Maybe it is just me, but all the doom and gloom of the past two weeks on the blogs I regularly read that picked up after the Obama debate seems to have completely subsided since Joe Biden slapped around America’s greatest bullshit artist, Paul Ryan. Maybe I am alone on this, but it sure feels like Biden did everything he needed. Fired up the base, exposed bullshit lies as bullshit lies, went after Romney at every chance, and at long last showed contempt for the contemptible ideas Republicans are pushing. This was Josh Marshall’s bitch slap theory of politics in action.
Way to go, Joe.
Oh, and another thing- notice how no one is claiming there were any Biden gaffes, a favorite media meme with Joe?
Joey Maloney
Ol’ Rushbo is saying Joe was drunk, has disgraced the office, should withdraw from the race, yadda yadda.
Quaker in a Basement
showed contempt for the contemptible ideas
There ya go!
Matt McIrvin
I’m pretty sure he’s being slammed for laughing and being insufficiently deferential to Ryan.
zombie rotten mcdonald
Boy, the local news hairdos were sure down on him, though, stretching as much as possible so they could mouth the ‘both sides do it’ platitudes.
kdaug
The zeitgeist is in tumult, the people are fickle.
Touchdown!
And the worm turns.
YoohooCthulhu
You can tell how much Biden prepared for the debate ( A LOT!) by the conspicuous absence of the word “literally” in any of his statements. Suggests he prepared even more than he did for the Democratic primary debates.
Spankyslappybottom
And according to TPM, 51.2 million people watched it.
About 58 million watched Obama-Romney.
I predict HIGHER numbers for next Tuesday’s debate.
It’s on.
John
@Joey Maloney:
Is he basing his understanding of what happened at the debate on reporting in The Onion?
hep kitty
I haven’t even seen the thing, I’ve just seen/heard a couple of really good clips. I am going to watch it in a minute but am terrified of feeling a teensy bit sorry for Ryan.
btw, I think this will be excellent for fundraising. I know I’m donating. A shot in the arm for Dems as a whole. Bring on those congressional races.
Hal
I’m at a level 10 I just don’t give a fuck anymore. At this point I’m saying fuck you America, vote Romney, and waiting for the locust. These candidates could not be anymore dissimilar, but here we are again with an election being decided by dim bulbs too stupid to choose between a card board cut out and President Obama.
LT
Almost want to go see Sully and his PretendThatDidn’tHappen machine.
That fucker. He’s reason’s fifth columnist.
c u n d gulag
Joe threw a perfect game, hit a grand slam home run every time up, touched all the bases, and left the field like a gladiator who smiled and laughed because he was glad he ate the lion, the Christians, and everyone in the stands – including the Emperors of the MSM.
And then kicked the game winning field goal, had a hat-trick, drained a trey – all while wearing the yellow shirt the entire race, and leaving Ussein Bolt in his wake in the 100 Meter Dash.
And, he ate all his low-fat protein, spinach, and fruit.
Not a bad night!
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
@Spankyslappybottom: Wow. And there were football and baseball games on. I was expecting a 40-50 percent drop off.
Comrade Jake
I think Joe may actually be fairly pissed off, and that’s a good thing.
SparkleMotion!
@Joey Maloney: This is proof positive that Joe kicked ass, isn’t it?
hep kitty
@Matt McIrvin: Are you kidding? The whining about Biden being “disrespectful” started hours ago.
Need anyone point out the irony of the contrasting Presidential debate as far as disrespect and deference goes?
General Stuck
Watch this to know the defeat of Paul Ryan was total and beyond teh spin.
Rita R.
@Joey Maloney:
Really, the drug addict who had his maid score his drugs is saying that? Pretty tasteless, considering Biden doesn’t drink. I don’t know if that’s because of a past history of alcoholism or not on his part, but if so, makes it even more despicable. But that’s our Rush.
Same thought though — if they’re whining like this, they know their guy lost.
Yutsano
@LT: Do you really dislike yourself that much? :)
Ben Franklin
The Karate Kid was shown Wax-on, Wax-off…
taylormattd
Once I moved my reading of Daily Kos to almost never, I stopped noticing this whole “doom and gloom is everywhere” thing.
The fact of the matter is, there was never doom and gloom anywhere, except for on a handful of terrible so-called progressive blogs, and on MSNBC.
Comrade Jake
It really is pretty insulting just how colossally bad the Romney/Ryan ideas are, and yet we have a very close election.
the Conster
We’re in a battle of the hearts and minds of Americans, with the entire lazy MSM, the Republican puke funnel and all of the propaganda machinery the Kochs and their ilk can employ against us. We have the truth and the ability to ridicule on our side, and it needs to be fully deployed. As terrifying as it is, the half-wits who will decide this election will be swayed by the winning/losing narrative, and the Dems need to hone the message into easily digestible sound bites for them for the next three weeks. No one wants to vote for a punch line loser. Obama needs to deliver the knock out takeaway meme at the next debate, and we’re just the ones who can do it. Charlie Pierce hangs out here, fer cryin’ out loud!
Journalism!(TM)
Has Mark Halperin’s twitter account been taken over by a parody? It’s been out of control today, and I don’t even know what to make of his latest:
“Gang of 500 joke: which is greater ratio: time @jaketapper spends in makeup:length of GMA o/c OR time Mitt crowd waits: Mitt stump length?”
dmsilev
@efgoldman:
Fixed. Seriously. There was at least one primary debate where he denied the existence of the W. in front of the Mitt.
PsiFighter37
Nate Silver’s forecast looks like total shit. I’m starting to think that maybe the bedwetters have a point.
At this rate, it IS going to come down to Ohio again, just like 2004. Granted, we have the slight advantage this time, but this is not the race that was playing out not a week and a half ago. I think we can hold onto the Senate, but there is absolutely no way we’re going to win the House at this rate. I cannot believe how quickly this turned around. It’s mostly the fault of the MSM, but Obama & team (yes, Plouffe + Axelrod should share some blame, they are not infalliable) should’ve known better.
