Obama Displays Why He is The Commander-in-Chief

George Wenschhof



The third and final presidential debate held in Boca Raton, Florida is over and it was clear from the beginning President Obama had decisively won.

Immediately following the debate, the CBS instant poll of uncommitted voters showed Obama 53% and Romney 23% and the CNN poll of registered voters was Obama 48% - Romney 40%.

Reviews from the media:

Obama Reasserts Command in Boca - Alec MacGillis, The New Republic

3rd Debate: Obama Outpoints Romney - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post

New York Times: “Rivals Argue Global Policy and Tactics”

Washington Post: “Obama Keeps Romney on His Heels in Last Debate”

Wall Street Journal: “Candidates Wrangle Over Foreign Policy in Final Debate”

Associated Press: “Final Debate: Challenging Each Other Face-to-Face”

Los Angeles Times: “Obama, Romney Shift Focus to Domestic Economy in Final Debate”

Boston Globe: “Obama, Romney Clash in Final Debate”

USA Today: “Obama, Romney Go On Attack in Final Debate”

Politico: “Obama Tears Into Romney at Last Debate”

Some fact checking on what was said during the third presidential debate:

Politico

Reuters

With two weeks remaining until the General Election, seven states are shaping up to be the deciders as to whether President Obama or Mitt Romney reaches the needed 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.  The seven states are Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida and Wisconsin.  You can read more here.

The Obama campaign is beginning their closing argument with the release of their latest campaign ad you can watch below.



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Presidential Debates: Modern Day Gladiators

George Wenschhof

 

Prior, to the Colosseum being built in Rome, Gladiators would fight in many amphitheaters across the empire, providing they would hold an audience, who would always weigh in on whether a life should be spared.

Not all gladiator fights ended with a turned thumb by the emperor.  But, there was always clearly a winner in this brutal spectator sport.

Today, Television and Internet coverage of the U.S. presidential and vice president debates result in 60 million viewers, a twenty-first century version of the Colosseum.

The debates are held to assist voters in determining the candidates they will support to hold the highest elected positions in the United States.

But, like the gladiators of ancient Rome, the debates have turned into a brutal spectator sport and hardly a trustworthy means for a voter to determine how they should cast their ballot.

The first presidential debate moderated by PBS Jim Lehrer displayed a desperate Republican Mitt Romney, who behind in the polls, was on the attack. Romney gave his best chameleon impression with statements devoid of truth, always ending his remarks with a fake quirky smile as he gazed off to the left.

All the while, President Obama absorbed the blows and instead of striking back, stayed with his message.

What followed illustrates modern day politics dominated by campaign communication directors, pundits and special interest groups. The spin room, already in operation prior to the debate, was working full bore to tell the voters what they had just witnessed.

Campaign communication directors were busy prior, during and following the debate, highlighting to the media the positives of what their candidates had said during the debate.

NBC commentator Chris Matthews; a progressive, was quick to denounce Obama for not fighting back more fiercely during the debate, citing example after example of the purported lies put forward by Romney during the debate.

Republican friendly commentators touted Romney had found his voice and was back in the race.

The spin had taken hold with progressives critical of lies from Romney, who became disappointed with the performance by Obama. Conservatives, bolstered by the spin, were giddy over a  perceived lackluster performance by the President.

Subsequent polling reflecting the spin showed a tightening of the race in the battleground states with Romney and Obama essentially tied among most likely voters nationwide.

Next up was the only vice president debate with the spin influencing the tone of the debate which resulted in a slug fest.  Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Vice President Joe Biden did not disappoint.  Biden was to Ryan what Romney had been to Obama in the first presidential debate. 

Now, the spin masters are in full force and effect once again prior to the second of three presidential debates on October 16.  This debate will be a town hall forum with questions from undecided voters.

The candidate campaign staffs are now in a dizzy over the possibility moderator Candy Crowley of CNN may deviate from the agreed upon format and actually ask a follow up question, instead of merely serving as a prop for the questioners.

As the debate nears, Progressives and Conservatives are thirsting to see their candidate dominate the other in this debate.

Three presidential and one vice president debates in the month of October, prior to the November 6 election is one way to assist voters in determining their choice.

Democracy isn’t easy. But, unlimited campaign spending and the current presidential debate format leaves one longing for a better way.

We can do better.

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Why Romney Won’t Win

George Wenschhof

The number one reason why Mitt Romney will not be victorious on November 6 is he and Republicans just don’t get it.

