Posted on 10/15/2012 7:14:40 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The short answer is: because he’s got nothing. There is no record to run on, no argument to make for four more years. The ideology that drives him is outdated and bankrupt. He has, in fact, implemented his policies – Republicans have had little means of stopping him – and those policies are the problem.
But there’s a slightly longer answer too. Obama’s advisors will read the mainstream media assessment of the vice-presidential debate – they actually think a debate that turned women across America off of Biden was a draw, or a Biden win – and conclude that what the president needs to do is find his inner Joe Biden. Appeal to his base by going on the attack, perhaps interrupting, being visibly annoyed at the trend of Romney’s statements, and vigorously asserting untruths in the interest of racking up effective soundbites.
Petulant attack-doggery isn’t Obama’s style, so I don’t predict that he will simply adopt the Biden posture for this week’s debate. What I do think is that Obama and his handlers will be looking to enhance the president’s trademark pace and balance in public speaking (which does descend rather often into a sonorous drone) with more Biden-like spice. This won’t come naturally to Obama, any more than his occasionally put-on “black accent” sounds natural. It’s not who he is, and he won’t be good at it.
Of course, the townhall format this week can be worked to Obama’s advantage, and no doubt will be. Obama need not be thrown softballs, but he will get questions framed to suit the answers he is likely to have – and he probably won’t be troubled much with questions framed in a confrontational manner.
Romney probably will be. He will have to think more quickly on his feet, turning hostile questions into jumping-off points for getting his message across, while conveying a sense of goodwill and avoiding red herrings. If there is a “silly question” for the debaters – say, “If you were an Oscar-winning movie, which one would you be?” – it may well be barbed with false implications about conservatism, Republicans, or even Romney himself.
Romney will have more choices to make in his approach and substance. There are a lot of things he could say; what will be the most effective? We can reasonably suppose he will perform again as well as he did in Debate 1.
Obama doesn’t have those choices, because he’s trying to stay in office – to tend cronies and inflict ideological constraints on the people – using arguments that don’t accurately represent what he’s been doing for nearly four years. He has no intention of changing course, regardless of what the current course is inflicting on the American people. Yet he can’t argue in the campaign for his current course – at least not to anyone but his base – because it is so ridden with failure and the scent of corruption. Americans continue to turn against his signature legislation, ObamaCare, and even the New York Times is beginning to doubt the effectiveness of his foreign policy.
So we can expect to hear more about Romney giving a “$5 trillion tax break” to the richest Americans, along with the other canards about Romney-Ryan policy (e.g., tossing Grandma off the cliff) being trotted out over and over by the Obama campaign. These mendacious soundbites have lost their impact, but what else does Obama have? Personal attacks on Romney?
If the president makes a decision on retaliating in Libya before Tuesday night, he may be able to speak at the debate from a perspective of putative decisiveness, the commander-in-chief moving forces around. A new line of tactical operations would blunt Romney’s justifiable criticism of how the White House has handled the whole matter. I don’t foresee this dynamic winning the debate for Obama – a belated military response has little hope of trumping the public’s nearer-to-home concern about the US economy, the national debt, and constitutional freedoms – but if it comes off, it will probably be gratifying for his Amen corner in the MSM.
Gratifying them is not enough, however. Whether he plays to his base or the MSM, Obama will not be playing to the constituency that matters: the majority of likely voters. His appeal to that constituency in 2008 depended on his being an unknown quantity, and that’s what he no longer is. Obama doesn’t have any more tricks in his bag. This is it.
I think the Obama we saw in the first debate is the real Obama ... detached, disinterested in anything but himself and prone to a stuttering I-I-I when he is cornered on an issue. Unlike Bill Clinton, Obama cannot smoothly lie while looking you in the eye. The Obama his handlers want on Tuesday is one with fire in the belly and quick witty comments to deflate Romney. That is not the real Obama and he will handle that role poorly. I expect Obama will lose his cool and have nothing but the patent lies fed to him by his staff. If Romney comes across like he did in the first debate as Mr. cool Obama is done. The wild card is Candy Crowly. If she is openly a shill for Obama and tries to be the third person in the debate that will look bad for Obama.
They cloned Hitler.
“they will probably try to do a biden redo.”
You know, I don’t think laughing and grimacing at Romney is going to work in the setting of a town hall.
When a speaker acts weird like that, it will look like he is being disrespectful to the audience.
When you laugh sarcastically up at the ceiling, then down to the faces in front of you and see that the audience isn’t laughing or mirroring the expressions, it would immediately stop the behavior.
I bet Obam-bud will be more like in the debates with McCain. He was somewhat normal then. He can do it.
Honestly? No, probably not.
I say it every day. Why is this election even close? I always think of the following quote from the Czech Republic:
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to an electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
Translated into English from an article appearing in the Czech Republic as published in the Prager Zeitung of 28 April 2010.
Even if Romney wins and we take the Senate and House, we still have a lot of basic educating of the general public to do. A big task indeed.
First, get rid of the Marxist and his cabal!
Romney out classes Obama at debate too.
That is fine Romney can handle any thing they throw at him.
Romney’s gonna eat Obumster’s lunch out of the ballpark!
And you think Romney has not had his share of dumbass questions? Come on, he has been talking to “journalists” for decades. Even an audience of pony-tailed guys aren’t as stupid as them.
I got it. normal people see this as odd and unsettling. the left lunatics actually believe biden “stopped the bleeding”.
they believe their own lies. mark my words obama is gonna act “weird” and over the top. not sure how odd but he’s gonna do some strange crap tomorrow.
Romney just has to keep coming back to the economy and ask those people if they are better off today than four years ago.
Crowley is not going to allow those questions in any case because she does not want to look like an obvious idiot. She wants to preside over something serious. She approves of the questions to be asked from what I hear.
Let’s be real here. CNN “selected” the questions (wrote them) to make Obama look good (if that’s possible). They then sent them ahead of time to the Empty Chair campaign, so that someone can write him a script that he can memorize. At the same time, they have “selected” trick questions to try to knock Romney off message. Romney needs to be prepared for anything, and he needs lots of prayer.
With Agatha Trunchbull moderating.
Candy Crowley sits down this morning to select which dolts get to parrot their pre submitted question. CNN selects the questions for this faux Town Hall debate.
THEN Candy Crowley crafts prefabricated follow up questions to the preselected questions. She’s sharp on her feet that Candy with her crib sheet.
This debate is a sham.
That little guy is active.
You believe questions from the audience will be less significant than those from the enemamedia? Not bloody likely.
My point was, audience questions are probably created by the press or at least selected, and no doubt shared with the regime.
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