The Final Days

Measuring Enthusiasm in the final days 

Steve Wonder concert for Obama comes up short

Legendary performer Stevie Wonder this morning expressed his love for Cleveland during a get-out-the-vote rally at Cleveland State University.

His love went largely unrequited.

Fewer than 200 people showed up towatch Wonder perform a handful of his hits at the early voting event in support of President Barack Obama.

Cleveland sees 5% of turnout for Obama’s last visit to Cleveland vs 2008

 

Last night, in the cold and with long lines, 30,000 people showed up in Ohio to see Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. That same day, Obama attracted a meager 2,800. But enthusiasm for President FailureTeleprompter can be judged by more than comparisons with Romney. In 2008, at his last stop in Cleveland, a Democrat stronghold, Obama attracted 80,000. This morning, at his last 2012 stop in that same city, Obama could only attract 4,000.

Team Obama will spin, as they have throughout the campaign, and tell their stenographers in the Corrupt Media that they've intentionally chosen smaller, more personal venues. But does anyone honestly believe that if President WaterParter could attract crowds even half as large as the ones we saw in 2008, he wouldn't? 

Besides, even if that was the case, in that exact same Cleveland venue, according to the RNC,  McCainwas able to attract a bigger crowd in 2008 than Obama did yesterday. Yes, that's correct, Obama's attracting crowds smaller than John McCain did in 2008 but the polls are telling us he's going to best or beat his D+5 2008 turnout advantage.

Wisconsin comes out for Romney

Friday morning Governor Mitt Romney held a rally at the county fairgrounds. Despite the frosty temperatures, over 1500 people who could not get in attended the “overflow rally” outside the event.

The energy was enthusiastic and upbeat for Romney supporters. Female voters spoke to me about the most important issues to them this coming Tuesday. The overwhelming response was jobs, the economy, and a better future for their children and grandchildren.

Colorado’s last Romney event:  18,000 enthusiastic supporters

This is one I was at.  We arrived 3 ½ hours before the event to long lines.  The crowd was made up of voters of all ages and we all pumped up despite the cold weather.  It was fun to talk with the people near us.  They all were “broken glass” voters, that is, they would be willing to crawl over broken glass to vote for Mitt Romney in this election.  And the enthusiasm is for Romney.  Mitt closed comparing Obama’s call for “revenge” vs his call for “love of country.”  The crowd went wild.  

In the meantime, the Obama team struggles to explain the revenge remark.  

Six Reasons to be optimistic in the final days of election 2012

Here’s one I hadn’t heard before:

The Washington Post has updated its Congressional projections, now calling for House Republicans to roughly maintain their current majority margin in the next Congress -- if not expand on it.  Ed Morrissey makes a good point: If it took an evenly-split electorate (in terms of party ID) to build the 2010 red wave that swept Republicans back into a substantial House majority, how could they possibly hold or enlarge their advantage if 2012's electorate will besignificantly more Democratic, as many pollster are assuming?

This is a very good point.  It’s like predicting a famine when other predictions show bumper crops. 

Another reason to be optimistic:  Desperate religious ad

Socialism disguised as religious faith. 

Desperate ad or simply imbecilic ad—you be the judge

A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for a vagina???? 

New York Daily News endorses…. Romney

“Four years ago, the Daily News endorsed Obama, seeing a historic figure whose intelligence, political skills and empathy with common folk positioned him to build on the small practical experience he would bring to the world’s toughest job. We valued Obama’s pledge to govern with bold pragmatism and bipartisanship. The hopes of those days went unfulfilled. . . . The regrettable truth is that Obama built a record of miscalculations and missed opportunities.”

Obama Administration admits cannibalizing likely voters

Obama’s early voting strategy is to get less likely voters to vote early, but it appears their efforts may have cannibalized likely voters in early voting. 

Gallup expects +3 Republicans in this election

This will explain a lot of things on Wednesday such as how could the polls have been so wrong?   Most of the polls have +5 to +9 Democrats. 

Minnesota moves into toss up category

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are separated by just 1 point in Minnesota, effectively making the race there a toss-up, according to polling taken for the conservative American Future Fund.

Romney takes 46 percent of the vote to Obama's 45 percent in the poll, which was conducted by the GOP firm NMB Research and shared with POLITICO. The Republican presidential nominee is up 13 points among independents, ahead of Obama 49 percent to 36 percent.

Pennsylvania is in-play also

President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney entered the final days of the presidential race tied in a state that the campaigns only recently began contesting, a Tribune-Review poll shows.

The poll showed the race for Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes locked up at 47 percent in its final week. Romney was scheduled to campaign in the Philadelphia area on Sunday, and former President Bill Clinton planned to stump for Obama on Monday. The campaigns have begun to saturate the airwaves with millions of dollars in presidential advertising.

“They’re both in here because of exactly what you’re seeing” in this poll, said Jim Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling & Research, which surveyed 800 likely voters Oct. 29-31. Most of the interviews occurred after Hurricane Sandy inundated Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. The poll’s error margin is 3.46 percentage points.

If they are really tied at 47, Pennsylvania should go for Romney.  The undecided will go for Romney.

Michigan: Romney and Obama tied

Who are you most likely to vote for in the Presidential election - Democratic President Barack Obama, or Republican Nominee, Governor Mitt Romney, another candidate, or are you undecided?

Republican Nominee Mitt Romney 46.86%
President Barack Obama 46.24%
Another candidate 4.94%
Undecided 1.96%

Tied this late probably means this will go to Romney.

