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PoliGAF 2012 |OT3| If it's not a legitimate OT the mods have ways to shut it down

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B-Dubs

No Scrubs
No kidding.

I steered clear of both those threads.

I took one look at those two and knew they'd be graveyards, who knew they'd be executions instead.

RDreamer said:
I think technically he could hit Obama on the economy during a debate. If he does it right it could actually land. They've tried hitting him before, but hitting him when he's right there and has to respond is a bit different. If he tries to make an excuse it looks a bit worse, and if he admits it sucks, then, again, not great. I think he'll probably have some good prepared answers, though, but we'll see.

This would only work if people perceived him as someone willing to fight for them, which they do not. If he tried it would probably come off as disingenuous and Obama could easily rebuke it. After all, what plans has Romney put forward. If I were Obama and he hit me on the economy I would ask him to detail his plan and how it was different than what Bush did for his 8 years, which he can't. Unfortunately the debates aren't set up to allow stuff like that.
 

Chumly

Member
Manos got what was coming to him with his diversion tactics in gun control related threads. He even got warned and continued down the path.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
So long as he doesn't discuss guns or Occupy WallStreet Manos wasn't too bad. But yea he did deserve the ban. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Kosmo post in a while, did he get it too?
 

Chichikov

Member
Manos lost my vote for being a Citizens United apologist.
The problem with Manos is that he pretends to be a Democrat, so his entire existence is dishonest.
Also, he's hilariously clueless about guns, but that's more funny than annoying.
Internet experts are the best experts.
When does EV's ban get lifted? I miss having him around here, too.
Dude get baited by Manos, he should take some time to reflect about the error of his ways :p.
When I got banned, I was arguing with myself.
 

Amir0x

Banned
These are exactly the type of articles Romney wants right now, from the Associated Press no less:

As race stands, Obama within reach of second term.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Five weeks to Election Day, President Barack Obama is within reach of the 270 electoral votes needed to win a second term. Republican Mitt Romney's path to victory is narrowing.

To overtake Obama, Romney would need to quickly gain the upper hand in nearly all of the nine states where he and Obama are competing the hardest.

Polls show the president with a steady lead in many of them as Romney looks to shift the dynamics of the race, starting with their first debate Wednesday in Denver.

"We'd rather be us than them," says Jennifer Psaki, an Obama spokeswoman.

But Romney's running mate Paul Ryan says there's time for the GOP ticket to win. "In these kinds of races people focus near the end, and that's what's happening now," he told "Fox News Sunday."

If the election were held today, an Associated Press analysis shows Obama would win at least 271 electoral votes, with likely victories in crucial Ohio and Iowa along with 19 other states and the District of Columbia. Romney would win 23 states for a total of 206.

To oust the Democratic incumbent, Romney would need to take up-for-grabs Florida, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Virginia, which would put him at 267 votes, and upend Obama in either Ohio or Iowa.

The AP analysis isn't meant to be predictive. Rather, it is intended to provide a snapshot of a race that until recently has been stubbornly close in the small number of the most contested states.

It is based on a review of public and private polls, television advertising and numerous interviews with campaign and party officials as well as Republican and Democratic strategists in the competitive states and in Washington.

In the final weeks before the Nov. 6 vote, Obama is enjoying a burst of momentum and has benefited from growing optimism about the economy as well as a series of Romney stumbles. Most notably, a secret video surfaced recently showing the Republican nominee telling a group of donors that 47 percent of Americans consider themselves victims dependent on the government.

To be sure, much could change in the coming weeks, which will feature three presidential and one vice presidential debate. A host of unknowns, both foreign and domestic, could rock the campaign, knocking Obama off course and giving Romney a boost in the homestretch.

Barring that, Romney's challenge is formidable.

Obama started the campaign with a slew of electoral-rich coastal states already in his win column. From the outset, Romney faced fewer paths to cobbling together the state-by-state victories needed to reach the magic number.

It's grown even narrower in recent weeks, as Romney has seen his standing slip in polls in Ohio, with 18 electoral votes, and Iowa, with six. That forced him to abandon plans to try to challenge Obama on traditionally Democratic turf so he could redouble his efforts in Ohio and Iowa, as well as Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Nevada and Virginia.

Romney is hoping that come Election Day, on-the-fence voters tip his way. But there are hurdles there, too.

Early voting is under way in dozens of states, and national and key states surveys show undecided voters feel more favorably toward Obama than Romney.