Fuck the media for being toolbags and getting the horserace they’ve been jerking off to for so long, and shame on Obama for playing it so safe in debate #1. Obama needs to bring his A+ game these last 2 debates, and he needs to not be afraid to hurt people’s fee-fees. Fuck the bipartisanship, fuck the ‘we can all work together’ mentality. Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and all of their ilk are the enemy. They must be destroyed and eradicated.
PF37 +2 (although with 1 Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, it feels more like +5)
blingee
Unfortunately I think all the people who think it is going to make a difference are grasping at straws. Then again I didn’t think the Presidential debate was going to make a difference.
The difference is that the MSM all collectively decided they were going to make the presidential debate about “Obama’s failure” because the guy has been damn near perfect in every way in the campaign till now. He did just fine but I was surprised how many people on the left bought into it as well. With the Biden debate he basically threw it right back at them and the MSM is just calling it a tie..lol.
Oh and btw…FUCK Chris Matthews….again. He settled down and got with the program there for awhile and now the old fuck has gone off the reservation again. Fuck him with a rusty pitch fork.
handy
@Journalism!(TM):
Knee slapper. What’s Halperin waiting for, he should take that act out on the road.
wrb
@Joey Maloney:
So that’s where that came from.
Suddenly mid-day I started posts claiming that Biden was drunk.
trollhattan
@hep kitty:
Ryan’s aggressive lying and deflections will shove any pity seedling into the garbage disposal, right quick. Watch and enjoy!
MattF
Biden is a no-kidding life-long Democrat, a professional politician, and a smart guy. I was not a bit surprised that he administered a smackdown on Ryan. I guess that you live in the winger bubble, then it’s all different… but so what?
the Conster
The question is how do you convince people not to believe the lies they really really want to believe?
Comrade Mary
Sam Wang isn’t freaking.
Amusing Alias
When I saw Biden laughing at Ryan’s nonsensical answers, I suspected that all the girl and boy reporters who have been so googly-eyed over Paul Ryan because he uses Visual Aids will be up in arms because they will recognize that Biden is also laughing at them. Sure ‘nuf.
Xecky Gilchrist
I agree the gloom is clearing up, and yet every time I refresh 538 Obama’s shed more EVs. Stop that, Nate!
trollhattan
@wrb:
Repeating comment above, that’s just Rush parroting The Onion. Weaksauce, Rush. Biden’s a noted teatotaller, rather like your presidential candidate.
Now, who let those dogs out? Who? Who?
gelfling545
@Joey Maloney: I thought Ryan was getting drunk. I mean, who keeps chugging water like that. Probably vodka.
SatanicPanic
@PsiFighter37: Dude, drinking and reading polls? That can’t be healthy
H. Dumpty
Biden did well. Only thing i would have wanted to see more of is explicitly tying the Ryan budget to Romney-Ryan policies. Ryan got away without having to explain how his unpopular budget (which romney had endorsed) is different from the campaign’s plans.
trollhattan
@Comrade Mary:
He’s without a doubt my favorite discovery this election cycle.
PsiFighter37
@Comrade Mary: It is exactly coming down the way 2004 did. That was a shitty, miserable night, and if I have to stay up superbly late to find out whether we’ve staved off the lunatics for at least another 4 years or shit hits the fan now, I won’t be happy.
Goddammit. And yes, go ahead and call me a concern troll. I’ve had plenty of experience and a thick enough skin to take it. Or maybe folks here are more realistic than at GOS.
Ash
@Xecky Gilchrist:
That’s seems to be because the polls still have a lot of Romney’s high points factored in. Not to mention the right wing polls like Mason Dixon (which alone caused a major shift in his Florida prediction) and that Colorado one that had Romney getting 20%+ of the African American vote.
Hill Dweller
The campaigns’ behavior will tell you far more than the polls.
Willard took a detour to NC this week. It seemed ridiculous at the time, but their internal polling must have been showing some movement back to Obama, because the new High Point University poll has the President up 1. If Willard is having problems sealing the deal in NC after the best week of both his Presidential runs, I’m having a hard time believing some of the other state polls.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@YoohooCthulhu:
Something worth keeping in mind regarding Obama performance in the 1st debate (which was pretty much at-par for an incumbent president) vs Biden’s performance: during the normal review of policy issues with his cabinet and top advisors, a president plays the role of the debate moderator and the debate audience while all the other people in the room do the debating. The VP on the other hand is more likely to be one of the people doing the debating.
PsiFighter37
@SatanicPanic: Probably not. But I just can’t fathom how quickly this turned around.
And now I’m going to commit a little bit of heresy – but this is partially the Obama campaign’s fault. If they had spent a lot of time building an AFFIRMATIVE case as to why Obama should be re-elected (instead of spending most of the ammo on the NEGATIVE case as to why Romney should’t be elected), this wouldn’t be an issue. When people want to vote FOR you instead of AGAINST the other guy, it becomes a lot easier. But since Romney lied his fucking face off in Debate #1, and Obama (during the debate) and the MSM (thereafter, jizzing themselves over style points instead of facts) let him back into the race in a big way.
This was nothing like 2004. Kerry, fair and square, demolished Bush solidly in the first debate of 2004 – and that just pulled him even. It wasn’t a huge win, but on style, and on facts, Kerry did a lot better. This time – Romney is an abrasive asshole who lies like the used car salesman trying to sell you the car with the permanent stank – the MSM fucking decides being assertively rude, wrong, and loud matters more than being barely present (because you’d rather be with your awesome wife having a solid anniversary dinner) and having the facts right.
Goddamn. I’ve had this bottled up all day, but this is just making me pissed off. There is no reason Willard Mittens Romney deserves to have any shot at the presidency.
shortstop
@trollhattan: I had forgotten about him and am pleased to rediscover him. I like his no-bullshit style and the lack of editors telling him to muddy up the narrative to imply horse racing.
