2012 Tuesday: What will we hear from Charlotte?
Last week in Tampa, the Republicans made significant progress toward their main objectives: revealing more of the personal side of Mitt Romney, and clearly communicating their pitch to voters in this election.
This week in Charlotte, it’s the Democrats’ turn. What will President Obama and his party try to accomplish? Will they continue to play defense against the GOP or try to seize the initiative?
Going into today’s opening events, it would appear it’s the former, with Democrats trying to neutralize the Republican message. Here’s part of today’s curtain-raiser from the Wall Street Journal:
The Democratic Party’s goals for the three-day gathering include widening its advantages among female and Hispanic voters while limiting Mr. Obama’s losses among white, working-class ones. At the same time, its overarching ambition is to rebut Mr. Obama’s opponent, Mitt Romney, who used last week’s Republican National Convention to try to pry away the president’s 2008 voters by casting him as a nice guy who isn’t up to the challenge. …
A senior Obama campaign official said the president may offer one or two new policy proposals in his speech Thursday, when he accepts the nomination for re-election, but that he would spend more time arguing that his existing ideas on health care, education and deficit-reduction amount to “a clear, concrete and achievable plan” for a second term.
The New York Times sounds a similar note, observing that the thrill of 2008 is gone and that Democrats’ “unity at this point is defined less by faith in Mr. Obama or a robust vision for what the party should stand for than by the prospect that Republicans could control the White House and Congress next year and enact a conservative agenda that would unravel much of what Democrats have stood for since Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.”
So it’s defense, defense, defense.
In football, they say defense wins championships. Will that work in this year’s election?
I have my doubts. For one, pitching themselves and Obama as a suitable status quo against a radical Republican Party led by Romney and Paul Ryan would seem to hinge on the word “suitable.” And voters have their own doubts about that: In a new poll for The Hill, voters said the nation is worse, not better, off than four years ago by a 54-32 margin, and that Obama does not deserve re-election by a 54-40 count.
Even the Obama camp is having a hard time answering the “better off” question, made famous in 1980 when Ronald Reagan posed that question to voters after four years of Jimmy Carter’s presidency. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley answered in the negative on “Face the Nation” Sunday — though he did gamely try to blame the Republicans — before backtracking on Monday.
Obama himself said yesterday he deserved a grade of “incomplete” for his handling of the economy, the same grade he gave himself last October and in August 2010. Will voters be as forgiving?
After the GOP spent a week being mostly upbeat in Tampa, I think it will be a problem for Obama if he and the Democrats can’t come up with a positive message in Charlotte.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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475 comments Add your comment
Romney Candidate of the Few by the Few for the Few
September 4th, 2012
6:21 pm
@getalife
September 4th, 2012
6:10 pm
Are you watching Booker?
************************************************
He was great!!!!
getalife
September 4th, 2012
6:22 pm
“Am I banned?”
No, I can still read you loud and clear.
getalife
September 4th, 2012
6:23 pm
“He was great!!!!”
He had them crying with pride.
MarkV
September 4th, 2012
6:27 pm
Dusty,
When it comes to mudslinging, I would agree if you wrote that there was plenty of mudslinging from both sides. But I reject the notion that it comes only from the liberal side.
As for this being a conservative blog, I hope you not mean that only conservatives should post here their praise of Romney and the Republicans.
md
September 4th, 2012
6:30 pm
“He fights for the American workers and wants insourcing while the gop fired State workers and unions.”
Must explain why he sold Chrysler to the non-american Italians………he’s no different, he just tells you he is……and you believe it.
“It is a saving and not a cut to people on the safety net your party wants to end. Facts.”
It is no different than all the other cuts to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes etc over the years through medicare/caid……it’s passed on to the middle class. And again, you believe it.
“How/why?”…..our dictator once again used the power of his pen to alter a bill set forth by congress (one of several such instances) by granting waivers from the work requirement……..