The Republican is in a tight battle with Obama in Florida, as well as Colorado, North Carolina and Nevada.

But Ohio's shifting landscape illustrates Romney's troubles over the past few weeks.

Republicans and Democrats agree that Obama's solid lead in public and private polling in the state is for real. Over the past month, the president has benefited from an improving economic situation in the state; its 7.2 percent unemployment rate is below the 8.1 percent national average. Obama's team also attributes his Ohio edge to the auto bailout and GM plant expansions in eastern Ohio.

Obama and his campaign have hammered Romney on his tax policies, arguing that the former Massachusetts governor favors the rich while the president as a defender of everyone else.

The president has seen the same good fortune in Iowa. A poll released Saturday by The Des Moines Register illustrates his advantage, showing Obama with 49 percent to 45 percent for Romney. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

"It's a direct result of the time and resources he's been forced to spend here," said Iowa Republican strategist John Stineman.

Indeed, Obama intently focused on the state ahead of an early voting period that began last week. He campaigned in Iowa aggressively this summer and dumped in a ton of TV advertising, much of it depicting Romney as wealthy and out-of-touch with working Americans.

Obama doesn't just have the wind at his back in those states.

The president also appears to be in stronger shape than Romney in Virginia, which has 13 electoral votes, and in New Hampshire, with four votes, even though Romney vacations often in the state where he has a lakeside home. Romney and GOP allies are being outspent in that state considerably, a sign of trouble for the Republican challenger.


Underscoring his challenges, Romney also has been forced to spend millions of dollars a week defending himself in North Carolina, a GOP-leaning state that's more conservative than most of the states that will decide the election.

Polls now show a competitive race there. Democrats boast of having registered 250,000 new voters in the state since April 2011. It's an eye-popping total in a state that Obama won by just 14,000 votes four years ago. A flood of new voters, presumably a chunk of them Democrats, could help keep that state within Obama's reach this year.

Also, Romney's effort to challenge Obama in Democratic-leaning Wisconsin, home state of running mate Paul Ryan, appears to have fizzled. Despite millions of dollars spent on TV in the last few weeks by both sides, polls show Obama with a clear lead in Wisconsin.

Romney's goal of forcing Obama to defend Michigan — Romney's native state — and Pennsylvania never materialized.

"The big strategic moment coming out of the conventions in my view was whether or not Romney and his campaign could succeed in expanding the parameters of the battleground," said Tad Devine, a top adviser to 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore and 2004 nominee John Kerry. "They have not been able to do that."

All this has left Romney with an extraordinarily tight path and few options but to bear down in the states where he is competing aggressively. Time, though, is running out.

Nothing we didn't know, but I always think when the Associated Press starts seeing the writing on the wall, it's a good sign things are about to get even more desperate for the Republicans.
 
Just saw this pretty good ad here in Wisconsin. I think that hits everything an Obama ad needs to. It shows what he's done with the economy, contrasts the future, and even has Clinton in there to remind people of his speech and lend credence to the arguments.
That's pretty effective.
I kind of hope not. I kind of grew to like having him around here.
He's the type of poster that annoys you when he's around, but who you miss when he's gone. Only to realize you shouldn't have missed him when he's back again.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Just saw this pretty good ad here in Wisconsin. I think that hits everything an Obama ad needs to. It shows what he's done with the economy, contrasts the future, and even has Clinton in there to remind people of his speech and lend credence to the arguments.

It is a good ad. It splits exactly down the middle: first 30 seconds looking back at Obama's first term for context, then the last 30 seconds comparing the candidate's plans for the future. It covers a lot of ground to create a strong contrast, without feeling rushed.
 
Christie Defends Romney: ‘He’s Not An Accountant’

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/christie-defends-romney-hes-not-accountant

But . . . . Romney is an accountant. He took accounting courses as part of his MBA. He was head of the audit committee for Marriot.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/opinion/canellos-kleinbard-romney-taxes/index.html

(Where they got nailed for an aggressive tax dodge scheme.)

Isn't Romney being an accountant-type basically the big push of his administration? He'll balance the books!
 

