Facts vs. Style and our self-inflicted wounds

[Laura PourMeADrink]

At this point, the election appears to be swinging on feelings and style and not facts whatsoever. I believe that this is something R&R have figured out. Lay low, say what you want, and put forth a positive and respectful demeanor.

It turns out that it has been the worst two weeks to inflict wounds on ourselves. Although Joe brilliantly volleyed back every falsehood thrown at him..but, his brash and laughing demeanor may have only appealed to us and not the people we are fighting to keep/get. Who knows what people would be saying if he had excelled in facts and demeanor. Who knows what people would be saying if Obama had had more spirit and showed some defense? Sad and maddening to think about.

Time to take a breather. Hope the polls trend back. Hope next week Obama finds that happy medium between style and substance. And continue to work harder than before.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. The right wing spinning

must be working...Intrade was up a bit this morning and is now going down again....

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. See, that's my point. We gave them a talking point

That is not to say they wouldn't have come up with a different one, for sure.

But, think about this. Say you didn't really have a preference for either side last night and were trying to decide. This is a slice of electorate we are after, isn't it - The undecideds and the squishy Obama supporters. You have one who is older and seems to know everything. You have another who is young and learning. You see the older one practically shouting and constantly laughing when the other is talking. Isn't it human nature to not like the one who is mocking? Wouldn't it have been better if he had acted more like a good teacher....one who could show he is superior without making the other appear smaller?

[Sekhmets Daughter]

3. The undecided and squishy Obama supporters

are watching neither Fox nor any of the other talking heads. If they are undecided at this point in time they probably weren't watching the debate in the first place. And if they were, they were not watching for style...the undecideds wanted to hear about jobs, taxes and abortion. IMHO

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. Ew, sorry...not according to most accounts. Peter Hart was amazed that the focus group he worked

with, along with a handful of journalists, knew "so little". They knew absolutely nothing about Medicare positions, for instance. These are mostly people who know little nor do they want to know more. They know they have a right to vote, have to vote, but are paralyzed by having to choose. They operate more on emotion and react more to demeanor than substance. Think of it this way, if they cared about substance, they would have researched issues by now. The two sides are so opposite, it would be a no-brainer.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

6. Then perhaps the real issue is

Will people that disinterested really drag themselves to the polls to vote on Nov. 6th? The demeanor issue is no different than the "physical attraction" issue. There are people who will vote based strictly on the appearance of the candidate. We know that Kennedy gained ground from looking better than Nixon on television. We know there are women in MA who will vote for Scott Brown simply because they think he is handsome. We know that there were men who voted for the McCain/Palin ticket simply because they viewed her as smoking hot.

Allen West may be returned to congress and there is no more offensive demeanor out there. The Tea Party crowd loves him and regular Republicans still prefer him to any Democratic candidate.

President Obama didn't lose the first debate because of his demeanor, he lost it because he allowed Mitt Romney to lie and never mounted a challenge to his lies.

Kerry kicked the Shrub's ass...did Republicans curl up into a ball and begin screaming for Bush to grow a brain? Nope....they went to work to discredit Kerry and we know how that election turned out.

Democrats have always been their own worst enemy...always. We seem to expect our candidates to be perfect and the minute they expose their feet of clay we begin moaning and groaning, critiquing and complaining. Had Mitt Romney lost that debate do you really think, with so much on the line in this election, the Republican insiders would have abandoned him? Prior to the debate, with Obama well ahead in most polls, the enthusiasm gap favored Romney. Obama has a poor debate performance and the enthusiasm gap grows...is that really Obama's fault, or ours?

[Koeln]

5. better position

As a foreigner i say yes you had a very bad week but the democrats are still in a far more better position here looking at the map. Romney has still too win much more battleground states and he still can not create a bigger playing field.

So calm down Mi and also Pa is no problem in my view an also Wi seems to be a hard target for Romney.

saying this OH plus IA and it is over where a lot of early voting took place. But you still got FL, CO, NV, virginia NH....where Romney is not in a far better position or still behind at the moment. Everything is within the margin of error.

If i got to choose i would prefer being a democrat. Stop the momentum and change the topic within the media. That´s the goal. So the first thing to do is stop freaking out and start to talk about topics again instead of the debate and polls.