Michael G
@YoohooCthulhu:
Also, “pink” and “stink” were nowhere to be found.
PsiFighter37
@Hill Dweller: This got analyzed a bit – the pre-debate numbers were really good for Obama, but post-debate is much better for Romney. Shitty poll, out in the field way too long.
Winning NC right now, barring a major turn of events, is a fucking pipe dream right now. Especially since there’s no Liddy Dole busy shooting themselves in the foot this time around.
Lojasmo
@PsiFighter37:
um, no. Virginia, colorado, nevada, New Mexico, florida are all in play here, and went republican in 2004. Take a deep breath and untie your panties, nancy.
danimal
@General Stuck: Thanks for the link, General. That was beautiful.
You know you’re winning when FoxNews is whining.
Paul
@Hal:
It’s amazing, isn’t it? I read somewhere that the main reason for Romney’s bounce is women coming back into his fold. If that’s true, good luck women. You are on your own. It’s not as if the information wasn’t available out there. Hell, Romney belongs to the party that wants to abolish the Violence against Women’s Act for heaven’s sake. He belongs to the party that belies there is such a thing as legitimate rape. They are against equal pay etc etc.
It’s just stunning.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@General Stuck:
That video clip at your link convinced me that our perfectly coiffed newsclowns are:
A) Drunk
B) On drugs
C) Paying someone to hit them in the head several times a day with a sockful of sand
D)All of the above
How in the world can those stupid fucks expect anyone to respect Romney/Ryan when their explications of their fucking plans for this nation consist of “It’s complicated” or “I don’t have time to go into the math.” None of those network nitwits are so much as a pimple on the ass of a real journalist.
SatanicPanic
@PsiFighter37: Well yeah, our media is a bunch of tools. There’s no way they would ever be on Obama’s side. FWIW I don’t think he came off that bad. It’s just that Republicans who wanted to stick it to Obama were happy that Mitt was a jerk, and now they’re excited about going to the polls, where before they weren’t. I don’t think it’s gonna matter. I am firmly convinced that there is no way Mitt Romney will ever be president. This is just the media trying to gin up some interest in a stupid campaign.
Lojasmo
@PsiFighter37:
You are a concern troll. You’re welcome.
The Other Chuck
@Joey Maloney: Biden doesn’t drink AT ALL. Not a drop. I truly will celebrate Rush Limbaugh’s hopefully painful death.
trollhattan
@shortstop:
Biggest problem–a certain portion of his content zooms rather high above my head. Not his fault, but it makes me feel dumb.
“Too many notes, Mozart.”
General Stuck
@danimal:
I especially adored the Dr Evil reference.
PsiFighter37
@Lojasmo: I agree it’s not exactly like 2004 – the offense is being played on their turf instead of ours (in 2004, we had a helluva time just winning PA for Kerry). But if it the recent polls start firming up in favor of Romney (as Colorado and Florida appear to be doing), the battlefield gets narrowed. For all purposes, 2004 came down to Ohio – Bush pressed hard in PA but couldn’t convert. Kerry contested FL, but he never really came within distance of making it a true toss-up.
So yes – granted, there could be a lot of things up in the air come Election Day. I just intensely dislike that it may come down to us wondering what Ohio decides. And since their state government is (once again) controlled wholly by the GOP, you never know.
schrodinger's cat
Release the Tunchen! is he in witness protection program or something, we haven’t seen much of his royal highness in a long time.
I made a lol in honor of Tunch, for Juicers. Shiro Neko serves as Tunch double here.
the Conster
@General Stuck:
The problem is that our “Fox” – MSNBC – led the Obama FAILED parade. We need liberal propagandists.
Rita R.
I wish one of the MSNBC hosts — or anyone of these useless media pundits, really — would say something like this in response to all the whining about big bad mean Joe: “Look, if Ryan can’t stand up to some heat from Joe Biden, how can we expect him to stand up if he should ever have to take the president’s chair to al-Qaida, Ahmadinejad, Assad, etc.”
schrodinger's cat
Polls are not set in stone, there is much work to be done between now and election day, if Obama’s support is not rock solid neither is Romney’s. Leave the panicking to bearded bloggers with no hair on their heads.
Hill Dweller
@PsiFighter37: Why did Romney go to NC this week?
Comrade Dread
@Matt McIrvin: Maybe he should have just chuckled and said, “Well, there you go again.”
Paul
@the Conster:
Yes, that was awful to watch. Ed Schultz in particular. Compare Schultz’ freak out after Obama’s debate to how the FoxNews pundits spun things after last night.
Montysano
@JC
Just like with the teleprompter meme, it’s deadly to start believing your own bullshit.
It’s also deadly to have douche-tastic workout photos hit the interwebs the day before The Biggest Day Of Your Life.
Keith G
Humans function best when we are optimistic , therefore we have an innate drive to gather around those who help us feel so.
Nonetheless for most of our species history we were prey for other, so suspicion and dread are still part of our circuitry.
Instinctive politicians like Biden automatically tap into these ancient emotions as they go about the business of rallying folks to their side. Even had he “”gaffed”, it might not have matter much since Biden’s other efforts create a cushion of good will.
By many accounts, Obama has little interest in tapping into these emotions, but that might be what separates good politicians from exceptional ones. I wonder what he will decide to do?
Cacti
Nate Silver’s blog has me feeling blue.
OTOH, some of the polls he’s been flogging leave me scratching my head. I know he’s a stats guy, and there must be a reason for it, but I can’t help but wonder about his plugs for…
The latest Mason-Dixon FL poll that has Mitt with 57% of hispanic support.
The Pew Poll whose makeup was 15% non-whites, or about half the number of non-whites who will vote in the election.