Jackson50

Member
The notion that Romney can change their minds ignores the nature of undecided voters. They are largely weak partisans who the campaign must stimulate. The primary reason undecided voters are breaking for Obama is that he's outperforming Romney in stimulating his base. Romney's failure to develop an effective campaign organization reduced his potential relative to Obama. Consequently, Romney's not going to close the gap.
I don't get this zingers nonsense. Romney is not funny, has poor comedic timing and is painfully awkward. He's just going to piss people off.
And even if he miraculously delivers a few zingers, it's entirely inconsequential. This is a trivial story.
McCain's argument is valid, but the Republicans lack credibility on the issue. After the debacle in Iraq, they have no standing to debate the intricacies of intervention.
Manos is banned?

Anyone in poligaf getting banned when the bish hammer drops in two hours? Any final words of advice?
tumblr_maj15b3uDk1rt2en5.gif
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
I was going to ask what happened to this because I was too busy with school. Did Gaf discuss it on the 27th?

It got it's own thread, but it was more laughing at the so called "hackers" than anything else. Too bad nothing came of it, what would really be funny is if it came right before or after the debate. But it won't. This was always a hoax. Sadly :(
 
"Wednesday night's the restart of this campaign," Christie told David Gregory on NBC's "Meet The Press." "Come Thursday morning, the entire narrative of this race is going to change."
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/christie-debate-restart-romney-154114765--election.html

Christie is a big man to to step up to the plate with this comment. I'm sure he'll bring a ton of support to the floundering Romney campaign. He didn't think the campaign would eat it that badly but a buffet of new policies will rejuvinate the campaign in a big way. He believes Romeny will have them eating out of the palm of his hand.
christie-rnc.jpg

Chris Christie is a large man.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/christie-debate-restart-romney-154114765--election.html

Christie is a big man to to step up to the plate with this comment. I'm sure he'll bring a ton of support to the floundering Romney campaign. He didn't think the campaign would eat it that badly but a buffet of new policies will rejuvinate the campaign in a big way. He believes Romeny will have them eating out of the palm of his hand.

Chris Christie is a large man.

Maybe they'll be
low fat
policies that will encourage
weight loss
.

Also has Romney set a record for number of campaign restarts yet? This is like the third or fourth already.
 
And even if he miraculously delivers a few zingers, it's entirely inconsequential.

The Media is looking for a Romney comeback narrative (actually it has already somewhat started due to the WH Libya missteps). They will play up any "big" moments Romney has, where he may seem to fluster Obama or scored a few points.

As such the debates themselves have been largely inconsequential in the past few years. Not that this year is like the past years, if that was the case, a President with a 8.1% UE wouldn't be favorite for re-election.

Obama has to be careful for this and the foreign policy debate. Economy wise, he has to both defend his record and show people Romney will be worse. His problem will be that (for some reason) the media (not sure about the people?) don't like long answers, and they say in Politics that if you are explaining stuff you are losing. If he is able to explain things in simplistic terms such as Clinton at DNC (and not sure he can) he will do well. And yea, he has had less debate Prep too. Obama also has to be careful that his genuine dislike for Romney and his penchant for sarcasm doesn't overshadow everything. Gingrich didn't have any answer why it was bad for Romney to have a swiss bank account, Obama will need one. Same thing with the whole blind trust facade. That takes a lot of prep, hopefully Obama is up to it.

Romney delivered in the primaries debates when he needed to the most. He knows he needs to do the same here. Romney's problem will be debating a likable President vs a group of Right wing Republicans. Also, Romney for all intents and purposes was the front runner in the primary, that is not the case here. He is some what out of his comfort zone when attacking people and that may haunt him.

Obviously we can hope there is more Romney oppo research we haven't seen yet that will come out in October. The 47% tape was perfectly timed to be releases when DNC bounce was fading.
 
I realized that in order for Mitt to deliver a "You are no Jack Kennedy, Senator" moment in the debate, he will have to step out of the comfort zone and take risk. But that's exactly what his handlers do not want: another $10,000 bet question.
 

Chichikov

Member
I realized that in order for Mitt to deliver a "You are no Jack Kennedy, Senator" moment in the debate, he will have to step out of the comfort zone and take risk. But that's exactly what his handlers do not want: another $10,000 bet question.
Did you also realize that the person who made that comment originally didn't win the election?
 
I realized that in order for Mitt to deliver a "You are no Jack Kennedy, Senator" moment in the debate, he will have to step out of the comfort zone and take risk. But that's exactly what his handlers do not want: another $10,000 bet question.

It should roll out like this:

Obama: "Your party has tried for weeks to stretch and tether the Libya tragedy and me to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and Jimmy Carter. To that I say, you are no Ronald Reagan, Governor."
 
