt that," Romney replied. "Our vacations and our happiness come from being with our children and our grandchildren."

First Lady Michelle Obama has drawn some criticism from conservative radio hosts for her international travel, including a trip to Spain with daughter Sasha where she lunched with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.*

ramirez_michelle_antoinette_081010.png
MICHELLE ANTOINETTE
Socialism Is Great At The Top



Why The Hill thinks a straight-up answer to a question is "needling" who can say? The interviewer uses the Obamas as a point of comparison. Mrs. Romney obliquely refers to them only in the context of the question.

Mrs. Romney strikes us as a FLOTUS in the mold of Laura Bush, effective, poised, and -- noncontroversial. We are willing to bet good money that Mr. Romney's party nomination to the presidency won't be the first time in her life Mrs. Romney is really proud of her country.

Mrs. Obama hasn't helped her cause. December 30, 2011, in one of the more bizarre e-begs from Money Team Barry, she fundraised off her lavish Christmas vacation in Hawaii.**

This holiday has felt a bit like one last long, deep breath before we plunge into 2012.

This time next year, I don’t want us to have any regrets. I want to be able to say we rose to the task, and got it done. We’ve all got some work to do right now.

In February Mrs. Obama took another "one last long, deep breath" in Aspen, Colorado.*** In March it was another "one last long, deep breath" in Las Vegas, Nevada at the start of a family trip around the western United States. (Mrs. Obama's 16th and 17th vacations, respectively, in three years.)

Mrs. Obama indulges her conspicuous extravagances while her husband calls for "shared sacrifice" by the little people. The Obamas are completely tone-deaf to the discordance.

OBAMA IN COLOMBIA:
'PART OF MY JOB IS TO SCOUT OUT
WHERE I MAY WANT TO BRING MICHELLE
BACK LATER FOR VACATION’

April 15, 2012 (CNS News) - Just two days after President Barack Obama gave a sharply edged response to news anchor Larry Conners of KMOV in St. Louis after Conners had asked the president about Americans who "get frustrated and even angered when they see the first family jetting around [to] different vacations and so forth," Obama told a panel at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia that part of his job there was to scout out locations for a future vacation with First Lady Michelle Obama.

CHOPE.

"Stay"-cation vs. Flaunt it, baby!

------------------------------------
* Cost to taxpayer for Mrs. Obama's Iberian holiday, $467,585. A junket to Africa the previous year cost taxpayers $424,142 for transport alone.

** Cost to taxpayer, a staggering $4M.

*** Still waiting on the cost to taxpayer for Aspen vacation.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: The Genius Of Campaign Barry -- Undone And Done

Day 1,241 of CHOPE
D-minus 215 Days

Mr. Obama is always on about his post-it-sized "to do list", his big plan to transform the American economy. Congressional Democrats don't know what's on it (there are five items), but Mr. Obama is sure the to-doing isn't being done.

OBAMA CAN'T KEEP HIS JOBS STORY STRAIGHT

OP-ED June 12, 2012 (IBD) - Just how inept is the White House these days? On Friday, President Obama was demanding that Congress put "teachers, cops and firefighters" back to work. But his own website says he's already accomplished that.

... On the official White House schedule, this briefing was billed as Obama "delivering remarks urging Congress to act on the 'To Do List.'"

Maybe Obama should have checked that list first, since, of the five items on it, not one has anything to do with saving state and local jobs.

Nope. ... Not that it matters, since Democrats have entirely ignored Obama's picayune To Do List anyway.

He just can't get anything done. God knows he's tried. He sent Congress* a post-it note. What more can he do? The "To Do Post-it" is the new Slurpee, an all-purpose excuse Mr. Obama uses to shrug off his nonaccomplishments.

At that press briefing, Obama complained that while the private sector has been "hiring at a solid pace", the "biggest weaknesses (have) been state and local governments, which have laid off 450,000 Americans."

"These are teachers and cops and firefighters," he said. "Congress should pass a bill putting them back to work right now, giving help to the states so that those layoffs are not occurring."

... However, on that same White House web page, Obama lists all his amazing job creation accomplishments, with little green check marks to show they've been done. Things like "Rescue the auto industry" and "Sign 18 tax cuts to help small businesses".

And right there on that list are these: "Keep 400,000 teachers in the classroom" and "Keep police officers, firefighters and other first responders on the job."

So, help us out here. If Obama's already saved** these jobs, why is he saying state and local governments are cutting them and putting the economy at risk?

Either they aren't doing that, or Obama needs to uncheck those boxes.

No, no, no, no, NO. No unchecking any boxes. Those are timeless accomplishments. Mr. Obama stands astride the American economy, a modern-day Ozymandias*** surveying the sands, the "jobs saved**" box checked with his big green marker for all time.

The truth is, states are doing just what they should be doing, which is responsibly adjusting spending to meet current revenues. After more than a decade of massive growth — which saw state spending climb an average 6% a year and employment leap 10% — it's about time.

All Obama is doing is trying, with utter ineptitude, to pin the blame for his lousy economic record on someone else.

Mr. Obama wants do-over spending, much like his argument for a grand do-over second term.

CHOPE.

Do-over.

------------------------------------
* Team Barry's dog-whistle for Republicans. Democrats, who, not for nothing, control the Senate, are not recognized members of Mr. Obama's do-nothing Congress.

** Tiresome but obligatory reminder, there is no metric for Team Barry's "saved" jobs claims (and this).

*** "Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair!"

Posted by Damian at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe Biden Is An Idiot XIX Redux -- Faking It

Day 1,238 of CHOPE
D-minus 218 Days

They don't get us, they don't get who we are. They don't understand, it seems to me. They're not bad, they just don't get it.

Joe "Marie Antoinette" Biden,
VP and the closest thing to middle class
Team Barry has in its ranks, bemoaning the
Republican "ungettability" of the working class
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio May 16, 2012 (Examiner/YouTube)

The Republicans just don't get Joe and the working class. The problem begins with Mr. Biden himself, who is pretty snooty about being mistaken for working class.

BIDEN SAYS HE'S NOT BLUE COLLAR:
"NO ONE IN MY FAMILY WORKED IN A FACTORY"

ORLANDO, Florida June 15, 2012 (RCP) - Mr. Biden speaking at the 80th Annual United States Conference of Mayors:
My dad never worked in a Food Fair. My dad never wore a blue collar. Barack makes me sound like I just climbed out of a mine in Scranton, Pennsylvania carrying a lunch bucket. ... No one in my family worked in a factory.

Mr. Biden wants you to know he isn't "blue-collar" middle class. [Pause.] He isn't even middle class.

BIDEN CALLS HIMSELF
'MIDDLE CLASS JOE',
OWNS MANSION

May 17, 2012 (TWS) - Joe Biden, speaking in Ohio today, said that he is "tired of being called a 'Middle Class Joe'". While it's not clear who actually calls the vice president that, it is clear that his house and finances tell a different story.

... Zillow.com, a reliable real estate web site, estimates the worth of Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home [Ed.: Pictured at headline link.] to be a cool $2,856,950. (This does not appear to include the cottage on the Biden estate, which the vice president rents out to the Secret Service for more than $12,000 per year.)

... "I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it more calmly today. I don’t think these guys understand us," Biden also told the Ohio audience. Biden added: "What do they think we think? What do they think we think in our houses? We’re like the rich guys — we have dreams, we have aspirations."

Indeed.

What do rich guys in their rich guy houses think Mr. Biden, another rich guy, thinks in his mansion? Do they think Joe is thinking about aspiring to be vice president? Think again, rich guys! Joe has dreams, bigger aspirations!

Who exactly is calling Mr. Biden "Middle Class Joe"?

BIDEN TIRED OF
"MIDDLE CLASS JOE"
RIDICULE

May 17, 2012 (Commentary) - You know how everyone is always mocking Vice President Joe Biden for being just another middle class guy with no dreams and no aspirations? No? Well, in case anybody ever does, Biden wants them to know he’s tired of all the imaginary derision over his humble life status. [Ed.: Video at headline link.]

"I get tired of being called 'Middle Class Joe', like that somehow I’m just Joe and I don’t dream. C'mon man. Look, you’re the ones that built this country. This valley built this country," Biden said to cheers.

Actually, according to Nexis, the only person who has referred to Biden as "middle class Joe" has been Biden himself.

In an early April speech on college affordability, he said, "I always get criticized for being middle class Joe, which I’m proud of, but I’m middle class Joe and I always talk about the middle class."

And: "I know I’m characterized in the press as, you know, middle class Joe, like...I’m not sophisticated," he complained last September.

It is Mr. Biden's mountain of hebetudinous platitudes that prompts snickers at his unsophistication, not his middle class origins or purported status.

The vice president's sensitivity to perceived insults about his allegedly middle class status seems to go back to 2009. At a conference that May, Biden referred to himself as "old middle class Joe", before launching into an indignant rant about how he’s always being put down for it.
If I — if I heard one more thing about the scrappy kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and carrying a lunch bucket — I never carried a lunch bucket, but I guess I’m the middle class guy. By the way, I’m proud of that. I’m proud of that.

So who is the "us" in Mr. Biden's opening quote?

[We shake the Magic Eight Ball.] It is you, proud prole, and Mr. Biden, who is also proud but takes offense nonetheless. Why is that? [We shake the Special "Longish Answers" Magic Eight Ball.] Mr. Biden is of an era when hardscrabble beginnings were a drag on upward mobility. Old money controlled clubhouse memberships, cotillions, and insider deals. To fit in, new money aped old money as best it could with diplomas, a big mortgage, and elocution lessons. Mr. Biden is very proud -- and defensive -- about his attainments. But he is a politician who panders to where the votes are, which happens to be where Mr. Biden began his ascent to the vice presidency. Voguing middle-classness is just Mr. Biden stooping for votes, not a repudiation of his hard-won country club status.

So stop with the "Middle Class Joe" already! It's insulting! [Pause.] Unless Mr. Biden is soft-soaping a middle class rally. Then it is a point of pride.

CHOPE.

A member of the pretending class.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2012

NYC Letter: We're Not Saying, We're Just Saying -- #Characterstospare

Day 1,235 of CHOPE
D-minus 221 Days

There is coincidence. And then there is synthetic irony.

Mr. Obama is steamed that Team Mitt is punishing him for being clueless. Harrumph! Mr. Obama shot back that the Republican's campaign could be put in a tweet with characters to spare.

OBAMA COMPLAINS OF ROMNEY'S TWITTER CAMPAIGN

June 12, 2012 (WaEx) - President Obama isn't happy with Mitt Romney's attacks against him on Twitter. During his fundraiser in Baltimore today, the president complained about "the other side" and their campaign tactics against his economic message.

"(T)he other side feels that its enough for them to just sit back and say, 'Things aren’t as good as they should be and it’s Obama’s fault.'" Obama said, according to the pool report. "And, you can pretty much put their campaign on, on a tweet and have some characters to spare."

Tweets are text-based posts at Twitter and are limited to 140 characters. Mr. Obama's point is that a campaign that can fit in a tweet -- with characters to spare -- doesn't have much to offer. Like this:

One hundred twelve characters. Characters to spare: 28.

Here comes the ouch.

#OBAMACAMPAIGNINONETWEET:
PRESIDENT OBAMA BITTER OVER HASHTAG FAILS?
SAYS REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CAN BE PUT IN A TWEET

June 12, 2012 (Twitchy) - Evidently, President Obama is super bitter that hashtags are to him what icebergs were to The Titanic. Instead of putting on his big boy pants, he threw a little stompy foot temper tantrum. Those icky Republicans and their tweets and stuff!

#CHARACTERSTOSPARE: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S
TWEET COMPLAINT SO MOCK-WORTHY
IT INSPIRES SECOND HASHTAG

June 12, 2012 (Twitchy) - As Twitchy reported earlier [Ed.: See above.], the conservative grassroots movement on Twitter is getting under President Obama’s super thin skin. The hashtag #Obamacampaigninonetweet immediately sprang up. But, wait! There’s even more. No rest for happy warriors when the incessantly whiny just keep shrieking.

CHOPE.

If you can't out-snark them -- don't challenge them.

Posted by Damian at 08:00 PM | Comments (1)

NYC Letter: Hardest Working Man In Show Business -- Wisconsin

Day 1,235 of CHOPE
D-minus 221 Days

Not even trying.

OBAMA DEFENDS LACK OF PRE-RECALL WI VISITS:
BUSY WITH ‘A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITIES’

June 11, 2012 (Mediaite) - In an interview Monday with WBAY Green Bay (CBS), President Barack Obama explained his lack of appearances in Wisconsin in the months leading up to last week’s recall election, saying that he is busy with "a lot of responsibilities" and "would have loved to see a different result".

Obama has been criticized by Democrats for doing little more than tweeting his support for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett‘s failed attempt to unseat Republican Governor Scott Walker in the recall election.

Mediaite is shy about giving the damning quote in full:

As president of the United States, I’ve got a lot of responsibilities.

Yeah.

Allahpundit at Hot Air does the carve-up:

Responsibilities? Wasn’t he golfing on Saturday, May 26, ten days before the election? In fact, wasn’t he right next door to Wisconsin in Minnesota and Illinois the Friday before the polls opened? I do believe he was. Let’s see what important presidential responsibilities he was tending to that day:
On Friday, he visited Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a midday speech and three fundraisers. He departed late afternoon for Chicago and three more fundraisers that evening. The president stayed overnight in his hometown and spent Saturday morning at his old home before flying back to Washington, D.C., for a brief stop before heading to Camp David for some downtime.

So just four days before the recall elections in Wisconsin that the state’s Democrats have worked 16 months to win, with potential implications for November 2012, the leader of their party did six fundraisers for himself in surrounding states but couldn’t find time for even a quick stop? Think about it: As Wisconsin Democrats were busy getting voters to cast early ballots Friday and organizing for Tuesday, Air Force One flew overhead twice — from Washington to Minnesota and Minnesota to Chicago.

BuzzFeed notes:

Obama did 13 fundraisers in the two weeks before the recall election — nine in the four days prior.

Mr. Obama wasn't too busy to push his number one priority, himself.

Staying out of Wisconsin was a political calculation by Campaign Brainiac. They didn't want a Barrett lost to put stink on the Obama campaign. Nice job that. Now Mr. Obama looks like even more of a loser for not supporting his base -- and that's coming from the base:

It was bad enough that Obama or Joe Biden never showed up during the historic protests in February and March of last year. But it is unforgivable that they've failed to show up during the last weeks of this crucial recall campaign. It's not that they were too busy.

... Back in 2007 on the campaign trail, Obama said: "If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself, I'll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States of America. Because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner."

... Obama and his team don't want to risk anything for Tom Barrett. Well, they risked a lot by not risking anything.

They've alienated their base in Wisconsin. People here are furious at the White House, and that won't help Obama come November.

As Rahm Emmanuel counseled the president:

You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.

And after Scott Walker's win, Campaign Barry was quick to exploit the Wisconsin crisis.

JIM MESSINA WANTS MY MONEY
TO BUILD BARN DOOR FOR EMPTY BARN
By Scarecrow

BLOG June 6, 2012 (FDL) - From time to time, Jim Messina, campaign manager for the President’s "Obama for America" group, likes to send me nice e-mails letting me know what’s up with the campaign. The latest missive, following last night’s Wisconsin recall election, informs me that the problem Democrats had last night was that the other side put in a lot of money for their guy and outspent our guy. This seems important information.

So being the clever fellow he is, Jim says "we" shouldn’t let that happen again.

[Opposition money] swung this election, and it’s what could play out in the presidential race unless we can close the gap — unless you can close the gap.

Jim then asks me for some money to make sure that the next time there’s an important election, his guy isn’t outspent by those other guys. I guess the President’s people didn’t have anything to spare for Wisconsin when it mattered. Or maybe they have a different understanding of that "got your back" thing.

Earth to Jim: This is what happens when you act like "got your back" is about you.

Yeah.

CHOPE.

Not even trying.

Posted by Damian at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2012

NYC Letter: The Genius Of Campaign Barry -- How're We Doing?

Day 1,233 of CHOPE
D-minus 223 Days

After 15 months of nonstop e-begs, discounted presidential raffles, cheap merchandise, swag and one two three four* five or more campaign slogans (They're legion! There was also this and this and these.), and having made a "dry run" in Wisconsin -- after all that, Campaign Barry wants to know how you think they're doing.

OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN ASKS SUPPORTERS
TO GRADE ITS PERFORMANCE

June 10, 2012 (The Hill) - Respondents are...prompted to "rate the performance of the campaign so far" on a scale with 7 for "great" and 1 for "poor" and to describe their enthusiasm for the president and his campaign on a scale from "very enthusiastic" to "not enthusiastic at all."

Before you sharpen that red pencil, Campaign Barry provides a big hint.

OBAMA CAMP: ROMNEY MIGHT WIN

June 9, 2012 (WaEx) - President Obama's campaign warned supporters that the president could lose his reelection bid in an attempt to convince donors to contribute more money. ... The urgent message is the latest in a series of increasingly-dire fundraising efforts."If the general election were held today, President Obama would lose to Mitt Romney," campaign manager Jim Messina wrote supporters in March. Yesterday, Messina announced that "we got beat" in another message built around Romney's May edge in fundraising.

Campaign Barry thinks Mr. Romney might win. They're pitching that to supporters. [Pause.] The campaign admits it's getting beat. [Pause.] They've muddled the campaign with over half a dozen slogans. [Pause.] Wisconsin was a fail. [Pause.] So how do you think they think they're doing? Why do you think they're asking you?

The survey is here. Only those between the ages of 0 and 99 can participate. The zero, we imagine, is for the unborn willing to risk an opinion.

We rate the campaign's performance so far a solid "1".

Keep up the good work, Campaign Barry!

CHOPE.

A good solid B+ for "out of ideas".

------------------------------------
* Campaign meme explained here. Origins here.

Posted by Damian at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up VIII

Day 1,233 of CHOPE
D-minus 223 Days

The Endless Bummer Edition
(Thank you Mr. Brown.)

The good news is the bad news.

Campaign Barry had another rough week. The "dry run" of its ground game in Wisconsin failed. After hyping it as a prefigurement of November, Team Barry had to scramble to walk it back as a big nothing.

It doesn't get better.

Confidence Check.

DEM STRATEGIST BOB SHRUM:
"I DON'T THINK THE PRESIDENT COULD WIN"
A REFERENDUM

June 3, 2012 (CBS News) - Is the 2012 election a referendum on President Obama, or a choice between Mr. Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney? According to Bob Shrum, a longtime Democratic consultant known for being chief strategist to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, a referendum on the president would not be good for the standard bearer of his party. Mr. Shrum, Sunday on Face the Nation:
I think we ought to just face reality here. [If] you just let this be a referendum, I don't think the president could win. Because the truth of the matter is, he may have created over 4.3 million jobs, he may have saved General Motors, but the country is still not back to where it needs to be. So this needs to be a choice election. People have to have that choice, and if they have the choice, I think the president's going to be fine.

Bummer.

Before we move on, a word about Mr. Shrum's bright prospects of a "choice election". The Democrats are talking up a "choice election" because as Mr. Shrum above and Governor Rendell below make plain Mr. Obama can't win on his record, ergo the "choice" campaign. The upper echelons of party bosses, strategists, consultants, and pollsters think that if they fuzz out Mr. Obama's actual record with another load of promises to be delivered just past November 6 they can lull the electorate à la 2008 when Mr. Obama was nothing but promises because he had no record. The Democrats ran this very same "choice" campaign in 2010 and lost big. Since then Mr. Obama's record has become an even bigger liability. That the "smartest guys in the room" are pushing this losing fairy tale is a tacit admission of desperation.

Democrats huddled in comfort circles can chirp "Choice! Choice!", but in the end the "choice" will still be between a guy who by all measures didn't get the job done and the guy with a record of accomplishments.

ED RENDELL: "I'M NOT SURE" IF OBAMA IS GOING TO WIN

June 7, 2012 (RCP) - Former Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA), Thursday on CNN's John King USA:
And I have this strange habit of trying to tell the truth when you ask me a question. I'm not sure he's going to win -- he should win. He inherited the worse set of problems any president in my lifetime and he's done a good job of advancing the ball, not as far as anyone would like -- including himself.

Bummer.

DEMOCRATS JITTERY OVER
OBAMA'S SPUTTERING 2012 CAMPAIGN
Obama's Party Is Worried That The Economy
May Sink The President's Reelection And Worry
That He Has Not Reacted Strongly Enough.
By Eleanor Clift
June 8, 2012 (TDB)

Eleanor Clift! Serious bummer.