And the Gravis Marketing CO poll that had Mitt taking 57% of the african american vote, and 33% of the hispanic vote.
PsiFighter37
@Hill Dweller: No offense, but these kind of pithy responses avoid the question and don’t answer anything. This trip has probably been planned in advance. You can’t just show up a day or 2 before and say “Hey, we want to host an event here. Make way, bitches.”
Speaking from experience on this one – there was a Kerry rally at our college in 2004, and there was quite a bit more notice than a couple days.
Cacti
@the Conster:
You mean reformed right wing bastards like Ed Schultz don’t do it for you?
SuzieC
Yeah, but…Sam has it as 277-261. How did this happen? I am freaking out.
Rita R.
@Paul:
Yes, Schulz and Chris Matthews. In fairness, the other MSNBC-ers were a lot better, honest that it wasn’t a good night for Obama, but not crazed like those too.
The ironic part is that Schulz and Matthews have these shows because they’re supposed to know politics and we’re supposed to watch for their insights. But that night, all they showed was that they don’t know how the game is played, or if they do, they have so little self-control that it was more important for them to vent their frustrations over Obama’s performance than be strategically smart to help their side. I am convinced that the over-the-top reaction of those two played a not insignificant role in how overwhelming the media narrative became of that debate being a total OMG Obama disaster.
Ash
Again, Nate and Sam Wang both incorporate all polls, including the bad ones.
Chin up and go volunteer! We can do our part in making sure that people go out and vote in those necessary swing states!
trollhattan
@General Stuck:
That was gold. Here’s a Biden gesticulation collection from buzzfeed. Caption writer’s craft is topnotch.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/the-many-gesticulations-of-joe-biden
Paul
@Rita R.:
Absolutely. Compare Matthews/Schultz to FoxNews and how their narrative is that Biden kept interrupting, was rude etc etc.
The same case could easily have been made by Matthews/Schultz about Romney. Yet they chose not to. And now the narrative is that Obama lost big, while Biden was rude.
Why can’t ever liberal pundits stay on message that favors their own side?
opie_jeanne
@PsiFighter37: Please stop it. I’m an old lady and you’re making my BP rise.
Just go for a walk, have a cookie, do something to calm down, please, because I just can’t take your hyperventilating. And I’m not saying this to be mean, I really am worried about you, not to mention my own sanity.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
Uncle Joe didn’t panic, so why should we?
Threw $15 at the re-election campaign today, tomorrow I’m headed to the local office to get a yard sign.
opie_jeanne
@SatanicPanic: Thank you.
Matt McIrvin
@PsiFighter37: It’s 2004 upside down. Romney is the John Kerry.
PsiFighter37
@opie_jeanne: I appreciate the worry, because I am surrounded by people all day who are salivating at the prospect of a President Romney, even if they’re all bloody idiots for doing so. My BP is plenty through the roof already.
I’m just being realistic. And even if I’m not as super-negative-Nelly as Sully or others, it is nowhere near as close to the rosy picture that people at GOS think it is.
Cacti
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
Because the projections for O have done nothing but drop precipitously over the past 2 weeks?
Because his debate performance was the equivalent of a fumble on the 1 yard line?
Because people care a lot less about VPOTUS debates than POTUS debates?
The media has their narrative. Romney turned it around in the first debate. Anything short of obvious dominance by O in the second round will be spun as Romney win.
lol
Let’s buy Biden a Trans Am (for charity)
mclaren
It’s just a shame that Joe Biden is such an authoritarian bully worshiper, author of the shameful and grossly illegal precursor to the treasonous USA Patriot Act, all-around lover of illegal wars of aggression (for 5 long years Biden whined “we need to give it one last shot” in Iraq) and an ardent proponent of the insane and failed War on Drugs.
Biden emdodies consummate evil. The man actually believes that marijuana is a ‘gateway drug’ and that kids needs to be jailed for decades because they puff a doobie. The man actually adores riot-armored cops kicking in the doors of college kids who download mp3s and dragging them off to prison.
Biden has no respect for the constitution, he has nothing but contempt for the basic guarantees of the rule of law and the Magna Carta going back 900 years, and Biden hates and despises democracy in all its forms.
The only thing Biden has going for him is that Ryan and Romney are much, much worse.
That’s not a real strong recommendation.
Felanius Kootea
@mclaren: Oh fuck off.
FlipYrWhig
Jesus Christ, some people sure enjoy worrying.
SatanicPanic
@Cacti: The media’s power gets weaker every election. No one cares about a bunch of old white men sitting around a table on sunday morning. Step back from the ledge Cacti
SatanicPanic
@FlipYrWhig: No kidding. It’s getting borderline GOS-like here with all the drama. And of course crazy ‘ol mclaren has to show up to firebag the place.
Violet
@FlipYrWhig:
Yeah, they do. I wonder what they get out of all that worrying? Must be doing something for them or they wouldn’t do it.
opie_jeanne
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-: Good job.
I’m considering a couple of yard signs, but I’m afraid it will just end in a fist-fight with the idiots next door. I live on the east side, outside of Seattle.
The neighbors (idiots three houses in a row and the ones across the street) have yard signs that let me know who not to vote for in the local elections, but amazingly there are no Mitt signs anywhere. A funny side note: Republicans running for public office tend to leave off the little (R) on their signs, or make it so small that you can’t spot it from a moving car, even when it’s on a huge billboard.
AnnaN
Speaking of krakens John, I think you might like this. A Dark and Stormy, courtesy of ABChao:
Equal parts Ginger BEER (not ale) and Kraken Rum (MUST be Kraken because of the flavoring) and the juice of a quarter lime over crushed ice.
Yum. Honest.
Ding dong
@Cacti: don’t know about Pew and Colorado but the Fla one would have Cubans who are still pretty Repub. I am tired of Romney talking about soldiers when he and his five sons are all chickenhawks.
