Warning: May Contain Malarky

Greetings from Niagara Falls!  I am away for a few days, but I had to put this up here.

This past week saw President Obama struggling with polls in ways that up until now had been reserved for Mr. Romney.  The reviews of the debate between President Obama and Governor Romney got worse as the week went on.  Sauntering from "Geez, I think Romney won" to "Obama just lost the election," it was hard to find a supporter who wasn't nervous.  This was supposed to be easy, and it wasn't; worse? he did it to himself. It's been all tough talk, but maybe President Obama did make this harder on himself than he had to.  He opened a door he didn't need to open, and it so doing, the idea of President Romney became visible.  By letting people see only one presidential candidate, low-information voters have started to move away from him. Here's a great read about why Lindsay Lohan-eque voters will determine this election.

No worries though!  Another week means another debate!  This one was between the "veeps."  

Last night, Vice President Joe Biden shook VP Hopeful Paul Ryan's hand and welcomed him to the arena.  I believe that was the last civil exchange of the night.  From that point forward, it was a fight.  A fight filled with Biden laughing more than he should, and perhaps, Ryan not laughing enough.  "Malarkey" became every Democrats' favorite word.

Reading the "day after" stuff has had me laughing!  The general consensus?  Biden won.  Or maybe it was Ryan.  No, wait....

What's the truth?  Well, I think it was a tie.  

Vice President Joe Biden has a bit of a reputation for being Crazy Uncle Joe.  This is one time when this worked. Not to belabor the point, but every now and again, you love that your Crazy Uncle Joe will step out and say the things you wish you could.  Biden was colorful, to be sure, but he was also substantive.  It's easy to forget that at one point, Biden had his own hat in the race for President. ('88 & '08)  He knew what he was talking about, but that wasn't what Crazy Uncle Joe was sent to do.  Biden was sent to rally the base, again.  It would be impossible to stop the hemorrhaging single handed, but a big band-aid would do just nicely.  When Biden said "Facts matter!," an adoring crowd yelled "YES!"  The beauty of this performance was that, as the Crazy Uncle, Biden can say things that President Obama cannot.  He can afford the hits for laughing and throwing his hands in the air.  He can look at Congressman Ryan and say "So you're Jack Kennedy now?"  "Do you or don't you want another war?"  And every time, no matter how inappropriate, we'll eat it up.

For vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, the requirements were different.  I have to be honest and say that, while I think that Ryan is a very smart man, I expected he would be eaten alive.  I think that Ryan held his own very nicely.  I think that he seemed to know what he was talking about, even though he will (once again) be dogged by fact checkers.  I don't think anyone watching the debates felt afraid of the idea of Ryan being "one heart beat away" from the presidency.  My one major complaint of the night was Ryan's odd closing remarks.  Please don't use the man you've labeled as the best and the brightest to be a pitch man.  The final remarks are supposed to be your chance to redirect the message.  Ryan sounded like a straight to camera Romney ad; the worst kind.

The night also generated more than a few fun memes.  Here: have a giggle.

Video Killed the Democrat Star

The job of a presidential campaign ad is to help us fall in love with a candidate.  I think somewhere along the line, that has become lost.  Most of the ads that I have seen in the past few years have been about fear-mongering and polarization.  Because I remember the presidential election ads of 2008 as being something different and about a candidate who was different, I expected this presidential election cycle to include ads from Obama's campaign that would inspire us, to uplift us, and remind us that we love this guy, again.

That ain't what's out there.  The newest videos are not helping the President's bid for re-election.  They're boring to watch and, frankly, a bit too much like every other thing out there. There's nothing that would change my mind, just because I watched it.

Here's the backstory.  In the early part of 2008, I was leaning Hillary Clinton for President.  Man, it feels like a long time ago.  I remember listening to people tell me that Barack Obama had something; he was the one to watch.  I saw Hillary as our best shot at a women in the Oval Office.

My friend made me watch this video.  I cried.  And just like that, I started to think about that other guy.  It was still the primaries.  It was still a long way away from the November election, but one video changed my mind.  I watched it again today, and I cried again.  I still want this.  I think we need to see this side of the Obama administration again, if he's going to rebound from the Romney debate bounce.  Here: have a look.

The advertising coming out as pro-Obama doesn't feel as inspiring as this anymore.  I will tell you (since we're being honest) I don't watch the election commercials.  I understand how it's all supposed to work, and I don't like it.  If the ad starts with tense music and a male voice-over, the odds are really high that you've lost me.  I will almost always watch the "straight to camera" ads where the candidate talks about something near and dear.  I like those best.  There are too few of those, for my money.

