Symmetry required it: 2012 american general election thread #2

I mean guilty as charged, I have pulled and continue to pull all kinds of questionable pretzel dance moves in my own head to justify my personal ongoing fence straddling vis a vis working for the state security apparatus while selfsame apparatus is doing shit I fundamentally disagree with on several levels - I suspect I have some kind of guilty sisyphean urge (ya think? shut up) - but I never, ever, voted the guy who was principally different from me on anything. Republicans talked themselves into this over how many decades, because of what? The people with any real grudge against FDR are almost all dead. This shit is a grudge against LBJ (and how you can call the party of Johnson "feckless" - oh, whatever, I think I just hit the bottom of the rabbit hole)

wish obama could bring this up in a debate, but then it would look like he was being mean to money-sucking bible hicks:

Of the 22 states that went to McCain in 2008, 86 percent received more federal spending than they paid in taxes in 2010. In contrast, 55 percent of the states that went to Obama received more federal spending than they paid in taxes. Republican states, on average, received $1.46 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid; Democratic states, on average, received $1.16.

― scott seward, Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:27 PM Bookmark

I think Obama could and should bring this stuff up! Make it a genial thing about cooperation, let the implications sink in rather than using it as a wedge to like, go after those states. Just weave it in as like an analogy, another example of his reasonable, common-sense philosophy. Like - - - okay, this is fanfic but just imagine this in Obama's voice - -

"Now, the thing is - and John, I know we're short on time but this is important - in America we work together. To get things moving again, to keep growing our economy and educating the next generation of leaders, we work together. So in my plan, I'm asking the richest Americans to pay a little more, to help grow the middle class. It's the same principle as - you know, there are some states where, if you look at the numbers, the state pays out far less in taxes to the federal government than it gets back in government services. But those services are for things our country needs to keep our recovery going into the future, and to build a 21st-century economy that lasts. We're talking about roads, about education and infrastructure. So we ask New York to pay a little more so that Mississippi can get new schoolbooks. We ask Illinois to pay a little more so that West Virginia can invest in clean coal plants. And I think that's okay, because as I've said, we're all one country. So even though I'm from Illinois, it's good news for me if kids in Mississippi are getting good educations. Even if I'm from New York, it's good news for me that folks in West Virginia are getting good jobs that can't be shipped overseas. That's why I just don't understand it when - I know I'm almost out of time - when, Governor Romney, you look around and you see this divided country. You see a bunch of people lined up...asking for a handout! I don't think the folks in Mississippi think they're getting a handout. I think they understand they're part of a strategy of investment in this country, not because New Yorkers have so much extra money lying around but because we all understand that a strong Mississippi is part of a strong America."

ugh, speaking of freeloading slackers i really am finding increasingly novel ways to procrastinate real work...you get the idea though.... i don't think any of this stuff is necessarily off the table so long as it's thematized in a way that fits the tone and message they're going for. He can troll Romney pretty hard by adopting a stance of being just surprised Romney would think such odd things - not going straight for the jugular, as if he's tacitly assuming it must all be a terrible misunderstanding. At least I think that's the standard way to "look Presidential" while leaving the other guy to die on the vine.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/romney-apologizes-to-nations-150-million-starving,29603/

http://o.onionstatic.com/images/18/18102/16x9/635.jpg?9066

“...First and foremost, I would like to offer a heartfelt apology to all the whores, junkies, bums, and grime-covered derelicts out there who make up nearly half our nation,” a visibly contrite and solemn Romney said outside a campaign stop at a local high school. “Let me assure you that I in no way meant to offend any of the putrid-smelling, barefoot masses out there. My campaign is not about dividing this nation, but about bringing all sides together—the rich, elegant members of the upper class, as well as the 47 percent who are covered in flies and eat directly from back-alley dumpsters....”

xpost um yeah i don't think he's going to be naming the states that pay for other states' shit

considering obama couldn't even reblog an A+ elizabeth warren line without being ripped apart, he's going to avoid any outright celebration of redistribution of wealth

probably the worst thing he could do is say "mitt please shut up so i can explain why it's great to spread the cash around"

ugh is Obama really going to have to call him 'Governor' throughout the debates? he used McCain's first name iirc in '08.

Dr. Casino, why aren't you O's speechwriter?

Just FYI, since I can't search on zing, Colbert just fucking killed it re: Romney tape in his opener.

addendum, he should probably throw in a line like "And that's the system we've been following for (however many years). President Reagan," blah blah blah, just to make it clear to people who don't know these things that it's not some new-fangled Obama redistribution scheme but just the facts as they stand.

I guess it wouldn't really get him anywhere for all that - - - it could, as you imply, cost him some votes in New York and it's not like he's going to win Mississippi regardless. In terms of big-picture "looking like the grownup in the room" stuff it might be kinda good, and it is a topic where it'd be nice if the public got educated a little bit. But it's probably a digression, fundamentally.

the trick is to find "we help each other" platitudes that don't openly celebrate the keyword republicans will try to pull from 15 year old tapes

Maybe my real thinking here is that it's about finding analogies and angles on redistribution that remind Americans it's actually something they like in lots of contexts. Dems have allowed Republicans to turn half of (what used to be) their platform into dirty words over the last few decades, would be nice to use Romney's all-revealing Secret Speech as a springboard to retake the initiative on this stuff.