M-pop
@Joey Maloney: The only thing I can say in Biden’s defense is that I wish I had that kind of command over facts and figures when I’m drunk.
Baud
@FlipYrWhig:
Remember when it was Democratic leaders who were spineless and weak?
Good times.
JPL
@PsiFighter37: Mitt’s motto should be Vote for me I am a good liar.
M-pop
@AnnaN: I like the sound of that! Have one for me :)
Geez, is it me or am I having a TGIF attack?
WaterGirl
If there’s anyone here who is maxed out to Obama but still has money to contribute, I would ask you to consider contributing to David Gill, who is running in IL-13 to replace what has been a republican for a million years.
This race is one of the “red-to-blue” seats.
Republicans are spending 3.2 MILLION dollars on one congressional seat here in Illinois. And they are spending it on LYING ads. It’s disgusting, and I see the ads go by every time I watch TV.
I have already donated more than I can afford, but I would be willing to match up to 100.00 if anybody here would be kind enough to donate to one of the good guys.
Here is David Gill’s issue page – If you like what you see I hope you will consider clicking the link to donate. This is JenJen’s congressional race, too, if that makes a difference.
MESSAGE FROM DAVID GILL:
I’ve been telling you for weeks about the millions Republicans and their corporate outside groups are pouring into this race. This chart outlines how much is being spent in ads that lie about me.
(chart wouldn’t copy)
$3.2 million. That’s how much the Republicans think this seat is worth.
Frankly, I’m disgusted. We don’t need a Congressman who is beholden to these big, special-interest groups. They will expect something in return, and Rodney will deliver in spades.
We can’t match this kind of outside spending, but we can fight back with a better message.
Please help me raise $10,000 to show these big spenders that we won’t lie down and be silent.
We can win this. Together.
Chris
Like I said, I’m baffled that no one’s picked up on the “Syria is five times the size of Libya” gaffe, given the media and conservatives’ fondness for using “Biden” and “gaffe” in the same sentence. Yeah, most of them probably don’t have the basic geographical knowledge to know it’s a gaffe, but surely SOMEONE… no?
redshirt
I must admit for the first time EVER, I am now nervous. How did this happen, because of a debate? I’ve read all the reasons, but buy none of them.
I do know I now see Rmoney signs and even yes, bumper stickers everywhere. My approximate count of yard signs in rural Maine – Rmoney 100 to 1. What the heck?!
This was a slam dunk just a couple of weeks ago, with posterization. Now…
the Conster
OT, but FTFY!
bemused
The crew on the Philips File radio show were laughing at the rightwing accusing Biden of being drunk…”So Ryan got his ass kicked by a old drunk guy?”. They went on to trash Fox News folks, Hannity, Cavuto…”They’re the guys who always got picked last on the team and they’ve been taking it out on everybody else since”.
ranchandsyrup
Wingers want it both ways. Two wetsuits and a dildo. Joe Biden’s drunk like Yeltsin and a nefarious and discourteous debate strategery mastermind. Occupy people are moronic hippies who can barely fashion a bong and the architects of a happening before your eyes commie revolution.
Bruce S
Nate Silver kind of has me worried. While a 61% probability are still good odds, a 23 point drop in probability in one week is troubling. My understanding is that Silver handicaps the polls, based on his analysis of their methodology and reliability. The truth is that folks who got worried after the 1st debate were worried for good reason. And a good vice-presidential debate is not a firewall. I’m confident Obama will deliver, but that’s the game. Not feel-good Bidenmania. The good news, from Silver’s blog is that the Missouri and Indiana Senate seats are likely wins for the Dems, primarily because of wingnut overreach.
the Conster
@redshirt:
Any reason to believe in the white man’s lies. Any reason.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@mclaren:
I fell your pain, man. I was sooooooooooo disappointed when Jesus Mohammed Gandhi chose not to run.
Keith G
@Chris: Their populations fit that ratio.
Brian
@Paul: I’ve made that point several times today. Most people wouldn’t have thought Obama did that bad except the MSNBC crowd freaked out so it became conventional wisdom Obama lost. I watched it well after and it wasn’t as lopsided as the media covered it.
This time Ryan got pwnd and Fox claims he won so CNN etc. report the tie because both sides claim victory.
opie_jeanne
@PsiFighter37:
I think we will not see Romney in the White House, at least not as a resident, I don’t think you need to worry about it.
I do understand now, you feel almost like a hostage where you work. My dad wanted to fight with me about politics all the time, and I wouldn’t let him. I told him I didn’t want that to be what I remembered about our remaining time together, which amounted to about 12 years. He died last month and I’m so glad I did that. He did sometimes ask me about stuff he had been sent online and I’d do the work and dig out the truth about the lies that were being told, and I think he appreciated that.
Because of this election I have had to stop talking to some of my friends and relatives, have had to block them on FB and remove them as friends on other sites, and had to block an idiot distant (not distant enough) cousin who wanted to speak at my father’s funeral. He muscled his way up to the podium at my mother’s funeral and gave a truly weird speech about her, and I wasn’t having him ruin Dad’s with whatever nonsense he would have spouted, and it would have been political this time. I hardly spoke to him afterwards, made myself too busy, and we had a decent memorial service.
I swear, between the Evangelicals who show up at funeral on fire to convert our Jewish friends who attend, and the political idiocy they want to push during a funeral and afterwards, I don’t know why I haven’t murdered someone yet.
quannlace
What took you so long? That’s the way I felt back in 2004
Joseph Nobles
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Damn, I never thought of it that way, and you’re right. That could also explain the sucky first performances of most incumbent president in the debates. They do speeches all damn day long, but head butting someone you’ve not handpicked? Excellent point.
Chris
@Cacti:
How many Hispanics in Florida are Cuban? That’ll do it.
opie_jeanne
@SatanicPanic: What is GOS, please? I missed the definition of that one.
