Any Other Dems Slightly Scared Now?

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

The debate made this a Horserace, and I'm fine with that. We all know the media was getting tired of the "Romney is Toast" plot point. But the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

[opebo]

...the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

That isn't what he did, and I was already afraid Obama would lose for weeks now, but I agree there is reason to be afraid.  Romney is going to be the next president, and he'll be up there crowing about Obama's achievements, claiming them as his own (for example next year's strong recovery).  It'll be more repulsive than even the Bush years - a man winning purely on racism.

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

The debate made this a Horserace, and I'm fine with that. We all know the media was getting tired of the "Romney is Toast" plot point. But the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

Nahh just chill man. I think Obama will win. I think he wantes to get a feel of how Mittens debates so he stood back and watched him. now he knows so next debate Obama will win.

[Skill and Chance]

No, Romney doesn't have a statistically significant lead anywhere that matters yet.

Besides, I think I'd rather be the opposition party at all levels in 2013 anyway.  Better to blame the coming fall of the EU and ensuing double dip on someone else.  Of course losing universal health care would hurt pretty badly, though.

[Lincoln Republican]

The debate made this a Horserace, and I'm fine with that. We all know the media was getting tired of the "Romney is Toast" plot point. But the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

Nahh just chill man. I think Obama will win. I think he wantes to get a feel of how Mittens debates so he stood back and watched him. now he knows so next debate Obama will win.

Talk about spin for a debate that clearly showed Obama as a high school debater against a true professional.

[opebo]

Besides, I think I'd rather be the opposition party at all levels in 2013 anyway.  Better to blame the coming fall of the EU and ensuing double dip on someone else.  Of course losing universal health care would hurt pretty badly, though.

Nah, 2013's gonna be the cyclical boom.

[J. J.]

No, Romney doesn't have a statistically significant lead anywhere that matters yet.

Besides, I think I'd rather be the opposition party at all levels in 2013 anyway.  Better to blame the coming fall of the EU and ensuing double dip on someone else.  Of course losing universal health care would hurt pretty badly, though.

The polls are showing closing.

[bgwah]

I've thought Obama was favored (but not guaranteed victory) for most of the year. But Romney did have a bad September. That's still how I see the race.

I do agree with Opebo that the economy will recover regardless of who is President, though, and it would be painful to see Romney take credit for it. But I think we Democrats should be used to it by now. This is how the American political cycle works. Republicans break country, Democrats fix, Republicans break again, Democrats fix again, etc.

[Cobbler]

...the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

That isn't what he did, and I was already afraid Obama would lose for weeks now, but I agree there is reason to be afraid.  Romney is going to be the next president, and he'll be up there crowing about Obama's achievements, claiming them as his own (for example next year's strong recovery).  It'll be more repulsive than even the Bush years - a man winning purely on racism.

You are a troll.

[Biden 2024]

Of course. However, Obama is still a slight favorite to win, but since the debate, I have a lot of doubts on the man. Romney, in my view, is just as bad as we was to me, and I will never vote for that jerk, but Obama just seems more lackluster than he did before. I'm thinking of voting for Gary Johnson. I still expect Obama to come out as the victor, but wow, was his performance terrible.

[LastVoter]

...the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

That isn't what he did, and I was already afraid Obama would lose for weeks now, but I agree there is reason to be afraid.  Romney is going to be the next president, and he'll be up there crowing about Obama's achievements, claiming them as his own (for example next year's strong recovery).  It'll be more repulsive than even the Bush years - a man winning purely on racism.

There is a positive though - we are due for a deep recession in the 1-3 period, maybe the white working class can finally see the painfully obvious downsides of capitalism, no matter who is in office.

[minionofmidas]

[anvi]

Re: the 1st debate:  I actually thought Obama did reasonably well for the first half-hour, but then he started to flag, and, even though he didn't make any big errors, he kept letting Mitt take free shots at him that were in various ways inaccurate, and Obama let them pass.  And there was a cause for this.  I actually think Romney doing things like virtually walking away from his own tax plan, giving a nod toward Simpson-Bowles, saying there were some things he would maintain about Dodd-Frank, ect. was strategically brilliant on Romney's part, because I think Obama was prepared to take shots at all of Romney's previously stated policy commitments, and Romney changing tack and charging hard middle on all those things really threw Obama off his game--he wasn't sure what Romney was going to say next.  It is really not easy to debate a political chameleon like Romney, it's predictable he will flip-flop, but unpredictable what he will flip-flop about at any given moment, so he has actually championed the whole "art." I think, in fact, that Obama was trying to do something similar about charging for the middle at the very beginning, when he alluded to being willing to drop top marginal rates to 25% in exchange for the deductions bonanza, but Romney is much better at that kind of thing over a sustained period of time, and after a half-hour, Obama didn't really know what to do.  In future debates, Obama has to be much better at forcing Romney to wrestle with his own previously stated positions and smack down false characterizations a lot harder, while at the same time touting his record.  The old Samuel Johnson rule might focus Obama's attention more in the coming weeks than it was focused on Wednesday night, but we'll see.

