Posted on 11/03/2012 7:40:35 PM PDT by Iam1ru1-2
As a veteran of numerous national, state and local campaigns, I can tell you that each race and each campaign has its own life cycle. The 2012 presidential contest is no exception. As polls tighten, and especially since Mitt Romneys decisive performance in the first debate, Team Obama and the president himself are showing signs of what I term a campaigns death rattle.
GOP contender Rick Santorum withdrew from this years Republican primary within three days of my declaration that his campaign was in the final stages of death rattle. The phenomenon has three distinct stages.
In Stage One Death Rattle, the candidate veers sharply off-message, seemingly desperate to change the subject. Santorum, for instance, unsuccessfully tried to capitalize on Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstroms ill-advised Etch-a-Sketch comment. Santorum began showing up at rallies with a pink Etch-a-Sketch to accentuate the point and worked lame references to it into his stump speech. It became gimmicky and unbecoming a presidential candidate. Obamas Stage One came shortly after the first debate with Romney, with childish comments about Big Bird and other Muppets running for the border, gimmicky terms like Romnesia and other memes unbecoming his office. These sorts of antics rarely work.
In Stage Two Death Rattle, where I see the Obama campaign today, the campaign staff becomes increasingly frustrated, and the candidate finds it difficult not to lash out through actions or words. One symptom is public profanity. Santorums Stage Two moment came in an argument with New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny over something Santorum had said in a speech. The former Pennsylvania senator was confrontational and suggested that Zelenys request for clarification and anything he might write about the issue were bullshit. Likewise, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Obama referred to Romney as a bullshitter. By most accounts, Obama harbors a deeply personal animosity toward Romney but had successfully managed it in their encounters and with the press. That changed with the Rolling Stone interview.
In Stage Three Death Rattle, the candidates negativity toward his opponent permeates his speeches and completely overtakes his vision and messaging. His speeches grow shrill and his campaign staff and volunteers become demoralized. At this point, Santorum withdrew. Obama isnt here yet, but hes perilously close. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat recently wrote of an aura of defeat beginning to take hold within Team Obama. Maybe. But by any reasonable measure, the race remains very close.
Make no mistake about it, Team Obama and its leadership are rattled. History has shown that unseating an incumbent president is a daunting task. It is clear that Team Obama felt that the immense personal popularity of the president, unrelenting attacks on Romney and the power of incumbency would be sufficient to carry President Obama to a second term. The polls suggest otherwise.
In a few days, the jury we the American people will render a verdict on President Obama. A lot can happen in the next few days. Foreign affairs and questions about what happened at our consulate in Benghazi loom large for the president. Even an act of nature, Hurricane Sandy, could have a role in how it all unfolds.
We are living in challenging times, with the election of our lifetime at hand. It will be interesting to watch the final chapter in the life cycle of the 2012 presidential election and any symptoms of a campaigns death rattle that may or may not come. Stay tuned.
N. Scott Jones is a contributing columnist at The Daily Caller, a Dallas-based, nationally recognized expert in public relations and public affairs, and a weekly radio commentator on The Gary Snyder Show. He has served as staff, an appointee or adviser to three U.S. presidents and two Texas governors.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/29/obama-2012-diagnosis-stage-two-death-rattle/#ixzz2BDXuO7zY
“...that men are simple beings drifting in the sea of life and can be easily led with purely material elements to do what their masters want.”
Ahh, but you’re making it sound like these beings, whether principled or merely drifters are making an equivocal, voluntary choice. The folks locked into gov’t money & benefits see it as their survival. They are not making the voting choices they do just to piss off Constitutionalists; they are doing it because they are voting what they believe are their best interests. They are voting their paycheck or their survival teat, in some form.
I can’t reconcile what you say (about what I originally posted) that this kind of viewpoint identifies me as a possible Marxist. I’m not offended, I just don’t get the connection. True Marxist (leaders) aren’t about to let the people vote for anything whose outcome is not determined in advance. Supposedly, we have a relatively fair election going on here and the winner, even if convoluted means are used to count the votes, is supposedly determined by the plurality of the votes, of course funneled into the EC system.
What you said Cowboy.
Tell him to take the blue pill.
I’m sure like most on the Left, he means well. But his policies are a disaster for this country. I don’t hate him but I love my country. When the American people fire him, its out of necessity.
We can’t go on like this. And he knows it.
It was around this stage of the 1980 election when Jimmy Carter suddenly started wearing cowboy boots to his campaign appearances and talked about kicking Republican ass. He said he was sorry he’d have to get Republican manure on his boots.
That image is on a LOT of vehicles (relatively speaking) around Atlanta.
One interesting detail about today’s Obama rally in Milwaukee.
They claimed that it drew 20,000, but a quick check of the venue’s website shows that the maximum capacity for the room is 12,580. Photos of the event show that large parts of the room have been curtained off and bleachers are not full. It was still probably more than 7000, but far less than the claim.
It’s also interesting the Obama arrived in Milwaukee in a 757 instead of the typical 747 Air Force One. That could indicate that the campaign may be running out of cash.
What’s the cost difference on the planes?
757 — $5151.27 per hour
747 — $21330.06 per hour
I’m going by a commercial website figuring charters, but the spread should work.
Amen, and pass the ammunition, sister!
“The President is a good man and has good intentions...”
Really? LOL
We will agree to disagree.
Personally, I think Obama and his entire party hit stage three back when the tea party started to emerge in all those Obamacare town hall meetings. Since then, they have never been able to regain their composure or even the appearance of dignity.
History shows it isn’t hard to defeat an incumbent president who is doing a terrible, terrible job.
He is not a good man and does not have good intentions.
Obama is at the bargaining stage; “Please give me 4 more years and I .....”.
Now that I think about it, there is this #saysomethingniceaboutobama over at twitter and just late tonight there started to be many tweets that Mitt is ____and that there would be nuclear war if Mitt is elected, we’re gonna get bombed by Russia of all things. They are bombing the site with this “fear”
Only Marxist think the other way around.
Only Marxist think the other way around.
I dont think we have ever seen an election like this one before, certainly not in my lifetime;
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Agreed. I am an old dude and previous elections have been viewed much like sporting events. There were 2 teams ans while you wanted your team to win, if they didn’t you would feel bad for a day and then move on. It used to be both teams were different mostly on the margins but no longer is that the case.
Never has the population had to make a choice between 2 futures so radically different. What is most frightening about these times is the level of ignorance pervading the general population. I am not saying people are stupid, which calls into question the ability to learn but rather they are not interested in learning but take the lazy way of simply accepting what they are told as factual.
As many have said, Obama is not the problem we face today as much as the fact so many Americans voted to allow him to run the country.
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