While digging for an Obama video I could get behind, I found this.  It isn't in the "big book of campaign commercials" over at the Living Room Candidate, but it is very good.  I am not tearing up, but I can feel a little better about it than some of the other stuff out there.  It's done by the Simpsons animator, and you can tell they're looking to inspire again.

It's good, but I still want will.i.am to sing again.  I may be spoiled.

Child's Play

It wasn't much more than a week ago, I was trying to keep myself amused.  I was bored. This week, I find myself playing a wonderful game of Media Jax.  Do you remember the game of Jax?  You bounce a ball in the air, and then quickly pick up as many pointy little stars as possible before the ball bounced again.  There's a lot going on, folks, and Jax was never my game.  I think these are the best of what I could grab.  

Now that it's been a few days, I thought we'd see what the persistent rumbles were from the debate.  To borrow a spaghetti reference: I wanted to see what stuck to the wall. There still seems to be some lingering giggles about Mr. Obama's poor performance. There is still the itchy idea that Mr. Romney lied or misled the audience again and again throughout the debate.  But, to be honest, from all the spinning and angling and arguing, very little has actually been helpful.  With that in mind, this is the best thing I read all week: Mr. Romney has chosen this moment to reveal his inner moderate.  This will be what we look back and see, when this election is over.  The "lies" told will be the unveiling of a new Romney.  This will be the "Etch-a-Sketch" that was alluded to, a long while back.

What is it with childhood memories today?  Jax, Etch-a-Sketch, and now my most beloved childhood television show?  

Of all of the back and forth from the debate, I think one thing will rise from the ashes to serve as the game changer from the debate.  I don't mean the crack in the image of Mr. Obama's communication skills.  I don't even mean Obamacare.  It's so crazy to me, that I have to mention it.  I think that one of the ways the media will directly impact the election in 2012 is the fervor over Poor Old Big Bird.  Specifically and oddly, the images of the "Easy on Wall Street.  Tough on Sesame Street."  I don't think that this bird is going anywhere.  Don't underestimate this!

The ball bounces again; I grab a new handful of pointy things.

Friday, we got a bit of good news in America.  The US Department of Labor reported that the American jobless rate dropped to 7.8, finally below the 8.x that has plagued us for so long.  As I am sure you all guessed, Mr. Obama's camp got a bit of a lift from that news. To be fair, this is still a very big number.  If you do a bit of research, it is a number that, in past elections, would have been enough to earn the incumbent president a very lovely going away present.  This cycle, however, the challenger's side is not touting this as fodder for presidential change.  No. There are growing rumbles about how the numbers are fake, there's a bit of a movement of people to debunk the statistics.  New theme: Obama is lying.

It might be this crisp fall air that has us all so nostalgic for that simpler time, you know: like last week.  The next wave of debates hits us this week.  On Thursday night, Vice President Biden and VP hopeful Ryan will meet for the first time.  The pre-game story looks just like last week.  Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has already panned the Republican candidate's debating skills.  Oh, and since we're talking about debates, let's just go ahead and speculate on the one after THAT.

Either way, in one short month, we will know the answer to how this all plays out.  It just floors me that this election will be over in less than 30 days.  All of us will know for sure if the games were worth it.

Autotune the Debates

My Spidey Senses are Tingling

This feels ominous from the Romney camp.  Governor Romney came out last night to tell the world that, had he been attacked for the 47% comment, he would have admitted it was wrong.  Not "the wrong way to say it."  He would have admitted to being wrong.  This feels very pivotal. I dug a bit more to see what other folks were saying about this and found this on The Hill.  This is where he said this little gem about Libya for the next debate.

“I believe what happened there was a tragic failure,” Romney said. “There had been warning of a possible attack. There were requests on the part of our commission there, or diplomats there rather to have additional security forces. They were turned down. And then following the tragedy we have misleading information coming from the administration. And in fact the president didn’t acknowledge this was a terrorist act for, what, a week or two .... we expect candor and transparency from the administration and we didn’t get it.”

With all of this sudden "honesty," and earnestness, it will be very hard to make the "Romney lies" charges stick.  If Romney's calling the President dishonest in his reactions and openness about Libya, this could become a sticky spot for Mr. Obama.  He does not do well when he is attacked.  He comes off as smug.  

This doesn't feel like it is good news for the Obama campaign.  I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but something here sounds like the beginning of the end.  All of a sudden, I feel like Mitt became a contender.