Yeah, I'm nervous; it's a close race with four weeks left, and anything can happen.  It will stay close until a winner is declared, and we'll all be on edge until then and half of us will be infuriated after that.  My intuition still says Obama should narrowly win, but my intuitions are just as fallible as everything else about me, so, we'll see what happens.    

[pbrower2a]

The debate made this a Horserace, and I'm fine with that. We all know the media was getting tired of the "Romney is Toast" plot point. But the thing I'm most afraid of, is that Romney tricked voters into thinking he's a viable "Moderate" alternative.

Nahh just chill man. I think Obama will win. I think he wantes to get a feel of how Mittens debates so he stood back and watched him. now he knows so next debate Obama will win.

Talk about spin for a debate that clearly showed Obama as a high school debater against a true professional.

Except that Mitt Romney won by  methods that would not be tolerated in a high-school or college debate -- like bullying the moderator.   

[Wisconsin+17]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Hey, Opebo, if 38 percent of Whites support Obama, and only 4 percent of blacks support Romney, does that mean that whites are actually 900 percent less racist?

[Beet]

Yeah the thing with Romney is he's a runner. You can't pin him down. First, he says A, then you point out what's wrong with A, and he says never mind A, B. And then you start to talk about B, but Romney's already moved onto his new position, C.

I think going out and accusing him of changing his position only goes so far. Basically Obama has to go chase him and fight him wherever he's taking a stand. Okay- you said this. Here's the difference between us. Here's why I think my idea is better. There will always be differences between the two candidates- Romney can't move fast enough to eliminate all the differences between him and Obama. He's still got a $4.8 trillion tax cut plan that he hasn't said how he is going to pay for. I mean, the stimulus was only $787 billion, and Romney says that was a waste of money. Now he's going to add $4.8 trillion to the deficit, while promising to pay for it-- how???

And sometimes, you have to just sit back and let him define his position, if it's not well defined, let him make some substantive statement, and then go after that.

Keep in mind, a 62 year old guy, who has worked in business, whose whole life is building up to this one moment, the Presidency is within reach-- he'll be at the top of his A game. Obama has to be breathing down his neck because if you give him space he'll use it.

I think after you've chased a guy a 100 miles, you can step back and express some frustration, because by that point voters will know what you mean. But you do have to keep chasing him.

[Politico]

Romney is the greatest champion of free market economics since Reagan. On the social front, he has a moderate temperament but is a tolerant conservative, if you will.

I have been saying both of the above for months. The debate proved that I am right.

Many Democrats have good reason to lose faith, and most Independents understandably have no trust in anything coming out of the Obama camp anymore: That image that Obama's Chicago guys painted of Romney was a figment of their imagination.

Romney's pledge to reform taxes in such a way that they do not add to the deficit nor do they raise taxes on anybody is the pledge he is committed to. The 20% across-the-board is something he can walk away from so long as he remains committed to the aforementioned pledges (He did not want to make that promise, but had to, to beat Santorum in Michigan). With regards to Obamacare, he will repeal it but replace it with a regulation stating that companies cannot discriminate based upon preexisting conditions (yes, costs will rise, but that's the price you pay for an insurance policy mandated by the law). With regards to Dodd-Frank, he will repeal it and replace it by bringing back Glass-Steagall (the only people who no longer favor this are some people in the "Too Big to Fail" New York banks that still have Obama in their pocket). The list goes on and on...

[Reds4]

This is a very valid question.

Hey, Opebo, if 38 percent of Whites support Obama, and only 4 percent of blacks support Romney, does that mean that whites are actually 900 percent less racist?
[/quote]

[sg0508]

I support the president in this race and I'm concerned. That debate was a disaster and the polls are showing it. See my thread below.

The president has to stop the bleeding now, but it's starting to look like that those that were going to hold their nose and vote democratic suddenly saw Romney in a different light and as a viable alternative.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm worried, yeah. I think that nearly everything could happen: it could prove totally inconsequential, with the jobs numbers erasing all Romney's gains, or it could give Romney a narrow edge to build on from now till election day. There's so much uncertainty... And God I hate uncertainty.

[anvi]

Beet: On a chessboard, when you're playing someone who makes lots of unexpected moves, the best thing to do is not get distracted and continue with your own plan and target their most vulnerable spots.  Reacting to every random move in an attempt to refute each one only throws one's own game into chaos.  I don't know exactly how well this approach of hammering only at the most vulnerable spots would translate into a 90-minute debate, but I've won enough competitive chess games in just that way to think it would be worth giving it a try.

[Oakvale]

No. I know loserism feels natural for Democrats and liberals of all stripes, but there's two more debates, and if there's one thing we know about Obama is that he's competitive, and is going to do a lot better. Calm down.

[Yank2133]

I am tad bit more worried now then lets say after the DNC.

But, I think will be ok.

[opebo]

This is a very valid question.

Hey, Opebo, if 38 percent of Whites support Obama, and only 4 percent of blacks support Romney, does that mean that whites are actually 900 percent less racist?

No, only whites can be racist, Reds.

[sg0508]

I am tad bit more worried now then lets say after the DNC.

But, I think will be ok.

This is the first time that the Old Dominion has moved Romney into the lead in a while and that's a bellweather.