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[eBay Huckster]

That district got gerrymandered, it's not in play this time around.

Well, technically speaking, it's somewhere around Iowa in terms of competitiveness right now (if 538's any indicator)

 

[speculawyer]

Also the "companies don't get tax breaks for sending jobs overseas" thing was mindboggling. I'm surprised Obama didnt go over and smack his ass after that lol.

I want to see the Obama campaign write a friendly open letter to Bain Capital pointing out all the provisions that allow deductions for outsourcing but requesting that they instead invest in America.

Do this someone.

 

[Dram]

republican party training poll challengers

I can't view the video, as it's block at my work, but this is going to happen in my state? Someone clue me in as to what exactly these "poll challengers" are going to be doing? Are they going to be harassing people in line for IDs and such? If they are, is this legal? Who am I to contact if this is getting out of hand?

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/voter_suppression_in_new_mexico/singleton/

In the video, recorded on Sept. 26 at “Poll Challenger Training,” Pat Morlen, the vice chair of the Republican Party of Sandoval County, which is just north of Albuquerque, tells trainees that a voter can be required to show an ID “at the request of two or more precinct board members of different political parties.” She also says that voters who were targeted by a recent and controversial voter roll purge conducted by the secretary of state will be forced to vote on a provisional ballot, which won’t be counted unless the election is close. A poll challenger is a representative of either party who can challenge the right of someone to vote based on reasonable suspicion that the voter doesn’t have a right to, but the materials suggest they have more power than to observe and inform officials.

Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who oversees elections as the county clerk of Bernalillo County, which contains Albuquerque, said many of the claims in the training manual are “just inaccurate, either outright or by omission.” One thing that concerned her was the training manual’s suggestion that poll watchers or challengers could “correct” the real election officials, who are appointed by county clerks like her. “They certainly don’t have any authority to make corrections,” she told Salon. “I am really concerned about this concept that you might have these poll watchers out there feeling like they have some legal authority over the process that they don’t have. And acting sort of in a vigilante capacity,” she added.

On the claim that voters can be required to present ID if two precinct board members request it, Oliver said: “That’s just not correct. That’s completely out of step with what’s required by the law.” This selective enforcement of a voter ID law that doesn’t exist could lead to “situations of voter intimidation, unequal treatment of voters, things like that,” Oliver explained.

“I am sure that this organization is well intentioned in terms of wanting to ensure the integrity of the election process,” she said. “And if they are acting within their legal authority as watchers and challengers, then they’re doing their job in helping ensure the transparency of the election process. But if they’re acting in an extra-authoritarian role, then yes, it could potentially intimidate voters and that is a concern. Or obstruct the election process, and that is a concern.”

It’s a reasonable concern considering what happened in Las Cruces two years ago. That year police had to remove two GOP poll challengers from a polling place in the southern New Mexico town for being disruptive and accusing the election judge of tampering with absentee ballots. Earlier, six Republican poll challengers in the same county were “reprimanded” for handling ballots — only election workers can do that — and for insisting that some voters be required to present ID.

Viki Harrison, the executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, didn’t mince words in her assessment of the undercover tape and training manual. “It’s totally insane,” she told Salon. She noted that the state has already been dealing with an attack on voting rights after the secretary of state’s purge, in which 177,000 residents received postcards warning them that they might be removed from the rolls. Even Common Cause’s own voting rights director, who hasn’t missed an election since 1971 and hasn’t recently moved, got a postcard from the state.

But the training manual and the seminar misrepresented the consequences of receiving a postcard. The state is under order from the federal Department of Justice to not remove anyone from the polls until after the November 2014 election. All one has to do to remain an active voter is vote in any election between now and then, or return the postcard. But in the training manual and the seminar captured on video, the Sandoval Republicans are instructing poll challengers that voters who received a postcard must vote provisionally and that it won’t count unless the election is close. That’s false and “just horrifying,” Harrison said.

She also expressed concern about Morlen’s snide comments about Spanish speakers and people with mental disabilities voting. At the training seminar, ironically held at a nonprofit organization that works with mentally disabled adults, Morlen said of people with disabilities, “My own opinion is if the person can’t even say their name, at least their name, I don’t see why they should be voting.” She also suggested that ballots are not available in Spanish and that no assistance will be available for people who don’t speak English. That’s not true, according to the secretary of state’s website.

Pamplet their using to train poll challengers

http://www.scribd.com/doc/108738986/GOP-Pamphlet

 

[pigeon]

per Sesame Street, Big Bird has no comment b/c he is 6 and does not understand why he's in the news. I'm actually not making this up.