Denver Debate, deconstructed

"Did you watch THE debate?"

I had to run some errands this morning and waiting in line at about 4 or so local places, I heard the question repeated.  I was a bit surprised to hear so many folks talking about it. Over a very lovely flatbread pizza lunch, I eavesdropped on two conservative women who were excited to see Mitt in action.  It really was Mitt's show, after all.

So, let's start here: I am not completely convinced that the debate was really THE debate.  I didn't see anything that would shake up the masses in any surprising way. This was a debate, in my opinion, in which Obama did not advance his candidacy, but Romney may have.  Net gain?  No way to tell.  I don't think either man convinced anyone to switch teams.

Having said that, everyone seems to agree that Mitt Romney won.  

This was one of the oddest debates I have ever seen, and the spin has been even stranger.  Everyone is under the microscope this time.  I can't believe how many people have been bashing on the moderator!  I like Jim Lehrer, but last night was not a great night in his career.  I am worried about the folks who think that this might have cost Obama the debate.  I am not sure that I agree, but if the noise gets louder in that camp, it will set a precedent for future presidential debates, I am sure. Take this beauty from the Nation:

The Lehrer/PBS school of moderation is fundamentally unequipped to deal with the era of post-truth, asymmetric polarization politics—and it should be retired. Time and time again, Romney deviated from the positions he took to win the GOP primary, and neither Lehrer nor Obama was able to effectively press him on it. Obama at least tried, at times.

Lehrer was not the only head on the chopping block at the debate.  Let me clarify, before the debate was even over, people were yelling about Big Bird and Romney's promise to cut funding to PBS after he is elected.  Some of my favorite Tweets on the topic are here, if you've got a minute for a chuckle.  

If anyone is in need of a laugh today, though, it will likely be President Obama.  Now, I can't say that this was the day he lost his bid for re-election, but I can say that many of his greatest fans were shocked and disappointed by what happened last night.  Most people expected the President to come out of the gate swinging, but his biggest swipe of the night was at Lehrer.  The swirling conversations all seem to have the same hum: this was a night of missed opportunities for the President.  His body language was off.  His message was muddy.  He came off as professorial (a-hem.  I take offense to that one.). My favorite critic of the President's performance is here.  

I gotta say, Mr. Obama, you're probably in trouble if Mitt Romney comes off as funnier than you.  But why I am worried about me?  Because I agree with this bit by Fox News.  I may need another shower.

Ya want my advice...?

I hab a colb. 

I am sorry I disappeared on you since Friday.  I have a bit of a head cold and thinking has been like straining oatmeal through a sieve.  I am starting to see the light of day, but only by a bit.

I am coming out of my cold medicine induced fog for this announcement: Romney's campaign said that the Governor is practicing creating moments and zingers for the upcoming debate. Some folks think that is not the right way to go, and I have to say I agree. While Ezra Klein says that new policies would help more than zingers, I am thinking of another reason to avoid the flip answers.  Under most circumstances, I would side with the idea of creating sound bite moments.  It usually marks the spot for debates.  The media coverage always points out the key moments in the debate epilogue, anyway. Who among us doesn't remember Joe Six-pack or Joe the Plumber from 2008?  The problem is I don't think the Romney campaign can pull that off this time.  The zinger moments will come off as smug and over-practiced, even by the sharpest debater with this culture of public opinion against him.  I would suggest that he avoid quick witted comebacks that could pair with the 47% comments like cheese, fruit, crusty bread and a nice wine.  Anything remotely elitist, and he's done.

President Obama, on the other hand, has promised no zingers in the debate on Wednesday night.  If you read my last post about how the senior advisor from camp Romney said that Mr. Obama would have to fight dirty to win, this is an interesting twist for both sides.  There has been a lot of talk over the past few days about how each candidate is downplaying their expectations for this debate.  Say what you will of his record, President Obama is an amazing orator.  He should have an expected upper had at this debate, right?  Not according to him.  The sideline comments about his debate practices have been about staying succinct. Keeping to point in the allotted time.  I think this may be worth the practice, but I would also like to sneak the bug into Mr. Obama's ear that his audience loves him best when he has the air of the dreamer, too.  The fine folks who pick this stuff apart say that the American people want a president and not a professor.  I can see where that would be true, but we also want a bit of a poetry with our politics.  If he can blend all three-  poet, politic and punctual - he'll be a hard candidate to beat.  He knew this in 2008; let's hope he can remember how in 2012.

If someone would forward this to the candidates, I would appreciate it.  I have to go buy Kleenex, or I'd do it myself.