Axelrod:  Romney is going to Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota because they are in deep trouble

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, dismissed on Sunday the notion that Mitt Romney is making Pennsylvania competitive as the GOP presidential nominee heads there later in the day. 

"They understand that they're in deep trouble," Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday." "They've tried to expand the map because they know in states like Ohio… they're behind and they're not catching up at this point."

Reminds me of when I was a kid.  I was fighting with my younger brother and had my hands around his throat.  My mother came and pulled me off him.  He looked at me and said, “It’s a good thing mom saved you.” 

Thomas Peterffly’s YouTube Ad

If you grow up in a socialist country you tend to be a very good Americans and conservative.

Who will Navy Seals vote for?

Hint, he isn’t in office now.

NAACP takes over polling station

Yesterday a group of NAACP personal came into a polling station in Houston Texas and proceeded to break election law.  They gave out free water and moved people from the back to the front of the line as they saw fit.  

Green energy: 

Wind farm noise causes “clear and significant” damage to people’s sleep and mental health, according to the first full peer-reviewed scientific study of the problem.

Romney comes shining through

Alfred E. Smith Dinner

Mitt is actually funny much more funny than Obama and very gracious at the end of his speech.

Some nice self-deprecating humor from Romney as well, but he saves his best to pound Obama. Best line: “Speaking of Sesame Street, tonight’s dinner was brought to you by the letter ‘O’ and the number 16 trillion.”

Orlando Sentinel endorses Romney for President

The Sentinel, a liberal paper that endorsed President Obama four years ago has come out in favor of Mitt Romney.  

We have little confidence that Obama would be more successful managing the economy and the budget in the next four years. For that reason, though we endorsed him in 2008, we are recommending Romney in this race.

Signs of Democratic Desperation

While Romney attempts to focus this election on the economy, Obama attempts to do just the opposite.  The result is this article which highlights seven of the most trivial campaign issues the left has brought up.

Obama’s campaign strategy:  win Ohio

Obama’s down to that.  Everything else has failed.  The Obama administration is in its battle of the Bulge mode. 

Obama questions Romney using the tactics Obama approved of and used in 2010

Tactics anyone?

Was Candy Crowley biased?  Is the Pope Catholic?

There were 11 questions asked and Candy gave President Obama the last word eight times.  She interrupted President Obama 9 time during those 11 questions, but she interrupted Governor Romney 28 times. 

Is CNN biased?  Is the pope Catholic?

CNN has admitted the Candy Crowley allowed the President to talk four minutes longer than Mr. Romney even though one of her main jobs was to enforce the time limits.  Their justification: the president speaks more slowly.

Bring us together:  A New Romney Ad

We could also name this “the smirk.”

  

Who is Mitt Romney?

Hard to believe this was actually on CBS.  A nice piece on how Romney helps people giving not just money but of himself.   

Iacocca makes his endorsement

After a lifetime of voting for and supporting Democrats — and even declining appointment to the U.S. Senate from a Democratic governor — Lee Iacocca Thursday endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president.

Why Won’t The President Tell Us About His Second Term Agenda?

To paraphrase Mr. Obama, is it because it’s just too good? 

When does a win become a draw or even a loss?

The vice presidential debate seemed more or less a draw, with Joe Biden maybe having an edge. But it was in the postdebate, in the days afterward, that Mr. Biden seemed to slip, because the national conversation didn't move off his antics—the chuckles, the grimaces, the theatrical strangeness of it all. A draw, or a victory, began to seem like a loss.

 

Mr. Obama won the second debate Tuesday night with a vigorous, pointed performance. He showed up, fought, landed some blows. It was close and he was joyless, a bit of a toothache, but he emerged in marginally better shape than he entered. But he doesn't seem to be winning the postdebate. No one is talking about his excellence or his stunningly good performance—no one is talking about that. Instead the national conversation has been about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. Did the president tell the truth at the time? Was he telling it now? Did Mr. Romney fail to unmask his dishonesty? People are asking what is the truth of the economy, as opposed to the factoids deployed. Have drilling permits on federal lands been cut or not? These issues are not good for the president, and they'll be the subject of discussion up until the next debate. 

In the post-debate, the president's win is starting to look like a draw. 

What do the polls look like?

Nationally, Gallup held fairly steady today, with Romney leading by six among likely voters; Rasmussen has it tied, with data suggesting a small Romney bump is probably on the way.  A new Gravis nationwide poll has Romney leading 46-44, despite a D+8 sample.  The GOP nominee leads independents by eight points in that survey.  PPP's DailyKos/SEIU tracker has Obama up one, thanks to strong youth support.  (Romney leads every other age group, and young voters are the least likely cohort to vote this year). But what about those crucial battleground states?  Here are quick flashes from around the country.  Clickhere

 

When four Americans get killed it’s not optimal.

What about three?

Wisconsin Senate Race:  Baldwin sponsored legislation to withhold troop’s body armor and medical supplies

The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate co-sponsored legislation in every session of Congress from 2003 until 2009 to allow taxpayers opposed to the military, Department of Defense, and various intelligence agencies to withhold their tax dollars from being spent in support of those entities. Specifically, the legislation allowed individual taxpayers to block funding that would be used, “the training, supplying, or maintaining of military personnel.” That would include body armor, medical supplies, and other non-offensive equipment.

At least four times Baldwin co-sponsored the legislation, in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. The 2011 version of the bill does not list Baldwin’s name as a co-sponsor. At that time she was possibly contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate.

Castro suffers stroke

Fidel Castro hasn’t been seen or heard from since last March.  A doctor from Venezuela is quoted that Castro has suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that has left him very close to a neurovegetative state.