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| -Election 2012 |
| Obama attacks may hurt him as much as Romney |
| 2012-05-29 |
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Barack ObamaThe campaign's over, John... is anchoring his re-election campaign around sharp attacks on Willard MittRomney ...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the presumptive Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field. On the plus side, he isn't President B.O... 's business record, but the hardball strategy also risks tarnishing the president's own political brand. In 2008, Mr Obama ran for office presenting himself as a different kind of politician, one who would seek to bridge divides rather than open new ones, and as a purveyor of a style of politics purged of Washington's normal bitterness. His negative assault on Mr Romney is designed to disqualify the central premise of his rival's campaign -- that as a successful businessman, he has the experience and knowledge to fire up a slow economic recovery. But analysts say, Obama may also in the process risk damaging his own standing with voters, and put at risk the affection many voters still have for their president, despite frustration with the plodding economy. "It's a possibility that by his campaign being very negative on Mr Romney, that could lead some people to be less approving of him personally," said Mr Robert Erikson, a political scientist at Columbia University ...contributed $547,852 to the 2008 Obama campaign. Is there a reason universities are among the top financiers of political campaigns? And where do they get all that money they piss away buying politicians? in New York. But Mr Obama will also be weighing whether his attacks will harm Romney's standing more than his own in a close election. "Maybe there's a cost to the campaign, you lose something personally but your opponents lose even more if you attack them," Mr Erikson said. "(But) if I were advising Obama, I don't think I would advise him to avoid being negative towards his opponent. I don't think that would be the wise course." Recent polls show Obama with a slight lead over Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee in November's election, but also suggest the president has little margin for error as he shoots for a second term in November. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found that more Americans disapprove (49 per cent) of how Obama is governing America than approve (47 per cent) and 55 per cent of those asked did not like how the president was steering the economy. On the other hand, 52 per cent of those asked thought Mr Obama's personality was better suited to being president. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 49 per cent had a very or somewhat positive view of Obama. Only 34 per cent said the same of Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and multi-millionaire venture capitalist. "In this particular election, Obama faces the problem that just being liked is probably not enough to win the election for sure," said Clyde Wilcox, a political science professor at Georgetown University. "It looks like a pretty close election. So I think at this point that his people have pretty much decided ... Romney has pretty high negatives and they want to make sure they stay there." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 The link is bad or the story has been pulled. Getting a 404 error. That's the nature of the Daily Nation, JohnQC. You have to search the title from the newspaper's home page. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-05-29 21:11 |
| #8 Normally attacks might be advantageous but in this case Romney just has to point out that Obama can't run on his record which is why he's attacking and almost any attack is blunted. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2012-05-29 20:48 |
| #7 Guess What ? Ron Paul : Dark Horse : Might Switch To Liberal Conservative Democrat And Run As Well As Republican & Democrat & Draft From : Occupation Party ! Watch : Primary ! 4 or 5 Percent ! Still A Winner ! |
| Posted by: es7502 2012-05-29 18:07 |
| #6 Seems appropriate the Daily Nation in Kenya is reporting this story. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-05-29 17:18 |
| #5 The link is bad or the story has been pulled. Getting a 404 error. I would think Obama's attacks may hurt him more than Romney. He's looking like a desperate man. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-05-29 17:17 |
| #4 Ben Franklin said something to the effect of, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding whats for dinner." which is why we have a Republic. The thing is, everyone has now seen Obama play hardball and knows how he pitches, and likely prefers catcher. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-05-29 12:53 |
| #3 Where are Jim, Tim, and Franklin now? Just in case you might have wondered how their ineptitude affected their lives after they ruined so many dreams and lives. Where are Jim, Tim and Franklin now? Here's a quick look into the three former Fannie Mae executives who brought down Wall Street. Franklin Raines - was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregularities in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the aaccounting scandal became clear. Tim Howard - was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004. Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million! Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million." Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae. Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as his Chief Economic Advisor. TIM HOWARD? Howard is a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama under Franklin Raines. JIM JOHNSON? Johnson was hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee. Kinda makes you sick to your stomach. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-05-29 12:22 |
| #2 That is the saddest, yet truest story I have heard about our political system, Glen. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-05-29 09:34 |
| #1 A non-worthless bit of spam I received recently: "We are worried about 'the cow' when it is all about the 'Ice Cream. 'The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching 3rd grade. The last Presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother. The day arrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Everyone applauded and he sat down. Now is was Olivia's turn to speak. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down. The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream." She surely would say more. She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. But no one pursued that question. They took her at her word. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it...She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream... Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a landslide. Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and 51.4 % of the people reacted like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other 48.6% percent know they're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess." |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-05-29 09:08 |