Exactly. But I still don't understand how people think Obama is charismatic? He doesn't strike me as being all that intelligent, as far as someone running a country. He just seems like the dude next door, sometimes you chat and enjoy a beer outside on a summer evening. Other times, he annoys the hell out of you with his opinion. Romney strikes me more as a politician, which also scares me. The Republican Party should be ashamed that Romney was the best candidate they could put up against Shobama. I mean, I really don't think it'd take much to beat him, but Romney was the best they could do? Really?
Romney strikes me as being in the same mold of Kerry and Gore. Guys born or married into money without much charm or ability to connect to the average stiff. Dubya may have been born into money too, but at least he wasn't born with his dad's personality. You may not like Obama, but he's fits the ideal of the American self-made man. Without brains and charisma he'd be (at best) some mid level community college instructor in Hawaii. The odds of a single parent black kid growing up to have his kind of impact are pretty remote. The key issue is that Obama can say practically whatever he wants and nobody on the left will bother him. Romney has no such luxury. Even if his biggest negative wasn't the whole Etch-a-Sketch thing, he simply won't be allowed by the right to distance himself from some pretty hardline stances he had to take to win. It's the same problem McCain had, and it's the same problem every Republican presidential candidate will have until the Tea Party loses its influence. And frankly, I don't even know if in their heart of hearts the Republican establishment minds it. I think their calculus is to win Senate and House seats by motivating their base with extreme right stances. Concede the presidency and make big gains in non-presidential elections when the moderates don't show up. Better that than move to more centrist policies that actually stand a chance of passing. It's not a strategy to fundamentally change things, but it's a good one to prevent change. Which is a basic belief in conservatism.
The phrase "damning with faint praise" comes to mind here... When your strength is that you have as much money as the other guy, you are in a pretty weak position. barfo
Absolutely. Of course, he had bigger problems than cash, and it's hard to see how more money would have wiped away Sarah Palin or his reaction to the crash or the scarlet W on his chest. Romney has bigger problems than cash too, although none as bad as McCain's (yet). barfo
Money buys ads and a ground organization to get the vote out. When McCain first picked Palin, he gained in the polls and pulled ahead of Obama, 54-44. The lack of money and Obama's vast sum of it allowed obama to paint McCain and Palin as something they weren't, and they had little means to defend the attacks. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-07-poll_N.htm
Something they weren't? Ha ha. They painted their own picture, and it was not a pretty one. Obama didn't pay to have McCain pick Palin, and he didn't pay Palin to reveal herself for the boob that she is. No, I don't think that had to do with cash. That had to do with lousy candidates. Yes, McCain got a bounce in the polls for picking an unknown female as VP. Naturally, once people found out who she was, the bounce evaporated. barfo
Palin was hugely popular. She drew crowds rivaling those Obama did, and up until the end. When she spoke in person to the people, they loved her (and apparently still do, she still draws big crowds). So yeah, they didn't have the money to buy airtime to counter the free airtime given by NBC and SNL to create a parody of her. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=6397572&page=1#.T59PCMRYtYg
Airtime was the problem for Palin, she should have stayed secluded before and after the debate. Yes people seem to like her at the beginning, until they heard something she had to say . . . "the interview" pretty much killed her. Palin was a gimmick pick during desperate times. Don't mistake popularity for being a serious political candidate. Kim Kardashin is capable of drawing big crowds.
Oh please. The people did not and do not love her. Some right-wing cranks loved her (et tu, Dennyus?). Most people thought she was absurdly unqualified. And they were correct. barfo
UPalin did not run for President because she had used cocaine, screwed college player Glen Rice while she was an adult media member, and had a 6-month affair with someone else while married. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...alin-sweetheart-respectful-says-NBA-star.html
And Obama was qualified for the #1 spot when she wasn't qualified for the #2 spot having been a governor? Or are you ignorant of the fact that Obama's #2, Biden, is a walking gaffe machine? LOL. I don't "love" her by any stretch, but as someone who follows politics closely, I respect her. "Some" right wing cranks listened to her and elected 40+ tea party backed candidates to the house and senate in 2010. She is still viewed 68% favorably among republicans, 20% unfavorably. http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/republican-poll-sarah-palin-more-popular-than-mitt-romney/ And as jlprk's post confirms, this is in spite of taking a withering beat down in the media.
