This is not MSM talking points, they are my gut feelings. I just do not see him beating Hillary. A whole bunch of people on this board disagree with me, but if Fred has not been able to engage the primary voters, even though the message is good, how in the world is he going to engage the rest of the general public?
I am looking forward to his appearance on Meet the Press tomorrow, because he is generally very good on the one on one interviews, but he needs to be more than average.
Reading the whole article about the participants is revealing. When talking about their ideals, they almost all by the end of the evening side with Fred, yet why wasn't that enthusiasm there before the talking began. These are engaged voters, presumably they have been paying attention, yet they did not have the enthusiasm for Fred. Why not? I say it is the presentation. Fred MUST change his style. Whether we want to believe it or not, we live in a media world, 30 second sound bites rule the day, and we are not going to change it by getting 51% of the voters to actually read position papers on the web.
Another thing that stood out was the whole groups want of change from the present administration. Every one of these participants voted for GWB in 2000 and 2004, yet they are all tired of him. How does Fred convince the public that he will change things, and not be more of the same? Where is Fred significantly different from GWB?
Entitlements, spending, immigration, Federalism, sovereignty (e.g. L.O.S.T.), etc.
But I do agree with you about Fred's presentation. He needs to amp it up!
“Where is Fred significantly different from GWB?”
Federalism and Consitutionalism, if you are looking for broad differences. Translated into policy, he differs with Bush on Immigration, Spending, big government solutions to everything, to name a few very big differences. His differences with Bush are approximately as profound as were Ronald Reagan’s differences with the godfather of “Big Government Republicanism” Nelson Rockefeller. But you knew that. You object to Fred because you do not like his style. Many people do like his style, though. At the end of the day, you and most of the people who “want a winner” above all else will wind up voting for him.
And he can beat Hillary. He can do so by uniting the Republican base first and foremost, not just trying to scare them with Hillary. Fear is not enough of a motivator. He can also reach out to persudable independents and Democrats on the Immigration issue unlike Rudy who was a “sanctuary city” mayor in New York. That is how he beats her.
He's older and less energetic.