RSSMitt Romney Can’t Lose
November 1, 2012
Peter Shaw - See all 8 of my articles
Mitt Romney can’t lose. President Obama won’t let him.
A person once asked on Facebook “Does the presidential debate make a difference?” At first I thought about Regan’s debates. He didn’t just impress the People, he connected with them. His ideas resonated with the audience. His humor even garnered laughs from his opponent. President Reagan was likable, presidential, and his ideas became our ideas. I think the vast majority agreed the government wasn’t the solution it was the problem. His one and only debate in 1980 possibly won the election for him. What got him reelected was his ideas worked. When Reagan ran for reelection the economy was turning around. People saw their lives improve, the Iranian hostages released, and no more gasoline rationing.
Mitt Romney has ideas not tag lines. The first debate Mitt Romney devastated his opponent. Mitt didn’t do this with general terms like hope or change. Change can mean anything and different people have different hopes. Romney did a wonderful job explaining why cutting taxes works. Romney did an excellent job explaining what reduces violence including gun violence. Romney connected with the People with ideas.
Mitt Romney was very specific. He was specific on the effect of taxes and economic behavior. He was specific on national defense. Romney was very specific on what policies and promises President Obama failed in. Romney’s ideas are measurable. Reducing permanently unemployed and unemployed is measureable. Not cutting spending on national defense is measureable. Reducing taxes and limiting deductions is measureable. All these ideas are attainable and relevant.
People notice the greatest economies are in states with oil and oil exploration like North Dakota and Texas. Romney’s ideas for energy independence are attainable and relevant. Green technology is not there yet. Romney’s ideas are time-bound. Green technology isn’t there yet, clean coal and clean oil production is.
S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Time-bound
Romney is SMART and smart. President Obama’s hope and change could mean anything to anyone. While this may have helped him get into office it hindered his ability to get reelected. People have wonderful imaginations which lead to great disappointment when their ideas of change are not achieved. Hope is quickly erased with every policy that don’t match their idea of change. Failing to be specific is a failure of leadership.
President Obama did do measurements correctly but when it’s not coupled to specifics it is useless. He promised that if we pass TARP we won’t see 9% unemployment. He wasn’t specific on how this was to be achieved. We know throwing money at a problem doesn’t fix it and it didn’t fix employment it made it worse. He promised green jobs and energy independence. He failed and added billions to the debt in the process. He promised to cut taxes but only provided 18 tax incentives and extensions. Every April I pay more taxes and the President’s so-called “tax-cuts” are not relevant to the working middle class.
The last debate on foreign policy should have been a slam dunk for Romney. The Libyan embassy attack was and continues to blow up in Obama’s face beyond any Lewinski scandal or Watergate cover-up. Romney could have gone on the attack with near impunity but he chose not to and played it safe. With what I consider only a fair performance Romney still gained in the polls.
President Obama is not time-bound and is asking for four more years to somehow find success with the same failed policies. President Obama’s attempts to impress have failed to connect with the People. President Obama has failed in every debate to sound presidential, SMART, and smart. Debates matter and President Obama did everything right to ensure a Romney win on November 6.
Nov 01, 2012 @ 09:03:33
“Every April I pay more taxes and the President’s so-called “tax-cuts” are not relevant to the working middle class.”
What you pay (or the refund you get) in April is only a portion of the big picture for taxes, though. The Making Work Pay credit (in the past) and the current reduction to FICA (4.2% instead of 6.2%) has boosted take-home pay from what it would have been otherwise. It’s just not as obvious as the rebate checks from Bush, which were cash-in-hand at one particular point. When FICA jumps back up to 6.2% in January, though, I think a lot of people will notice. I do think it should revert back to 6.2% though, to avoid shortchanging Social Security any more.
I think Romney very well may win the popular vote, but at the moment I’m not seeing a way for him to cobble together 270 electoral votes unless he’s able to make a strong surge in Ohio, a state he desperately needs. The most recent polls show Florida tied – a nightmare situation for Romney. The impact of Hurricane Sandy (and the government’s response) on Virginia and to a lesser extent North Carolina, could also be critical.
Should be interesting to watch,