Chris
@Keith G:
Except he explicitly said “five times as large geographically.” I suspect he probably did mean to talk about population and just got mixed up (can happen to anyone).
SatanicPanic
I guess it WAS a bit too much to hope for a whole campaign season without a liberal freakout. We were so close.
Joel
I do feel much better after Biden’s performance yesterday. It reassures me that Obama’s making his due preparations. Because, let’s be honest with ourselves, the presidential debates count for a lot more.
@SuzieC: You should read his comments to reassure yourself. Sam’s a partisan like us, but he basically states that any erosion in the Romney bounce won’t show up for a while. The favorable Obama polls from before the debate are dropping off right now.
gwangung
@Chris: Pew says
Possible….but also possible some monkey business with the sampling.
SatanicPanic
@opie_jeanne: The Great Orange Satan- Daily Kos. Home of the most emotionally unstable liberals.
Bex
@mclaren: Weep and wail all you want. Nobody cares.
SuzieC
@Joel:
I agree about Biden. I did read Sam’s comments and tried to reassure myself but a nearly 60 point drop in EVs in a month is still causing me to freak out. I freak out a lot, however.
We’ll see how things look next week after the Rmoney bounce has dissipated and the Biden effect has kicked in.
burnspbesq
@mclaren:
I couldn’t possibly be less interested in what you have to say.
opie_jeanne
@SatanicPanic: Thank you. I did see The Great Orange Satan a while back, didn’t realize it had been shortened to GOS.
And I did see a link to something listed as GOS, and it went to Daily Kos. I can’t go there too often because of the freakouts, and I remember thinking FireDogLake was a good place, but that was a long time ago, before Jane Hamsher declared war or whatever it was.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@Bruce S:
This to me is the most fucked up thing of all: Romney has no coat-tails (that I’ve read about anyway). The Dems aren’t really doing all that badly in the Senate races (and still have a very slim chance for the House).
A large and rapid swing from D to R for President, that doesn’t effect downticket races?
That is the part that makes no sense to me.
Chris
@the Conster:
Or the Republican. Once again, my theory that our “moderates” want to elect Republicans and get Democratic policies.
Republican rhetoric feels good. It’s nice to believe that all your country’s problems are caused by These People and that you’re a helpless victim of them all, it’s nice to believe that you can have your happy 1950s society without needing to pay anything for it, it’s nice to believe that everyone in the world who has a problem with America only “hates us for our freedom,” it’s nice to believe that you’re a Galtian hero who got everywhere by yourself without any help from anyone else. No need to take responsibility, no need for self-reflection, no need for uncomfortable complexity. If you’re a white middle-class male who’s never been on the receiving end of their blame-game, it often resonates nicely.
TooManyJens
@WaterGirl:
Not that it matters, but I think you mean me. :)
magurakurin
@opie_jeanne:
Great Orange Satan
Might have been a term that Duncan Black coined, but not sure about that. It’s been around a long time though.
This is going to be a close one, but I am fairly confident that the numbers should get a bit better this coming week. The president will be much sharper at the next debate of that I am sure. I’m also sure he will declared the loser by the likes of FOX and probably CNN no matter what, but there should be enough push back this time to have it settle out as “a tie.”
It’s all bullshit, but we knew that going in, right? President Obama is a big league player. He won’t go down without a fight, but anyone who thought this was going to be a walk in the park based on the numbers before was kidding themselves. It was always going to be a nail-biter come October.
SatanicPanic
@opie_jeanne: I guess some liberals weren’t ready for a Democratic president and all the compromising that entails. FDL and GOS both went off the deep end. FDL in opposing the president (except for TBogg) and GOS in just arguining non-stop amongst commenters. I’ve heard that it was always like that though.
redshirt
And so I’m clear I still think O wins this, and I’m doing what I did in 2008 to try and help ($$$), I just wanted to crush these sick fucks. And alas, suddenly! That doesn’t seem the possibility it did but a fortnight past.
McJulie
@Bruce S:
And seems kinda unlikely, too — on the fundamentals.
I’m sort of reading this as pent-up Republican demand, actually. We already know, no matter what, that the Republican is probably going to get at least 47% of the popular vote. But they weren’t committing their support because they bought into the Romney = loser narrative. The debate/coverage halted that narrative (for now, anyway) and made a lot of likely Republican voters feel better about letting the R flag fly.
The worrying thing here is the feedback loop of perceived momentum. There are always bandwagon-jumpers and lazy thinkers who go with whatever way the wind seems to be blowing.
I’ve got my mojo working for a juicy Romney gaffe during debate #2, something along the 47% lines. I’m hoping that Obama has figured out how to make a compulsive liar look bad by tricking him into two contradictory statements in the same session, in front of the same people.
If we can get Mr. Mendacity to a “me or your lying eyes” moment, that’ll do it I think.
NR
@SatanicPanic:
I can’t wait for Obama’s second term, when he “compromises” away trillions of dollars in Social Security and Medicare funds.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Cacti: We had two months of #RomneyShambles ending abruptly when Mittens finally had the moment to say ‘hello’ to the national audience that fell asleep during the Old Man Yelling At Chair act in Tampa. It was totally Joe Isuzu to be sure, but it was the first time to really see him act with confidence and without tripping over himself in a non-soundbyte setting. Republicans re-found their spine, dismayed Democrats went back to proving Will Rogers right yet again. I don’t see it as a tumble, I see it as the race returning to the baseline it should have been if the GOP hadn’t spent the summer bumbling.
I don’t think Obama’s going to take his next debates as quietly and politely, and I don’t see Rmoney doing anything different since his best appearance has always been playing the salesman. Consumer confidence is high, unemployment is finally at where it was four years ago, and Obama is still a popular – if polarizing – President. Nothing to worry about here.
Djur
@AnnaN: The dark and stormy is a fine drink, but Kraken is neither required nor traditional. The traditional rum for the dark and stormy is Gosling’s Black Seal.