Enthusiasm Check.

'OBAMA GIRL' IS 'NOT AS EXCITED' ABOUT 2012,
WON’T ENDORSE OBAMA

June 8, 2012 (TDC) - Amber Lee Ettinger, widely known as "Obama Girl" during the 2008 presidential campaign, told The Daily Caller she is "not as excited as I was the last time, that’s for sure." The model-actress became a nationally known celebrity after starring in the viral YouTube video "Crush on Obama".

Bummer.

LIBERALS THREATEN NOT TO VOTE
IN NOVEMBER OVER DISAPPOINTMENT
WITH OBAMA
PROVIDENCE June 8, 2012 (CBSDC/AP)

Bummer.

Remember Anthony "Van" Jones? Funny. Neither does the White House.

VAN JONES: LIBERALS FEEL 'CRUSHED' BY OBAMA
PROVIDENCE June 9, 2012 (WaPo)

Bummer.

Money Check.

OBAMA'S 2008 DONORS DON'T GIVE IN 2012
Disillusionment And Hard Times.

June 3, 2012 (BF) - In 2008, more than 550,000 gave more than $200 to Barack Obama, entering their names in the longest list of individual donors ever seen in American politics. That list was a snapshot of the hope Obama inspired in a cross sections of liberals, young professionals, African-Americans, and Democrats who saw in him a generational and historic moment.

But now, as Obama struggles to keep pace with his 2008 fundraising clip, that list offers a cross-section of Democratic disappointment and alienation. According to a BuzzFeed analysis of campaign finance data, 88% of the people who gave $200 or more in 2008 — 537,806 people — have not yet given that sum this year. And this drop-off isn’t simply an artifact of timing. A full 87% of the people who gave $200 — the sum that triggers an itemized report to the Federal Elections Commission — through April of 2008, 182,078 people, had not contributed by the end of last month.

Bummer.

ROMNEY FUNDRAISING ECLIPSES OBAMA’S
By Keith Koffler

June 7, 2012 (WHD) - Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee outraised President Obama and the Democratic National Committee by nearly $17 million in May, taking in $76.8 million compared to Obama’s $60 million.

... The news is a sure sign that for Republicans, 2008 is finally history. That is, the days when the Obama money juggernaut dwarfed Republican fundraising efforts are not going to return.

And this:

MESSINA: WE GOT BEAT BY MEAN RICH PEOPLE
By Keith Koffler

June 7, 2012 (WHD) - In an email to supporters with the subject line “We got beat,” Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina acknowledged the obvious and asked for more money. And of course, he showed all the usual graciousness of the Obama crowd.
We don’t have the special-interest and high-dollar donor advantage that Romney has. Barack Obama has you, and we are bound and determined to fight back on behalf of a country where everyone gets a fair shot and a fair shake.

... What Messina leaves out is that the Obama campaign got beat at the very same game it won in 2008. Messina wants people to think that Romney’s fundraising is somehow related to the unlimited donations given to PACs, but it’s just the same equal playing field of limited candidate and Party donations on which Obama destroyed McCain four years ago. The problem for the Obama campaign is not, in this case, that there’s more fat cats in the game than in 2008. It’s that there’s more enthusiasm on the Republican side.

Double bummer!

Economy Check.

OBAMA HOPES DIM WITH
RESULTS OF ECONOMIC MISSTEPS
Too Late To Change Course From Failed Policies
OP-ED June 5, 2012 (MarketWatch)

Bummer.

CBO PAINTS GRIM LONG-TERM DEBT PICTURE

WASHINGTON June 5, 2012 (MarketWatch) - In its 2012 long-term budget outlook, the nonpartisan CBO said that extending current tax rates and rising health-care costs would push the debt to almost 200% of gross domestic product in 2037. That is under the CBO’s scenario that maintains current policies.

Bummer.

BERNANKE: US IS FACING "FISCAL CLIFF"
The Chairman Of The Federal Reserve Says A Looming Financial Crisis
Set For The End Of The Year Is Starting To Affect Growth.

June 7, 2012 (CSM) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, in testimony Thursday before Congress, repeatedly warned about the so-called fiscal cliff — a reference to the expiration of tax cuts Dec. 31 and the imposition of automatic spending reductions Jan. 1.

By some accounts, the U.S. economy could see an unprecedented fiscal hit of as much as $720 billion if the slated changes take effect.

Bummer.

FED’S KOCHERLAKOTA SAYS JOB GROWTH
REMAINS ‘DISAPPOINTING’

MINNEAPOLIS June 07, 2012 (Bloomberg) - Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said U.S employment growth remains “disappointing” and that an elevated jobless rate may persist even as the expansion continues. Mr. Kocherlakota:
The erosion in labor-market performance that we’ve seen in the United States over the past five years may be highly persistent, even under appropriate monetary policy.

... Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said yesterday slowing job growth and deteriorating financial-market conditions show the U.S. economy “remains vulnerable to setbacks” and may warrant additional monetary stimulus.

Bummer. And don't miss this self-inflicted bummer.

Polls Check.

ROMNEY NARROWS GENDER GAP

POLL June 7, 2012 (The Hill) - As recently as April, Obama led Romney by 18 percent among women voters in a USA Today/Gallup poll of 12 swing states. The huge advantage with women gave Obama an overall edge of 9 percent. ... In the same USA Today/Gallup poll from early May, the president’s lead among women was cut to 12 percent, reducing Obama’s overall swing state lead to 2.

A CNN-ORC poll released this month showed Obama’s lead among women nationally was down to 3 percent, 49 percent to 46, and equal to the president’s overall lead in that poll.

Bummer.

OBAMA, ROMNEY NECK-AND-NECK
IN MICHIGAN

POLL June 7, 2012 (CNN) - The survey from EPIC-MRA showed Romney with the backing of 46% of likely Michigan voters, compared to 45% who back Obama. The one-point margin was well within the poll's sampling error. The last EPIC poll, taken in April, showed the president leading his Republican rival 47%-43%.

Bummer.

POLLS: ROMNEY LEADS OBAMA IN OHIO
AND FLORIDA, TIED IN COLORADO
BLOG June 7, 2012 (Hot Air)

Bummer.

NEW POLL: THE SUPREME COURT
AND THE HEALTH CARE LAW

POLL June 7, 2012 (NYT) - More than two-thirds of Americans hope the Supreme Court will overturn some or all of the 2010 health care law, according to a new poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. Just 24 percent said they hoped the court "would keep the entire health care law in place."

... Forty-one percent of those surveyed said the court should strike down the entire law, and another 27 percent said the justices should overturn only the individual mandate.

That's like a BFD! Or something. Bummer.

Is there no cheering news, no bright star anywhere for Campaign Barry?

ASTROLOGERS SAY CELESTIAL CHARTS
FAVOR OBAMA OVER ROMNEY

NEWS ORLEANS May 29, 2012 (Yahoo/Reuters) - The votes are in and it is unanimous: Barack Obama will win re-election to the U.S. presidency in November, according to five astrologers who offered predictions at their convention on Tuesday. ... "The ingress of Saturn into Scorpio may trouble him." ... Two of the panelists participated in a similar session four years ago when the panel also gave a unanimous thumbs-up to Obama.

Yeah. [Pause.] That's as good as it gets around Obama Central.

CHOPE.

Fail momentum. Five months out.

Posted by Damian at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2012

NYC Letter: A River In Egypt -- Ed Schultz

Day 1,231 of CHOPE
D-minus 225 Days

Ed Schultz had come to town for the Wisconsin recall. He was stoked. As the big day unfolded he infused every report with drama and enthusiasm. He already knew the outcome, he simply had to fill the time between the on-air light and Scott Walker's concession. Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett was going to win, and it was a win of national import, the win of wins (Mr. Obama's equally certain re-election excluded).

But as a juiced union man he had wondered aloud -- and at some length -- on the unions' missing hero, Mr. Obama.

Here is Mr. Schultz last week:

On Wednesday, pro-union activist and MSNBC host Ed Schultz made a passionate plea to the White House to send President Obama to Wisconsin to fire up the troops.

"They’d love to see President Obama there," said Schultz on his MSNBC program. "He goes to Newton, Iowa. He’s going to be in Minneapolis on Friday. His campaign office in Chicago. It’s all around, but it is in?"

Schultz continued to say that he knows Democratic committees and organizations have committed resources to the race, but he said the symbolic gesture of a high-level campaign stop is necessary at this point.

"The main man they want to see is President Obama. They want him on that line because he talked bout being on that line with them back in 2007," said Schultz. "Now it’s all on the line for people who had done it for him and delivered that state back when he needed it."

Schultz ended his plea by suggesting it is the "job of a leader" to do motivate people to do that which they may not want to do on their own – like, say, come out and cast a vote for Barrett on June 5.

Why had Mr. Obama shunned Wisconsin when it was about to deal a fell blow to the radical right? Tom Barrett was the sure thing, a success about to happen. Wisconsin voters were about to single-handedly turn the Republican national political dynamic on its head. Why wouldn't Mr. Obama want a piece of that? [Consternated pause.] Mr. Schultz had had time to think about that, and by the time he arrived in Milwaukee, he had the answer.

ED SCHULTZ TO WISCONSIN RECALL SUPPORTERS:
OBAMA THOUGHT 'IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR YOU
TO DO THIS ON YOUR OWN'

June 5, 2012 (Mediaite) - MSNBC host Ed Schultz covered the Wisconsin recall election in front of a live audience in the Badger State on Tuesday evening. In a segment with Kristen Crowell, executive director of We Are Wisconsin, Schultz asked what she thought of President Barack Obama not campaigning in the state. Before she could answer, Schultz said that he thought Obama was telling Wisconsinites that “I can’t lift all the time” and the President felt that "it was important for you to do this on your own as the state of Wisconsin."

"You know, I have heard conservative broadcasters in this state and Fox News trying to make the case that President Obama hasn’t shown up," said Schultz. "Now, I have been in half a dozen cities over the weekend – I haven’t heard one person say President Obama’s name in connection to this vote."

"Well, we’ve always known that this was about our people here in the state,” said Crowell. “We were very pleased the other night when President Obama sent out a tweet supporting our efforts…"

"Well, you know where the President is," Schultz interrupted. "He’s kind of saying, this is your game, you’ve got to get it done. I can’t lift all the time."

"He knows you’ve got the resources. He knows you’ve got the ground game," said Schultz. "Maybe it was important for you to do this on your own as the state of Wisconsin."

OK, ground game, lift!

DEMOCRATIC MILWAUKEE MAYOR TOM BARRETT
CONCEDES TO WALKER IN WISCONSIN RECALL
MADISON June 5, 2012 (WaPo/AP)

Oh.

Maybe the ground game needed that lift from Mr. Obama. No. Mr Schultz had rethought that and the next day he had the answer.

SCHULTZ ON WI:
OBAMA WAS RIGHT, PEOPLE
"CLINGING TO THEIR GUNS AND RELIGION"

June 7, 2012 (RCP/WZ) - Ed Schultz on his MSNBC show last night:
This guy is after -- [Pointing to backdrop graphic showing Governor Scott Walker over a big 38%, his take of the union household vote.] He thinks you're the problem. He duth, he theen-- he thinks the budget is out of whack and you're the problem and we're going give tax breaks to corporations and we're going to give tax breaks to the wealthiest Wisconsinites.

This is, there's som-- there's some disconnect here that i think the union membership in this country has to get at the war table and figure out what's the problem. I --

Wait a minute! [Head cocked, left index finger to temple.] Wait a second! [Doubled over from sudden excruciating insight.] That's right!

President Obama brought this up years ago on the campaign trail when he said 'folks in rural areas cling to their guns and their religion.' And he was criticized for it. [Pointing again to backdrop graphic of Governor Walker.] Example A, right there.

Smooth move, Ed. Mr. Obama will be super glad you've reminded everyone of that bit of campaign sophistry. Especially all those original bitter clingers in Pennsylvania, the "Coal State", where coincidentally Mr. Obama is trying to kill the coal industry.

PENNSYLVANIA IS 'IN PLAY'

NEW YORK June 7, 2012 (WFB) - Former [Ed.: Democrat] Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell said the Keystone State is "definitely in play" in the 2012 election.

Ouch! Mr. Obama comfortably won Pennsylvania in 2008 by 10.31% (54.48%/44.17%). In the latest PPP poll Mr. Obama slips to an 8 point lead over Mr. Romney (50%/42%), but his job approval is a weak +48%/-49%.

Ed, you old whore, give it up. Your man lost. The Democrats and unions lost. They failed to make their case, whatever that was by election day. They failed to convince the Wisconsin voters with their obnoxious campaign of bully tactics (and this and this and this), swagger, and strident rhetoric. You lost. If you still can't figure out why, tape a few episodes of your show for clues.

CHOPE.

Bitter clingers clinging to their party apocalypse and union thuggery.

Posted by Damian at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: Today's Big Stupid -- Début!* Lawrence O’Donnell

Day 1,231 of CHOPE
D-minus 225 Days

Wisconsin Recall Spin-Through-The-Tears
All-Week Edition

Thank you, Wisconsinites! Comedy gold! All week! And then some.

MSNBC'S O'DONNELL SPINS:
OBAMA IS 'THE REALLY BIG WINNER' IN WISCONSIN

June 6, 2012 (NewsBusters) - MSNBC host O'Donnell on Tuesday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell:
Tonight, the really big winner in the Wisconsin recall election is President Obama.

... I said at the top of the show that President Obama was the big winner tonight because, in the exit polls, we saw today that they were asked "who would you vote for for President today?" Fifty-three percent in Wisconsin, 53 percent say "President Obama." Only 42 percent say Mitt Romney. That is, if not the recall outcome, that outcome for President Obama has to be very encouraging.

Allahpundit at Hot Air snorts at the exit polling.

NBC says the data they’re seeing in the exit polls suggests the outcome will be a "coin flip". A few minutes ago, people were tweeting that CNN said the exits showed an even 50/50 split. Dude, I’m nervous.

... Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the revised exit poll doesn’t show a "coin flip" after all. The prediction is Walker 52, Barrett 48, which would be in line with most recent polls.

... Can’t wait for the stories tomorrow about how the crack exit-poll team came up with a "coin flip" result.

... I removed the Obama/Romney exit poll data from the headline. If the Walker/Barrett exits were garbage, why trust the same poll on the presidential race?

We'll defer to Jon Stewart at The Daily Show to comment on Mr. O'Donnell's "big winner":

Yep. Just like Obama drew it up on the chalkboard, "Hey guys, I got an idea! What if we could figure out a way to have the core of what we believe soundly rejected by voters in a swing state just five months before the national election! [Small voice.] Might just be the boost we need."

CHOPE.

Big winning by big losing.

------------------------------------
* The various stages of stupid and the début call-out explained here.

Posted by Damian at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: Got That Wrong -- Rachel Maddow

Day 1,231 of CHOPE
D-minus 225 Days

If you are not a liberal, then you are not as smart as a smart liberal. We know this because liberals tell us. Science tells us. Everything points to this truth -- except actual displays of superior liberal smartness (or this or this or this). To wit.

Politics aside, most people over the age of eight can tell time from a clock face. Make that a digital clock and three-year-olds join the club. Yet. [Excruciating pause.] Watch the video here.

Here is what Rachel Maddow said:

[On-screen clock reads "9:50 p.m. EST".] The polls in Wisconsin and the governor recall, in the governor's recall race have been closed for just under an hour. Up until this point NBC News has been characterizing the race as too close to call, but NBC News is now prepared to change its projection. NBC News is projecting Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin has survived the recall challenge.

And this after Tom Barrett conceded some two and a half hours later:

We all thought it was going to be a long night. And we were prepared for it, We were ready! I had chocolate for dinner! OK. Possible all-nighter. Maybe even the Today Show tomorrow morning wouldn't be able to help you out with the results. Or maybe the recall of Governor Scott Walker would actually be decided in a matter of 49 minutes. Forty-nine minutes. Forty-nine minutes after the polls closed in Wisconsin, NBC News declared Scott Walker the projected winner in the Wisconsin governor recall. It did not even take an hour.

OK. Wisconsin is in the Central Time Zone. New York, where Ms. Maddow broadcast her coverage, is in the Eastern Time Zone. Central Time is an hour behind Eastern Time, so when it is, oh say, 9:50P in New York, it is 8:50P in Wisconsin. NBC News projected Scott Walker the winner 10 minutes before the polls in Wisconsin closed, not forty-nine minutes after they closed.

Ann Althouse live-blogged the recall where you can see the network winner projections and the left's rage and spin unfold in Central Time. Already at the 9:00P CT mark the Democratic Underground is frothing about the NBC call.

Her colleague Ed Schultz was simultaneously broadcasting from Milwaukee. His broadcast intercut with the other MSNBC coverage, but, apparently too distraught, he failed to notice his real-time distress had a forty-nine minute reprieve in Ms. Maddow's telling.

This is the big time, folks. These people are paid boatloads of money to display their razor smarts. They are supported by producers, writers, researchers, a news department, make-up artists, nosh trolleys, and armies of underpaid interns. Their profession is to be the smartest guys beamed into your living room. [Pause.] Just don't expect them to give you the time of day.

CHOPE.

Confounding time and space!

Posted by Damian at 06:00 AM | Comments (2)

June 07, 2012

NYC Letter: A River In Egypt -- Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Day 1,230 of CHOPE
D-minus 226 Days

Brace yourself. We'll be posting on Democrat and labor post-Wisconsin-recall denial, distancing, downplays, back-peddles, and crybabyism all week.

Today's raging river in Egypt, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chair and Pelosi understudy.

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
TO PIERS MORGAN ON WISCONSIN:
'WE WERE AT LEAST IN PART SUCCESSFUL'

June 6, 2012 (Mediaite) - DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz isn’t going to call Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a "victory", but she will say that it was "at least in part successful." This she told Piers Morgan tonight, speaking out for the first time since last night’s election, which Morgan found to be a strange reaction to it all, challenging her to explain how, if Walker was such an extremist, so many people in Wisconsin approved of him.

"The President deployed his entire grassroots machinery on the ground in Wisconsin," Wasserman Schultz argued, calling it "an unprecedented effort of grassroots in this recall," though "we came up short of the ultimate goal." She claimed that Democrats would still be able to "stop" Walker because of the gains in the State Senate, the bottom line of the night for her being that "Democrats are not going to just lie down and allow the middle class and workers to get run over."

Whoa, whoa. DWS's interview strategy is to spew a rich voluminous mix of double-talk and factual errors all at once, the sheer volume of which overloads her interrogator's scrutiny.

"The President deployed his entire grassroots machinery" is a roundabout way of saying Mr. Obama himself never campaigned for Mr. Barrett. There were no Democrat "gains" in the Wisconsin recalls. Of the four Republican Senators up for recall, one race remains undecided. Van H. Wanggaard (49.5%) may have lost in a squeaker to Democrat challenger John Lehman (50.5%), who Mr. Wanggaard unseated in 2010 (52.6%/47.5%). If Mr. Lehman prevails, this single Democrat win is an inconsequence. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air explains:

[T]he Wisconsin Senate will be out of session until 2013. In November, 16 of the 33 seats will be up for grabs, and thanks to the redistricting that will be in place for the first time in that election, Republicans are supposed to pick up at least two seats. The unions spent millions of dollars and over a year’s worth of effort to get a temporary one-seat majority in a chamber that will never meet in session. And that’s assuming that their lone win from last night holds up in a recount.

"Democrats are not going to just lie down and allow the middle class and workers to get run over." It was the middle class, a sizable portion of whom were union members, who ran over Democrats and the unions to vote Mr. Walker back.

UNIONS SWING TO GOPERS

MILWAUKEE June 7, 2012 (NYPost) - Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s successful battle to keep his job during this week’s Wisconsin recall election got a lift from an unexpected quarter — voters from union households.

And Republicans nationally took heart yesterday from the labor support, with exit polls from Tuesday’s recall election showing that 38 percent of Walker’s voters came from homes that include union members.

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones points out that 38%± is the Republican historical take of the union vote, so no news there says Mr. Drum. While that disproves the Post headline, it misses the larger point that unions, having made the Wisconsin recalls a dire make-or-break vote, made no gains among their own members.

Back to the DWS interview -- ἐλελεῦ! Yes, there's more!