Dusty
September 4th, 2012
6:32 pm
Well, I was reading a letter from Tom Paine today after he turned against George Washington (reading a book while I was waiting on a son practicing basketball). Angry! Paine was such an advocate for liberty and then got all mixed up. Kinda reminded me of some of the liberals here. (The poor guy died friendless and broke.)
They BOTH suck
September 4th, 2012
6:34 pm
md
Speaking of being just told they are for something, you make a great point. Sort of like the Republicans in general and those on this blog speaking of spending, yet they couldn’t spend fast enough from Jan 01 to Jan 07. Remember that?
Or the current Republican House that cries about spending yet keep approving appropriation bills.
md
September 4th, 2012
6:34 pm
“Are you watching Booker?”
Personally, I’m not too keen on guys that lose their kahunas after they get called into the principals office and they then change their story……..I’d have more respect for the guy had he backed up what he originally said vs standing down after being told to do so…….there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with both sides on occasion so that made him appear very weak…….
md
September 4th, 2012
6:37 pm
“Sort of like the Republicans in general and those on this blog speaking of spending, yet they couldn’t spend fast enough from Jan 01 to Jan 07. Remember that?”
Remember quite well….and don’t agree with it either. As I’ve said in the past, both spouses have done their share of using the credit card and now want to point fingers as the solution……and all the while the bill has already come in the mail and is getting ready to go out to the collection agencies………
They BOTH suck
September 4th, 2012
6:37 pm
md
Heck then I know with Romney changing his stances on abortion, gun laws, health care, etc, etc, etc…….. you must think he never had an kuhunas…….. He caved on so many things to get the nomination and you call out Booker
Oh the feigned outrage
hahahahaha
Dusty
September 4th, 2012
6:42 pm
Mark V
I have already said there was some mud thrown from both sides.
This is labeled a conservative blog so why would one come here and then complain ignominiously about conservatives? As I have already mentioned, most liberals come here to interrupt this blog with virulence. Few show any desire for debate. It is obvious.
MarkV
September 4th, 2012
6:46 pm
Dusty @ 6:42 pm
Dusty, I am not sure I would agree with your assessment, but I do not care enough to take count of attacks to see who is more guilty.
md
September 4th, 2012
6:50 pm
” He caved on so many things to get the nomination and you call out Booker”
I tend to give the benefit of the doubt on the “evolving”, especially since I used to vote a strict “D” ticket (totally for abortion back then)…….but Booker…..he was TOLD to cave and he complied……big difference in my book.
They BOTH suck
September 4th, 2012
6:50 pm
It is actually labeled
“Political commentary from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 30-something conservative”
The articles will have a right leaning point of view, however the “blog” is open to ANYONE who wants to participate as long as they follow the rules of the blog host and AJC.
Works that way at the other blogs on the AJC as well in regards to those who participate within the rules.
That may pain a few and cause them to pout, but it will not change.
Of course blogspot or blogger will allow anyone to create a blog, the rules, determine who participates, etc.
Good luck and let us know how it goes
They BOTH suck
September 4th, 2012
6:53 pm
md
Wow. So he evolved as he was seeking the nomination and you really buy that?
He is not alone, most of them do it to a degree, including Obama, but to actually but into it
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
And yes Booker on a lessor level than Romney the recovering social RINO folded like a cheap suit.
getalife
September 4th, 2012
7:03 pm
The robme ruin campaign is nothing but lies and desperately slinging poo hoping something sticks.
Losers.
getalife
September 4th, 2012
7:04 pm
Booker fired them up and CNN just showed Luckovich’s toon on the chair.
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:06 pm
New poll (announced on ABC News) shows obama losing support from women voters BIG TIME.
md
September 4th, 2012
7:08 pm
As I said, people absolutely do change over time, as obama did on gay marriage, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that one. Same with Romney.
What I will not give a pass on is unilaterally changing laws through executive order……that’s dangerous in my book. It opens the door for all the guys that come behind to do it too unless congress puts a stop to it. And I’d say the same if an “r” did it. It undermines the system.