Any Jamaican dark rum is acceptable, though (Myer’s is fine, for instance). Kraken is a spiced dark rum — an interesting take on the drink, but not the traditional one.
I’ll have to try it, though. Cheers!
McJulie
@Chris:
And the MSM feeds that narrative soooooo hard, by fluffing Republican politicians while at the same time making Democratic ideas and values sound good. I’m reminded of — I think a PEW poll — during 2004 that found many likely Bush voters attributing Kerry’s policies to him.
That dynamic has not changed at all, not even with the current Nightmare House in Congress.
SatanicPanic
@NR: oh groan
WaterGirl
@TooManyJens: Dammit! I paused for a second, wondered about JenJen vs. TooManyJens, realized that JenJen is the football person and you are the person here. And then I typed the wrong one. Ergh!
gwangung
@NR: You’ve been saying this since 2010.
You’ve got a lot in common with the NRA.
So just what ARE you trying to sell people?
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@McJulie:
Exactly.
Unless someone drops a bomb on him at the town hall, I’m not seeing it. I see him and I keep seeing Joe Isuzu, or more accurately, Gordon Gekko. Rmoney knows how to sell to an audience.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another #RomneyShambles moment outside of the debate.
redshirt
Kraken = Ironmen. Amirite?
Spring Texan
@NR: Yeah, I’m not in any panic about Obama’s being re-elected. He will be, though not as handily as if he hadn’t shown himself for the conservative social-security cutter he is in the first debate, and sucker-up to Republicans.
And yes, I’m glad he’ll be re-elected compared to the alternative, though I won’t vote for him; he’s below my minimum standards.
What I’m in a panic about is how he is trying to cut Social Security in the lame-duck session!!!
NR
@gwangung:
Make that 2011, which not coincidentally was when Obama publicly announced that he wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare by $650 billion. I guess I shouldn’t have taken him at his word?
Spring Texan
CA Rotwang is 100% right: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ca-rotwang/mr-president-tweak-this_b_1954374.html “It is a scandal of modern American politics that a vital program presently needing no change at all, as far as solvency goes, is widely believed to be on a path to bankruptcy. The program’s unappreciated health can be verified by reference to the most recent annual report of the Social Security Trustees. If you trouble to look at Table VI.F4 you can see the cash shortfall in the program over the next 75 years is never more than 1.6 percent of GDP. There is no program deficit until 2033.” Biden played along with this too by not questioning Raddatz’s assertion that “Social Security is going broke.” (Now Medicare is a different matter, it does have problems.)
I’m terrified of how Obama will HURT people BAD with his great aim to cut Social Security. Write and call your congresscritters, Republican and Democratic, and tell them NO DEAL on any grand bargain! (You have my permission to prevaricate about why if you are calling Republicans, and say you hate taxes or something – it was the stupid tea party that saved us from the grand bargain LAST time.)
gwangung
@NR: Words and deeds. Check the functional effect.
You could learn from the NRA.
Chris
@McJulie:
Over in France, I can’t help but feel that a big reason President De Gaulle was so popular (other than the WW2 image) was that he took all his policies from the left (political democracy, social democracy, statist economics, decolonization) and all his rhetoric from the right (patriotism, religion, a military-tinted love of tradition). And that since left-wing voters care more about policies and right-wing voters about empty rhetoric, it works out.
Maybe just a theory, but it seems to fit.
NR
@gwangung: So Obama was lying about offering to cut Social Security and Medicare?
Maude
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
The last poll I read showed more people trusted Obama with the issues in the mid east thatn they did Romney. That is an important one. Romney and Ryan have been talking about killing innocent people in Iran etc.
redshirt
The FireBaggers have arrived…
NR
@Maude: Yeah, having a president who kills innocent people in the Middle East would be a horrible thing.
lol
@NR:
I see it’s not just idiots on the right who think cuts to make Medicare more efficient is the exact same thing as cutting benefits.
TexasMango
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God:
That’s why I’m not buying this Romney bounce using polls that don’t reflect what the actual electorate will look like. You’d think there would be a down ticket effect, but there isn’t.
I smell bullshit and chicanery.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@lol: Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.
NR
@lol: Only an Obot could say something like “cuts to make Medicare more efficient” with a straight face. Or a right-winger, I suppose. On this issue, there’s really no difference between them.
Free clue: Medicare operates with 2% overhead. There’s not much more efficiency to be had.
And I notice that you ignored the fact that Obama ALSO offered to cut Social Security.
Matt McIrvin
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God:
It kind of does make sense to me, but it’s not a pretty kind of sense.
What do those winning downticket Democrats have in common? They are white.
I suspect, as others have suggested here, that a significant number of Obama’s 2008 supporters were (honorably) suppressing their reflexive distaste at voting for a black man because of the extraordinary circumstance of the fantastically crappy presidency of George W. Bush and the equally fantastic crappiness of McCain/Palin. They basically like Obama’s policies. And in this cycle, having already done the deed, they could initially imagine themselves doing it again.
But still the feeling of disquiet nagged at them, and on some level, they were looking for a way out. Then this debate comes on, and very, very white Mitt Romney doesn’t seem like such a bad guy after all, and he’s really showing up Obama.
And they give themselves permission.
If that’s what’s going on, they’re not coming back, unless Romney melts down in extraordinarily spectacular fashion.
NR
@Matt McIrvin: Well I’m sure calling them all racists is a great way to win them over.
Kane
Notice also that many of the loudest voices during the freakout were republican supporters of Obama or former republicans who at some point had switched teams. Clearly there were lifelong die-hard liberals who were critical of Obama’s performance, but most didn’t seem to be part of the panic of the freakout.