"You keep calling him this extremist who everyone is terrified of, but he won, he won considerably," Morgan replied, adding that calling this "some kind of weird victory" seemed bizarre to him. "I’m certainly not going to call it a victory," Wasserman Schultz replied, not agreeing with Morgan that this meant voters were "a bunch of angry extremists," but that the explanation for their votes was that "voters look very differently at a recall than they do a normal election," and for some reason they were "uncomfortable" with recalling Walker even though "they didn’t like his policies."

Victory is only reserved for Democrats in DWS's mind. This is the same woman who declared Mr. Romney's New Hampshire primary win a loss, then claimed record Republican turnout was 40% off from 2008. Recall that DWS had thrown down the DNC gauntlet in Wisconsin, the recalls were to be a dry run for Campaign Barry; DWS:

And so what I think the implications will be is that ultimately I think Tom Barrett will pull this out, but regardless it has given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do the dry run that we need of our massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign, which can't really be matched by the Romney campaign or the Republicans because they've ignored on the ground operations.

Ha! OFA will make its matchless "massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign" felt. No worries, Mr. Barrett! [Pause.] So what happened there? Oh, the voters had recall brain transplants. These recall brains felt a never-explained uncomfortableness with voting out a governor whose policies the same voters when using their normal brains don't like. Brilliant stuff.

DWS gave up trying a long time ago (and here) because she is convinced you are this stupid.

On second thought maybe DWS knows of what she speaks. It certainly appears to be Mr. Obama's strategy: ram unpopular policy (and this winner and this foot shot) down the electorate's gullet for a sure path to victory in November!

And finally this.

Morgan also disagreed with her that the news was somehow bad for Walker. "It’s made him a national superstar!" Morgan argued, "I suspect he is chuffed to bits."

Pfft. A seven-point scrape-by, Piers? You can't brag on that.

CHOPE.

Victory through unpopular policy -- the more unpopular, the greater the victory!

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- D-Day

Day 1,229 of CHOPE
D-minus 227 Days

Today is the 68th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious assault in history. Over 5,000 ships delivered over 160,00 troops for an assault on over 50 miles of the French coast. There were over 12,000 Allied casualties. It remains perhaps the single most important military operation of modern times. So the CINC will want to take a minute or two today to commemorate this historic and astonishing accomplishment and honor the dwindling number of surviving veterans while they're still surviving.

060612_d-day_w438.png
"FULL VICTORY -- NOTHING ELSE"
The Order Of The Day, June 6, 1944
General Dwight D Eisenhower gives the OOTD
to paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division
[Picture source: U.S. Center of Military History/Moore]

Or maybe not.

OBAMA NOT SCHEDULED
TO COMMEMORATE D-DAY
Keith Koffler

June 6, 2012 (WHD) - It’s D-Day and President Obama is hitting the beaches – of sunny California!

Instead of scheduling a brief event to mark the 68th anniversary of America’s brutal landing on the shores of Normandy, Obama is already on his way to San Francisco, where he will hold two fundraisers before moving on to Beverly Hills to stage two more.

Obama failed to mark D-Day with either a speech or a written proclamation both last year or the year before. He did give a speech in 2009, the 65th anniversary of the event.

First Lady Michelle Obama, who has made much of her “Joining Forces” campaign to support military families, also has nothing planned for D-Day. She’ll be in New York City for a fundraiser and then in Philadelphia to meet with campaign volunteers.

Obama’s failure to mark D-Day in any significant way is both a shame and a political mistake.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, two critical swing states – Florida and Pennsylvania, are among the top five states in terms of veterans’ population. Within the top twelve are four others – Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina – all states Obama desperately needs to carry.

[Hat tip: Jana]

Disappointing even by the low bar of expectations Mr. Obama enjoys. We wish Mr. Obama had put politics aside for this one day, his last opportunity to commemorate D-Day as the CINC.

CHOPE.

CINC goes missing three years running.

Posted by Damian at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: Political Crow -- Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Day 1,229 of CHOPE
D-minus 227 Days

Nobody remembers the wildly inaccurate predictions of the chattering class and politicos. Most especially the wildly inaccurate predictors themselves (or this).

Prediction.

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ:
WISCONSIN A "DRY RUN" FOR OBAMA
May 27, 2012 (RCP)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN: If the Republican governor should retain his seat up there, what will it say about the power of unions who have been fighting him and what will it say about putting Wisconsin in play this fall?

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I am going there Tuesday to campaign with Mayor Barrett. I think that he has a real opportunity to win. We have put our considerable grassroots resources behind him. All of the Obama for America and state party resources, our grassroots network is fully...

CNN: But are there national implications?

DWS: ... engaged. And -- well, I think what's going to happen is that because of our on-the-ground operation, we have had an opportunity in this election, because especially given that Wisconsin is a battleground state, just like we did in the recall elections a year ago, to give this a test run.

And so what I think the implications will be is that ultimately I think Tom Barrett will pull this out, but regardless it has given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do...

CNN: Test run it.

DWS: ... the dry run that we need of our massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign, which can't really be matched by the Romney campaign or the Republicans because they've ignored on the ground operations.

Result.

Scott Walker wins the recall election by 6.8% and betters his 2010 win by 205K votes.

DNC CHAIR DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
STATEMENT ABOUT WISCONSIN ELECTION RESULTS
June 6, 2012 (FNC)

Despite the disappointing outcome of tonight’s election, there is no question that over the past year this recall effort sent a message to Scott Walker that his brand of divisive politics is offensive and wrong. Thousands of Wisconsinites mounted this effort in the face of a flood of out of state, secret and corporate special interest money – amounting to a massive $31 million war chest for Governor Walker to just $4 million on our side.

I want to thank Mayor Barrett, our other candidates on the ballot tonight and all the passionate, dedicated individuals on the ground who held conversations with their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers about the stakes of this election. The Badger State’s progressive, grassroots tradition was on full display throughout this election, and it will remain front and center as we continue our important work to move Wisconsin forward for working families across the state as we head toward November.

And as we turn our attention to the fall, we will not cede an inch in Wisconsin to Mitt Romney who has been behind in virtually every single recent poll and who wants to go back to the same failed policies of the past from which Wisconsin is recovering. [Ed.: The policies of Mr. Walker's predecessor, two-term Democrat Governor Jim Doyle.] And while we’re not taking anything for granted, if Mitt Romney thinks he’s going to be the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan he’s got another thing coming.

We have addressed most of DWS's we-lost-but-are-unbeatable fantasies here. Mr. Obama having abandoned Wisconsin Democrats -- adding insult to injury with fly-overs and two feeble tweets -- suffice it to say if the recall was a dry run for the DNC's "massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign" then it is Mr. Obama who may have "another thing coming".

WI RECALL A TEA PARTY VICTORY
By Dana Loesch

June 5, 2012 (BB) - Networks are calling the historic Wisconsin recall for Governor Scott Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch while final vote counts continue to roll in. This victory marks the third time the far left and Big Labor has been defeated at the polls since Obama's inauguration. If ever there was a referendum on public sector unions and the President's idea of how government should work, it was with this election. If ever there was a measure of the muscle of the tea party movement, let it be judged by this election.

The tea party led the way, got out the vote, and raised massive amounts of money for the recall candidates.

... Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said in Detroit: "President Obama, this is your army ... let's take these sons of bitches out."

So much for that.

While Occupiers and union protesters got the ink, the tea party dropped the placards and picked up clipboards, phones, and got out the vote.

Ouch!

EXIT POLL: WISCONSIN
IN PLAY IN NOVEMBER
By Michael Barone

June 6, 2012 (AEI) - The Wisconsin exit poll evidently reported the race for governor in the recall ballot as 50%-50%. With 92% of the vote in, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s excellent website reports the score as 54%-46% Walker. Let’s say that’s the final results: only 13% of precincts from Milwaukee County and 3% of precincts from Madison’s Dane County—the Democrats’ two reservoirs of big majorities—remain uncounted. It has been emblazoned on mainstream media that the exit poll also showed Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney in the state 51%-45%. But if you think the exit poll was 4% too Democratic—and that’s in line with exit poll discrepancies with actual vote results over the last decade, as documented by the exit poll pioneer, the late Warren Mitofsky—that result looks more like 49%-47% Romney. Or assume the remaining Milwaukee County precincts whittle Republican Governor Scott Walker’s margin over Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to 53%-47%, which looks likely, the Obama-Romney numbers would look like 48%-48%.

Double ouch!

CHOPE.

What dry run?

Posted by Damian at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: A River In Egypt -- Campaign Barry

Day 1,229 of CHOPE
D-minus 227 Days

Special November Irrelevancy Edition

The Democrats and unions lost their all important recall "message" election in Wisconsin. Although voted down, although disappointed, they want you to know that the Republicans have been put on notice.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN: 'STRONG MESSAGE' SENT TO WALKER

June 5, 2012 (Politico) - The Obama campaign — which has largely kept President Obama himself out of the Wisconsin recall election — puts out a statement saying that a message had been sent to Gov. Scott Walker, despite his win. Tripp Wellde, Campaign Barry state director:
While tonight’s outcome was not what we had hoped for – no one can dispute the strong message sent to Governor Walker. Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites from all walks of life took a stand against the politics of division and against the flood of secret and corporate money spent on behalf of Scott Walker, which amounted to a massive spending gap of more than $31 million to $4 million.

Ah-um, Tripp, that "strong message" was "Governor Walker -- YOU WON!"

It is a testament to all of those individuals who talked to their friends, neighbors, and colleagues about the stakes in this election of how close this contest was. The power of Wisconsin’s progressive, grassroots tradition was clearly on display throughout the run up to this election and we will continue to work together to ensure a brighter future for Wisconsin’s middle class.

Ah-um, Tripp, Mr. Barrett lost by 6.9%. Three of the major networks called it for Mr. Walker within five minutes of the polls closing. It is a testament to all of those individuals who considered the stakes in this election and voted accordingly.

This vision was shared by the voters tonight, as exit polling showed President Obama beating Mitt Romney 52-43, a 9-point difference. On the questions of who would do a better job on the economy and who would help the middle class the most, President Obama again held a strong advantage over Romney. These data points clearly demonstrate a very steep pathway for Mitt Romney to recover in the state

Gee, Tripp, Mr. Obama carried Wisconsin by 14 points (56.2%/42.3%) in 2008. So yesterday's vote is a 5-point loss for Mr. Obama. [Abrupt needle scratch.] Wait a minute, Tripp, the Wisconsin recall vote signifies nothing for November! No shared vision. Nothing at all!

WHITE HOUSE: WISCONSIN RESULTS
MEAN NOTHING FOR NOVEMBER

June 5, 2012 (Politico) - The White House is bracing for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to hang on in Tuesday's recall election — denying that the contest portends anything for President Obama's chances in November. WH press secretary Jay Carney:
I know the president is aware of the election. I think he's got some other responsibilities. I know that he's not following it minute by minute ... You know that he tweeted about it earlier. He stands with the Democratic candidate, Mayor Barrett, in this race.

Still, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina listed Wisconsin as a toss-up in a video message to supporters this week — even as the campaign has limited Obama's involvement in the polarized recall election that seeks to oust Walker over his anti-labor [i.e., pro-taxpayer] legislative push last year.

The "strong message" Campaign Barry claims was sent is no message at all according to, ah-um, Campaign Barry. Republican election sweeps never portend anything about the electorate's larger druthers. It's just local politics, local issues (and this). Move along. Nothing to extrapolate here. On the other hand any Democrat win is a sure sign of the Republicans forever banishment to the political wilderness.

The brave DNC chair comes out strong for Mr. Barrett, ah-um, after his recall loss.

DEMOCRATS REACT:
WALKER'S BRAND OF POLITICS
'OFFENSIVE AND WRONG'

So offensive and so wrong that only 53.2% voted for more of it. If you can't win with 100% of the vote than your politics stink, ah-um, the DNC chair and Democrats excepted. Of course.

June 6, 2012 (CNS News) - Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the national Democratic Party, says despite the Republicans' victory in Wisconsin Tuesday, Democrats "will not cede an inch in Wisconsin to Mitt Romney" in the general election. But as CNSNews.com previously reported, Wisconsin Democrats, in the runup to Tuesday's recall election, criticized the Democratic National Committee for being slow to send resources to the state to boost the Democrat running against Gov. Scott Walker.

... On May 24, Wasserman Schultz sent an email to party supporters, urging them to "help win this thing". [Ed.: For what's his name.] Didn't happen. Ms. Debbie Wasserman Schultz:

Despite the disappointing outcome of tonight’s election, there is no question that over the past year this recall effort sent a message to Scott Walker that his brand of divisive politics is offensive and wrong. Thousands of Wisconsinites mounted this effort in the face of a flood of out of state, secret and corporate special interest money– amounting to a massive $31 million war chest for Governor Walker to just $4 million on our side.

Let's jump in here. DWS's comparison counts all money fighting the various recalls, but only counts the campaign cash of the Barrett election effort. The unions poured millions of dollars into Wisconsin's recall campaigns, but you won't find that money in DWS's count. As for Mr. Walker's brand of politics being "offensive and wrong", to send that message wouldn't Mr. Barrett have had to win?

I want to thank Mayor Barrett, our other candidates on the ballot tonight and all the passionate, dedicated individuals on the ground who held conversations with their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers...

DWS just cuts & pastes from Mr. Wellde's statement.

And as we turn our attention to the fall, we will not cede an inch in Wisconsin to Mitt Romney who has been behind in virtually every single recent poll and who wants to go back to the same failed policies of the past from which Wisconsin is recovering.* And while we're not taking anything for granted, if Mitt Romney thinks he's going to be the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan he's got another thing coming.

All hat and no cattle. The DNC puts no meaningful effort into the recall vote and DWS then cries that Wisconsin Democrats were outspent. And Mr. Romney's "another thing coming", that would be a well-financed in-place Republican recall campaign organization that will now be put in the service of Mr. Romney's election. Apparently that -- while taking nothing for granted other than ephemeral polls as marmoreal political pillars of certainty -- has slipped DWS's attention.

Having lost, the Democrats imagine a "strong message" from the electorate to the Republicans. There is however an undeniable message from the electorate to the Democrats: "You lose."

CHOPE.

"Our loss puts you on notice." The "It's a floor wax AND a dessert topping" message.

------------------------------------
* "Failed policies of the past"? DWS can only be referring to the policies of Mr. Walker's predecessor, two-term Democrat Governor Jim Doyle.

Posted by Damian at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)

NYC Letter: Got That Wrong -- Tom Barrett

Day 1,229 of CHOPE
D-minus 227 Days

Special November Preview Edition

BARRETT PREDICTS RECALL WIN
OVER WISCONSIN GOVERNOR

June 3, 2012 (TWT) - His gubernatorial campaign may be trailing incumbent Gov. Scott Walker in the latest polls, but Wisconsin Democrat Tom Barrett said Sunday he has the momentum going into Tuesday’s bitterly contested recall election. Mr. Barrett on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday:
I’m going to win it.

The latest survey on the race, Wednesday’s Marquette University poll, has Mr. Walker leading the challenger by 7 points, 52 percent to 45 percent.

Mr. Barrett has already lost once to Mr. Walker in the 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election. Will a second run be the charm?

Please note, no Democrat has ever lost an election before the ballots were counted.

WISCONSIN LABOR FIGHT
STARTED UGLY, ENDED UGLY
By Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent

June 4, 2012 (WaEx) - For some so-called progressives in Wisconsin, the threat posed by Gov. Scott Walker's policy limiting the collective-bargaining powers of some public employees has justified almost any response.

  • Democratic lawmakers fled the state rather than allow a vote on Walker's proposal.
  • Some teachers and other public employees abandoned their jobs to protest in the streets.
  • Some doctors violated ethics standards by issuing medical excuses for protesting teachers who walked out on students.
  • Unions threatened boycotts against businesses that declined to publicly side with organized labor.
  • AFL-CIO officials equated the cause of comfortable and well-paid unionized employees with the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and striking Memphis garbage collectors.
  • Anti-Walker forces set off an astonishing controversy amid a state Supreme Court election when they alleged that one justice had physically attacked another.
  • Unions successfully pushed for recall elections against several Republican lawmakers, resulting in two losing their seats.
  • And finally, the intense, lasting anger on the union side led to a recall election for Walker himself. And in the final hours before that vote, anti-Walker activists have spread ugly and baseless rumors that Walker is about to be indicted and -- in perhaps the lowest and most ridiculous point of the entire spectacle -- that Walker fathered an illegitimate child in college. The indictment rumor was the work of the lefty television network Current, relying on what appears to be guesswork and supposition. Walker called it "100 percent wrong." But the report shot through a liberal blogosphere desperate for anything to use against Walker.

... "This is another attempt to find an issue that will distract voters from Walker's record," says Rep. Jim Steineke, a conservative Republican lawmaker who represents Wisconsin's 5th Assembly District. "They keep trying to shift the message. First, it was about collective bargaining. Then it was about jobs. Then it was about the 'war on women.' They've been desperately trying to find a message that resonates with voters, and they haven't found it."

... Despite much talk about the polls "tightening" in the past few days, Walker has held a consistent, if narrow, lead over Democratic challenger Tom Barrett. Perhaps even more discouraging for organized labor are polls showing that voters not only support Walker -- they support the heart of Walker's reforms.

Requiring unionized public employees to pay more for their pensions and health coverage? Seventy-five percent public support, according to a new Marquette Law School poll. Limiting collective bargaining for most public employees? Fifty-five percent support. And when the Marquette pollsters asked whether Wisconsin was better off or worse off as a result of Walker's changes, voters said better off, 54 percent to 42 percent.

Looks like Mr. Barrett could use a little help.

SHAME ON OBAMA FOR ABANDONING
WISCONSIN DURING THE RECALL

June 4, 2012 (The Progressive) - It was bad enough that Obama or Joe Biden never showed up during the historic protests in February and March of last year. But it is unforgivable that they've failed to show up during the last weeks of this crucial recall campaign.

It's not that they were too busy.

On Friday, Obama was just a half-hour away, giving a speech and then attending a fundraiser in Minneapolis. But he acts like he doesn't know where Wisconsin even is, or why it matters.

... Obama and his team don't want to risk anything for Tom Barrett. Well, they risked a lot by not risking anything.

They've alienated their base in Wisconsin. People here are furious at the White House, and that won't help Obama come November.

Quick! Call in the second bench. Bill Clinton obligingly provides the big event.

FEWER THAN 1,000 PEOPLE SHOW UP
FOR BILL CLINTON-TOM BARRETT
RALLY IN MILWAUKEE

MILWAUKEE June 2, 2012 (TWS) - Just four days out from the Wisconsin's historic gubernatorial recall election, former president Bill Clinton and Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett could only draw a small crowd to a rally Friday on Barrett's home turf.

As the Associated Press notes, the crowd numbered only in the "hundreds," a sign of the enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans that has appeared in some polls. Overcast weather and the short notice of the event (it was announced just yesterday) may have depressed turnout. But a sitting mayor of a Democratic city and a popular former Democratic president still should have been able to draw more than hundreds of people on Friday if Barrett supporters were fired up and ready to go. Congressman Paul Ryan has been known to draw hundreds of people to some of his townhall meetings in the Milwaukee exurbs.

... After being introduced by Barrett, Clinton spoke in vague generalities of the need for "creative cooperation" and "shared sacrifice." Clinton said Barrett showed he could balance the budget in Milwaukee through "shared sacrifice" without "breaking the unions." (In fact, the Milwaukee unions wouldn't budge during negotiations last year, and Barrett had to wait for Walker's collective bargaining reforms to take effect in order to exact millions of dollars of concessions from the unions.)

OK, better send in the first bench.

Wow! Super thanks, Barry! A Tweet! That ought to clinch it! Would've been nice, though, if you had physically stood by Tom. [Pause.] You see where this is going. But before we go there, let's check in with progressive union shill, Ed Schultz.

Oh, Ed, you sorry old fish, gloating about a win that -- enough with the tease! Enough table-setting!

DEMOCRATIC MILWAUKEE MAYOR TOM BARRETT
CONCEDES TO WALKER IN WISCONSIN RECALL
MADISON June 5, 2012 (WaPo/AP)

Here's tight. So tight NBC calls it for Walker as soon as the the polls close. So tight Fox follows NBC's call two minutes later. So tight it takes CNN a full three minutes after the voting to call it for Walker. So tight that Mr. Barrett keeps the flame alive less than three hours after the polls close before conceding. So tight, that with 96.7% of the vote counted Mr. Barrett trails by 7.6%.