And booker……just a weenie.
They BOTH suck
September 4th, 2012
7:09 pm
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/obamas-popularity-dips-underwater-for-romney-a-faint-favorability-bounce/
Yes it did show a decrease in support from women over 08, but what else did it tell us?
They BOTH suck
September 4th, 2012
7:10 pm
md
Spin all you like md. I can count on that every time.
Keep making excuses and we will see what happens on election day.
peace
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:11 pm
Romney Candidate of the Few by the Few for the Few
September 4th, 2012
4:34 pm
See my 7:06 post. Now tell again us all who is grinning?
Charles Douglas Edwards
September 4th, 2012
7:11 pm
Good luck to the Democratic Convention !!!!!
Charlotte is a real beautiful city with a lot of nice people. We are grateful for the their hospitality and kindness.
We HOPE and pray for the re-election of President Barack Obama.
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:13 pm
Romney Candidate of the Few by the Few for the Few
September 4th, 2012
4:34 pm
Oops too excited…. Correction: See my 7:06 post. Now tell us all again who is grinning?
md
September 4th, 2012
7:13 pm
“Keep making excuses and we will see what happens on election day.”
No, the excuses have been patented by the current guy in office……must be a record.
And yes, election day will be the only day that matters.
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:17 pm
Whoa! They arrested ten undocumented protesters outside the convention hall. How dare they call Obama out on his waffling ways!!!
schnirt
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:18 pm
I don’t know md, the excuses seem to be getting bigger and bigger all the time. Can the patent office work fast enough to issue new ones at the pace the excuses are being created by that certain guy in office?
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:19 pm
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:17 pm
The flip-flop attack plan has been replaced. Just wait until you see what the DEMwits are ready to launch.
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:21 pm
Bill Clinton To Obama Camp: Paint Romney As Right-Wing Ideologue, Not Flip-Flopper
Sahil Kapur September 3, 2012, 8:04 AM
That’s according to an article in the next issue of The New Yorker on the complex, evolving relationship between the two most recent standard-bearers of the Democratic Party. Ryan Lizza reports that the ex-president offered his counsel to top Obama campaign aides David Axelrod and Jim Messina in his Harlem office last November.
Clinton’s logic: running against a conservative ideologue would help energize liberal voters and donors — and the flip-flopper charge could backfire. The Obama campaign seems to have taken the advice to heart — building its case around the message that voters should take him Romney his word about the conservative policies he has backed.
The passage from Lizza’s New Yorker article:
Messina brought a PowerPoint slide show and briefed the former President on campaign strategy. At the time, the Obama team was alternating between two arguments about Romney. One presented him as an inveterate flip-flopper, the other as a right-wing ideologue who would return the country to a pre-New Deal dystopia. Clinton advised them to stick with the second argument. It would help with fund-raising, he said; liberal donors would be more motivated to fight a fierce conservative.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/bill-clinton-to-obama-camp-paint-romney-as-right-wing-ideologue-not-flip-flopper.php
Michael H. Smith
September 4th, 2012
7:23 pm
New buzzword or codeword @@ is “dystopia”
Hillbilly D
September 4th, 2012
7:28 pm
They arrested ten undocumented protesters outside the convention hall.
You got to have a license to protest? Where do you get one?
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:28 pm
Romney as a right-wing ideologue???
Gonna be kinda hard to do that when conservatives questioned his conservative credentials.
Does Bill think Obama’s base is stoopid?
Even his base took the opportunity to poke fun at what conservatives were having to settle on.
This campaign gets stranger by the minute.
Hillbilly D
September 4th, 2012
7:30 pm
the other as a right-wing ideologue who would return the country to a pre-New Deal dystopia.
That ought to make a lot of eyes glaze over.
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:30 pm
Hillbilly:
It was I.D. they were lacking.
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:32 pm
Oops!
