After Sandy, candidates to go back on the attack
Despite the fact that the presidential election is days away, the scene on the campaign trail Wednesday was remarkably civil. President Obama cancelled campaign events to tour storm damage with New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie; Mitt Romney offered up an optimistic vision of the future at a campaign stop in Florida, opting to leave out his usual attacks on the president.
Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted: What has been a remarkable run of storm-related civility is now coming to an end. Mr. Obama is returning to the campaign trail Thursday with stops in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado, while Romney holds a trio of campaign events in Virginia. Asked if Romney will sharpen his tone Thursday, the Romney campaign told CBS News that Americans can expect the sort of tone that one would expect "six days before an election" - that is, a nastier one than we've seen in the wake of Sandy. (Or, to put it in campaign speak, you can expect Romney to offer "contrasts" that spotlight "what the president hasn't done.") Mr. Obama also looks to be getting back to his anti-Romney message: A release from his campaign said he plans to "highlight his second-term agenda to grow our economy from the middle out, not the top down."
The last few days are widely seen as having done Romney no favors: While the president had the opportunity to look like a strong leader in the wake of Sandy's devastation, Romney was left to hold awkward events stuck somewhere between campaign stop and storm relief effort. The storm interrupted the Romney camp's argument that the GOP candidate had the momentum and was closing in on the president in the battleground states, and ate up valuable news coverage at a time when the GOP candidate was counting on using the media to make his closing case to the American people. One poll, meanwhile, showed that 78 percent of Americans viewed Mr. Obama's handling of the storm positively.
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In an apparent attempt to reboot its argument that Romney has momentum, the Romney campaign and the outside groups supporting it announced they are running ads in states where Mr. Obama was supposed to be safe: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota. Though polls in all three states have showed the race tightening, they are undeniably a stretch for Romney: Asked Wednesday if his candidate was really contesting them, Romney campaign senior adviser Russ Schriefer responded, "Can we win all of them? Probably not. But can we win some of them? I think so." Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod, meanwhile, said he is so confident that the president will hang onto the three states that he will shave his moustache "of 40 years" if any of them turn red. Though there is a general consensus that the Romney effort is a "head fake," in the words of Pennsylvania politics expert Keegan Gibson, it's worth noting that Sandy has caused headaches in Philadelphia - and Mr. Obama is counting on massive turnout in that city.
The divergence in perspectives extended to the campaigns' dueling conference calls on Wednesday. The Obama camp was full of zingers: "We have the math, and they have the myth," said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, adding: "The Romney campaign is trying to sell illusion and delusion." The Romney camp went with optimism: The Romney campaign has "expanded the map" and kept Obama from competing in Indiana and other states where he was competitive or victorious in 2008. Both campaigns offered up a flood of early voting numbers to argue that their candidate is on the cusp of a clear victory, and pointed to what they said were overwhelming weaknesses in the opposition. (The president, the Romney camp gleefully noted, wasn't breaking 50 percent support in many national or battleground polls; Romney, the Obama camp said, has been reduced to a "Hail Mary" attempt to expand the map because he "hasn't put away a single battleground state.")
Here's the simple truth: The race is tight. National polls are even, and all of the battleground states remain within reach for both candidates. Wednesday's Quinnipiac/CBS News/New York Times poll showed Mr. Obama maintaining a small edge in the key battleground of Ohio, while two other hotly contested states, Florida and Virginia, where tossups.
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... Under President Obama, today, the DJIA Index is at "13,096"...right where it was at before the latest market "crash" we had under yet "another" Republi-'con'
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Yet another dumb correlation post by a hack. Businesses are sitting on a record amount of cash, indicating they are holding off on any hiring/expansion decisions until their future relative to Obama becomes more clear.
If Obama stays, look for lay offs, more part time hiring and anemic growth.
If Obama goes, look for hiring, expansion, investment and economic growth.
One day you hacks will realize that the world doesn't revolve around your jealousy of what the successful people have and you'll learn to stop coveting another's wealth and hold yourself accountable for your own success. Then again, maybe not.
Not sure what that means but it certainly sounds frightening. I looked it up - sounds like people who would rather strike first than be struck (as in what happened on 9/11). Can't say I disagree, although the article was 11 years old. I'd say don't lose too much sleep over it. The much scarier vision is one of another 4 years under this inept administration (and having to listen to the lib trolls).
They impeached Clinton because he lied about sex. They would not hesitate to impeach Obama over Benghazi. There would be a trial in the Senate with John Roberts presiding. The Democrats there might acquit him, but they might not too. Four Americans were killed in Benghazi.
We cannot afford another impeachment process in addition to trillion dollar deficits, 23 million unemployed, and slow economic growth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJa2OaiwWw
You're kidding!
Someone being disputed is claiming that the disputer is "lying"? Who ever heard of such a thing? Absolutely unprecedented!
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So, you have decided that Sean Hannity is more trustworthy than the Pentagon????
We are talking about a guy who has been caught lying over and over again, for years and years. Working for a "news" network run by a former GOP operative!
Man, are you gullible.
Trout,
No, after the election this will be front and center.
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You wish. No, it is already old news. Americans have a very short attention span ... on to the latest news about Kim Kardashian. You know, the important stuff.
Yeah, neither do I.
try again