Quote of the night:

And to end our Wisconsin recall travelogue, a river in Egypt:

Ah-um, Dave, your guy lost. He must be watching the returns on Al "Green Fatty" Gore's Current TV.

If you still want more, Jay Cost at TWS explains the importance behind the recall outcome for the Democrats.

CHOPE.

Democrat Criswell Central.

Posted by Damian at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe On The Job XXV -- BOOOOO! Again!

Day 1,227 of CHOPE
D-minus 229 Days

What's humbled me, as you walk out, I mean, everywhere I go, crowds spontaneously assemble. They start to cheer, whether I go to a play on Broadway or I'm going home to Wilmington, Delaware. I walk on the train. People stand up and clap. I mean, it's humbled me.

Joe "Hi-Q" Biden,
VP and crowd magnet,
spontaneously bursting into self-adulation
GOOD MORNING AMERICA
April 30, 2009 (ABC)

Gone are the days.

AT COMMENCEMENT, BIDEN
REMINISCES ABOUT 2008 ELECTION

MIAMI, Florida June 4, 2012 (NBC News) - Focusing on the lessons of tolerance and social change, Biden reflected on the historic election of the first black president in his remarks to Cypress Bay High School's class of 2012.

Standing on the Amtrak platform in 2009 awaiting the train that would carry him and the newly elected president to Washington for their inauguration, he said remembered how the streets nearby had been rocked by riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

But on that day in 2009, he said, "I was being picked up by a friend, an African American friend, Barack Obama," he said, prompting applause and a smattering of boos from the audience of graduates and their guests. "Regardless of your politics, this is not a political comment, it's about transition in America."

CHOPE.

That "historic" vaseline-on-the-lens moment doesn't sell like it did in 2009.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (1)

June 03, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- The Bain Mentality Redux

Day 1,226 of CHOPE
D-minus 230 Days

Campaign Barry wants you to know Mr. Romney's record at Bain Capital -- not Mr. Obama's record in the White House -- is what this election is all about -- as if the White House has been vacant the past four years.*

OBAMA: 'THIS IS WHAT THIS CAMPAIGN
IS GOING TO BE ABOUT'

May 21, 2012 (Business Insider) - President Barack Obama pivoted to politics during his press conference at the NATO summit in Chicago this afternoon, defending his campaign ads attacking Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital. Mr. Obama:
This is not a distraction. This is what this campaign is about. The reason this is relevant to the campaign is because my opponent, Governor Romney, his main calling card for why he thinks he should be president is his business experience. He is not touting his experience as Governor of Massachusetts. He is saying he is a business guy, and this is his business.

Imagine Mr. Romney's surprise to learn he had zeroed out his experience as Governor of Massachusetts.

Campaign Barry began with Bain attack videos. These garnered Pinocchios from the WaPo Fact Checker (and here and here).

Fair presentation be damned! Campaign Barry pressed on with its Bain attacks but forgot to drill the party shills on the party line. First off-message messenger was Newark mayor Cory Booker, a rising Democrat luminary.

CORY BOOKER DEFENDS BAIN CAPITAL,
CALLS ATTACKS ON PRIVATE EQUITY
'NAUSEATING'
May 20, 2012 (thegrio.com)

Mr. Booker was taken to the woodshed. But big name Democrats continued to slap down the Bain attacks.

DEM GOV. DEVAL PATRICK ON BAIN:
"NOT A BAD COMPANY"
May 22, 2012 (RCP)

DEMOCRATS BALK AT OBAMA CAMPAIGN'S
SUSTAINED ATTACK ON BAIN CAPITAL

May 22, 2012 (The Hill) - Some influential Democrats on and off Capitol Hill are refusing to give President Obama political cover for his attacks on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital.

... Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a widely respected member of Congress, stopped short of criticizing the president, but made it clear that the campaign should pivot.

"It’s done," she said. "Go on to other things now."

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told The Hill, "I think the average American … hopes that this campaign will focus on competing visions for how to strengthen our economy, help create jobs and move the country forward." Pressed on whether he thought Obama’s campaign had operated within those guidelines, Coons paused.

"I’m not going to comment on President Obama’s ad," he said, shaking his head vigorously.

BILL CLINTON: MITT ROMNEY'S
BUSINESS RECORD
'STERLING'
May 31, 2012 (Politico)

HOYER ON PRIVATE EQUITY:
'I THINK PRESIDENT CLINTON IS CORRECT'
June 1, 2012 (WFB)

So are the proles buying Campaign Barry's brilliant Bain attacks?

ATTACKS ON ROMNEY'S BUSINESS PAST
NOT STICKING

May 24, 2012 (CBS News) - President Obama is losing ground in the latest polls to Republican challenger Mitt Romney, who's pushing back against Democrats criticizing his business experience.

As the president has stepped up his attacks on Romney and his record at the private equity firm Bain Capital, Romney has indicated, during this crucial period to define himself to the electorate, he is not going to take the attacks lying down.

"He just doesn't have a clue what to do to get this economy going. I do," Romney asserted in an interview with Mark Halperin, of Time Magazine.

... In the Time interview, Romney turned the tables, almost scoffing at Mr. Obama's qualifications when he ran for president in 2008. Mr. Romney:

Right now we have an economy in trouble, and someone who's spent their career in the economy is more suited to help fix the economy than someone who's spent his life in politics and as a community organizer.

Ed Morrisey at Hot Air does a nice carve up:

First Team O launches the Bain demonization ad on the very same day as an Obama fundraiser hosted by the chief of Blackstone, another private-equity firm. Instead of coordinating with their surrogates, the campaign leaves them in the dark — and a half-dozen or so blast the campaign for demagoguing private equity. Finally, Joe Biden steps in and says that private-equity management is no experience for the Presidency, fully stepping into their own trap. ... The last thing Biden and Obama want is a debate on qualifications.

Mr. Obama is running on his vision, presenting a clear choice between himself and Mr. Romney, who is running on his record. [Pause.] Something here is deja vuey.

But having said that, I am absolutely confident that we will do well in this election as long as we understand what this election is about, and that is we have a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are getting us out of this mess. It’s a very simple choice. It’s pretty straightforward.

Mr. Obama,
indulging in and then bemoaning
the politics of fear, division, and blame.
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT DCCC FINANCE EVENT
LOS ANGELES August 16, 2010 (White House)

That was Mr. Obama before the 2010 mid-term elections. The Democrats and the clear choice they represented were crushed at the ballot box. The clear choice voted in record numbers of Republicans: 63 seat gain in the House, 6 Senate seats,** 29 of 37 governorships for a gain of 8, and a record 680 seats in state legislatures.

For some reason, this time round Mr. Obama thinks offering that same clear choice will be a winner.

CHOPE.

Pretty clear. The guy with no record or the guy with the "sterling" record.

------------------------------------
* Certainly the past year. Mr. Obama has attended 145 fundraisers by day's end last Friday since his official re-election announcement, April 4, 2011. That's one every three days on average.

** Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski ran a successful independent write-in campaign for Senator after being defeated in the Republican Alaskan primary, garnering 39% of the vote. She caucuses with the Republicans.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up VII

Day 1,221 of CHOPE

Low CHOPE Edition

Another installment of bad news, bad polls, bad calls, and -- more bad news for Mr. Obama.

We will let former San Fran mayor and lifelong Democrat Willie Brown set the mood.

OBAMA'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN - THE THRILL IS GONE

May 27, 2012 (SFC) - The president's trip to the Bay Area last week made it painfully clear that the Barack Obama re-election campaign has lost its mojo. There was no life, no personality, no memorable line or moment and no real enthusiasm in the entire fundraising foray. In short, there was no buzz.

It was like a summer rerun of a show that wasn't very interesting to begin with.

Worse yet, Obama sounded like he was playing catch-up to Mitt Romney. I can't think of anything that should have him in that role, but he's acting like the underdog.

Obama was more than a candidate last time out. He was a popular and cultural phenomenon. A rock star. But the trouble with rock stars is that they drop like a rock once fans conclude they are "over".

The trick in politics is not to be a one-hit wonder, but to be more like the Grateful Dead.

Mr. Obama's mojo went missing elsewhere.

OBAMA A 'LITTLE FLAT' IN DENVER

May 23, 2012 (TWS) - According to today's White House pooler, the New York Times's Peter Baker, "The crowd was obviously supportive and glad to see him, though the room at times felt a little flat and Potus seemed a little tired after a long day that’s not even close to being over." (The president has two more fundraisers tonight in California.)

Moreover, the campaign announced that the president "[would] headline a reception for 700 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. General admission tickets started at $500 apiece, though a selected number of Gen44 and Grassroots tickets were available for $250."

The campaign now says, according to the pooler, that only 550 people showed up.

And when the president showed up at the site of the Denver fundraiser, he was met with protesters.

A small money fundraiser and Mr. Obama can't draw a full house, with 21% no-shows and no-sales.

Can Mr. Obama, as Mr. Brown suggests, transform his flash-in-the-pan CHOPE into something consistently so-so?

ROMNEY LEADS POLL OF SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS

POLL May 24, 2012 (HuffPo) - Forty-nine percent of [small] business owners plan to vote for presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, while 32 percent of respondents say they'll support President Obama, according to a report released this week by Manta.

... In the eight [sic, nine] swing states shaping up to be the central election battleground, small businesses favor Romney even more, Manta found. Of the small-business owners surveyed in those states, 53 [sic, 57] percent said they'll vote for Romney, while 32 percent said they will choose Obama.

ROMNEY TOPS OBAMA BY 28 POINTS
AMONG MALE VETERANS

POLL May 28, 2012 (The Hill) - A new Gallup poll released on Memorial Day shows male veterans breaking strongly for Mitt Romney over President Obama.

The presumptive GOP nominee receives support from 58 percent of all veteran registered voters surveyed to Obama's 34 percent. Among non-veterans though, Obama holds a four point edge, with 48 percent to Romney's 44. Gallup says veterans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population.

Don't these guys know Mr. Obama killed OBL?

Another bad sign is the downbeat reporting on Campaign Barry this month.

READY, FIRE, AIM
Team Obama’s Reputation Is Vastly Overrated
May 25, 2012 (WFB)

NOT ARROGANT ANY MORE
Confidence Gives Way To Resignation.
"It’s Going To Be Really Tough — A 2004 Race."
May 24, 2012 (BF)

OBAMA STUMBLES OUT OF THE GATE

May 25, 2012 (Politico) - Nothing inspires Democrats like the Barack Obama swagger — the supreme self-confidence on stage, the self-certainty in private. So nothing inspires more angst than when that same Obama stumbles, as he has leaving the gate in 2012.

That’s the unmistakable reality for Democrats since Obama officially launched his reelection campaign three weeks ago. Obama, not Mitt Romney, is the one with the muddled message — and the one who often comes across as baldly political. Obama, not Romney, is the one facing blowback from his own party on the central issue of the campaign so far — Romney’s history with Bain Capital. And most remarkably, Obama, not Romney, is the one falling behind in fundraising.

To top it off, Vice President Joe Biden has looked more like a distraction this month than the potent working-class weapon Obama needs him to be.
National polls, which had shown Obama with a slight but steady lead over Romney through April, moved into a virtual tie this month — despite Romney’s clumsy conclusion to the GOP race.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air picks up:

[Politico notes] that a bad three weeks may just end up being a bad three weeks, and that things may well smooth out for Obama after the campaign gets in motion. Of course, this campaign has been in motion for more than a year. They had prepared the Bain attack since at least last September, when Obama began pushing the Buffett Rule and started demagoguing wealth and the wealthy. This has been the longest wind-up to a pitch in recent memory, and it turned into a pratfall.

That’s why the nod to Team Obama being a "political team notorious for discipline and effectiveness" appears to be one last fantasy to which the media may be bitterly clinging.

Campaign Barry sure hopes the economy picks up. Soon. Please.

NUMBER OF HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS
WITH JOBS HITS 20-YEAR LOW
May 24, 2012 (TWT)

AMERICANS GREW GLOOMIER
ABOUT THE ECONOMY IN MAY
NEW YORK May 29, 2012 (AP)

Here's a glimmer of hope for Campaign Barry:

The Cook Report
FLIP A COIN
All Signs Point To A Presidential Race That Will Be Very Tight.
Neither Candidate Seems Capable Of Pulling Away.
May 24, 2012 (National Journal)

That's right. The guy with the incumbency advantage, the guy with all the money, the guy with all the coolness, the guy with all the likeability -- that guy doesn't rate better than a coin toss from one of the most astute handicappers in the business.

CHOPE.

Fail momentum. Six months out.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2012

NYC Letter: One Term, Please -- Time's Up! Redux

Day 1,218 of CHOPE

Special "Time Has Come Today" Edition

Q: What do you get when you mix CHOPE with results?

A: Excuses.

One nice thing about the situation I find myself in is that I will be held accountable. I've got four years.

Q: You're going to know quickly how people feel about what's happened.

That's exactly right. And a year from now I think people are going to see that we're starting to make some progress, but there's still going to be some pain out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition.

Mr. Obama,
providing the prize soundbite of 2012
TODAY INTERVIEW
WASHINGTON February 1, 2009 (RCP/MSNBC)

"One nice thing about the situation I find myself in is that I will be held accountable." Feet to the fire. All results. No excuses. [Pause.] That was three years ago. Things should be pretty good by now.

BY 2-TO-1 AMERICANS ARE WORSE OFF UNDER OBAMA

POLL May 22, 2012 (WaEx) - Americans are nearly twice as likely to say they've gotten financially worse off as better off since Obama became president, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.

Only 16 percent of adult respondents say they are better off today then they were four years ago, while 30 percent say they are not as well off. Fifty-three say they are about the same. When ABC News/Washington Post asked the same question in June of 1992, 19 percent of Americans said they were better off under President George H.W. Bush compared to 32 percent who said they were worse off. Bush went on to lose to President Clinton that November.

Another good day to say one term is enough.

Well, I’m sure there are days where I say that one term is enough.

Mr. Obama,
speaking for us everyday
TODAY INTERVIEW
DURHAM June 13, 2011 (MSNBC)

Let's hold Mr. Obama's feet to the fire and see what he has to say.

We all know how difficult these past few years have been for this country. After the worst recession of our lifetimes, it’s going to take some time for the economy to fully recover. More time than any of us would like.

Mr. Obama,
readying America for a recovery eight years in the making
NEWTON, Iowa May 24, 2012 (KCCI)

"We all know how difficult these past few years have been for this country." That would be the three years of Mr. Obama's recovery.

Not to worry if another four years aren't enough. Mr. Biden will pick it up in 2016 and continue promising Mr. Obama's recovery.

CHOPE.

Can't get it done.

Posted by Damian at 11:15 AM | Comments (3)

May 25, 2012

NYC Letter: One Billion Dollars Three Dollars At A Time -- Bambi AND Bubba

Day 1,217 of CHOPE

Money Team Barry seems to have settled on $3 for their begs. Here's what $3 buys you today -- dinner with the first black president (Mr. Clinton) and the first gay president (Mr. Obama)! In New York City, the first city* in the United States to ban by ordinance trans fat from its restaurants! It's an evening of firsts! If you improbably win.

Weazel Zipper, who bravely subscribes to Money Team Barry's non-stop e-mails, has the e-beg:

Meeting the President of the United States is an incredible thing.

Meeting two presidents at the same time? Now, that’s almost ridiculously cool.

If you pitch in $3 or whatever you can today, you’ll be automatically entered to join President Obama and former President Clinton in New York City on June 4th — airfare and hotel taken care of.

These two presidents know better than anyone in the world that grassroots supporters are how you win elections. That’s why President Obama always wants to be able to meet you at events like this, and why President Clinton jumped at the chance.

This promises to be one amazing evening. Imagine how great it would be to be a fly on the wall when Presidents Obama and Clinton get together. Now imagine getting to be part of the conversation.

Enter today and you could win two tickets to New York to be there with them.

Seriously, good luck.

So much incredulity, so much ridiculous coolness, so much amazingness -- this solicitation is begging for exclamation points. Here you go.

Just three dollars buys you all that ridiculous coolness! If you improbably win!! And you can bring a date!!! All for $3!!!! How cool is that in this economy!!!!!

Party with Bubba!!!!!! Whoa!!!!!!!

BILL CLINTON'S GLAMOROUS FUNDRAISER
CALLED "WORST PARTY EVER"
BY ANGRY GUESTS
An Exclusive Event Hosted By Bill Clinton And Attended By
A Host Of Celebrity Friends Has Been Criticised After Guests Who Paid
Up To £1,000 For Tickets Were Left Queuing Outside For Hours.
LONDON May 23, 2012 (Telegraph)

Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!

CHOPE.

Seriously, good luck. (!!!!!!!!!!)

------------------------------------
* Tiny Tiburon, California was the first American city to ask its restaurants to voluntarily cook with trans fat-free oils, two years before NYC's straight up ban.

Posted by Damian at 06:30 AM | Comments (2)

May 24, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe Biden Is An Idiot XX -- Poster Boy

Day 1,216 of CHOPE

Special Joe Biden Inspiration Minute Edition

The DNC has made a Joe Biden inspirational poster.

The poster captures both the man -- the brave frontline of hair-plugs holding out against the onslaught of botoxed forehead, the bleached capped teeth, the cosmetically orientalized eye slits, the sparkle of the glueball eyes, the whole works atilt in a heavenward gaze suggestive of the effort behind a satisfying easement -- and his treacle. If platitudes set in a slab serif framing the VP in mid peroration lift you up, this is just the poster to adorn the heroes wall of your sensitive-man cave.

New to the conventions of poster design, the DNC has made their poster a square, the politically correct equal-opportunity-sided parallelogram.

You might think when picking the inspirational quote for a poster to be widely distributed, the DNC might have plucked something from Mr. Biden's treasure trove that was more cogent, the English less fractured.

"Never, ever, ever, ever" is a locution heard on the playground. "Never" means "not ever"; "ever" means "always". The two words are antithetical. It sounds like Mr. Biden was reaching for something Churchillian (Mr. Biden is a compulsive lifter), but, of course, Churchill got it right:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.

Then there is the original Bidenism: "The deck has been stacked on them, and we are unstacking it." The expression is "to have the deck stacked against one", so, "The deck has been stacked against them" not "on them".

Mr. Biden's substitution of the preposition "on" suggests position, not circumstance. Our first read had the deck atop the American people with Team Barry relieving the load in the coordinate clause a card at a time. We suppose one can arrive at the sense of "stacked against" from "stacked on", if that in fact was Mr. Biden's intent, but "stacked on" is jarring and the interchange not immediately apparent. Anyway the DNC might have done better with a less ambiguous quote.

Which brings us to the heart of this post, which is a wholesale swipe from the Weasel Zipper blog on the same topic. The WZ post offers real Biden quotes that didn't make the DNC cut. Here are the top three:

  1. "I have a beautiful home and you pay me a lot of money."
  2. "You all look dull as hell. ... Pretend you like me."
  3. "I promise you the president has a big stick."

Plenty of favorites in the comments:

  1. "This is a big fucking deal!"
  2. "I would tell members of my family — and I have —I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now."
  3. "If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there’s still a 30% chance we’re going to get it wrong."
  4. "Stand up, Chuck!"

Some of our own favorites:

  1. "I think I probably have a much higher I.Q. than you do. I suspect."
  2. "I’m sorry I’m not an economist."
  3. "Well, I'm here to tell you, some time in the next couple of months, we're going to be creating between 250,000 jobs a month and 500,000 jobs a month."
  4. "Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy."
  5. "Gird your loins."

CHOPE.

Uninspiring.

Posted by Damian at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up VI

Day 1,216 of CHOPE

It's bad news for Campaign Barry all the way down.

We began our "little things add up" theme in January and continued with one a month through May (here and here and here and here). But "little things" are adding up at a precipitate pace and here we are with our second "addition" post this month. As the election nears expect the frequency of posts with this theme to pick up, chock-a-block with "addition".

So many start points, let's just pick one out of the big "bad news" hat. Oh! it's the workingman's empath, Joe "I Get It" Biden.

SWING STATES SHOW DIM VIEW OF BIDEN

POLL May 23, 2012 (USA Today) - In a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, Americans split on whether they like or dislike the vice president – 42% said they had a favorable opinion, 45% said unfavorable – but the numbers are worse in key swing states.

In the 12 swing states likely to determine the outcome of the presidential election, only 40% of registered voters view Biden favorably, while 54% view him unfavorably.