With, an unemployment rate exceeding eight per cent during the term of President Obama, one would think voters would be clamoring for a change.  After all, no President since the Great Depression has been reelected with such a high unemployment rate.

But, the best Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the Republican Party can do is criticize the President and Democrats, while promoting the same old tired Republican refrain of less taxes and less government.

Instead, what voters want is good government, one that reflects a cooperative nature, is responsive and also effective.

People clearly see the obstructionist actions taken by Republicans in Congress over the past three and one-half years, all designed with one purpose in mind; make President Obama fail.

No effort was made by Republican members in Congress to work together to move the country forward during President Obama’s term in office.  Instead, from the beginning, it was a struggle to pass a much needed stimulus bill to put Americans to work, as Republican members of Congress diluted the proposed funding of the bill by close to fifty per cent.

Conveniently, Republicans fail to mention why a stimulus was needed.  After, years of government deregulation of the financial industry and irresponsible economic decisions on Wall Street driven by greed, the worst economic collapse in America since the Great Depression unfolded.  But, I’ll get back to this issue in a moment. 

What followed Republican obstruction against the stimulus bill was an all out assault against providing Americans with affordable health care.  A basic individual right recognized and provided by every other developed nation in the world.

Instead of recognizing a country moves forward with a healthy citizenry, Republicans fought as strong a battle as they could muster to deny affordable preventative health maintenance, coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions, the right for parents to cover their children with their insurance through the age of twenty-six and more.

Republicans were able to scuttle the single payer and public option, which made the most sense, then opposed passage of the Affordable Care Act with the so called individual mandate, which will result in health care coverage for 30 million uninsured Americans by 2014.

Next up for the Obama administration was financial reform.  You would think after Wall Street tycoons illustrated their total disregard to any sensible financial practice, while pocketing millions for themselves, Republicans would be eager to join an effort to reform and strengthen a financial institution teetering on the precipice of total collapse.

Instead, Republicans, aided by Wall Street Lobbyists, fought to dilute the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform bill.  Stripped from the bill was the much needed reinstitution of the Glass-Steagall Act and a watered down version of the Volcker rule, both designed to ensure financial institution stability.

Republicans even delayed the start of the Financial Consumer Protection Agency, an agency created by the Dodd-Frank bill to protect consumers against the predatory actions taken by credit card issuers and others.

The main reason Republicans delayed the implementation was they did not like Elizabeth Warren, who championed the creation of the consumer finance protection agency and was in line to be nominated to run it. 

The agency is now up and running, under the direction of another individual and Elizabeth Warren is now a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Where, she is likely to beat incumbent Republican Scott Brown and pick up a Senate seat for Democrats.

Now, with the election less than two months away, Republicans want to point at a national unemployment rate over eight per cent as a reason to not vote for Obama.  Yet, for the past year Republicans have filibustered in the Senate, blocking approval of the Americans Jobs bill promoted by the Obama administration and estimated to create up to one million jobs across the country.

On foreign policy, Republicans are also mute, with Mitt Romney not even giving the war in Afghanistan any credible mention in his party nomination acceptance speech in Tampa a week ago.

Perhaps, it was because in President Obama’s first term, he ended the U.S. involvement in the Iraq war and has a credible plan in place to end U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan by 2014.

Instead, of congratulating the presidential order resulting in the death of the number one terrorist in the world, Osama bin Laden, Republicans sought to focus on leaks to the press on the operation.

Recognizing old conventional styled wars followed by years of nation building do not work, President Obama also effectively implemented the use of special ops and Drones.  This strategy has limited the loss of American lives while eliminating and disrupting the Al-Qaeda terrorist network across the globe.

In addition, instead of working together to reduce the national debt, resulting from previous Republican and Democratic administrations, any attempt to forge a bipartisan agreement was stymied by Republican members of Congress.

When the bipartisan debt reduction committee appointed by President Obama offered their proposal, it was Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) who led the effort to defeat it. 

When you look at the accomplishments achieved by the Obama administration over the first term, it is incredible so much progress has been made in so many areas when Republicans have done nothing but try to stop any program or action which was proposed.

It is not surprising, with eight weeks to go to the November 6 election, President Obama leads Mitt Romney (Real Clear Politics averaging) in the all important electoral vote 221-191.  To win the presidency, a candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes.

In the ten swing states that make up the remaining 126 electoral votes, Obama is currently leading in nine of them.  Romney leads in only North Carolina, while Obama leads in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire.

 

You see, it is not that Americans want less tax and less government as Republicans continue to promote, it is they want reasonable and effective government.