.

 

[KingK]

I watched the debate last night at a friend's house and we both agreed that Obama fucked up that debate bad.

Obama came off as tired, rambling, and confused, while Romney came off as confident and reasonable (even if everything Romney said fell apart with a tiny bit of critical thinking, almost none of it was challenged and it sounded reasonable). Romney's entire performance may have been dependent on lies and contradictions, but Obama completely failed to call him on almost all of it, it seemed like he didn't even give a shit. Romney left so many openings to be challenged by Obama, and he only took like two. Plus his responses felt so sporadic and lacked organization. I feel like anyone on PoliGAF could have done a significantly better job than Obama last night. That was the worst I've ever seen him.

Obama is still going to win, I'm not doubting that, but I had hoped this would finish up Romney early so that Dems could focus more on House and Senate races.

 

[Black Mamba]

One thing not being talked about is I think Obama was effective in one aspect.

When he talked about sometimes being a leader requires not working with the other party and saying no to the important stuff like Don't Ask Don't Tell. That you can't just rubber stamp your own party as Romney was doing.

 

[Byakuya769]

Well, that's a good sign.


I've never found him to be a good debater, and could sort of understand the teleprompter remarks (even though they were a hyperbolic talking point from the right), so I'm left wondering and worrying whether Obama has it in him to do some ad hoc, spontaneous and fluently put "verbal fighting" in debates if necessary.

Deal lord, what is happening to you guys?

 

[izakq]

[/I]

Pamplet their using to train poll challengers

http://www.scribd.com/doc/108738986/GOP-Pamphlet

So they should have no contact at all with voters then?

For the sake of my limited knowledge, if I see a poll challenger is not following the guidelines, who do I contact to correct the situation?

 

[RustyNails]

NYT clocking in: "Virtually every time Mr. Romney spoke, he misrepresented the platform on which he and Paul Ryan are actually running."

The Mitt Romney who appeared on the stage at the University of Denver seemed to be fleeing from the one who won the Republican nomination on a hard-right platform of tax cuts, budget slashing and indifference to the suffering of those at the bottom of the economic ladder. And Mr. Obama’s competitive edge from 2008 clearly dulled, as he missed repeated opportunities to challenge Mr. Romney on his falsehoods and turnabouts.

 

[bananas]

So the real winner of the debate is Big Bird.

And the real loser is Jim Lehrer.

 

[The Technomancer]

NYT clocking in: "Virtually every time Mr. Romney spoke, he misrepresented the platform on which he and Paul Ryan are actually running."

The most jaw-dropping part of last night. He basically flip-flopped on his entire platform and everyone came out of the debate saying that he "won"

 

[RustyNails]

.

PBS is really screwing badly. Tell them Mr. Rogers is fucking dead and can't support their ass anymore.

 

[pigeon]

The most jaw-dropping part of last night. He basically flip-flopped on his entire platform and everyone came out of the debate saying that he "won"

In fairness, this technically means "everybody in PoliGAF" was right when they said he couldn't possibly win the debates with the platform he'd committed to.

 

[KingGondo]

PBS is really screwing badly. Tell them Mr. Rogers is fucking dead and can't support their ass anymore.

I don't think defunding PBS is a real GOP priority. I think it's a way to get the base fired up.

 

[eBay Huckster]

Deal lord, what is happening to you guys?

they've been infected by the PD Virus

now diablos is going to fight PD and PD's going to lose his 'evil' programming until the fifth game (and they'll rename it the diablos virus)

 

[Snake]

Big Bird is actually likely to be the defining narrative stemming from this debate. And I'm 100% serious. People are going to use it to mock Romney and hide the fact that Obama gave a weak performance last night. It's not fair obviously, but as a partisan political being I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not glad for it.

The first real sign of this is if SNL's debate sketch is more about Obama sucking, or about making fun of Romney by showing him detailing the fictional characters he will have fired/killed. If it's the latter, then it's a wash for Romney on the media culture front (though he still probably picked up some significant support among voters, so it's not like the debate was meaningless).

 

[Sirpopopop]

Yeah, very strange moment there. That and his 'pursuit of happiness' bit.

So I guess Big Bird isn't worth borrowing money from China for. Wonder what else is on that list.

If you aren't going to cut medicare, medicaid, and the military, the only areas you have left are Social Security & Big Bird.

BIG BIRD IT IS.