... Independents are also down on the VP, with 50% saying they view him unfavorably and 35% holding a favorable view. The survey found the same pattern with voters who are not strongly committed to any candidate, with 52% viewing Biden unfavorably and only 33% holding a favorable view.

OK. People vote for the top of the ticket. Mr. Obama, not Mr. Biden, will pull in the vote.

4 IN 10 DEMOCRATS
DESERT OBAMA
IN ARKANSAS, KENTUCKY PRIMARIES

May 22, 2012 (The Hill) - In Arkansas, John Wolfe — a perennial, long-shot candidate — took 41 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, with 71 percent of precincts reporting. Obama came in just under 60 percent. The Associated Press did not call the race for Obama until close to midnight.

And in Kentucky, 42 percent of Democrats chose "uncommitted" rather than cast a vote for the incumbent president. Obama took 58 percent, with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Mr. Obama -- the incumbent president -- beats out a million-to-one shot and "uncommitted", that is nobody at all, with less than 60% of the party vote in two separate contests. These results follow Mr. Obama's underwhelming less-than-60% win earlier this month in the West Virginia primary over an incarcerated felon -- doing time in Texas! John Wolfe at least is a person and is running at large.

Those are Democrat candidates and a Democrat non-existing candidate. Put Mr. Obama up against Mr. Romney and that's a different story.

WAPO/ABC POLL SHOWS DEAD HEAT
BETWEEN ROMNEY, OBAMA

POLL May 22, 2012 (Hot Air) - The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Barack Obama only three points ahead of Mitt Romney, 49/46, within the margin of error. The poll also shows Obama’s advantage among women dissipating, and the President falling further behind his challenger on the economy. All of this is rather amazing, given the manner in which Republicans keep shrinking in the sample series.

... Today’s D/R/I is 32/22/38, which means this model would only be predictive for a turnout model where only 22% of voters are Republican. Just to remind readers, the 2008 turnout split from exit polls showed a 39/32/29 split, and that was considered a nadir for Republican turnout. In the 2010 midterms, the split was 35/35/30.

... Even with this poor sampling, though, Obama can’t gain any momentum. His job approval dropped in this series from 50/45 to 47/49. His rating on the economy sank to 42/55, not as bad as March’s 38/59 but slipping from last month’s 44/54. Among all adults (as in the preceding figures), Obama only leads Romney by 4, 49/45 — and a Democrat who can’t get to 50% among general-population adults is in serious trouble. The 49/46 comes from registered voters, with its substantial handicap among Republicans.

QUINNIPIAC FL POLL PUTS ROMNEY UP BY 6, 47/41

POLL May 23, 2012 (Hot Air) - Two months ago, Quinnipiac gave Barack Obama a statistically significant if not entirely comfortable seven-point lead in the key swing state of Florida at 49/42. Now, after two months of Bain attacks, gay marriage flip-flops, a visa to the daughter of Cuban dictator Raul Castro, and a weakening economy, the same pollster puts Mitt Romney up by six, 47/41.

Those numbers will improve once Campaign Barry's brilliant attack ads expose Mr. Romney's heartless business record.

OBAMA'S NEW ATTACK AD,
ALREADY DEBUNKED

May 14, 2012 (NRO) - The new Obama ad hits Mitt Romney for the closure of GST Steel after its purchase by Bain Capital, Romney’s former financial firm.

Romney’s departure from Bain: 1999.

GST Bankruptcy Filing and layoffs: 2001. (Dan Margolies, "Shutdown Is End Of An Era", The Kansas City Star, 2/8/01)

The Washington Post’s Fact-Checker, discussing earlier Obama attacks that used the same technique – blaming Romney for decisions his old firm made after he left:

We’ve gone over this problem with the Obama campaign before, awarding three Pinocchios to a January memo the team released blaming Romney for job losses and bad deals that took place after the former executive had stopped working for Bain. ... These facts essentially exonerate Romney from allegations that he was responsible for any outsourcing, bad deals and layoffs that occurred with Bain’s companies in the early 2000s.

The Post gave Obama "Three Pinocchios" for the attack.

44% SEE ROMNEY’S BUSINESS PAST
AS REASON TO VOTE FOR HIM,
33% DISAGREE
POLL May 21, 2012 (Rasmussen)

So Campaign Barry is running a lame offense. [We search the heavens.] The zeitgeist is strong! And on the important issues of today, um-ah -- Class warfare! Abortion! Mr. Obama is in lockstep with the zeitgeist!

POLL: AMERICANS LIKE THE RICH CLASS

May 11, 2012 (Politico) - Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the United States benefits from having a rich class, a figure unchanged from over 20 years ago, according to a new survey Friday.

Indeed, 63 percent of Americans believe that the United States is better off from having a class of wealthy, according to Gallup. Only 34 percent believe that the country does not benefit from having an upper class.

Even as the president has called on the rich to pay their "fair share" in taxes, the Occupy Wall Street protests, and amid a public debate over the so-called Buffett rule, American views of the rich have not changed significantly in over 20 years.

"PRO-CHOICE" AMERICANS AT
RECORD-LOW 41%
Americans Now Tilt "Pro-Life"
By Nine-Point Margin, 50% To 41%
POLL May 22, 2012 (Gallup)

[We search...the bottom of the barrel.] Well, there's always this:

President Obama is going to run on his remarkable record of accomplishment.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th),
DNC chair and proud owner of the Obama economy
TAMPA February 1, 2012 (970wfla.com)

And the pillars of that remarkable record are [Hard swallow.] the economy and Obamacare.

UNDER OBAMA: 30 WORST MONTHS
OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE PAST 25 YEARS
May 23, 2012 (TWS)

56% FAVOR REPEAL OF HEALTH CARE LAW

POLL May 14, 2012 (Rasmussen) - The majority of voters continue to support repeal of President Obama’s national health care law, and belief that repeal would be good for the economy has edged up to its highest level since late 2010.

POLL: MAJORITY OF AMERICANS
OPPOSE OBAMA HHS MANDATE

May 22, 2012 (LifeNews) - A new poll conducted by Marist College and released by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, shows a majority of Americans oppose the controversial Obama HHS mandate that forces religious groups to pay for drugs that may cause abortions.

... According to the Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll, nearly three in four Americans (74 to 26 percent) say that freedom of religion should be protected, even if it conflicts with other laws. Majorities would also protect the First Amendment conscience rights of hospitals, health care workers and insurers.

OBAMA'S GRAND MISCALCULATION WITH CATHOLICS

May 22, 2012 (FNC) - The news Monday that 43 different Catholic entities across the country are suing the Obama administration, in response to the Health and Human Services' (HHS) rule mandating employer health care coverage of contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization, comes as a blow to the president's strength among Catholics, a demographic that helped carry him to victory in 2008.

This news comes on the heels of the the latest CBS News/New York Times poll which finds Mitt Romney now leading President Obama among women, yet another demographic that he previously commanded.

... A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that, despite the administration’s self-portrayal as the champion of "women’s issues" amidst a supposed Republican "war on women," the president’s reelection advantage among women has declined in recent months as well as with another key demographic -- Catholics.

Obama was ahead among Catholics by 9 points in early March, and is now trailing by 5 points.

That's a devastating 14 point swing. How much of the loss can be regained? Maybe some with the drift of time --in ever shorter supply before November -- but not enough without a climb-down on the mandate, which, of course, will outrage his base. Team Barry crossed the Rubicon with the mandate. Any going back and he'll lose the troops that took him to Rome. Now only the Supreme Court ruling against Obamacare can save Mr. Obama from his signature accomplishment.

The Pew survey finds that, among Catholic voters with an opinion, 47% would today vote for President Obama, and 52% for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

That same margin, were it to hold on Election Day, would mark a swing of 18 million voters away from Obama. The loss of these Catholic votes alone would remake the 2008 electoral map, delivering Florida to Governor Romney and leaving the president no margin for error in Colorado or Ohio.

At this point if you are Campaign Barry you look to the party to rally behind its standard bearer and buy him a little love with the locals.

'HE'S FAILED IN THE ONE TEST
AMERICA HAD FOR HIM.'

May 23, 2012 (NRO) - Up in North Dakota, the Democrats’ candidate for Senate does her part to help the president:
In an interview, [Heidi Heitkamp, a former state attorney general] made it clear she intends to keep her distance from Obama. Ms. Heitkamp:

    I think he's failed in the one test America had for him, which was to unite the country. I think he needed to be more hands-on. … I don't think he's done enough to think broadly and come up with solutions that would engage both sides in a reasonable dialogue.

Bad news all the way down.

CHOPE.

Fail momentum. Six months out.

Posted by Damian at 02:00 AM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2012

NYC Letter: One Billion Dollars Five Three One Dollar Fifteen Million Dollars At A Time!

Day 1,215 of CHOPE

You know, the fact of the matter is, the president's, ah, support as demonstrated, ah, by contributions is, ah, demon-, becomes [sic] demonstrably from, ah, small, ah, you know, people that contribute a little bit. They're not from huge donors at all.

Jay Carney,
WH press secretary,
shilling the little donors fairy tale
PRESS BRIEFING
WASHINGTON May 22, 2012 (YouTube)

"They're not from huge donors at all." Except for the huge donations.

GEORGE CLOONEY OBAMA FUNDRAISER
NETS $15 MILLION

May 11, 2012 (HuffPo) - While Republicans mocked President Barack Obama for holding fundraiser at the home of George Clooney, he may be the one getting the last laugh.

The 150-person event, held Thursday night, brought in $15 million, from both ticket prices -- $40,000 per person -- and donations of $3 or more that entered donors into a raffle to win tickets to the event, according to the Los Angeles Times. Tens of thousands of donors contributed an average of $23 in hopes of winning a ticket, the LA Times reported, raising almost $10 million for the campaign.

... It brought in over $10 million more than most fundraising events of about the same size, in which the typical haul is between $1 million and $4 million, according to the Daily Beast.

That attendees accounted for $6M and small donors for $9M would seem to make Mr. Carney's point. [Pause.] Except that loads the word "support" with two different meanings. Campaign Barry uses number of donors and size of donations interchangeably for strength of support.

A $5-$3-$1 donation is not a big stake in Mr. Obama's re-election. Small donations are proportionally indicative of the strength of support. That strength of support is further diminished when you consider that these small donations are tricked out with door-prize gimmicks, e.g., dinner with George Clooney. In the same way a $1 state lotto ticket purchase is not necessarily the buyer supporting a state's targeted budget expenditure or general fund. It is the buyer making a small bet for a statistically improbable big return to himself. Donating $1 to Campaign Barry for a shot at meeting a Hollywood celebrity or the celebrity president himself is not necessarily support you can bank on at the polls.

Inversely, a one million dollar donation is also indicative of the strength of support. A large money contribution is a safe bet the donor is going to vote his donation.

BILL MAHER UNVEILS 'SURPRISE' $1 MILLION
DONATION TO OBAMA'S SUPER-PAC
February 23, 2012 (The Hill)

Is anyone in doubt who Bill Maher will be voting for come November?

But a large money contribution is more than the donor's vote, it is the means to influence votes. Big time politics requires big time money. That kind of support can only be had from big time donors, not small donors as campaign advisor David Axelrod inadvertently attests while defending Money Team Barry's Republican Apocalypse e-mail solicitations.

Our average donation is like $55. It would take 181,000 of those donations to match the one anonymous donation that Karl Rove got [scil., $25M]. And that's why we went out and reached out to our folks, because we need to combat this kind of tactic.

Money Team Barry is said to have a database of two million donors. E-mail response rates hover around 1%. At that rate, an e-mail solicitation to the entire database Rolodex might produce 20,000 responses. At $55 a response Money Team Barry collects $1,100,000 dollars, but incessant e-mail begs probably halves that number to $550,000 or $24,450,000 shy of keeping pace with Karl Rove. Mr. Axelrod knows that won't win the day, which is why Mr. Obama abandoned his once preachy opposition to super PAC monies.

The strength of support among small donors is just a fabulous talking point. The strength of support in dollars from big donors is Campaign Barry's B Plan.

PRO-OBAMA SUPER PAC FUND-RAISING
LAGS BEHIND RIVAL

May 21, 2012 (CNN) - The super PAC [scil., Priorities USA Action] supporting President Barack Obama's re-election reported raising just under $1.6 million in April, well below the amount raised by the group [scil., Restore Our Future] supporting Obama's rival Mitt Romney.

More than half (62.5%) of that amount came from just one donor.

Labor groups donated big to the pro-Obama group in April. The largest contribution came from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which gave the organization $1 million.

What CNN is loathe to report is that the pro-Obama Priorities donations were down 33% from March ($2.4M). The pro-Romney Restore donations were also down (47%), but almost triple ($4.6M) the Priorities total.

Priorities USA Action also reported having $4.7 million cash on hand at the end of April, slightly more than half of the amount in Restore Our Future's war chest.

We imagine there is still lots of money on the sidelines waiting for the race to shape up. If Mr. Romney stays close Money Team Barry may see a surge in late money from donors who will want to be remembered as tipping the advantage. If Mr. Obama trails going into September, donors will sit on their cash in a losing cause.

CHOPE.

Forget the small donors meme, huge donors needed!

Posted by Damian at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Ho-hum In The Heartland

Day 1,214 of CHOPE

Last week Mr. Biden gave a screech speech in Youngstown, Ohio. Mr. Biden was fired up. The crowd not so much.

BIDEN'S SPEECH FALLS ON DEAF EARS

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio May 20, 2012 (Tribune-Review) - "Oh, 'The Valley' is going to turn out big for Barack Obama this year, big!" [Dave Betras, Democrat chairman for Mahoning County] said, spreading his arms wide for emphasis. [He] pointed to local manufacturer M7 Technologies' shipping warehouse filled with people waiting to hear Biden speak. "Turnout like today, a full room," said Betras, 52.

If his job is to turn out Obama supporters on Election Day, he may want to check on their allegiances before he buses them to the polls. Many Youngstown attendees at Biden's event do not support him or the president.

What follows are interviews with six attendees who where there to support the company, not the Obama-Biden ticket.

These were just six of more than a score of people interviewed who said they will not vote for Obama in November; they were the audience members not captured by TV cameras, who sat respectfully during Biden's 30-minute populist speech* while the party faithful -- gathered up and bused in by Betras -- leaped up every time Biden's voice rose.

Even so, those faithful voiced discontent -- and worry that some in their community have no reason to vote for the president next fall.

Joe Louis Teague, 70, a black community icon who has run several unsuccessful campaigns for local office, is in charge of coordinating the Obama campaign's voter registration in the Mahoning Valley. He is worried about the black vote because "people are discouraged." ... "I am going to be honest, I think he could have done more," he said of the first black president's attention to the black community. "I think he needs to do more."

Next up Mr. Obama gives it a try, pitching a more impressionable crowd -- that remained unimpressed.

OBAMA PUSHES PROGRESSIVE 'COMMUNITY' IDEOLOGY
AT MO. HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT

JOPLIN, Missouri May 22, 2012 (TDC) - President Barack Obama’s high school commencement speech in the tornado-stricken town of Joplin, Mo., pushed a sharply ideological message and included partisan jabs and a call for military-style community action during crises.

Mr. Obama departed from his prepared remarks to complain about Congress blocking the magic of "his pragmatic political measures".

The jab was one of the few that got any response from the audience, which was muted in comparison to Obama’s usual audience of college students in Democratic districts. Before the speech, Obama shook hands with a group of students who swarmed to him in the gym where they waited for the ceremony to begin.

But a press pool report noted that "about half the seniors, all wearing burgundy caps and gowns, remained back."

Last year Joplin suffered a devastating EF5 multiple-vortex tornado. Two-days later Mr. Obama, the empathic president, phoned in his "deepest condolences" from London. Europa becked and Joplin could wait. For the next week the wrack of Joplin shared headlines with the feted Obamas. A year to the day Joplin High School returns the slight.

Earlier in the month, the incumbent president was sorely challenged in the West Virginia primary by an obscure inmate doing a 210-month stretch in Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas.

OBAMA LOSES WEST VIRGINIA
DELEGATES TO PRISON INMATE

May 8, 2012 (BF) - With 96% of the precincts reporting Tuesday night, [inmate] Keith Judd was holding steady at 41% of the vote and had won ten counties.

... Judd ran particularly strong in West Virginia's coal country, carrying the labor stronghold of Mingo County, among others.

... The votes appear to be votes against President Obama rather than for Judd.

You think? A crank candidate doing prison time in Texas mounts a primary challenge against the incumbent president, and Mr. Obama can't make 60% of the party vote. Who saw that coming? [Pause.] Well, anyone paying attention.

WV DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR
NOT BACKING OBAMA

May 2, 2012 (CNS News) - West Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he is not endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election,** saying the president "has apparently made it his mission to drive the backbone of West Virginia’s economy, coal and the energy industry, out of business.”

Which brings us full circle to Joe "Marie Antoinette" Biden, who "gets" the West Virginian voter.

BIDEN DOESN'T "BLAME PEOPLE"
FOR VOTING FOR A FELON OVER
OBAMA IN WV
May 18, 2012 (RCP)

West Virginians! Forbear and harken! No blame attaches to your humiliating vote!

Q: In the West Virginia primary a lot was made that this guy in a Texas prison cell was able to grab 40% of the vote in the presidential primary. What do you make of that?

Biden: Look, I come from a household where whenever there is a recession, somebody around my grandpop or my dad's table lost their job, a brother, a sister, a friend, or a neighbor. When you're out of work, man it's a depression. A lot of people are still hurt because of this God awful recession that we inherited that cost 8.4 million jobs before we could get going. And so, I don't blame people. They're frustrated, they're angry.

Flare to Mr. Biden, they're not frustrated and angry at Mr. Bush any more. They're frustrated and angry at the guys who said they'd turn things around if voted in. The sooner Campaign Barry "gets" that the sooner they can get started on their post-election résumés.

CHOPE.

Ho-hummed up.

------------------------------------
* The irony of Mr. Biden's "we get the lumpenproletariat" spiel wasn't lost on the reporter.

As Biden switched between fiery class-warfare rhetoric and whispers about his upbringing in neighboring Pennsylvania, two things stood out: no mention of coal or Marcellus shale natural gas -- the resources bringing prosperity back to this region -- and his talk of middle-class resentment.

"They don't get it! They don't get who we are!" he shouted about how Republicans don't understand the little guy in places such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

That's an interesting take from Biden, considering Obama's "understanding" of those same embittered, gun- and Bible-clinging voters that he famously described at a high-dollar San Francisco fundraiser in 2008.

** Junior West Virginia U.S. Senator Joe Manchin had played coy about supporting Mr. Obama's re-election, but days before the primary he came to see the light and offered his solid 85% support.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (2)

NYC Letter: Unforgettable -- The Recession

Day 1,214 of CHOPE

And I promise that I won't rest until America prospers once again.

Mr. Obama,
pledging sleeplessness
WASHINGTON November 6, 2009 (White House)

Somebody's been snoozing.

And before we got out first major economic initiative passed, we lost another 3.5 million jobs. Since that point, it's been steady growth, not enough. There's still a lot of people in trouble. But there's no stagnation. ... Well, you know, for the people who are unemployed, it-- they there [sic] you are still in recession. For the people whose wages are stagnant, it feels like a recession.

Joe "I'm No Economist" Biden,
recognizing the limits of hype in the midst of his hype
WASHINGTON May 6, 2012 (NBC News)

There's no stagnation. Just not enough of that, um, no-stagnation.

OBAMA: "SOMETIMES I FORGET"
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE RECESSION
SEATTLE May 10, 2012 (BuzzFeed)

Mr. Obama forgets the magnitude of the recession because he's bragged on his moribund recovery for so long he's come to believe it's everything he said it would be. The problem is Mr. Obama's economy has never caught up to Team Barry's hype. As a practical matter it never will, because the feeblest improvement is giganticized into something bigger and better than it is.

Mr. Obama is not standing on his record for re-election. He's standing on his excuses for his record.

No one expects everything to run to plan. No one is demanding perfection. But there is an expectation of getting the job done. There is a demand for competence.

Mr. Obama was hired to do a job. He didn't get the job done. He didn't get the job done because it was tougher than he thought, which proved too tough for him. Any Republican running on Mr. Obama's record would be savaged by the opposition, by the press, and at the polls. Mr. Obama leads a charmed life. Is that enough to win him re-election? [Pause.] What else has he got?

And should you need reminding:

We own the economy.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th),
DNC chair and proud owner of the Obama economy
WASHINGTON June 15, 2011 (Politico)

CHOPE.

It's not re-election. It's a re-do.

