Symmetry required it: 2012 american general election thread #2

the important aspect of the video is not whether it moved independents or swing voters by itself - what it seems to have done is fire up the Democrats' ground game such that donors are looking for more opportunities to help downticket races and volunteers are now really looking to just fuck the rnc wherever it counts. I mean in the last couple of days it seems like more and more people on the progressive side have just gone from "oh well, I guess I'll vote for Obama, I guess" to "how do we destroy these people as much as possible?" If it has serious implications it's not for the electoral college as much as it is for the House, I would think.

federal employees and military have not seen Reductions In Force (RIF) or "draw downs" under Obama. What we have seen are state and local governments doing lots of furloughs (e.g. you still are "employed" but you don't come to work and you don't get paid) and layoffs of all kinds of civil servants - because state and local governments are sustained by property and sales taxes, and those revenues have been terrible since the crash.

ya the federal government couldve just given the states money tho

I mean the federal government is still doing okay because our debt actually MAKES money now - treasury bonds are at negative interest rates and stuff - states and municipalities are all scrambling to find "creative" ways to pay for shit and it's been very bad. really, stimulus should have been more pork to the locals imho, but I am not a gubernator so what do I know

but anyway:

if the government hadnt cut all those jobs the economy/unemployment would prob be in dece shape by now

― lag∞n, Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:27 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ok I'm just saying in the US of A it might be more appropriate to say "if governments" vice "if the government"

there is no government man dont u seeeee

I am always on the fence about the degree to which we delegate shit to local governments in this country. on the one hand I'm like yay marketplace of ideas, every state and city is like its own pilot program and they can experiment and learn from each other and it's disciplined pluralism in the best of all possible worlds!!!!!!

and then on the other hand I'm like wow what a bunch of utterly useless corrupt fuckwits ruining shit for everybody with their short-sighted assholism and parochial horseshit

yah its complicated and certainly worthwhile to explore how the whole thing works but that doesnt mean theres no government anymore than theres no such thing as americans because each one is a snowflake

What we have seen are state and local governments doing lots of furloughs (e.g. you still are "employed" but you don't come to work and you don't get paid) and layoffs of all kinds of civil servants - because state and local governments are sustained by property and sales taxes, and those revenues have been terrible since the crash.

My best friend -- a county employee -- will tomorrow take his fifth furlough in four months.

I'm just suggesting that actually understanding how things work may be beneficial in your execution of the responsibilities of citizenship

what lead you to believe i didnt know there was such things as states you horrible drunk arrogant man

So it turns out Peggy Noonan was actually holding back:

It is true that a good debate, especially a good first one, can invigorate a candidate and lead to increased confidence, which can prompt good decisions and sensible statements. There is more than a month between the first debate and the voting: That's enough time for a healthy spiral to begin.

But: The Romney campaign has to get turned around. This week I called it incompetent, but only because I was being polite. I really meant "rolling calamity."

The solution is apparently James Baker.

lol healthy spiral

hah http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/the-incredibly-dumb-political-spending-of-2012

“Hearing crazy shit from donors is not new.”

Mrs. Romney directly addressed her fellow Republicans who’ve criticized her husband. “Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring,” she said.

her whole vibe is like "your mom, slightly drunk, yelling at you over the dinner table."

“Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring,” she said.

That means you, Andy Secher at Hit Parader, Circus Magazine, Mick Wall at Kerrang, Bob Guccione Jr. at Spin

Damn you beat me to the Guns' 'Roses reference

The solution is apparently James Baker.

the fellow who famously told Poppy Bush in fall '92 that the campaign was beyond salvaging?

"Welp, might as well give up." is not always bad advice.

And why send good money after bad?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/politics/cash-low-romney-striving-to-find-new-large-donors.html

Muslim Brotherhood ad worth a look:

http://whymrpresidentwhy.com/

More interested in the Delphi pension ad

“Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring,” she said.

Mrs. Romney continued, "And if I hear any more smart aleck comments you're all losing Xbox privileges for a week."

I've had enough of your smart mouth. Go to your room! YOU MARCH YOUR HINEY UP TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW AND DON'T COME OUT UNTIL YOU'RE READY TO APOLOGIZE.

i love you ann romney

Muslim Brotherhood ad worth a look:

otm, the voiceover is a laff riot

Loving Anne "Axl Rose" Romney hilarity.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2i1cjee.jpg

nothing lasts forever
not even early November pain

Ann should wear Stephanie Seymours mullet wedding dress.

you guys I haven't read this whole thing but the little bit I have read is amazing

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/21/cain-says-hed-be-winning/

romneys financial advantage turning out to be somewhat illusory http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/romney-campaign-hits-a-financal-snag/2012/09/20/b31c568c-0334-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html

the greatest photoshop of all time xp

stuff like the romney video just confirm the baked-in 'thurston howl iii image' people already have of him

Now is this the Jim Backus character or the MC?

"The reason is quite simple: I have some depth to my ideas," he said.

burn

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/09/21/National-Politics/Images/Romney_2012-079d0.jpg

are there actually any pictures of Romney that don't make him look like a comic book villain

The depth of 9-9-9 so under praised.

Those palm trees need to be .gif-fed.

Can someone photoshop Mitt yellow?

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRDDiSxTdVxaDjU1KM6g9vXtGYtdycQ8GhW69r0tCt958hUndQW

Oh I do weep:

Republicans have long resisted tax increases of any kind. But taxes are a major battleground in the campaign between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, Capitol Hill veterans say, and the victor will be able to claim a mandate for his policies.

“This is a referendum on taxes,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a senior member of the House Budget Committee. “If the president wins reelection, taxes are going up” for the nation’s wealthiest households, and “there’s not a lot we can do about that.”

lol at slipping for the nation’s wealthiest households in there

The Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction plan produced by President Obama's deficit commission

there is no Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction plan. there was a proposal for a plan, but the commission voted to reject it. therefore no plan. yet you always hear about this magical "plan" or "report" that everyone is ignoring for some reason!!

thats whats so good abt it

I'm not sure if men like Coburn are showing their hands, waving the white flag, trying to encourage GOP enthusiasm for Mittens, or all the above.

Tracer: the plan exists so that way Andrew Sullivan has something to hold on to in this drab grey world.

I have a friend, who actively campaigned for Obama yet nonetheless keeps praising Ryan's budget plan (he's a banker, so ...). Anyway, I have to keep reminding him that there is no Ryan plan. There was just his symbolic dosier hey through together to get immediately slapped down by everyone. And even then, he's backed away from his ideas to suit Mitt's non-ideas.

Man, whether it was ego or ignorance, Ryan's idea to hitch his train to the Mitt wagon was such bad strategy. Rather than set him up for 2016, this fiasco is going to set him back.

yeah but also ryan has make himself look bad

not with that body fat ratio!