 

[jbug617]

PBS and Big Bird have been trending all day long today on Twitter. Did Romney make a mistake about cancelling PBS.

 

[RustyNails]

CNN: Is Big Bird's goose cooked?

Romney is not just after Big Bird -- in addition to PBS, he wants to cut all federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Cutting all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund PBS, would save only $450 million -- not much in the face of trillions of dollars.

Is this really the place Mitt Romney should be targeting? Romney said last night he would not raise taxes, would cut corporate taxes, not cut Medicare, not cut the defense budget and still reduce the deficit. Even a Muppet would call this fuzzy math.

My hope is that Mitt will take a few minutes off the campaign trail and sit with children who are watching Big Bird, Bert and Ernie and the Cookie Monster. Watch the kids' eyes light up as they see their favorite Muppet on the screen. Hear them giggle to the jokes or sing along in learning about the alphabet. Perhaps then, Mitt Romney's heart will grow three sizes and he will give a reprieve to our 8-foot yellow friend.

 

[The Librarian]

PBS and Big Bird have been trending all day long today on Twitter. Did Romney make a mistake about cancelling PBS.

This is why he avoids specifics.

 

[HylianTom]

I asked last night if this Big Bird thing would be a big moment. It's looking likely at this point.

 

[syllogism]

Clearly

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/superpac-attacks-romney-with-12-sad-sesame-street#HTWF2

 

[Black Mamba]

CNN: Is Big Bird's goose cooked?

But Romney is about jobs! JOBS!!! As he fires people.

I wish Obama would have said something "So Governor, you keep claiming this is about jobs but all I keep hearing is about you firing people like Big Bird and Jim Lehrer."

 

[Dram]

So they should have no contact at all with voters then?

For the sake of my limited knowledge, if I see a poll challenger is not following the guidelines, who do I contact to correct the situation?

Election officials where you're voting I think.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/voters_complain_about_gop_poll_watchers_in_nc_coun.php

In cases of poll watchers breaking election law, elections officials have taken the observers aside and explained to them the rules. It’s a time-consuming process, Poucher said, and one that often has to be repeated when new inexperienced observers show up the next day.

 

[Kusagari]

This is why he avoids specifics.

It was a pretty major flub by him. Considering how relatively on point he was at lying and being unspecific the entire night, I'm amazed he actually thought that was smart to say.

 

[Sirpopopop]

How is this spin? I'm just speculating how it coverage of the campaign could play out. "Spin" would be me trying to proclaim that Obama's performance was fantastic. Before this debate and after I've been of the mindset that they have next to no impact on the outcome of the election. I think Obama debated at about the level that he always does and I think the left's reaction to it has been embarrassing.

It's not spin to say that the debates matter little when election day comes; look at modern history. They don't impact much of anything.

Debates usually don't matter because candidates usually put together much better performances than what Obama put out yesterday. Luckily there aren't many undecided voters left from Obama's perspective.

However, as to the definition of "spin" - Slang . a particular viewpoint or bias, especially in the media; slant: They tried to put a favorable spin on the news coverage of the controversial speech. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spin?s=t)

Speculating that it is a good thing that Obama got hit early in a debate, because it allows the Romney "come back" meme to start and then fizzle, fits the definition of applying a "slant" to the performance.

 

[Loudninja]

Clearly

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/superpac-attacks-romney-with-12-sad-sesame-street#HTWF2

Hahaha what a strange development.

Those are very awesome btw.

 

[Red Blaster]

Big Bird seemed like a small thing to me during the debate but I'm more than happy to see it gain traction

 

[gcubed]

Debates usually don't matter because candidates usually put together much better performances than what Obama put out yesterday. Luckily there aren't many undecided voters left from Obama's perspective.

However, as to the definition of "spin" - Slang . a particular viewpoint or bias, especially in the media; slant: They tried to put a favorable spin on the news coverage of the controversial speech. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spin?s=t)

Speculating that it is a good thing that Obama got hit early in a debate, because it allows the Romney "come back" meme to start and then fizzle, fits the definition of applying a "slant" to the performance.

yeah, no. I'm not sure you watched many debates if you rank his performance near the bottom.

 

[demon]

Looking back, I don't think the debate will be as bad for Obama as people are making it out to be. Yeah his performance sucked, but let's get real- Obama gave Romney nothing to work with post-debate, while Romney gave Obama tons of ad fodder. Romney may have phased Obama with his giant flip flops but they'll backfire. Am I misremembering or did Romney say he supports a voucher program for Medicare?