Posted by Damian at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up V

Day 1,208 of CHOPE

The anecdotal evidence and the polls continue to knit up.

CAN'T DRAW A CROWD, MR PRESIDENT?
OBAMA MAKES SPEECH IN COUPLE'S GARAGE...
AND EVEN THEY SAY THEY MIGHT NOT VOTE FOR HIM
RENO, Nevada May 12, 2012 (Daily Mail)

That's the small stuff. Surely Mr. Obama is still a big draw in the big venues, the staged rallies that turn out the base for show.

OBAMA PLEADS AT RALLY:
'I'M ASKING YOU TO KEEP BELIEVING IN ME'

COLUMBUS May 5, 2012 (ABC News) - The president routinely tells Democratic audiences that he knows it will be difficult to recapture the energy that powered him to the White House. He got a reminder of that struggle in Columbus: His rally drew 14,000 people to an arena that holds 18,300. And before he spoke, the Ohio State University newspaper The Lantern tweeted that ushers were asking people at the rally to move "in order for seats to look full for TV."

OK. [Pause.] The pollsters will have Mr. Obama's back. You can hide a lot of bad news in a cooked poll.

ROMNEY HAS SLIGHT EDGE OVER OBAMA

POLL May 14, 2012 (CBS News) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has a slight edge over President Obama in the race for the White House in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.

According to the survey, conducted May 11-13, 46 percent of registered voters say they would vote for Romney, while 43 percent say they would opt for Mr. Obama. Romney's slight advantage remains within the poll's margin of error, which is plus or minus four percentage points.

... Sixty-two percent of registered voters cited the economy as the most important issue in the presidential election. ... Most Americans (67 percent) believe the economy is in bad shape, but respondents expressed the most optimism on that issue since January 2008 - months before the economic crisis was in full swing.

... Romney now leads the president among independents, while Mr. Obama has an advantage among moderates. Independents opted for Romney 43 percent to Mr. Obama's 36 percent, whereas moderates supported Mr. Obama 50 percent to Romney's 39 percent.

Romney took the lead among women voters, who supported the former Massachusetts governor 46 percent to Mr. Obama's 44 percent, which is within the poll's margin of error. In April,

USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL SHOWS VOTERS
MORE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY
UNDER ROMNEY THAN OBAMA

BLOG May 15, 2012 (Hot Air) - USA Today leads the analysis of its joint poll with Gallup on the news that people have become more optimistic on the economy, and that’s good news for Barack Obama. ... The key takeaway:
In the poll, 55% say the economy would get better over the next four years if Romney was elected, compared with 46% who say it would improve if Obama was re-elected. Twenty-seven percent say the economy would get worse in a Romney first term, compared with 37% who say that of an Obama second term.

Consider that with this nugget, and it’s starting to look like Republican momentum:

For the first time during this campaign cycle, the GOP has an advantage in congressional elections. By 50%-44%, those surveyed say they’re likely to vote for the Republican congressional candidate. The two parties were tied in the USA TODAY Poll in February, and Democrats had a 7-point advantage last August.

NATIONAL MOOD A DRAG ON OBAMA'S RE-ELECTION PROSPECTS

PRINCETON May 16, 2012 (Gallup) - According to Gallup polling in early May, Obama's approval rating is below 50%, Americans' satisfaction with the direction of the country is barely above 20%, and the economy remains a dominant concern.

... Perhaps the broadest indicator of the public's mood comes from Gallup's satisfaction measure, which asks Americans if they are satisfied or dissatisfied with "the way things are going in the United States at this time." The 24% of Americans currently satisfied is most similar to the 20% recorded in May 1992 during George H.W. Bush's first and only term.

What about Mr. Obama's record (which he seems to think an election irrelevancy)?

56% FAVOR REPEAL OF HEALTH CARE LAW

POLL May 14, 2012 (Rasmussen) - The majority of voters continue to support repeal of President Obama’s national health care law, and belief that repeal would be good for the economy has edged up to its highest level since late 2010.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law, while 37% are at least somewhat opposed. This includes 46% who Strongly Favor repeal of the measure versus 26% who Strongly Oppose it.

OK. What about his bold lead-from-behind-Joe-Biden gay marriage evolution?

MOST AMERICANS THINK OBAMA'S GAY-MARRIAGE
ENDORSEMENT WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

POLL May 14, 2012 (Politico) - More than two thirds of Americans believe President Obama's public endorsement of gay marriage was motivated by politics, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.

A total of 67 percent overall said it was a political maneuver. That includes 86 percent of Republicans, and -- more importantly -- 70 percent of independents.

Only 24 percent said they thought he did it "because he thought it was the right thing to do."

ONE IN FOUR LESS LIKELY TO BACK
OBAMA OVER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
POLL May 14, 2012 (CBS News)

Mr. Obama must be plenty worried about his prospects in November. No. Not really.

OBAMA: 'I’M NOT WORRIED'
President Rubs Shoulders With Celebrities,
Bashes Republicans At NYC Fundraiser

May 14, 2012 (WFB) - President Obama declared “I’m not worried” about reelection before an audience of well-heeled campaign donors in New York City today, according to White House pool reports.

"Their message will be, 'You're upset, you’re unsatisfied. It’s Obama’s fault.' But I’m not worried. The reason I’m not worried is because of you," Obama said.

Because of you. You and your big money. [Pause.] But someone on Campaign Barry is pretty worried. [Hat tip: Hot Air]

CELL PHONE BAN KEEPS
OBAMA FUNDRAISERS SECRET

May 14, 2012 (BF) - In the latest attempt to crack down on potentially embarrassing digital leaks from presidential fundraisers, President Barack Obama's campaign has begun asking donors attending small fundraisers with the president to turn over their cell phones before entering.

... An Obama aide called the move it "standard operating procedure," but veterans of a range of other campaigns said they'd never heard of the practice, which is common in secure White House spaces where there are concerns of espionage, but unknown in contexts in which only political secrets are discussed.

... Former aides to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Rick Perry, and Jon Huntsman all expressed surprise at the practice, and they've never seen an instance where a campaign asked donors to surrender their cell phones.

The former Clinton aide called the Obama policy "absurd," suggesting that the Obama policy is almost certainly a response to the infamous 2008 fundraiser where Obama described voters in rural Pennsylvania as "bitter".

... "What is he hiding? Candidates should be for and against the same issue in private as they are in public," said former Perry campaign manager Rob Johnson. "This shows just how uncomfortable the Obama team is with their message and their candidate. And in addition to religion and guns, voters like to cling to their cell phones."

A spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed that the ban was not put in place at their request.

Let's keep this stuff off YouTube. And the embarrassing suck-ups. And those boomerang sucker punches. And that red meat is just for customers who pay for sirloin. What's said and done at fundraisers is just between Mr. Obama and your wallet.

Big money will get you in the door, but it won't buy you your 15 minutes of fame anymore. And no more cheapie cell phone new-best-friend photos.

CHOPE.

Fail momentum. Six months out.

Posted by Damian at 07:45 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe On The Job XXIV -- Time's Arrow

Day 1,203 of CHOPE

Future. Present. Past.

Missing from yesterday's pull-quote from Dana Milbank's WaPo column was this:

Biden hadn’t planned to make news about same-sex marriage or to endorse a position on the issue. The gaffe-prone vice president had been relatively on message for months. But on Sunday, he referred to the likely Republican presidential nominee as "President Romney" and to his own boss as "President Clinton". And he inadvertently set off a frenzy on same-sex marriage, not because his position was surprising but because it made Obama’s look all the more absurd.

Mr. Biden refers to a Republican presidential candidate as a sitting president and confuses the sitting president with an ex-president. [Pause to ponder.] Why, that's how we size things up, too.

CHOPE.

Gaffes.

Posted by Damian at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2012

NYC Letter: Meet The Base! -- Larry Flynt

Day 1,194 of CHOPE

Mr. Obama sure had a lot more appeal with his base as the 2008 messianic obscurity. Now? Now he's just another bought politician bragging for votes. But where else can liberals take their vote? Mr. Obama is all they have. They may not like it -- they may not like him -- but he's as close to heaven as the American left has been since the heady days of Ted Rall.

Which brings us round to the unhappy but resigned Larry Flynt, the bad boy of liberalism.

Mr. Flynt rose to prominence as the publisher of Hustler magazine. He turned a B&W circular for his string of strip clubs into the once-lucrative nationally distributed glossy magazine, mainstreaming "pink shot" pornography to the neighborhood newsstand. The rest, as they say, is the American dream.

Hustler also serves as a platform for his special brand of defamatory rudderless liberalism. [Oh, puh-Leeeze! Shop that "new civility" someplace else.] Publishing monies became Mr. Flynt's entrée to politics and supports his aspirations to be a kingmaker through paid-for scandal.

As always in politics, Mr. Flynt's money is welcome even when Mr. Flynt himself is not.

HUSTLER PUBLISHER LARRY FLYNT
CHOOSES 'LESSER OF TWO EVILS',
WILL VOTE FOR OBAMA

April 29, 2012 (TDC) - Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, who once ran for governor of California with the slogan "the smut peddler who cares" [Ed.: Finishing 7th in a field of 135 candidates.], told The Daily Caller that he will vote to re-elect President Barack Obama in November.

Flynt has been a longtime Obama skeptic. In December 2010 he penned an open letter to the president in The Daily Beast titled "President Obama: You Are Toast".

"I was delighted when you were elected," he wrote then. "Now, like many other Americans, all I see is an ineffectual wimp. If you want a second term in office, you must win back the respect of the American people. From my vantage point it’s hard to see how you can do that."

... But despite his disappointment with Obama on civil liberties issues, on ending foreign wars, on health care reform and on extending the Bush-era tax cuts, Larry Flynt is prepared to change his mind.

"I think Romney will win," Flynt told TheDC, before hastily correcting himself. "Wait — I mean I think Obama will win, and I’m going to vote for him."

Oops! There it is!

Asked if he was dissatisfied with Obama’s performance as president, Flynt said Obama "has fallen far short in many ways," mentioning the extension of the Patriot Act and "the way he’s dealt with Congress."

But Flynt said it’s important "to consider the lesser of two evils."

"I don’t think anyone would prefer Romney," he explained.

Of course Mr. Flynt's unendorsement is the real plum here. Nobody really wants Larry Flynt's endorsement. Campaign Barry can only be grateful Mr. Flynt's support is so half-hearted.

CHOPE.

Hold-your-nose endorsement.

Posted by Damian at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Little Things Add Up IV

Day 1,190 of CHOPE

Mr. Obama has improved in the polls.

OBAMA 13TH QUARTER APPROVAL UP TO 45.9%
Remains Below The Averages Of
Presidents Who Were Re-Elected
POLL April 20, 2012 (Gallup)

Can he string this out till November?

We pick up Mr. Obama's epic re-election bid here.

FORMER GE CEO JACK WELCH
BLASTS OBAMA'S LEADERSHIP

April 13, 2012 (CNBC) - The renowned former General Electric CEO chided the president for blaming others for economic woes. Jack Welch:
It was the insurance executives in health care. It was the bankers in the collapse. It was the oil companies as oil prices go up. It was Congress if things didn’t go the way he wanted. And recently it’s been the Supreme Court. ... Surely his supporters must think this particular tactic is effective, but there can be no denying that the country is more polarized than when Obama took office.

Mr. Welch is a one percenter, so he will be eaten and won't be heard from again. How about the less digestible 99 percenters?

RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK

POLL April 25, 2012 (Rasmussen) - Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, April 22.

This finding is up two points from last week and back to the level found for the previous three weeks.

Looking good, looking good. A mere 63% think America on the wrong track. A huge two-point improvement. Let's move on to Mr. Obama's base.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S VIDEO MESSAGE
BOOED AT BOSTON’S
FENWAY PARK
April 20, 2012 (Mediaite)

Ba-ba-Boston of the bluey blue state Massachusetts? Isn't that the home of the Ted Kennedy Senate seat?

WHY LABOR'S RANK AND FILE
WON'T CAMPAIGN FOR OBAMA
March 16, 2012 (commondreams.org)

OBAMA CAMPUS FERVOR
LOSING TO APATHY AS
STUDENTS SOUR ON 2012
March 30, 2012 (Bloomberg)

OK. No worries. Mr. Obama has the money advantage of incumbency. He's going to raise a billion dollars, run a few hundred negative ads, and win back his base!

OBAMA SEES STEEP DROPOFF
IN CASH FROM MAJOR DONORS

April 20, 2012 (NYT) - President Obama’s re-election campaign is straining to raise the huge sums it is counting on to run against Mitt Romney, with sharp dropoffs in donations from nearly every major industry forcing it to rely more than ever on small contributions and a relative handful of major donors.

... With big checks no longer flowing as quickly into his campaign, Mr. Obama is leaning harder on his grass-roots supporters, whose small contributions make up well over half of the money he raised through the end of March, according to reports filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission.

Campaign Barry is "leaning harder" on the base for money to win back that same base. Good luck with that!

At least his party is solidly behind Mr. Obama.

MANCHIN ON THE FENCE ABOUT OBAMA VOTE

April 19, 2012 (National Journal) - Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has done more than any other Democrat up for reelection this year to distance himself from President Obama, said he does not know if he will vote for Obama or presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in November.

Even Jeeeeemie can only manage a wobbly "Yes, But" prediction.

JIMMAH: OBAMA WILL WIN RE-ELECTION,
BUT I'D BE "COMFORTABLE" WITH ROMNEY
April 25, 2012 (Townhall)

On the bright side, the MSM is again prepared to do its bit (and this) for Mr. Obama. So if Mr. Obama can't buy his re-election, perhaps the MSM can win over the electorate with soft-focus reporting on Mr. Obama's "likeability".

CHOPE.

Fail momentum. Seven months out.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- More Reasons To Re-elect Mr. Obama

Day 1,189 of CHOPE

We expect a lot of people (but not too many) will vote for Mr. Obama in November. Many won't have any idea why. We are here to help.

For the confused and undecided in need of an excuse -- or a nudge -- here are three more reasons to re-elect Mr. Obama.

    Reason №1

Anything you can do I can do better
I can do anything better than you

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
Performed (Duet): Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton, 1946
Songwriter: Irving Berlin

OBAMA: I CAN DO EVERY JOB BETTER
THAN THOSE I HIRE TO DO IT

April 24, 2012 (NRO) - It appears one of the great challenges that President Obama has had to overcome in office is that no one around him is as good at their job as he is.

From Jodi Kantor’s The Obamas, page 66:

Obama had always had a high estimation of his ability to cast and run his operation. When David Plouffe, his campaign manager, first interviewed for a job with him in 2006, the senator gave him a warning: "I think I could probably do every job on the campaign better than the people I’ll hire to do it," he said. "It’s hard to give up control when that’s all I’ve known." Obama said nearly the same thing to Patrick Gaspard, whom he hired to be the campaign’s political director. "I think I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters," Obama told him. "I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director."

    Reason №2

BARACK OBAMA IS COOL.
MITT ROMNEY IS NOT.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR 2012?

April 25, 2012 (WaPo) - Here’s a fundamental fact [!] of the 2012 presidential race: President Obama is cool. Mitt Romney isn’t.

Obama slow jams the news with Jimmy Fallon. He makes three pointers. He sings Al Green in tune. Romney praises the height of trees. He sings "Who let the dogs out". He fakes that a New Hampshire waitress grabbed his behind. ... After all, who would you rather vote for: the coolest guy in school or Alex P. Keaton?

    Reason №3

CHARLIE COOK ON OBAMA:
'WE HAVE KIND OF A METROSEXUAL PRESIDENT'

April 27, 2012 (TDC) - On Friday’s "The Daily Rundown" on MSNBC, Charlie Cook of the famed The Cook Political Report offered his theory as to why Iowa seems to be tilting toward the Republicans in the upcoming election.

According to his co-guest David Drucker, a reporter for Roll Call, it stems from a dissatisfaction with Washington, particularly with ObamaCare. However, Cook says it is something more.

"Small towns — states with a large small town rural populations, Democrats in general, the president has had a really hard time," Cook said. "I mean, we have kind of a metrosexual president … that doesn’t go over well in the small town. And it’s just cultural. It is what it is."

To sum up, Mr. Obama gets your vote because:

  1. He hires the less competent.
  2. Coolness is a serious qualification for the Presidency of the United States.
  3. That winning "metrosexual" thing.

What? That doesn't do it for you? There's always this:

President Obama is going to run on his remarkable record of accomplishment.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 20th),
DNC chair and proud owner of the Obama economy
TAMPA February 1, 2012 (970wfla.com)

CHOPE.

Better, cooler, more metrosexual than you.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (2)

April 25, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Beggar Thy Unions

Day 1,187 of CHOPE

Salt In The Wounds Edition

Remember this?

The Democrat Party, which sorely depends on union money and volunteers and votes, decided to hold its convention in North Carolina, a right-to-work state. Then it moved Mr. Obama's acceptance speech to a stadium built without union labor and named after corporate welfare queen Bank of America, the better to cater fat cat political groupies.

Talk about your gutsy calls!

But if you are a big important Democrat constituency there is no end to the ignominies attending the privilege.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN ASKS UNIONS TO
HELP COVER CONVENTION COSTS

April 25, 2012 (Bloomberg) - President Barack Obama’s political advisers are pressing labor unions to contribute to the Democratic convention in September to cover a fundraising shortfall resulting from their self-imposed ban on corporate donations, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Democratic officials gave representatives of the major U.S. unions, including the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Auto Workers, a tour of the convention sites in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 23 in advance of a request for donations, according to the two people, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss internal strategy.

The three-day convention will culminate in Obama’s re-nomination in Bank of America Stadium on Sept. 6. So far, the host committee in Charlotte is roughly halfway to its $36.6 million goal.

That's 40% off the 2008 price tag. Those Greek columns were expensive!

Four years ago, unions contributed more than $8 million to the Democratic convention in Denver, according to financial disclosure reports.

... As the Charlotte host committee struggles to raise money, some Democratic fundraisers are urging the Obama campaign to lift the restrictions on corporate cash. That would require the Obama campaign to amend the "master contract," which also prohibits the Charlotte committee from accepting contributions from registered federal lobbyists and limits individual donations to $100,000. The Obama campaign has told Democrats arguing to amend the rules that they won’t be changed, said Ben LaBolt, press secretary for Obama for America.

... While relying on the unions may help close the Democrats’ convention shortfall, it might siphon funds away from other Democratic political efforts.

"It’s a huge switch not to take corporate money," said Anna Burger, a former Secretary-Treasurer at the Service Employees International Union. "I understand the president’s decision to do that, but it makes it that much harder to fund all the things that need to be funded."

... Mike Dino, who was chief executive officer of the [2008] Denver convention host committee, said Obama’s donation rules hamper the convention organizers while providing little political benefit. "I have a hard time discerning whether anyone really cares that the Democrats are trying to approach this in a different way," Dino said in an interview.

... Obama’s advisers considered similar restrictions in 2008. They eventually agreed to accept corporate and high-dollar contributions on their way toward raising $61 million for the event, Dino said. A review of the 2008 donations reveals the magnitude of the challenge for Charlotte under the new rules, he said.

In 2008, donations of less than $100,000 accounted for five percent of total Denver receipts, according to the Campaign Finance Institute, a policy research organization in Washington. Almost three-fourths of the funding for the Denver convention came from contributions of more than $250,000 from individuals and organizations, and a quarter came for a dozen donors who gave between $1 million and $1.7 million, the group’s data show.

A $100K individual limit is so much meaningless grandstanding when begging unrestricted millions from unions is allowed. The Democrat brag is, "Only unions can buy us!" Unions hasten to add, "That doesn't buy much."

CHOPE.

Unions, the Norma Desmond to the DNC's Joe Gillis.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2012

NYC Letter: Like A Dog. A Dog! Redux

Day 1,179 of CHOPE

No Stoop Too Low For A Buck Edition

Mr. Obama complained bitterly about unnamed powerful forces treating him like a dog when he supposedly failed to do their bidding, which was to say, mistreating him as cruel masters do a dog.

And over the last two years, that’s meant taking on some powerful interests -- some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time. And they’re not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog. (Applause.) That’s not in my prepared remarks, it’s just -- but it’s true.

Mr. Obama,
introducing the dog meme on the fly
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT WISCONSIN LABORFEST
MILWAUKEE September 6, 2010 (White House)

We are not sure how Mr. Obama meant the metaphor to wrap around him, but it did suggest the expectation dogs are meant to do a master's bidding. A suggestion that Mr. Obama proves out.

