The Fat Lady Awaits
As one eminent philosopher philosophized, “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings,” so even though said lady is waiting in the wings and tuning up, I am not quite ready to administer Mitt Romney’s last rites.
It is, however, as difficult to chart a path to a Romney victory as it is for him to pass through the eye of a needle. Thus many of my fellow pundits are already applauding the fat lady’s aria.
He has had the worst three weeks of any candidate in recent memory, beginning with the Republican convention, remembered mainly for Clint Eastwood-gate. Things look so wretched for the Romney campaign that one Republican pundit called it a “rolling calamity,” while other conservatives chimed in to the extent that Ann Romney angrily pleaded with them to “stop it.”
Today almost all the national polls show Barack Obama up by 3 to 8 points, although some outliers show a tie or a minute advantage for Romney. More importantly, state-by-state surveys of the 10 battleground states show increasing leads for the president in all but two. Only New Hampshire and North Carolina remain iffy. GOP hopes of actually turning Wisconsin or Michigan from blue to red have faded.
Ohio looks well within Obama’s grasp and he is even running decently ahead in Florida. Either one of those would virtually assure victory—both would portend an electoral vote landslide.
Of equal if not greater importance, Obama well outdistances Romney on all the significant voter concerns, from likeability to doing more for the middle class, preserving Medicare, handling foreign policy and taxation. They run even on the economy, while Romney wins only on controlling the deficit.
In part this is the result of Team Obama’s powerful takedown through the summer months, defining their opponent as an out-of-touch, job-killing, outsourcing plutocrat who only cares about the wealthy. The Romney campaign reinforced the image through a series of mis-steps compounded by gaffes culminating in the notorious “47 percent victims” video. They have elevated ineptitude to an art form.
To change the conversation, Romney issued his 2011 tax returns, which were juggled to show him paying higher taxes than required in order to keep his rate near 14 percent. That overpayment, however, reminded the world of his dictum that if he paid more taxes than necessary he should not be president.
There remains a slender possibility of Republican turnaround with six weeks until Election Day. The Middle East is alive with dangers. Joblessness can still increase. Three debates lie ahead, where a gaffe or loss can cost Obama dearly. As can voter suppression and a huge turnout of Evangelicals plus the large body of Obama haters at large in America. The multimillion-dollar Republican “Super PACs” can exploit these mercilessly.
Nevertheless, based on current information, I’ll go out on a limb and predict he’ll get around 52 percent of the popular vote and more than 300 electoral votes (270 needed to win).
But never forget the words of that great American philosopher, Lawrence Peter Berra:
“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
**
Don Rose is a regular columnist for the Chicago Daily Observer.
For those who do not know Don Rose. Take a look at what he is really about.
David Axelrod – Obama’s top advisor and campaign manager, had far left mentors such as Don Rose and David Cantor both with heavy ties to the Communist party.
http://keywiki.org/index.php/David_Canter
Take a look at Don Rose
http://keywiki.org/index.php/Don_Rose
Don’t forget Don was affiliated with Bernard Carey too.
Don forget Don was affiliated with Bernard Carey too.
I’ll stand up for Don. He’s on “the other side” ideologically from the rest of the CDOBS writers (and most readers) of course. He writes honestly from his point of view and his arguements are very well reasoned. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him in person, and there are no horns or tail visible.
That being said, I’ve disagreed with 90% of all articles he’s written here, but because of that I’ve really enjoyed agreeing with him 10% of the time.
Hey, Hickey is a Third Degree Knight of Columbus, member of the Turtles, Southwest Mens Club S.A.C.Bourbonnais, IL Sportsmen Club Kankakee Moose, and The League of Very Ordinary Men.
Yes, I ran with the dogs, heard the chimes at mignight, crapped with the owls and never once soared with the Eagles.
The Eagles require two or more members to agree to sponsor you.
Good luck with that Hickey!
Don Rose is a gentleman scholar and fine voice for his Party and point of view.
Michael R
I am not sure why you felt as though you needed to stand up for someone you agrree with 10 % of the time.
Pat Hickey,
When you say Don Rose is a “fine voice for his party” are you referring to the democratic or comminist party ?
Gentleman all I did was point out who his is to those who may not know, if you felt the need to defend him for being who he is, that say’s something.
WB, if there is anyone who doesn’t have a hidden agenda, it is Don Rose. Don Rose is an excellent writer. He makes no bones about his Leftism, and is always interesting. Don has written many historical pieces which explain his point of view, and I appreciate that very much.
As the editor, I am proud to have Don write for us. The whole syndicate we have here takes a point of view. That’s why we do it.
JBP
John
Understood and I appreciate what you are saying. For the record let me state, that whether Don has an agenda or not, what he is communicating in this piece coincides with what I believe to be an agenda of many on the left portraying false polling numbers in hopes of causing an effect on the election. There is a pattern of this narrative, and I thought it important to point out. To provoke thought
Just for the record, Don…you again merit mention in The American Spectator, October issue, in Paul Kengor’s article, “Dreams from Frank Marshall Davis,” an expose on the infamous CPUSA member who spent many years here in Chicago before he moved to Hawaii and became the chief mentor of young Barack Hussein Obama. An excerpt:
“In the 1970s, while Obama was being mentored in Hawaii by Davis, [David] Axelrod was being mentored in Chicago by people with connections back to that same [leftist] Chicago crew…he soon secured a nice job as a very young political columnist for the Hyde Park Herald. Through his work at the Herald, Axelrod met David Canter and Don Rose, [who] mentored Axelrod and helped set him on a path that led to Barack Obama and the White House.”
Just thought you’d like to know…
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