 

[Officerrob]

PBS and Big Bird have been trending all day long today on Twitter. Did Romney make a mistake about cancelling PBS.

It was an idiotic thing to say that he can get away with at rally's, but should never have been said on a national stage

 

[NullPointer]

This is why he avoids specifics.

And exactly why he has to be pressured into spilling more. Romney needs to be called out.

 

[Tim-E]

Debates usually don't matter because candidates usually put together much better performances than what Obama put out yesterday. Luckily there aren't many undecided voters left from Obama's perspective.

However, as to the definition of "spin" - Slang . a particular viewpoint or bias, especially in the media; slant: They tried to put a favorable spin on the news coverage of the controversial speech. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spin?s=t)

Speculating that it is a good thing that Obama got hit early in a debate, because it allows the Romney "come back" meme to start and then fizzle, fits the definition of applying a "slant" to the performance.

lol

Looking back, I don't think the debate will be as bad for Obama as people are making it out to be. Yeah his performance sucked, but let's get real- Obama gave Romney nothing to work with post-debate, while Romney gave Obama tons of ad fodder. Romney may have phased Obama with his giant flip flops but they'll backfire. Am I misremembering or did Romney say he supports a voucher program for Medicare?

He did.

 

[The Technomancer]

Looking back, I don't think the debate will be as bad for Obama as people are making it out to be. Yeah his performance sucked, but let's get real- Obama gave Romney nothing to work with post-debate, while Romney gave Obama tons of ad fodder. Romney may have phased Obama with his giant flip flops but they'll backfire. Am I misremembering or did Romney say he supports a voucher program for Medicare?

He did, and the two times Obama brought it up he was very careful to immediately say "now let me be clear, this doesn't at all effect current recipients"
It was hilarious.

 

[786110]

WASHINGTON—The Obama campaign set a new monthly fundraising record for the 2012 election cycle, taking in more than $150 million in September as supporters rallied behind the president in the final phase of the election, according to people familiar with the totals.

The September total far surpasses the $114 million raised in August, when the Obama team snapped a three-month streak in which it was outraised by Republican challenger Mitt Romney. At the time, the $114 million was the most the Obama campaign had collected in any one month in the 2012 election season. The most the Romney campaign has collected so far was $111 million in August.

Both the Obama and Romney campaigns are raising money jointly with their respective national party committees.

September proved to be a strong month for Democrats, with the presidential nominating convention in Charlotte, N.C., giving the Obama campaign a bounce in the polls and—as is now evident—a fundraising lift. The total was about the same as the $150 million the Obama campaign raised in September 2008, an amount that had shattered the monthly fundraising record at the time.

The Obama campaign on Thursday declined to comment on its September fundraising totals.

The Romney campaign hasn't yet released its September numbers. But in a series of conference calls on Thursday, Romney campaign aides promised that the monthly total would be impressive.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443768804578036744247901504.html

yowza

 

[Owzers]

But Romney is about jobs! JOBS!!! As he fires people.

I wish Obama would have said something "So Governor, you keep claiming this is about jobs but all I keep hearing is about you firing people like Big Bird and Jim Lehrer."

More bullets, less birds.

 

[HylianTom]

Hahaha what a strange development.

Those are very awesome btw.

This is a great example of why I love politics. It's one big circus, and you just never know what'll show-up in the center ring, haha!

Obama spoke about how our budget reflects our values, our priorities. He can take this issue and run with it. At the very least, I suspect that it'll help keep his gender gap well-protected.

 

[Effect]

Looking back, I don't think the debate will be as bad for Obama as people are making it out to be. Yeah his performance sucked, but let's get real- Obama gave Romney nothing to work with post-debate, while Romney gave Obama tons of ad fodder. Romney may have phased Obama with his giant flip flops but they'll backfire. Am I misremembering or did Romney say he supports a voucher program for Medicare?

That medicare ad has to be polished to hell and back. I really wonder if Romney even realized he said it. He just kept on talking.

 

[codhand]

What about Big Baird?

 

[Loudninja]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443768804578036744247901504.html

yowza

Damn.

This is a great example of why I love politics. It's one big circus, and you just never know what'll show-up in the center ring, haha!

Obama spoke about how our budget reflects our values, our priorities. He can take this issue and run with it. At the very least, I suspect that it'll help keep his gender gap well-protected.