OH NO, NOT BO, SAYS CRITIC
OF OBAMA FUNDRAISING TRICK

April 16, 2012 (WaEx) - Now even Bo, the nation’s first pup, is being used to raise money for his the reelection campaign of his owner, President Obama. Cute for sure, but not everybody’s wagging their tail over what is the first use of a presidential pet to raise campaign cash.

On the Obama-Biden campaign website, Bo is featured because it is the third anniversary of his adoption. "It’s a promise Barack made to his daughters--that if he won the election in November 2008, he would buy them their long-awaited puppy. On April 14, 2009, Barack followed through on his promise to Malia and Sasha--the Obamas welcomed Bo into their home," says the campaign of the Portuguese water dog.

Mr. Obama didn't buy Bo. He was a freebie from the late Ted Kennedy.

"Now, he’s got three years under his collar as the first dog. This April, wish Bo Obama a happy anniversary as a member of the first family," adds the campaign website in a posting headlined, "Throw Bo A Bone On His Anniversary." Of course, that "bone" would be a campaign contribution, starting at $10.

Bo is a bigger draw than the $5 $3 $2 $1 Obamas.

[S]ome think the use of the first pet to raise money is tacky. Claire McLean of the Presidential Pet Museum:
That’s very crass. That’s like raffling the dog or auctioning the pet. It’s not presidential to do that.

McLean says that pets have been used for fun in campaigns because they are nonpartisan. "Bo is liked by Republicans and Democrats because he doesn’t have any real political affiliation," she said. But using him in fundraising pitches, as the campaign is, destroys that. "He becomes like a donkey or elephant," she says of the Democratic and Republican mascots.

But she agrees that the Bo for Barack effort should be a winner for the campaign.

He’ll raise a lot of money.

With a 46% presidential job approval, Money Team Barry is smart to find more popular money draws. Expect future campaign begs from Elmo, SpongeBob SquarePants, Perry the Platypus, and other cute cartoon characters. Oh, and the Decepticons.

CHOPE.

Fetch, Bo! Fetch the money!

Posted by Damian at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe Biden Is An Idiot XVI -- Esteemed Opponents

Day 1,166 of CHOPE

Everything old is new again.

2008.

BIDEN CALLS PALIN
'LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR'

September 4, 2008 (ABC News) - After her speech Wednesday night at the Republican convention in St. Paul, most of the nation now knows who Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is. Her vice-presidential counterpart, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., apparently still does not.

"I heard a very, by the way I mean this sincerely, a very strong and a very good political speech from a lieutenant governor of Alaska who I think is going to be very formidable, very formidable not only in the campaign but in the debate," Biden said Thursday at an economic discussion at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia.

Seven days after Mr. McCain announces Sarah Palin as his No.2 and the day after Mrs. Palin's widely covered, widely viewed, widely commented RNC acceptance speech, Joe "I've Forgotten More" Biden mistakes her for then-lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell.

2012.

BIDEN BUNGLES MITT'S JOB:
'SENATOR ROMNEY' DOESN'T WANT
TO 'DICTATE' HEALTH COVERAGE

April 3, 2012 (TDC) - Vice President Joe Biden defended President Barack Obama’s health care reform law Tuesday, specifically praising the provision that requires companies to cover individuals with pre-existing conditions, criticizing "Senator Romney" for opposing this part of the law.

"The president and I think that, it’s already the law, that anybody, any quote child, dependent, who has a pre-existing condition should automatically be covered by their parents’ insurance policy and we believe that if every insurance company has to do it, it’s no disadvantage to one insurance company verses the other," said Biden at an event on college affordability in Norfolk, Va.

"Well, our friends, Senator Santorum and Senator Romney and others, they don’t think the government should dictate that."

Three hundred six days after Mr. Romney formally announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, Mr. Biden has him besting Ted Kennedy in 1994.

Now these are not fell blunders. They are common Biden misspeaks. They are so common, in fact, everyone shrugs. Everyone shrugs because to consider one Biden synaptic misfire leads to consider another and soon Mr. Biden looks more dopey than ill-informed. And to see Mr. Biden for the dope he is leads one to consider his high station. [Pause.] And that, blasé skimmer, leads to the unthinkable.

And THAT, that gives us troubled pause.

CHOPE.

The unthinkable.

Posted by Damian at 06:15 AM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2012

NYC Letter: Grubbing For Dollars -- Thank You, Mr. Hitler!

Day 1,164 of CHOPE

When grubbing for dollars there are no stigmas. All is forgiven. And thanks for your support!

OBAMA CAMPAIGN DISABLES
CREDIT CARD VERIFICATION,
ACCEPTS DONATION FROM 'NIDAL HASAN'
April 2, 2012 (PJM)

Times are tough -- Mr. Obama knows, he's living your pain, vicariously -- and re-election campaigns on the back of a failed presidency are expensive. Now is not the time to quibble over who's ponying up. Every contributed dollar is a good dollar. If you are a dead genocidal Führer with a hankering for world conquest or a lowly terrorist mook doing your bit for Allah and the Caliphate, Money Team Barry wants you to know you are welcome under the skirts of its big tent. Or at least your money is.

This video is a follow-up to Adrian Murray’s facebook post over the weekend, in which he says that he donated to the Obama campaign as "Adolph Hitler", occupation "Dictator" living at a German address. As you can see in the clip, citizen journalist George Scaggs of Austin tries the same thing at three different campaign sites, that of Obama, Romney and Santorum. Only the Obama site accepted the donation without the verification number.

... Obama’s campaign implemented the same lack of verification in 2008, but the mainstream media never called them on it. It appears as though that episode has prompted a repeat in 2012.

This means three things are likely true. One, the Obama campaign disabled the verification system. The verification system is turned on on web sites that accept credit cards, by default. I used to manage the website for the Texas Republican Party, so I know this from personal experience. Someone had to take the action of turning it off on the Obama site. Two, the Obama campaign can accept donations without the identity of the donor being positively verified. Three, not only can people in foreign countries donate to the Obama campaign in violation of federal campaign law, so apparently can identity thieves who have access to stolen credit card numbers. People who do not know that their credit cards have been compromised may not notice small amounts in the $3 dollar donation range that the Obama campaign has been targeting, when such donations show up on their statements.

Which raises the question, how lucrative are fraudulent $1-$3-$5-under $200 donations for Money Team Barry to forgo basic online transaction security? It seems stupid to risk exposure and the bad press that follows unless the money is on a par with the $38,500-a-plate, $10,000-$5,000-happy-snap, big-money takes. Oh, wait. There is no bad press!

In 2008 only WaPo seemed to notice.

In a paper outlining those safeguards, provided to The Washington Post, the campaign said it runs twice-daily sweeps of new donations, looking for irregularities. Flagged contributions are manually reviewed by a team of lawyers, then cleared or refunded. Reports of misused credit cards lead to immediate refunds.

... Under current law, there is also very little policing of small-dollar contributions. The false donations uncovered by news outlets or by rival campaigns have all involved more than $200, because those contributions must be disclosed in published reports. The campaigns are not required to share any information about donors who give less than $200. And they are not required to even keep records of donors who give less than $50 — they can even give cash.

WaPo took Money Team Barry's word that its follow-on audits caught those fraudulent donations its absent online security could've caught upon submission. Shrug. [We shrug.] And exposure? That's all FEC downstream.

Money Team Barry is still waiting on donations from the Prince of Darkness, Elizabeth Báthory, John Wilkes Booth, and Kermit Gosnell. Don't be shy! Donate now and build a future big enough for all of us!

CHOPE.

We are not here to judge. Thanks for your support!

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2012

NYC Letter: Grubbing For Dollars -- Where The Money Isn't Redux

Day 1,162 of CHOPE

Not all rich people are catching the wink-and-a-nudge behind Mr. Obama's class warfare blather.

OBAMA’S HIGH-DOLLAR
DONATIONS LAGGING

March 18, 2012 (WaPo) - President Obama is struggling to draw in big-dollar donations, with half as many people writing large checks to his campaign than at this point four years ago.

Obama is outpacing his Republican rivals in fundraising overall, and his advisers have concentrated on amassing small-dollar backers, part of a strategy to get more people invested in the reelection effort. At the end of January, 1.4 million people had donated to the Obama campaign, responding to appeals for contributions as small as $2.

The appeals are for as little as $1. One, two, three, and five dollar donations are not "invested in the reelection effort". More likely they are sops in hopes that the nonstop begs will stop.

But Obama lags behind Republican front-runner Mitt Romney in finding donors willing to give $2,000 or more — a surprising development for a sitting president, and one that could signal more worrisome financial problems heading into the general election. At this point in the last election cycle, Obama had received such large donations from more than 23,000 supporters, more than double the 11,000 who have given him that much this time. President George W. Bush had more than four times [49,000] that number of big donations at this point in his reelection.

OUCH! Again with the "Obama underperforming GWB" -- In non-inflation-adjusted dollars! Stop it!

Republicans and Democrats alike thought Obama would have a big financial advantage over Republicans this fall given his record-breaking 2008 fundraising and his status as the sitting president. But the trend of slackening big-donor support is the latest in a series of indications that the 2012 money battle is going to be much tighter than once imagined.

... Obama also recently changed course and asked top fundraisers to support a super PAC acting on his behalf. He has criticized the million-dollar contributions that fuel super PACs, a new type of political group, but decided that he couldn’t afford to take the beating from PACs on the right without responding in kind. So far, the main super PAC behind Obama — Priorities USA — has posted anemic fundraising, in contrast to the millions of dollars conservative groups have already begun spending against him.

At the same time, the Obama campaign has been burning through money at a furious pace. In January, for example, the Obama campaign spent $17.7 million while raising only $11.9 million. That has left Obama with about half as much money in the bank as Bush had eight years ago ahead of his successful reelection.

OW! Stop with the GWB underperformance already!

Some bundlers have decided to stop supporting Obama entirely, including several in the finance sector, which has been hit with stringent new regulations pushed by Democrats.

"There’s a lot of disaffection and buyer’s remorse among the people I know," said one 2008 Obama fundraiser, who is no longer working for the president and was interviewed on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. "At the end of the day, would they vote for him? Maybe, but they’re certainly going to be less active."

"Less active" is rich people talk for less money. And separately there is this.

Romney’s relative success in attracting moneyed backers in Chicago is particularly striking given Obama’s roots in the city and his overwhelming popularity in Illinois. At least a dozen of Romney’s top Illinois bundlers supported Obama in 2008, but have turned on the president over his handling of the economic recovery, Israel or other issues.

Goldman Sachs managing partner Muneer Satter and his wife, Kristen Hertel, donated more than $100,000 to Obama’s 2008 campaign and inaugural committee, for example, and also supported former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral bid in Chicago. But Satter now serves as Romney’s finance chairman in Illinois, and the couple have given a combined $380,000 to a super PAC supporting the GOP candidate, records show.

Susan Crown, a philanthropist and member of the billionaire Crown family, has switched sides from supporting Obama in 2008 to backing Romney now, although some of her relatives remain Obama supporters. Crown said in an interview that she was prompted to support Romney after Obama spoke in favor of a return to 1967 borders with land swaps as part of a potential Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.

"There are a lot of people here who are very disappointed in the president," said Crown, who co-hosted a fundraiser for Romney last year with her husband. "Illinois is very important because it’s Barack Obama’s home state and it has a lot of independents. I’m an independent and I’m working as hard as I can for Mitt."

THE HEAD OF OBAMA'S JOBS COUNCIL
IS VOTING FOR ROMNEY

March 19, 2012 (BI) - General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, the head of President Obama's Jobs Board, plans to vote for Mitt Romney, Fox Business' Charles Gasparino reports (via Bloomberg).

If true, the news would represent a major embarrassment to the Obama administration, which had elevated Immelt in their pursuit of private sector employment growth. Gasparino has not spoken with Immelt, but said sources close to the G.E. chief said he was leaving Obama's side.

Oh. Big ouch ouch ouch.

This is rich. Campaign Barry brags on small money while it desperately begs big money. Campaign Barry is an organization based on a government model, to wit, failure is not an impediment to more of the same. In business failure is punished by firings and resignations as a prelude to doing something different that will succeed. Class rhetoric disaffecting big donors? Double-down on class rhetoric. The rich, at least those who work and run businesses, are firing Mr. Obama.

CHOPE.

Withholding the money to buy the rope to hang them.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe Biden Is An Idiot XV -- All My Heroes Are Barack

Day 1,160 of CHOPE

Mr. Biden is back with another hyperbolic valentine for the boss.

BIDEN: ONLY FDR FACED MORE
DIRE SITUATIONS THAN OBAMA

March 29, 2012 (Politico) - Vice President Joe Biden, speaking to supporters at a fundraiser in Milwaukee, Wis., said that only Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced problems with more dire consequences during his presidency than President Obama. Mr. Biden:

No president, and I would argue in the 20th century and including now the 21st century, has had as many serious problems which are cases of first-instance laid on his table. Franklin Roosevelt faced more dire consequences, but in a bizarre way it was more straightforward.

So, you see, in a bizarre sort of way FDR had it pretty easy. [Pause.] Herbert Hoover -- just spitballing here -- faced far more problems with the onset of the Great Depression (Mr. Biden thinks FDR was president in 1929).

That Joe Biden thinks that the Obama administration is the most momentous of this and the past centuries speaks to both his enormous hermetic vanity and his enormous ignorance of American history. Here's a short list of presidents in Mr. Biden's time range that dealt with more serious problems and their dire consequences than Mr. Obama.

Harry S. Truman authorized the first atomic bombings, oversaw the transition of a war economy to peacetime, originated the Truman Doctrine (containing Communist expansion), launched the Marshall Plan, recognized the state of Israel, authorized the Berlin Airlift, joined NATO, dispatched the Seventh Fleet as a floating buffer between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, and presided over the outbreak of the Korean War. That's a topper.

John Kennedy came to office during a recession, presided over the Bay of Pigs, was dealt the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem and the rolling military coups that followed in South Viet Nam, strong-armed the steel industry, committed the space program to put a man on the moon, and abetted the nascent civil rights movement. All that in less than three years. That's a topper.

Mr. Bush initiated two of the largest tax cuts in history, presided over the Hainan Island incident, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, was dealt 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the housing bubble, and took the initial steps to curtail the 2008 financial crisis. That's a topper.

And Mr. Obama? He greenlighted the OBL kill before hitting the links. [Pause.] Who would ever have thought a former New Yorker could get enough of hearing about OBL's demise. [Hard sigh.] But here we are.

"I’ve watched him make decisions that would make another man or woman’s hair curl," the vice president said, repeating his often-told tale of Obama's decision to authorize the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

'Nobody but one person in that entire apparatus said go," Biden said about the national security team — with the only "yes" vote being Leon Panetta.

There is an epigram by Martial that goes something like this, everyone loves their own. He was writing about farts.

CHOPE.

Gush and hagiography.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2012

NYC Letter: One Billion Dollars Three Dollars At A Time -- Falling Behind

Day 1,158 of CHOPE

The brave folk at Weasel Zippers continue to absorb the constant barrage of desperate money e-mails, merchandise tweets, and personal dinner invitations from the Obamas sparing us (thank you) while keeping us abreast of that "bullshit" billion dollars needed to buy Mr. Obama a second term.

OBAMA SELLING FILM CREDITS
FOR PROPAGANDA FLICK
"ROAD WE’VE TRAVELED"
FOR $3

BLOG March 27, 2012 (Weasel Zippers) - Via BarackObama.com:
You deserve some recognition. And we can’t carve your name into the wall of this thing that we’re building—it’s bigger than that.

This is an example of hurried prose meant to sound like it means something but doesn't. Many things preclude physically carving into a figure of speech -- where to set Mr. Berkeley's immaterial chisel for a start -- "it's bigger than that" does not contribute anything to the impossibility of the credit carving. "The wall of this thing that we’re building" could be half the height, a quarter the thickness, an eighth of all its imaginary measures without improving on the possibility of carving into it. Back to the beg.

Here’s what we want to do:

Make a donation of $3 or more before March 31st, and we’ll put your name in the credits of Davis Guggenheim’s documentary, "The Road We’ve Traveled".

This film is being used at field offices across the country to fire people up—because we know it’s one of the best tools we have. But grassroots supporters like you are the ones making sure our field offices have the resources they need to get the film out there.

That’s why if you help make that happen, you get the credit—literally.

There is nothing -- NOTHING -- these people will not sell. But there probably aren't enough "executive producer" movie credits or junk merchandise or presidential eat-and-runs to hit the fabled "bullshit" billion.

OBAMA, DNC FEBRUARY FUNDRAISING
SHOWS WEAKNESS VERSUS 2008

March 20, 2012 (CNS News) - The entire Obama reelection effort* raised a reported $45 million in February, according to a video released by the campaign. That figure is well below the $56.8 million Obama raised all by himself in 2008.

... Further, Obama’s 2008 fundraising numbers came when Democratic donors were split between the then-Senator’s campaign and that of former Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Today, Obama runs unopposed, conducting record numbers of fundraising events across the country and having the Democratic donor base all to himself.

That Obama and the Democrats can’t come close to his 2008 total, despite having the president himself as a headliner, lends credence to the theory that enthusiasm for Obama is less intense than it was and that he may fall well short of the $1 billion some projected his campaign could raise in 2012.

Another sign that Obama may be facing difficulty raising money was the president’s very public reversal on super-PACs. Obama once called the special political action committees – which can raise unlimited amounts of money – a "threat to our democracy" but reversed himself over fears that super PACs supporting Republican candidates would outspend his campaign.

According to the Post’s reporting [vide, OBAMA’S HIGH-DOLLAR DONATIONS LAGGING], Obama has about half as much money in the bank as former President George W. Bush had at the same point in his reelection campaign.

Ouch. Underperforming Mr. Bush. In non-inflation-adjusted dollars!

Money Team Barry has raised $172,704,222* since Mr. Obama launched his re-election campaign last April 4 or an average $43.2M/Q. With less that three quarters remaining, that billion dollar war chest is looking more like a "bullshit" $300M or about 40% of the 2008 campaign haul.

The irony here is that incumbency is an advantage in fundraising for a successful president, but a successful president runs and wins on his record, not begged cash.

CHOPE.

Send money so we can buy your vote.

------------------------------------
* The legendary 2008 $745M was raised by Mr. Obama's campaign and was Mr. Obama's to spend. The big 2012 numbers commingle monies raised by Money Team Barry, the Democratic National Committee, the Obama Victory Fund, and the Swing State Victory Fund. These monies are apportioned among the raisers. Campaign Barry and its media boosters, looking for a positive, publicly push the apples-to-oranges comparison of the hugeness of Mr. Obama's commingled monies against the amounts raised by individual Republican hopefuls, who fundraise for themselves alone. A better picture of the money momentum can be had comparing the blue-sky super PACs:

Early indications are that the Democratic super PACs are facing an uphill climb. While Mr. Obama’s decision last month to endorse super PAC fund-raising — a reversal of his longstanding opposition to campaign spending by independent groups — has made potential donors more receptive to Priorities USA Action and similar groups, few so far have written the kind of six- and seven-figure checks that Republican super PACs are collecting.

... Priorities USA Action, a super PAC supporting the president’s re-election, will report $2 million in February donations, group officials said, including $1 million from the television host Bill Maher.

Note half the haul from the single donor. Two million dollars a month between now and November does not put Mr. Obama's super PAC on track to match, much less beat, the $240M American Crossroads, the leading Republican super PAC, is expected to raise in addition to $200M other groups opposing Mr. Obama are raising.

Democratic super PAC officials have beseeched donors with slide shows illustrating how a group backing Mitt Romney has spent millions of dollars pounding Mr. Romney’s rivals in the Republican primary — an object lesson in the power of super PACs, they say. They have also presented expected fund-raising figures for the Republican National Committee and various conservative groups, which they say will negate Mr. Obama’s advantage in traditional fund-raising.

Although federal election law prohibits super PACs from coordinating their spending with campaigns they are supporting, the Obama camp is exploiting loopholes that allow the president’s aides to help court donors. ... Still, significant obstacles remain, according to interviews with leading Democratic donors and consultants.

Posted by Damian at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- "Stop The World, I Need To Get Re-elected"

Day 1,157 of CHOPE

When Mr. Obama finds time to be president, he often checks in with the bigger world to see how things are going. Things are almost always a mess, so Mr. Obama has to take some tough positions to keep the world from flying apart.

Mr. Obama takes a tough position on Russia.