Can't Be Bothered
How in the flying fuck did this turn in to an invitation for everyone to come in here and piss their pants? It’s going to be a close election that Obama will win. He was up by 7 or 8 in Ohio, now it’s 4-6. The right leaning polls showing Romney up 1 there? Yeah, they had Obama up by 1 before the debate and all the months preceding. It shifted two points b/c of the debate. Two. The debate did real, permanent damage, but it’s still a bounce. No matter what, the narrative changes on Tuesday. And no shit, if things just keep on this horrific trajectory for the next three weeks, Obama will lose. Chances are that that is not going to happen. Chances are Obama makes a mini comeback. Chances are he pulls out a narrow popular vote win, takes Ohio by 2-4 points, and gets put over the top by Iowa or Nevada. THAT is the realistic scenario right now. Some of you have PTSD about 2004. Obama lost his margin for error last week, but he is still in a very strong, very realistic position to win.
Matt McIrvin
@NR: Doubtless they’re not overtly racist and wouldn’t self-identify as racists. But, yes, we’re at a point in this country where being called a racist is such an insult that it’s impossible to even examine racist feelings that people of generally good character might have, and this is a problem.
TooManyJens
@Can’t Be Bothered:
Damn right we do. Most horrifying election in my lifetime. I know you’re right, but it’s going to be a long 25 days.
NR
@Matt McIrvin: Well since the only possible reason that anyone could oppose Obama is racism, it’s too bad we can’t talk about it.
Cacti
@TooManyJens:
2004 was demoralizing, but nothing could top the horror show that was 2000.
5 members of the US Supreme Court decided that continuing to count legally cast ballots in Florida caused irreparable harm to the constitutional rights of George W. Bush.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@c u n d gulag: Maybe he’ll play third for the Yankees soon! ;)
I only caught a couple minutes of the debate on the radio last night. But I was like FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK…yeah Joe. Made me proud to be a Blue Hen. I seriously doubt Obama will bring this level of bitch-slap in the next debate, but given it’s foreign policy, and after all the pearl-clutching among Dems, I have a feeling he’ll have a lot more swagger than in the first debate.
Go Tigers!
TooManyJens
@Cacti: I found 2004 more horrifying because the country had seen four years of Bush and fucking voted for him anyway. I just couldn’t believe it. It was like someone knowing they were in a slasher flick but shrugging and walking into the dark basement anyway.
El Cid
@Matt McIrvin: Also, we keep redefining “racist” down to mean only those people who both overtly and in their conscious minds say ‘BLACK PEOPLE AND OTHER RACES ARE GENETICALLY INFERIOR TO WHITE PEOPLE AND I HATE THEM AND WISH THEM HARM’ and anything else is somehow just complexity and so forth.
LD50
@NR: I remember GOP concern trolls like this from 2005: “Oh, you Democrats could start winning elections if you weren’t so disrespectful of REAL AMERICANS”. Blow me.
redshirt
@TooManyJens: That’s awesome. I walked by the Kerry victory platform in Copley Square that evening on my way home from work, thinking for sure I’d be back shortly, a change of clothes, partying it up, celebrating the fall of Bush. Alas!
redshirt
Although I’ll say this, thank FSM: The Bush second term was FAR less damaging than the first. Thank you, Democratic Congress.
Xecky Gilchrist
@TooManyJens: Nicely said! Just how I felt.
OzoneR
@NR:
oh let it go. We get it, you don’t like him. You’ve never liked him. But you’ve been beating this dead horse for years now and its never happened.
NR
@LD50: You’re right, of course. Racism is the only possible reason Obama could be in trouble. Well, that and liberals not supporting him enough. Remember, Obama can’t fail, he can only be failed.
NR
@OzoneR: Not for lack of trying on Obama’s part.
OzoneR
@NR:
Seriously, that’s your response? Wow, that’s pathetic.
OzoneR
@NR:
Hmm, can’t imagine why liberals went from being 90%+ behind him on Oct 1 to not even showing up on likely voter polls Oct. 12
Must be because he was to cut Social Security.
Susan in Colorado
@hep kitty:
We donated last night as well. Positive reinforcement…
opie_jeanne
@lol: Is that what this idiot is talking about?
LD50
@NR: You’re SO right. The REAL racists are the people who point out that racism exists. If only we’d had you in 2004.
AnnaN
I specify Kraken for the D&S because every time I say “spiced rum” people reach for the Captain Morgan’s and it lacks the right spices to properly mix with the ginger beer and lime. Makes it blah.
Marduk
Release the Kraken
Good god y’all.
Mnemosyne
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
He knows how to sell to a captive audience, but he really, really sucks at interacting with voters. He inevitably comes off as condescending and bullying, which is fine when he’s talking to that near fella, but not quite so appealing when he’s doing it to a nice white suburbanite like you.
And the next debate is a town hall format.
Just sayin’.
Mnemosyne
Also, there’s no point in even trying to talk to the Social Security hysterics at this point. They’ve been convinced since November 2008 that Obama was going to kill Social Security and there is no amount of evidence you can present of Obama, you know, not killing Social Security, that will ever convince them.
At this point, they’re the left’s equivalent of Harold Camping’s followers. No matter how many times the apocalypse fails to materialize, this time it’s totally around the corner, I swear you guys, I really mean it this time!
The Klown
I love this blog!
Back in the real world, the White House spent most of Friday walking back some of the numerous inaccuracies and misstatements uttered by Joe Fool during the debate. Meanwhile, the general (but not unanimous) consensus seems to be that he behaved in a manner commonly known as “asshole.”
BTW – How distorted is your grasp of reality when you think the mainstream media is out to get Barack Obama?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@The Klown: Yum! More pie!
arguingwithsignposts
@The Klown: BTW, how distorted is your grasp of reality when you come in and try to shit on a dead comment thread?
Chris
@arguingwithsignposts:
Lot easier to proclaim victory that way. Yoko had a thing for doing that too.
The Klown
@arguingwithsignposts:
If it’s dead what are you doing here? Are you a necrophiliac or something?
Patricia Kayden
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: Best comment! You win a BJ cup!