 

Interestingly, Henry Ford, who founded the Ford Motor Company, understood a basic fundamental aspect of economics.  He recognized if he paid his workers well, not only would they stay to work with his company to produce more automobiles; they would also be able to buy one of the cars his company was producing.

 

Governing on behalf of the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class, as Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Republicans continue to promote, is not what this country needs.

Failing to offer details on any proposed domestic or foreign policy initiative and the lack of willingness to display a cooperative approach further illustrates why Romney won’t win in November.

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Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Civil War in Libya - government forces continue to battle rebels demanding the removal of Muammar Gaddafi. The possibility of a protracted civil war is indeed a real one. Reuters.com has more below.



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Republicans and Democrats Already Developing Plans for 2012 Congressional Races - Democrats need to pick up 25 seats in the House to regain a majority and have already targeted 14 Republican held seats in Democratic leaning districts. Over, in the Senate, where Republicans only need to pick up 3 seats, five contests have been zeroed in on and the strategy begun. TheHill.com has a good read here.

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Romney Speaks to New Hampshire Republicans - Mitt Romney, one of the leading contenders for the Republican 2012 presidential, called for the repeal of the Obama health care law. A problem hanging over his head, as he enacted a similar law when he was Governor of Massachusetts. Politico.com has more here.

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Peter O'Malley, brother of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley Become Maryland Democratic Party Chair - in a formal vote yesterday as Maryland Democrats gathered for their annual meeting. Peter O'Malley has long been involved in managing the campaigns of his brother and knows Democrats across the state very well.

The state coordinated campaign next year will focus on the reelection of President Obama and Senator Ben Cardin, along with the eight congressional seats up for election. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

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Grab a Shovel

Ken Kerr Bio

British Labour party politician, Denis Healey, is credited with the saying, "If you're in a hole, stop digging." Apparently, that advice was not offered to the audience and speakers at last weeks' Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Quite to the contrary, they seemed to be handing out shovels at the door.

The situation has not been this bad for Republicans since Watergate. They are out-of-favor, and out-of-touch. The Democratic-controlled Congress has its best approval ratings in two years, despite GOP obstructionist politics. In fact, approval of Congress recently went up 12 points. Actually, approval of Congressional Democrats went from 18% to 43 while the Congressional Republicans dragged overall Congressional approval ratings down as they went from 23% approval to 19%.

Yet, they keep digging.

Even before CPAC, it was shaping up to be a bad week for the GOP with Gov. Bobby Jindal's embarrassing performance as the GOP's savior-in-waiting. While President Obama was looking like a cross between Reagan and Kennedy, Gov. Jindal looked like Fred Rogers. "Insane, Childish, Disaster," were a few of the kinder terms conservatives and liberals alike used to describe the televised train wreck.

Then CPAC came. What can one say about an event where Joe-the-Plumber was a draw and the party's last presidential candidate did not even attend?

They trotted out the usual line up of suspects. The loudest applause seemed to come from questioning President Obama's citizenship and patriotism. Ron Paul drew loud cheers from half the overly-young crowd while the others sat on their hands. I'm not sure what it means that about 57% CPAC attendees were between 18 and 25. These youngsters ate-it-up when Newt and Huckabee uttered the dreaded word, "Socialism." Have they no new material? Do they know what the word means? I think I just found another use for that shovel.

There was a curious moment when Former Governor Mike Huckabee insisted, "We've got to get out the word that the Republican Party is not just a haven for rich white guys who want to get richer." That will be a tough sell when at the last party convention there were only 36 black delegates out of 2261 total. Even tougher when the winner of the presidential straw poll is a rich white guy who told the police they would have to speak to his wife's jewelry consultant to figure out what exactly were the "between 15 and 20 pieces of jewelry from Mitt Romney's Park City mansion," the Romneys refer to as their "cabin."

Speaking of the Straw Poll, Romney won that last year, too. That didn't work out too well for his presidential campaign. Here are the final results to the question of: "Thinking ahead to 2012 presidential election, who [sic] would you vote for as the next Republican nominee for president?"

Mitt Romney - 20 percent

Bobby Jindal - 14 percent

Ron Paul -13 percent

Sarah Palin - 13 percent

Newt Gingrich -10 percent

Mike Huckabee - 7 percent

Mark Sanford - 4 percent

Rudy Guiliani - 3 percent

Tim Pawlenty - 2 percent

Charlie Crist - 1 percent

Undecided - 9 percent

These data need no comment as they speak for themselves. Newt!!??