It should roll out like this:

Obama: "Your party has tried for weeks to stretch and tether the Libya tragedy and me to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and Jimmy Carter. To that I say, you are no Ronald Reagan, Governor."

I think Romney said he wants to do the "There you go again" line that Reagan used against Obama.
 

Loudninja

Member
Medicare fines over hospitals' readmitted patients
WASHINGTON (AP) -- If you or an elderly relative have been hospitalized recently and noticed extra attention when the time came to be discharged, there's more to it than good customer service.

As of Monday, Medicare will start fining hospitals that have too many patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge due to complications. The penalties are part of a broader push under President Barack Obama's health care law to improve quality while also trying to save taxpayers money.

About two-thirds of the hospitals serving Medicare patients, or some 2,200 facilities, will be hit with penalties averaging around $125,000 per facility this coming year, according to government estimates.

Data to assess the penalties have been collected and crunched, and Medicare has shared the results with individual hospitals. Medicare plans to post details online later in October, and people can look up how their community hospitals performed by using the agency's "Hospital Compare" website.

It adds up to a new way of doing business for hospitals, and they have scrambled to prepare for well over a year. They are working on ways to improve communication with rehabilitation centers and doctors who follow patients after they're released, as well as connecting individually with patients.

"There is a lot of activity at the hospital level to straighten out our internal processes," said Nancy Foster, vice president for quality and safety at the American Hospital Association. "We are also spreading our wings a little and reaching outside the hospital, to the extent that we can, to make sure patients are getting the ongoing treatment they need."

Still, industry officials say they have misgivings about being held liable for circumstances beyond their control. They also complain that facilities serving low-income people, including many major teaching hospitals, are much more likely to be fined, raising questions of fairness.

"Readmissions are partially within the control of the hospital and partially within the control of others," Foster said.

Consumer advocates say Medicare's nudge to hospitals is long overdue and not nearly stiff enough.

"It's modest, but it's a start," said Dr. John Santa, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. "Should we be surprised that industry is objecting? You would expect them to object to anything that changes the status quo."
http://news.yahoo.com/medicare-fines-over-hospitals-readmitted-084833994.html
 

Suikoguy

I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions

markatisu

Member
The Media is looking for a Romney comeback narrative (actually it has already somewhat started due to the WH Libya missteps). They will play up any "big" moments Romney has, where he may seem to fluster Obama or scored a few points.

As such the debates themselves have been largely inconsequential in the past few years. Not that this year is like the past years, if that was the case, a President with a 8.1% UE wouldn't be favorite for re-election.

Obama has to be careful for this and the foreign policy debate. Economy wise, he has to both defend his record and show people Romney will be worse. His problem will be that (for some reason) the media (not sure about the people?) don't like long answers, and they say in Politics that if you are explaining stuff you are losing. If he is able to explain things in simplistic terms such as Clinton at DNC (and not sure he can) he will do well. And yea, he has had less debate Prep too. Obama also has to be careful that his genuine dislike for Romney and his penchant for sarcasm doesn't overshadow everything. Gingrich didn't have any answer why it was bad for Romney to have a swiss bank account, Obama will need one. Same thing with the whole blind trust facade. That takes a lot of prep, hopefully Obama is up to it.

Romney delivered in the primaries debates when he needed to the most. He knows he needs to do the same here. Romney's problem will be debating a likable President vs a group of Right wing Republicans. Also, Romney for all intents and purposes was the front runner in the primary, that is not the case here. He is some what out of his comfort zone when attacking people and that may haunt him.

Obviously we can hope there is more Romney oppo research we haven't seen yet that will come out in October. The 47% tape was perfectly timed to be releases when DNC bounce was fading.

I will be glad when this election is over, to be as worried as you and giving Romney some ungodly amount of credit must suck.

Romney did not deliver in the debates, he survived and you keep acting like he soundly defeated Santorum when its obvious that if they were even in money Romney was like the Titanic.

We are less than 2 months from the election, any candidate praying they can change the narrative this much during the debates is so far up shits creek without a paddle.
 

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
Sounds like it's based on comparative percentages, which is a good way of going about it.
Hospitals that receive a shit percentage of re-admittance will be scrutinized and compared to hospitals that rate well.

I'm going to guess this might work out ok.