Get "safety net" back in there for chrissakes! "You know, Governor, there's a reason they call them 'safety nets'... it's nice to have something there to land on, if you lose your job because some... you know, some corporate raider decided, you know, this factory is turning a profit but we could turn more of a profit by some kind of financial wizardry, load the place up with debt and let the employees go while someone at the top gets rich...I think that's a situation where you say, the people who got hurt here were working hard and playing by the rules, and there should be a safety net there to help them bounce back."

you guys there is basically no magic fanfic speech that can change everything, if there were they would have discovered it using some focus group and computers

Barack the Magic Fanfic

(sorry, hate to evoke that whole ugly episode)

Over four years he's had to go from saying "people making for 125k can afford to help" to "people making 1m can afford to help" because it's unfortunately hard for people to assume he's not threatening them. It's not even about offending particular states - though that would obviously be a headache. It's that if he actually went on about the national redistribution of wealth on a state-by-state basis or scolded Mitt for not appreciating the government he might as well sing the Internationale. The good news is that Mitt has gone so incoherently right-wing that he doesn't have to scold Mitt or defend Big Government, he just has to know what payroll tax is.

ive heard abt using dog whistle tho maybe that could work, tbf i dont really understand it, maybe the dogs then convince their owners or something

xxpost You're right, of course...just grumbling into the night that if the Democratic Party wanted, at the party level, to articulate a coherent, progressive agenda, there would be language to do that, and it might get a better response than anyone thinks.

When you're writing folksy "you know"s for Obama to insert you may have taken the imaginary speechwriter gig too far.

tbf i am the kind of guy that has included "uh"s in outlines of lectures just cause i can hear the rhythm of how it's going to come out in my head

if youre gonna do it you gotta go all in

so maybe this is why on some level i weirdly relate to and sympathize with pathetically awkward, over-rehearsed-but-not-getting-any-better-at-this Mittens

He really nailed the timing on his "I thought being rich and famous would make me happy" joke I thought, seemed to enjoy himself.

http://s0.2mdn.net/viewad/3731861/tpp-12003-300x250-G2.jpeg

same cover image as season 2 of his quirky sitcom, wherein the redhead teenage daughter goes goth and the hot wife starts up a catering business and he gets demoted at work to working in the shipping room

season 2 dvd boxset, i mean

The teacher guy from Glee should play Ryan in the inevitable crappy movie based on this election.

If I cared about tell all political campaign books I'd be excited about the one about the Romney campaign.

I suspect the heart of it is in that Joe Trippi line about how any three consultants from either party would have told him six years ago "Lose the Swiss Bank Account", but he never listens - like, it's not enough that the people vote for him, they should come to him and love him for who he is, and any of the help who suggests changing just don't get it.

Roffle. When even Erick Erickson has to go 'uh, well'...

"I think that's the problem," Erickson said, responding to a question about the accuracy of the 47 percent number. "He was off the cuff. He was at a closed-door meeting. He didn't think he was on the record. Even at his press conference later he said he wasn't very articulate. He's going to have to explain that. Even conservatives like me who don't think this is as damaging as a lot of people say, have to concede the remark was really inarticulate at best and really dumb."

On Romney's debate prep:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/322386/prep-school-robert-costa

The Ohio senator spent weeks preparing for the meetings and reviewing tapes of Obama speeches and debates. His ability to uncannily mimic Obama’s mannerisms has kept Romney’s interest, sources say.

“Senator Portman is invaluable,” O’Donnell says. “When we worked with him during the McCain campaign in 2008, he was able to capture the style and the substance of Obama. He is able to make the candidate believe that it’s the opponent, and not just an exercise.”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Rob_Portman,_official_portrait,_112th_Congress.jpg/220px-Rob_Portman,_official_portrait,_112th_Congress.jpg

Hope Romney goes "Well Rob" at some point.

Just a lonely guy thinking bout things:

Mr. Romney himself seemed pensive on the early-morning flight Tuesday from California to Utah, sitting alone with a white legal pad and a pen as he picked at a vegetarian breakfast burrito.

portman has to be better than armisen

vegetarian breakfast burrito shows sage judgment & smart long-morning planning, vote romney 2012

portman has to be better than armisen

lol

“Senator Portman is invaluable,” O’Donnell says. “When we worked with him during the McCain campaign in 2008, he was able to capture the style and the substance of Obama. He is able to make the candidate believe that it’s the opponent, and not just an exercise.”

feel like value of portman, wrt: 'invaluable' could be better calculated with reference to mccain's debate performances (that one/lizard step/&c)

Burrito/Ryan 2016

To be a little fair to Portman, I'm sure he wasn't responsible for running McCain through the process of walking to a podium

but was he responsible for requesting that McCain imitate a Gila monster while walking to the podium

(Nice script, Casino!)

picturing portman in blackface doing his obama impression while romney jots notes and mumbles to himself this is invaluable

didn't mccain use michael steele?

xpost

I was trying to think of a diplomatic way of expressing the same general concern, but that about sums it up.

Obama people need to run clip of Reagan calling '86 Tax Reform Act – which did more to remove the poor from tax rolls – "the best antipoverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress."

ha mccain and steele both have strong presidential candiate stand in vibes

picturing portman in blackface doing his obama impression while romney jots notes and mumbles to himself this is invaluable

― lag∞n, Wednesday, September 19, 2012 10:52 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

irl lol

Reagan remarks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wiZowRJeto

apparently the steele thing was retracted? weird.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/26/who-played-obama-in-mccains-debate-prep/

Apparently Portman played Joe Lieberman for Cheney! He's the GOP's own Rich Little I guess.

its weird but the gop seems to really have lost it for reagan recently like they went from jumping all over each other to see who could genuflect before him the hardest in the primary debates to barely talking abt him at the convention, it may have dawned on them that there are plenty voters who werent even born when he was president and it was just too long ago for people to really give a shit at this point