Austerity plans always LOSE presidential elections - remember Carter, Poppy Bush, etc.

[yardwork]

Telling Americans that they have to suck it up and spend less loses every time. This will not work for Romney and Ryan. The Republicans just lost the presidential election and I hope they lost the Senate and House as well.

[dkf]

1. Worked in Greece.

The trick is you need to make the alternative worse, like insolvency. You heard a little bit of that in his speech.

[yardwork]

2. We're not Greece.

[dkf]

4. Yet. Or Spain. Or Italy.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. So when both sides are running on austerity platforms

The more austere plan loses? Or they cancel out?

[yardwork]

5. It's fatal to call it an austerity plan or present it that way.

Remember that Reagan won by saying that it was "Morning in America." It wasn't - we had a terrible recession - but people want to hear positive things, not negative things, from presidential candidates.

This is essential. This wins and loses elections. No matter how dire things are, the presidential candidate must speak in positive terms. I hope that Obama gets this. I think that he does.

Romney clearly does not get this. Ryan will be nothing but a drag on the ticket. The 1% and the inside the beltway folks may love him, but nobody else is going to like what he's saying. Nobody.