I haven't read the details, but one problem with this can be that hospitals do not take in the same patient populations, and so some hospitals may get shit ratings because they tend to see higher risk patients, which generally have higher rates of re-admittance. Their care may be top notch, and better than another hospital with a higher rating, but that is not seen since they get sent all the complicated cases. I hope this takes into account the types of patients seen because a strict percentage comparison would not be fair at all.
 

Zzoram

Member
The re-admission thing is good. It means that financial incentives for hospitals are no longer to rush patients out the door. They will now do a better job of making sure that their prescriptions are checked and explained and that family doctors are notified of what happened so they can follow up on the patient.

I'm sure that the percentages may eventually have to be tweaked for different populations, but overall this is a good idea. Also I like the idea of transparency, with hospital re-admission data being made public so people can see how they do and if they are improving.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Good stuff. This is part of the delivery system reforms that are going to phase in over the next few years as part of the healthcare law. They're one of the major reasons the law needs to be fully implemented. A public website to compare hospital readmission rates will help remove the black box nature of selecting hospitals to visit.

What is this, the tenth reboot now?

Oh, more than that.
 

Jackson50

Member
The Media is looking for a Romney comeback narrative (actually it has already somewhat started due to the WH Libya missteps). They will play up any "big" moments Romney has, where he may seem to fluster Obama or scored a few points.

As such the debates themselves have been largely inconsequential in the past few years. Not that this year is like the past years, if that was the case, a President with a 8.1% UE wouldn't be favorite for re-election.

Obama has to be careful for this and the foreign policy debate. Economy wise, he has to both defend his record and show people Romney will be worse. His problem will be that (for some reason) the media (not sure about the people?) don't like long answers, and they say in Politics that if you are explaining stuff you are losing. If he is able to explain things in simplistic terms such as Clinton at DNC (and not sure he can) he will do well. And yea, he has had less debate Prep too. Obama also has to be careful that his genuine dislike for Romney and his penchant for sarcasm doesn't overshadow everything. Gingrich didn't have any answer why it was bad for Romney to have a swiss bank account, Obama will need one. Same thing with the whole blind trust facade. That takes a lot of prep, hopefully Obama is up to it.

Romney delivered in the primaries debates when he needed to the most. He knows he needs to do the same here. Romney's problem will be debating a likable President vs a group of Right wing Republicans. Also, Romney for all intents and purposes was the front runner in the primary, that is not the case here. He is some what out of his comfort zone when attacking people and that may haunt him.

Obviously we can hope there is more Romney oppo research we haven't seen yet that will come out in October. The 47% tape was perfectly timed to be releases when DNC bounce was fading.
Let the media look for the comeback narrative. First, it'll prove elusive. And even if they find it, it's trivial. The narrative pales in comparison to Obama's numerous advantages.

I think you mean the past few elections. Regardless, the data extends to the sixties. And the debates have, at most, nominally shifted public opinion. Otherwise, they have no discernible effect. And as to your point about Obama's performance relative to the economy indicating an atypical cycle, no. Although the point has been iterated for the past year by multiple posters, it evidently bears repeating. The overall level of unemployment is immaterial. Rather, the recent trajectory of the economy influences the outcome. And Obama's performance corresponds with modest economic growth. His performance is largely congruous with expectations, although he's probably slightly outperforming given his organizational advantage. So, no. There's no indication this cycle is a black swan.

Further, I'm not interested in analyzing their debate strategies, for debates rarely move public opinion. I'll say this, though. Romney has to be as careful, if not more, than Obama. He's proven to be indelicate on numerous occasions in various contexts. He's much more likely to commit a mistake than Obama. And as for proving himself when it counts, he defeated a field of lackwits. However, that was only after losing to said lackwits on a few occasions. Conversely, Obama's demonstrated his competence against opponents far superior to Romney's competition. And he never faltered like Romney. You frame the argument as if Obama's expected to fail, but the evidence militates against that proposition. Moreover, to preempt the argument that Obama's fucked because the media's going to propagate the narrative of Romney's upset victory, the debates only nominally shift public opinion.

It's over. Accept it. And focus on the Congressional elections.
 

daedalius

Member
Do most people really want to hear a lot zingers during policy debate?

Maybe a couple for emphasis on points, because even Clinton had a couple(sort of) during his speech; but overall I'd rather have it be kept professional.

Of course, there will obviously be some elements that want crowds cheering and constant zingers I'm sure... Republican debates were a travesty.
 
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