In the wake of Obama’s pathetic performance in last week’s debate I wrote a humorous top ten list of reasons why Obama lost the debate. I included at number four: Senator John Kerry spent all of his time coaching Obama telling him Vietnam war stories. In a predictable case of Life imitating Art, team Obama is pointing fingers at the hapless Kerry:
Of course, the truth is that Obama went into the debate overconfident because he believed his campaign portrait of Romney as an out of touch rich guy who simply isn’t in his league. He assumed that he could wing it and the lap dog Mainstream Media would proclaim him the victor of the debate no matter the reality. He has never had to debate a truly first class opponent, and he got his hind end handed to him as around seventy million Americans watched. No doubt he will be better prepared next time, perhaps overprepared, but against Romney he is up against an opponent who has obviously thought deeply about the challenges confronting the nation and who can articulate his ideas and convey the enthusiasm he has for the changes he wishes to implement. A stylistic challenge is relatively simple to meet in a debate; one of substance is much harder to overcome.
Kerry should get a Purple Heart for this.
Perhaps even a bronze star with a v for valor! 🙂
“He assumed that he could wing it and the lap dog Mainstream Media would proclaim him the victor of the debate no matter the reality.”
I think we all did. Certainly I expected CBS Radio and NBCNews to declare that guy victor within an hour of the conclusion of the debate. Instead, they were frank with their assessment that Romney did better. Of course, those news orgs are helping Democrats try to win the post-debate debate by moving on quickly and not dwelling like they do with a Romney campaign controversy.
What I’m getting at is that maybe that guy won’t perform any better in the second debate because blames the mainstream media for not doing more to help him proclaim victory for the first debate. Just a thought.
The Anchoress, “Yeah, sorry. But this has been a very cynical presidency, protected by a press that is cynical about everything but their adored one, and it’s made me cynical in response.”
And, the cynicism around yesterday’s goal line dance over employment:
Such a rapid decline in the unemployment rate would be consistent with 4%–5% real economic growth historically but much of the decline is accounted for by people dropping out of the labor force (over the last year the employment-population ratio has risen to only 58.7% from 58.4%). We believe part of the drop in the unemployment rate over the last two months is a statistical quirk (the household data show an increase in employment of 873,000 in September, which is completely implausible and likely a result of sampling volatility). Moreover, declining labor force participation over the last year (resulting in 1.1 million people disappearing from the labor force) accounts for much of the rest of the decline. With this report, the ISMs, and vehicle sales, the September economy is off to a better-than-expected start but nowhere near as good as suggested by the decline in the unemployment rate.
So, it’s still who are you going to believe? Them or your lying eyes? Do you see the economy booming around you, if you don’t live in DC?
The economy is creating so few jobs that millions are staying out of the labor market, thereby preventing the unemployment rate from soaring. In September we created a measly 114,000 jobs, but the rate declined to 7.8 percent.
Jack Welch is correct: If labor force participation rate were the same as January (when it was 8.3%), the jobless rate would be 8.4%.
Arrogant people are not known for graciousness and self reflection. Obama will be prepared only in the debate school sense and the talking points sense. You cannot goof off for 4 years, reading a teleprompter with 5 year olds and then suddenly cram all kinds of conceptual and technical points together without totally confusing yourself. My concern is more with Romney and the team around him. I can easily see them saying “Oh you won by too much and you might upset the Moderates if you do the same in the next debate.”
Roger Simon has nailed it. President Obama is an abandoned son, and Governor Romney is a terrific father. The boy faced the man, and he buckled. The boy will face the man again, and will, as boys do, grow petulant and irritated, and will beg for just a little bit of approval. Not a pretty sight.