(ISH)
They were protesting his HUGE deportation numbers. HECK! When GWB was deporting ‘em, the left thought it inhumane.
gm
September 4th, 2012
7:33 pm
Wow, looking at the Dem convention it looks like America, and the 21st century”””’
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:35 pm
Wow, looking at the Dem convention it looks like America, and the 21st century
Was Biden left behind?
schnirt
Tom(Independent Viet Vet,USAF)
September 4th, 2012
7:42 pm
DannyX@4:52 – Actually I was part of that 66% favorability back then for Bill. He had some personal time issues but I thought he was a good President! Economic times were good under his watch. I was just trying to be humerous about Bill, just as people were being the same about Clinton Eastwood, I hope!
Hillbilly D
September 4th, 2012
7:43 pm
You know, if I was running for President, I’d get the most gaffe prone person I could find to be my VP. That would help keep the heat off of me.
A century ago, VPs still paid for their own lodging, car repairs and official entertaining.
Maybe they ought to consider changing that back…..
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Vice-Presidents-That-History-Forgot-160281765.html?c=y&page=1
gm
September 4th, 2012
7:45 pm
Looking at last week convention you would never know there were different races in America, Ann Romney says its time for the grown up, ha, ha this comming from a women never worked a day in her life.
I actually see latinos and asians in the audience at the convention, not paid off to make a speech to say see I have people of color who support me, with 40% of white women vote and all minorities vote this election not going to be close, low informed middle class white males can not make up this gap”””
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:55 pm
gm:
I read where the mainstream media cut away to their pundits when Artur Davis and Mia Love were speaking at the RNC’s convention.
What…no respect for black conservatives? If blacks aren’t democrats, they’re insignificant?
Sad.
Romney Candidate of the Few by the Few for the Few
September 4th, 2012
7:57 pm
I have never shied away from being called a LIBERAL.
Ted Kennedy
@@
September 4th, 2012
7:59 pm
My brother always says…”No good deed goes unpunished.”
I believe him. While I was cutting the neighbor’s grass, a wasp…yellow jacket…SOMETHING stung me in my left eyelid.
Today was my first day back at work. I looked like Quasimodo. Hard to keep track of little ones when your peripheral vision is limited.
Romney Candidate of the Few by the Few for the Few
September 4th, 2012
8:00 pm
@@@
September 4th, 2012
7:55 pm
gm:
I read where the mainstream media cut away to their pundits when Artur Davis and Mia Love were speaking at the RNC’s convention.
What…no respect for black conservatives? If blacks aren’t democrats, they’re insignificant?
Sad.
********************************************************************
They do not share our values or ideology so why would we listen to them?
@@
September 4th, 2012
8:01 pm
Kennedy was resurrected from the grave!!??!!
mike
September 4th, 2012
8:04 pm
I think the time has long passed for the right wingers on this blog to admit to themselves that Barack Obama is going to win in November. That way, it won’t be so painful in January.
md
September 4th, 2012
8:04 pm
“I actually see latinos and asians in the audience at the convention, not paid off to make a speech to say see I have people of color who support me…”
That’s really kind of comical if one thinks it all the way through……those minorities at the gop convention were actually elected officials……mainly governors and senators…..ALL evidently elected by those evil old white male racists in the areas they represent……..
Kind of kills your racist card doesn’t it????
@@
September 4th, 2012
8:05 pm
Few Few & Few:
They do not share our values or ideology so why would we listen to them?
We’re talking about the media here. Equal time and all that crap.
Black conservatives are unique individuals. Men and women outstanding in THEIR field, not the dems’ field.
Hillbilly D
September 4th, 2012
8:05 pm
Ted Kennedy wasn’t a classical liberal, he was a paternalistic liberal.
Romney Candidate of the Few by the Few for the Few
September 4th, 2012
8:06 pm
@ – @@
September 4th, 2012
8:01 pm
Kennedy was resurrected from the grave!!??!!
*************************************************************************
Yes….
Who did the CONS resurrect?
Satan?