Yeah strange times lol

 

[Sirpopopop]

Well, approval doesn't reflect that. The best thing for Romney is to hope that he can peel off Obama supporters+convince a very small remaining undecideds, but as Ghaleon and others pointed out, it's next to impossible when you've crossed the 50% threshold.

Jimmy Carter's approval was in low 30s, which is why Reagan's attacks worked.

Edit: Fixed

I would say we should wait until the post-debate polls to see how approval is reflected. I generally find approval ratings to be fickle polls that slightly adjust from week to week. If you want to put it generally, you could say what most affects approval is the hot button issue at the moment.

I'm willing to say Obama's approval is going to tick down after the debate. It'll tick back up after he hits Romney with some ads from this debate, but not enough to reflect the split he has now from Gallup. What do you want to put on the line here?

 

[Diablos]

Ugh, everyone I'm talking to is feeling the same way. First they were unimpressed, but as reality sinks in it's absolutely terrifying how badly Obama bombed the debate.

Like Popopop said, even when a candidate usually "loses" the debate they are still on their game and criticism is often just made for the sake of ratings. But we saw the President completely lose control of the debate. He completely failed. If I were to grade him I'd say it was a D or possibly F.

It makes me wonder if a. he straight up had a nervous breakdown and/or b. something serious is happening in the US/world that he was recently made aware of that really upset him.

 

[Byakuya769]

2004.

 

[pigeon]

Ugh, everyone I'm talking to is feeling the same way. First they were unimpressed, but as reality sinks in it's absolutely terrifying how badly Obama bombed the debate.

Like Popopop said, even when a candidate usually "loses" the debate they are still on their game and criticism is often just made for the sake of ratings. But we saw the President completely lose control of the debate. He completely failed. If I were to grade him I'd say it was a D or possibly F.

You would not be a popular teacher. Obama's performance was like the definition of C.

 

[gcubed]

Ugh, everyone I'm talking to is feeling the same way. First they were unimpressed, but as reality sinks in it's absolutely terrifying how badly Obama bombed the debate.

Like Popopop said, even when a candidate usually "loses" the debate they are still on their game and criticism is often just made for the sake of ratings. But we saw the President completely lose control of the debate. He completely failed. If I were to grade him I'd say it was a D or possibly F.

It makes me wonder if a. he straight up had a nervous breakdown and/or b. something serious is happening in the US/world that he was recently made aware of that really upset him.

good lord

 

[SmokeMaxX]

Ugh, everyone I'm talking to is feeling the same way. First they were unimpressed, but as reality sinks in it's absolutely terrifying how badly Obama bombed the debate.

Like Popopop said, even when a candidate usually "loses" the debate they are still on their game and criticism is often just made for the sake of ratings. But we saw the President completely lose control of the debate. He completely failed. If I were to grade him I'd say it was a D or possibly F.

It makes me wonder if a. he straight up had a nervous breakdown and/or b. something serious is happening in the US/world that he was recently made aware of that really upset him.

Can you please tell the guys over at Intrade? Obama's stock keeps going back up and I need it to crash momentarily so I can jump on it.

 

[Diablos]

2004.

A valid comparison, somewhat. Still, even Bush did a better job at least looking more calm and collected while he endured Kerry coming down hard on his ass.

Obama was completely ,and I mean completely, out of his element.

 

[Officerrob]

It makes me wonder if a. he straight up had a nervous breakdown and/or b. something serious is happening in the US/world that he was recently made aware of that really upset him.

You are reading far too much into this. The campaign had a plan to play defense and try and coast through the debate by not giving the Romney campaign anything new to attack him with. The strategy was deeply flawed and we all know that, but that's all there is too it.

 

[Sirpopopop]

yeah, no. I'm not sure you watched many debates if you rank his performance near the bottom.

Worse than both of GWB's performances.

Worse than anything I saw out of Clinton/Dole. Clinton/GHWB.

I've only seen snippets of Nixon/Kennedy, but based on what I saw, Obama came off very Nixon-like.

Public opinion seems to be backing up my view so far. At least according to the polls on the debate itself that have been released so far.

No, I don't think it's likely that Obama will lose the election. Bill Clinton's speech at the DNC, and the "47%" remark should ride him to the end.

However, if he has more debate performances like this one, all bets are off.

 

[Diablos]

You would not be a popular teacher. Obama's performance was like the definition of C.

I am taking into account that the entire month of September was erased by Romney's ineptitude within his campaign and the 47% remarks. Obama had so much time to prepare for putting this thing away or at least maintaining his lead with maybe Romney chipping away at his approval by 1 point.