The biggest, and I mean biggest, speaker of the conference was Radio-Shock-Jock, Rush Limbaugh, who, according to Rahm Emanuel, is the current leader of the Republican Party.

Curiously, Limbaugh's listener ratings are best during his commercials. Apparently, people get into their cars to go to lunch and the radio is still on the same station as when they drove into work. Once the noonday news and commercials are over, and the drone of The Pretenders, "My City was Gone" comes on, his "listeners" can't get to the dial fast enough. Yet, he is the one repentant Republicans kowtow to when they dare disagree. I guess the CPAC organizers are unaware that Limbaugh is less popular outside their bubble than the despised Jeremiah Wright. He's right down there with Republican congresspersons in the nation's esteem. Yet, they keep on digging.

Clearly playing before a home-town crowd, Limbaugh-the-sophist used his trademark logical fallacies to distort and confuse, to incite and enrage, to defame and demagogue. Obviously in love with the sound of his own voice, he took his 15-minute time slot and magically expanded it to a full 90-minute stem-winder. While saying he hopes the president fails, he counters with, ""I want the country to survive. I want the country to succeed." He called the Democrats' disagreement with George Bush as evidence they "hoped George Bush failed," and dared to draw a moral comparison between his treason and Democrats' disagreement.

He warned his followers in the Congress that cooperating with Democrats to craft legislation is tantamount to being "co-opted by liberals."

Apparently, there is no worse crime in the USA than being a liberal. Of the president, Limbaugh blustered, "It doesn't matter to me what his race is. He's liberal, and that's what matters." He went on, "The racism, the sexism, the bigotry that we are all charged with . . . doesn't exist on our side," he then added, "We want everybody to succeed."

Well, almost everyone—just not the president, or the Congress, or anyone he deems to be liberal. But everyone else.

In tortured reality what would make Orwell jealous, Limbaugh insisted, ""The racism in our culture was exclusively and fully on display in the Democrat primary last year. We didn't ask if he was authentically black." Apparently, I asked, we all asked, if our candidate was black. I must have forgotten, sorry.

But Limbaugh's real objection is the "bastardization of the Constitution that the Obama plans are." He didn't bother to elaborate. That wasn't his goal. He just likes to see the way the flames grow when he adds the gasoline.

Last Saturday, RNC Chairman, Michael Steele said,"Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment," Steele continued, "Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly." Let's see if the RNC Chair Steele now finds it necessary to apologize to the intellectual and philosophical leader of the Republican Party Limbaugh.

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Democratic Chatter 3-1-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama addresses the annual State of the Black Union Forum - in a video message he talks about how difficult economic times often mean even tougher times for African Americans. He spoke about how the recently passed Stimulus bill and the Children's health care bill known as SCHIP along with his budget will make a big difference in the African American community. Travis Smiley organized the event and Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and RNC chair Michael Steele were scheduled to speak. TheHill.com has more here.

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President Obama to move to rescind Bush administration abortion rule - President George W. Bush signed a rule in the last days of his administration that supported Doctors who refused to perform abortions due to moral reasons. It is being reported the Obama administration will issue new rules soon to reverse the actions by President Bush. MSNBC.com has more here.

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CPAC Picks Mitt Romney for 2012 Republican candidate for President - the Conservative Political Action Conference voted Mitt Romney as the best choice. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal finished second. Romney has finished first three years in a row so doubtful this is any barometer of who the Republican nominee will be in 2012. In fact, with Rush Limbaugh as the headline speaker yesterday, it is a scary thought that anyone CPAC would choose as a candidate would ever become President. CNN.com has more here.

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Billionaire Warren Buffet sees more gloom for the economy throughout 2009 - in a letter to shareholders, he indicated he believed the economy would be bad even beyond 2009. The fourth quarter report for his company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. showed net income fell 96% to 117 million. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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On the foreign policy front, Israel Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to reach agreement with Tzipi Livni - President Shimon Peres named Netanyahu as Prime Minister after a razor thin election with Livni. This is not good news for the region as Netanyahu is more a right wing hawk who does not support the U.S. sponsored two state vision with Palestine. Reuters.com has more here.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton off to Mideast on Monday - she will attend a international conference in Egypt where she will announce the U.S. pledge of 900 million to help rebuild the Gaza strip after the recent Israel incursion. She will then head to Israel to meet with PM Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni before meeting with Palestinian Authority Leaders including President Abbas. She will reaffirm the Obama administration commitment to the two state solution. On Friday she will be in Geneva to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. You can read more here.

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