OBAMA ASKS RUSSIA FOR
'SPACE' THROUGH ELECTION

SEOUL March 26, 2012 - President Barack Obama offered a private request Monday to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for some "space" on missile defense ahead of November’s elections.

"On all these issues, particularly on missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space," Obama said, referring to incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a TV pool reporter who heard audio recorded by a Russian reporter who was in the room moments before the two leaders spoke to reporters after their 90-minute meeting.

"Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you," Medvedev responded.

A U.S. pool video camera in the room caught part of the audio, but not the piece about missile defense.

"This is my last election," Obama said in audio that could be heard on the TV pool’s recording and that POLITICO listened to. "After my election I have more flexibility."

Mr. Obama takes a tough position on Iran Israel Iran.

ISRAELI STRIKE ON IRAN
WOULD POSE RISK FOR US ECONOMY,
OBAMA REELECTION BID
February 23, 2012 (The Hill)

OBAMA TO ISRAEL: POSTPONE ANY IRAN ATTACK
March 2, 2012 (USA Today)

ISRAEL TO DELAY STRIKE ON IRAN
UNTIL AFTER US ELECTIONS?
White House Tells Sunday Times Obama
Pressed Netanyahu To Postpone Israeli Attack
On Iranian Nuclear Facilities Until After November
March 11, 2012 (Ynet)

Mr. Obama takes a tough position on Israel Palestine.

OBAMA TO ‘TAKE ON’ NETANYAHU AFTER ELECTION?
PALESTINIANS SAY WHITE HOUSE ASKED THEM
TO DELAY DEMANDS TILL 2ND TERM
January 12, 2012 (Klein Online)

IN US ELECTION YEAR,
PALESTINIANS SIDELINED

RAMALLAH, West Bank March 9, 2012 (CNS News/AP) - President Barack Obama has told the Palestinians to sit tight during a U.S. election year, while holding out the promise of a serious push for Palestinian statehood if he wins a second term, the Palestinian foreign minister said Friday.

... Asked whether Abbas holds out hope that Obama — if re-elected and freed from some of his domestic political shackles — will push hard for serious negotiations on Palestinian statehood, Malki said: "They (the Americans) told us so." He said the Obama administration asked Abbas to be patient until then.

State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said Friday that "we completely reject that characterization both of our views and the message" to Palestinians and Israelis.

... During more than three years in office, Obama failed to restart negotiations that broke off in 2008. At the time, Abbas and Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, exchanged initial border proposals, but ultimately failed to close the gaps before Olmert stepped down amid corruption allegations.

So here we have an American president, hat in hand, begging concessions from nation states -- and whatever Palestine is supposed to be -- to backburner their national interests to abet his re-election on the promise of payback in a second-term. Of course Mr. Obama's re-election is of paramount importance, singular importance to Mr. Obama, but we doubt Israelis or Palestinians think it more compelling than their own security and existential interests. Russia might relent because Mr. Obama is the patsy they know, not the Republican they don't.

If countries will hold off any actions that might poll poorly in America, Mr. Obama can get back to his day job of getting re-elected. And don't think he won't be plenty grateful. Just don't call before November.

CHOPE.

Smart power is his bond.

Posted by Damian at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)

March 25, 2012

NYC Letter: The Unthinkable -- "President Biden"

Day 1,156 of CHOPE

'PRESIDENT BIDEN' INTRODUCED
JOE IN '16?

March 23, 2012 (WFB) - Rumors of a Joe Biden presidential run in 2016 may have received a boost Friday when the sitting veep was introduced as "President Biden" at a Florida campaign event.

... After the vice president finished speaking, Biden exited the stage to U2’s “Even Better Than The Real Thing”.

Oh, dream on. [Uncomfortable snort.] And on Mr. Biden dreams.

JOE BIDEN IN 2016?
NOT SO CRAZY

March 22, 2012 (Politico) - For the past couple of years, Vice President Joe Biden has quietly assembled an A-team of advisers who would, without doubt, be considered the nucleus of a presidential campaign — if only he wouldn’t be 73 in 2016.

Biden’s age would snuff the last embers of a presidential ambition that led him to a pair of crushing defeats in 1988 and 2008, or so many in Barack Obama’s camp thought when they first tapped him. But the old fire crackles yet. And Biden, spurred in part by those rumors about being replaced on the ticket by Hillary Clinton (who turns 69 in ’16), is campaigning with a young man’s tenacity in 2012 — with an eye toward keeping all of his options open.

Biden has gone on a recent staffing spree — culminating with the hire of Clinton-era operative Steve Ricchetti — that has many Democrats, and even some on Obama’s own team, wondering if the preternaturally spry and congenitally upbeat vice president just might confound conventional wisdom.

... But it was the hiring of [Steve] Ricchetti, a former deputy chief of staff under Bill Clinton, that spurred the Biden ’16 chatter. ... Prior to 2008, he had been a registered and highly paid lobbyist for Fannie Mae, GM and drug company giant Eli Lilly. Moreover, [senior White House adviser David] Plouffe and company had savaged Clinton four years ago for allowing Ricchetti to bundle campaign contributions while they abided by a self-imposed lobbyist ban.

But Biden was like a dog with a bone, one observer noted, and predicted the kerfuffle over Ricchetti’s past would be minor compared with the possibility of losing him. And the hits did come, from the RNC and even some generally Obama-friendly columnists. WaPo columnist Dana Milbank:

Only in today’s Washington could a president circumvent his own ban on hiring lobbyists by hiring the head of a lobbying firm. Ricchetti no doubt will give Biden excellent counsel; he has more than a quarter-century of experience in politics and government, and he is highly regarded around town. But his appointment shows just how flimsy Obama’s ethical reforms have been — and how absurd the official standards are for who is a ‘lobbyist’ in the influence industry. For many Americans, this sort of chicanery adds to a suspicion that the fix is in.

So the substance of a Biden presidential bid is his hiring of pricey political operatives. Nothing here about the aging Biden's personal qualifications as the Democrat standard-bearer in 2016. Of course much would be made of his vice presidency, a job he protested he did not want, was probably the second best pick, and which he uses as a national platform to enlarge his embarrassments (and this, this, this, this, and this, to link but six).

Mr. Biden, unprompted, first sprung himself as a 2016 possibility last May at a big donor dinner. Audience reactions were closely guarded and a Biden spokesperson declined comment. That suggests to us that the idea was underwhelmingly received, which tracks with Mr. Biden's draw among the party faithful. Obligatory reminder from our October 2, 2008 post [amended]:

Mr. Biden has twice failed to convince his own party that he is presidential material (1988 garnering 2 delegates [out of 4,103.75] and most recently 2008, when he garnered none [out of 4,419]).

That is 0.00023% out of a historical pool of 8,522.75 delegates. That's some pull among Democrats.

Without the advantage of being a sitting vice president, Mr. Biden's 2016 prospects are feeble. He will not hold a government office from which to platform a campaign; he will have been 4 years out of the headlines and off the political stage; and he will be the rump-end of the losing 2012 ticket. Yet another reason to vote Mr. Obama out in 2012.

And as Mr. Biden's delegate count indicates, he has never run an effective national campaign. Nor in 2008 a tidy one.

JOE BIDEN FINED $219K FOR 2008
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS

July 17, 2010 (Politico) - The Federal Election Commission has penalized Vice President Joe Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign $219,000 for accepting over-the-limit contributions and a discounted flight on a jet owned by a New York hedge fund. His campaign was also charged with sloppy record-keeping.

We leave you with the obligatory but evergreen caution.

What has us concerned about an Obama presidency? [Pause.] Well, a good many things, but foremost is putting Joe Biden anywhere near the presidency. No joke. He's an idiot.

Posted by Damian at October 23, 2008 06:15 PM

CHOPE.

One and done.

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2012

NYC Letter: The Caliphate, It's Gonna Be Great! -- How To

Day 1,154 of CHOPE

Marriages fall apart in an unhappy home. Not a problem in the model household of the Caliphate.

BOOK TELLS MUSLIM MEN
HOW TO BEAT AND CONTROL
THEIR WIVES

March 23, 2012 (Toronto Sun) - A local bookstore has "sold out" of a controversial marriage guide that advises Muslim men on how to beat their wives.

The store’s manager, who didn’t give his name, said the book had been sold out for some time, and the store’s owner, whom the manager identified as Shamim Ahmad, refused to comment for the story.

It wasn’t clear whether the shop has ordered more copies of the book, but it’s available at online Islamic bookstores and even through eBay.

The 160-page book, published by Idara Impex in New Delhi, India, is written by Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, who’s described in the book’s foreword as a "prolific writer on almost every topic of Islamic learning".

[Hat tip: Duncan]

In the Caliphate you won't have to make embarrassing purchases -- the purchase itself betrays your delta male status -- to run a harmonious household, as Mr. Thanvi's simple advice will come to life, will leap off the page into every Muslim home.

In the book’s opening pages, it is written that "it might be necessary to restrain her with strength or even to threaten her."

... Page 45 contains the rights of the husband, which include his wife’s inability to leave "his house without his permission", and that his wife must "fulfill his desires" [Ed.: Her full 10%.] and "not allow herself to be untidy ... but should beautify herself for him ... "

In terms of physical punishment, the book advises that a husband may scold her, "beat by hand or stick", withhold money from her or "pull (her) by the ears", but should "refrain from beating her excessively".

Of course, in some hard cases a thoughtful, loving ear-pull is not enough to curb an errant wife. Cheer up! The Caliphate has other ready remedies!

SAUDI WOMAN TO BE FLOGGED
FOR DRIVING CAR

JEDDAH November 14, 2011 (Emirates 24/7) - A Saudi court has ordered the flogging of a local woman 10 times for driving a car in defiance of a long-standing ban in the Kingdom, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Sometimes a disobedient wife will try to avoid her obligations by dying without permission. No worries! Even in your droopy viduity the Caliphate provides!

FATWA: NECROPHILIA IS NOW
HALAL IN MOROCCO

May 10, 2011 (moroccoboard.com) - Yes, we do have a freak show going on these days. But none of our Monstres Sacrés can match the latest Fatwa published by the (respected) Islamic Scholar and member of the religious establishment, Abdelbari Zemzami. He basically allows sexual intercourse with a corpse. Yes. Necrophilia is now Halal [i.e, legal, permitted] in Morocco by the grace of Alem Zemzami.

... If it was not for the scholar’s level of seniority, I would dismiss this fatwa as yet another deranged, lonely individual who did not get some for a while. But this is Zemzami. And it is a Fatwa from an official of the Habous ministry. If indeed such Fatwa is genuine.

... Zemzami justifies his ruling by means of analogy: Since a good Muslim couple will meet again in Heaven, and since death does not alter the marital contract (in his opinion) it is not a hindrance to the husband’s desire to have sexual intercourse with the corpse of his (freshly) deceased wife.

Bummer. It looks like the Alem has been laughed out of his earlier opinion (see inset at headline link).

CHOPE.

Hurry the day!

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2012

NYC Letter: Joe Biden Is An Idiot XIV -- Audacity

Day 1,152 of CHOPE

Pour les vaincre, il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace, et la France est sauvée !

Georges Jacques Danton,
blustery larger-than-life Montagnard,
describing the stuff of great nations
DISCOURS À L’ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE
PARIS 2 septembre 1792 (Assemblée Nationale)

Joe Biden lays it on thick with his best Danton.

BIDEN: BIN LADEN KILLING
MOST 'AUDACIOUS' PLAN
IN 500 YEARS

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, New Jersey March 19, 2012 (Politico) - Vice President Joe Biden is the biggest cheerleader of the president's decision to raid Osama bin Laden's compound and, on Monday, he offered new praise for the choice Obama made last spring. Mr. Biden, at fundraiser:
You can go back 500 years. You cannot find a more audacious plan. Never knowing for certain. We never had more than a 48 percent probability that he was there. ... Do any one of you have a doubt that if that raid failed that this guy would be a one-term president?

Tickets for the fundraiser started at $1,000 and went up to $5,000 for a VIP reception. There were 140 guests and, in all, the pool reporter estimated that the event brought in about $400,000.

Killing OBL was a good thing. It doesn't need Mr. Biden's bragging-for-bucks puffery. Going back 500 years there are quite a few plans more 'audacious', less certain, with outcomes more crucial than the OBL kill. To say so sounds sour, but Mr. Biden has stepped in it.

Politico slapped together a list of more "audacious" plans. There are some obvious overmatches but also some less convincing contenders. (Operation Eagle Claw on Politico's list was not so much audacious as badly planned, badly executed, and overcautious. With troops and materiel in place, the mission was aborted, which straightaway takes it out of the running for "audacious".) Ed Morrissey at Hot Air puts together a more credible off-the-cuff list and comments:

I won’t take anything away from the call to hit the Abbottabad compound; there were genuine political risks in play for President Obama, and no guarantee of success. However, only someone with complete ignorance of military history could call a green light on a mission with a 48% chance of success the most audacious plan in the last 500 years. ... Obama made a good call in tough circumstances on the bin Laden raid, but that hardly makes him the greatest military genius since Admiral Nelson. This administration needs to get a grip.

Confining ourselves to American history, here are five plans we think more "audacious" than the OBL kill:

  1. Doolittle Raid, April 18, 1942: "The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, but it succeeded in its goal of helping American morale, and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of the Japanese military leaders. It also caused Japan to withdraw its powerful aircraft carrier force from the Indian Ocean to defend their Home Islands, and the raid contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway—an attack that turned into a decisive rout of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy near Midway Island in the Central Pacific."
  2. Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863: "Pickett’s Charge is probably the most famous attack of the entire war. Its fame was achieved by the heroism displayed by the Confederates, who had to withstand the furious Federal artillery and musket fire, and by the belief that the few men who finally stumbled over the stone wall along the Union front line had reached the “high water mark” of the Confederacy. While all of this is true, it is equally important to remember that Meade’s defense, both tactically and operationally, was extremely effective because of strong Union leadership, creative command and control, and the fighting spirit of the soldiers. The Army of Northern Virginia did everything that Robert E. Lee asked of it. The Army of the Potomac was its equal, and the Battle of Gettysburg finally demonstrated this beyond a reasonable doubt. While very famous, Pickett’s Charge was futile. ... The Confederate defeat on 3 July was of immense proportions."
  3. Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, December 25–26, 1776: "After Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, the Continental Army’s mission changed from the local defense of American rights to overall national survival. At the time, few national institutions and relatively little national feeling existed; to a considerable degree, the Continental Army was the nation. Washington knew well that the destruction of the Army would probably result in the collapse of the American cause. He and his subordinates tried to avoid battles that might put the survival of the Army at risk. Nevertheless, the Continental Army did need to win victories to maintain patriot morale and to obtain support from foreign countries. In the fall of 1776 Washington preserved his Army from destruction after the fall of New York City, but as the end of the year approached, the Army and the patriot cause faced the prospect of dissolution if success was not soon forthcoming. Crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, Washington surprised and overwhelmed the enemy garrison at Trenton. Eight days later he defeated another British force at Princeton."
  4. Operation Chromite (Landing at Inchon), September 15, 1950: "MacArthur planned his bold amphibious venture at Inch'on sustained only by hope, credit, and promises. At no time during his planning did he have the men and guns he would need. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, moreover, frequently told MacArthur that, with the military resources of the United States at rock bottom and because of the short-fused target date on which MacArthur adamantly insisted, the needed men and guns might not arrive on time. ... MacArthur well knew that even with the fullest support by Washington he might not have by his chosen D-day enough trained men and equipment to breach enemy defenses and to exploit a penetration. Trained men, especially those with amphibious training, were at a premium in the United States as well as in the Far East. To assemble, equip, and move these men secretly and swiftly to the battle area by 15 September would require an enormous, finely coordinated effort by all involved. The difficulties were appalling, and to surmount them called for extraordinary energy and ingenuity."
  5. Operation Neptune (D-Day), June 6, 1944: "Eisenhower's decision came down simply to go or not to go on one of the dates his staff had selected as optimum, yet the apparent simplicity of that decision veiled its difficulty. Eisenhower had to set the complex plan into motion at the correct time and without hesitation. The proper conditions of tide and moon occurred only twice in June, and postponement past June effectively meant that the attack would have to be put off until 1945, because several months of good campaigning weather were essential for the subsequent operations on the Continent. ... Beyond the obvious consequences of failure was Eisenhower's knowledge that Allied resources were sufficient for only one try."

What distinguishes all of these "audacious" plans from the OBL kill is that they were hinged to something larger, and, by success or failure, directly contributed to its outcome. Before the OBL kill, Team Barry didn't even recognize America was at war.

Mr. Biden's gushy fundraising performances are making the OBL kill something of a joke. Team Barry would get more political mileage out of the OBL kill if they mentioned it less and, when they do, stopped overselling it. [Pause.] But it's all they have, so it's all we get.

CHOPE.

Overkill. Oversold.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 03.22.12: Flare from the boss. Joe, ease up on the OBL kill.

OBAMA MORE PROUD OF PASSING
HEALTH CARE LAW THAN KILLING
OSAMA BIN LADEN
March 20, 2012 (TWS)

Posted by Damian at 11:45 PM | Comments (3)

March 17, 2012

NYC Letter: On The Fail Trail -- Balancing Act

Day 1,148 of CHOPE

And I promise that I won't rest until America prospers once again.

Mr. Obama,
pledging sleeplessness 108 presidential fundraisers ago
WASHINGTON November 6, 2009 (White House)

America isn't prospering, so it's a certainty Mr. Obama is wide awake somewhere working on that.

OBAMA TO HIT RECORD NUMBER
OF FUNDRAISERS IN A SINGLE DAY:

FIVE*

BLOG March 16, 2012 (Weasel Zipper)

Q: You have the Vice President out today giving a campaign speech. The President is traveling to -- continuing to travel to a number of swing states. There were a number of bundlers who were invited to the state dinner last night, and you have him giving increasingly fiery speeches. Do you still maintain that this White House is not in campaign mode?

I still maintain that the President is still spending the vast preponderance of his time on his official duties, as is everyone who works here. There is a campaign, of course, and it is active and doing the things that it does in preparation for the time when there is a general election nominee for the other party and there’s a debate to be had more directly. ... Well, he certainly has been having political events, and we’ve been clear about that. And he is participating in that way in his campaign, but as a share of time it is still fairly minimal. But I’ve been very clear, and others have been very clear, that that percentage will increase as the year progresses, and especially once there is a Republican nominee.

Q: What about the preponderance of his public time? Would you admit that is increasingly political?

No. I would admit that there is -- there will be a gradual increase in the amount of his time that he spends on political events. But we are a long way from the point where that becomes a significant part of his schedule. We're just not there yet.

Jay Carney,
WH press secretary, maintaining that averaging a fundraiser
every 3.2 days leaves plenty of time for being president
PRESS BRIEFING
WASHINGTON March 15, 2012 (White House)

Mr. Obama often economizes by mixing his campaign with his office. As an appreciation for such economy, the taxpayer picks up the considerable tab of Mr. Obama's travel and expenses. It's just our way of saying, "Thank you, Mr. President, for taking the time out of your schedule to be president."

The President gave an energy speech today. He gave a speech that addressed the fact that when we're trying to get the country moving in the right direction, adopting an all-of-the-above approach, that, unfortunately, we have some folks who, by the nature of our system, are charged with the task of governing along with us, who seem not to believe, or seem to think -- seem not to believe that we need to have anything but fossil fuels to secure our energy future, and seem to think that even talking about alternative energy sources is funny. And I think calling them "flat-earthers" is appropriate.

Q: Isn't that a campaign message?

No, it's a policy message.

Jay Carney,
WH press secretary, explaining that policy based on
political cant isn't political cant but serious policy
PRESS BRIEFING
WASHINGTON March 15, 2012 (White House)

For those who have been waiting for Mr. Obama to show improved performance, we point out his current 3.2-day average per fundraiser is a 64% advance on his 5-day average per fundraiser for 2011. According to Mr. Carney, look for more such improvements once a Republican opponent emerges.

CHOPE.

Balanced between having been elected and trying to be re-elected.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

* UPDATE: Mrs. Obama makes it SIX in one day.

Posted by Damian at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2012

NYC Letter: A River In Egypt -- Harry Reid

Day 1,146 of CHOPE

Mr. Obama's fail momentum builds. Time for some sobering incredulity.

REID: POLL FINDING 80 PERCENT
OF AMERICANS NOT BETTER OFF
'SO MEANINGLESS'

March 13, 2012 (TDC) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada