Opinion: Obama's Path To Debate Victory
Obama has many challenges to winning tonight's debate, but having Mitt Romney as his opponent gives him a path to victory.
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Obama has many challenges to winning tonight's debate, but having Mitt Romney as his opponent gives him a path to victory.
Is Mitt Romney planning an October surprise of sorts for tonight? Has he been saving big policy announcements and details for the debate?
Romney – the challenger – will be incredible. Obama – the incumbent – will be damaged. The question is, how severely he will be damaged?
Preparing for this debate has got to be the most depressing thing Obama has ever done. He must be staring at facts and figures that he can hardly believe – and then realize he has to defend them come Wednesday night – with his biggest critic, Mitt Romney – and the nation – staring at him. It's going to be terrible for Obama.
It is clear that Democrats have shown a greater propensity to spend money wisely with their campaigns and allied groups. At the end of the day, that is what America needs.
For all the billions spent by the Obama and Romney campaigns, Republican and Democratic parties, and countless outside groups, we may wake up November 7th to a Washington that is virtually unchanged.
Unlike Obama, Mitt Romney has been talking about his plan to save Social Security on the campaign trail in the recent past. Though it is getting little to no coverage in the national press, it should be getting the positive "buzz" it deserves.
With the situation getting worse on the ground Obama has ended the surge just in time for the election in November. Taliban and related attacks against NATO powers were approximately 2,700 in August of 2009 when Obama made his contrary-to-campaign promised-move to step up the nation's military assistance in Afghanistan. Three years later, in August of 2012, there were more attacks – nearly 3,000.
Romney looks to come back from 47% don't pay taxes remarks and attacks on China trade. But Romney has so many vulnerabilities on China it is hard to understand why he would pick this issue.
Obama has been moving the needle with seniors using distorted arguments about Social Security and Medicare. Fortunately for GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney, seniors' top concern is the economy's struggles under Obama and seniors have overwhelming voted Republican in the last two presidential elections.
Conveniently-timed for Obama's reelection, the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers Claims Resolution program began September 24, 2012 – just a month-and-a-half before the election. Apparently the Obama administration did not care about this alleged injustice to females and Hispanics any time in the past three-and-a-half years. It just happened to be thought about and addressed now – just before voters pull the lever.
In recent decades, the government has taken to feeding needy children to combat the negativity of trying to learn while being hungry. Now, with new Obama administration regulations on school lunches, we have a government that is causing hunger.
Romney is dragging his own campaign and every Republican down. Republican operatives and House and Senate candidates have conceded as much throughout the month of September.
While the "left" has distracted the campaign much too long by screaming about Romney's tax information for months, the "right" has been asking for President Barack Obama's academic records and other documents for years. The president should take his turn at disclosing long asked for documents.
If the GOP wants a candidate to "man up", they should tell Mitt Romney to grow up and stop hiding his returns and stop disparaging working Americans for meeting their tax obligations while he dodges his.
It may be too late for Harry Reid to "save face", but it's not too late for him to "man up" and apologize to Mitt Romney – as well as the American public for his misinformation or lies – like any decent human being would.
With Americans watching the nearing of the date September 11, 2012 on the calendar for weeks – if not months – and dreading the stark reality that something disastrous may happen to innocent Americans again, the president and his political cronies refused to believe what happened.
Though the polls give political junkies a rush – and can put them on a natural high for a time or sink them into the bowels of depression – they mean absolutely nothing on Election Day. The poll taken on Election Day at the nation's polling booths is obviously the only one that counts.
Missed in all the controversy over Romney's 47% don't pay taxes remark is Romney's callous and downright dangerous remarks that a crisis sparked by Iran would be good for his election prospects.
President Barack Obama is in favor of the extremely controversial idea of redistribution of the nation's wealth. Basically, Obama believes that everyone should "have a shot" at the good life and great opportunities in life whether they've worked for them or not – paid for by those who have acquired their wealth and success-related opportunities in life via hard work.
Mason Johnson knows nothing about horoscopes or astrology. Seriously. When he was six, his mom thought it was funny to make him stick his head out the car window and scream, "What's your sign?" at women walking by. That is the extent of his experience. Also, Mason is an Aquarius… ladies.
Romney thought he was talking amongst his teammates in the locker room last May 17 only to find out that there was somebody on the other team hiding behind the lockers. Had he known a member of the other team was lurking back there, he would have chosen his words more carefully and had presented more carefully-chosen data than the data of which he swiftly generalized.
Five months before the presidential election, this rating is disastrous for Obama – almost as disastrous as the lack of any results for America these past four years.
Chicago helped shape the nation in so many ways, including the pioneering of skyscrapers – the big, beautiful buildings the city of big shoulders introduced to the world.
A Chicago bus driver is out of a job after he was caught on camera with his hands off the wheel and his eyes glued to his cell phone.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
The city of Aurora is kicking off Black History Month by honoring a living legend, one of the last remaining Negro Leagues baseball players.
The footage is included in a video that promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump.
The FBI has arrested "one of the key participants" behind the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed four Americans.
A new push to pass a GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act is underway in Congress, but Democrats warn the proposal could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
As immigration sweeps expand nationwide, the work of justifying detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other cases in order to keep pace.
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, plans to attend President Trump's State of the Union address to Congress later this month, according to her attorney.
This week marks Identity Theft Awareness Week, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza emphasized some safety tips Monday for avoiding and dealing with identity theft.
A controversial data center in Naperville, Illinois, could be the cause to pack a city council meeting there on Tuesday night.
Police in the west Chicago suburb of Geneva are warning of a scam involving spoofed phone numbers.
Protesters on Tuesday were cranking up the heat on Peoples Gas over a recently proposed rate hike that would add an additional $10 to $11 a month to utility bills.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital announced this week that it is planning to open a new pediatric hospital in the west Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
It has been nearly six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the many questions doctors are still working to answer concerns the long-term effects.
Leaders from Cook County, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository denounced changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Wednesday.
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a grant from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation for a new cancer center.
Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital said Tuesday that it is no longer initiating gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
A Near West Side diner known for drawing in Blackhawks fans and players is up for sale.
January may be the coldest time of the year, but Chicago is already looking forward to summer farmers' markets.
A development proposal issued this month calls for the replacement of a building housing a Giordiano's pizzeria in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with a new mixed-use building with 28 residential units.
United Airlines flight attendants picketed outside Chicago's Willis Tower Thursday morning as they fought for a new contract.
WSCR-AM, 670 The Score, will begin a simulcast on 104.3 FM next month.
Gamers across the world can now recreate drone strikes in Ukraine from the comfort of their own home, with this newly released game.
The members of Ratboys were teenagers when they met by chance, and now in their 30s, the Chicago band formed by two college friends almost two decades ago appears to be on the brink of something big.
Chuck Negron, a founding member of Three Dog Night whose lead vocals powered a string of hits for one of the top rock acts of the late 1960s and early '70s has died. He was 83.
Bad Bunny used his Grammy acceptance speech on Sunday to denounce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and call for the end of the ongoing immigration crackdown.
The 2026 Grammy Awards recognized the best of the best in music from last year, with big wins for Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. Here's the full list of winners and nominees.
Meteorologist David Yeomans has the latest First Alert Weather forecast.
Chicago helped shape the nation in so many ways, including the pioneering of skyscrapers – the big, beautiful buildings the city of big shoulders introduced to the world.
A Chicago bus driver is out of a job after he was caught on camera with his hands off the wheel and his eyes glued to his cell phone.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
Police in Chicago's south and southwest suburbs are teaming up to target thieves targeting video gambling machines, which have become an increasingly popular target for burglary crews.
An eagle-eyed drone pilot helped spot a missing foster puppy who had been out in the cold for more than two weeks in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
A source close to the investigation said the woman worked for the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled key evidence in the Marimar Martinez shooting, including bodycam video and text messages, can be released.
Chicago helped shape the nation in so many ways, including the pioneering of skyscrapers – the big, beautiful buildings the city of big shoulders introduced to the world.
Fewer Chicago kids are getting the dental care they need, and some dentists are blaming Chicago Public Schools.
Cynthia Eason recounted the moment Chicago police officers raided her family's home in 2018.
Water bills could be going up in several Chicago suburbs and other parts of Illinois, as Illinois American Water seeks a rate increase to fund infrastructure improvements.
The case involves a Chicago grandmother, her daughter, and her four grandchildren, who all said that Chicago police officers pointed guns at them during the botched raid.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel no longer will have to testify about an alleged "code of silence" at the Chicago Police Department, after a federal judge reversed an earlier ruling that would have allowed him to take the stand in a lawsuit over a botched police raid.
Two west suburban high schools have something extra to celebrate Sunday, when alumni from their schools make their Super Bowl debuts.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are underway after the lighting of the Olympic cauldrons and the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.
Caleb Williams certainly had plenty of big throws to celebrate in 2025, but it wasn't hard to pick his most memorable one after he launched a 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore to beat the Packers in overtime in Week 16.
Brandon Ingram scored 33 points, Immanuel Quickley had 24 and the Toronto Raptors beat the new-look Chicago Bulls 123-107.
Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney was named the NFL's top offensive lineman of 2025 on Thursday, winning the inaugural Protector of the Year Award.
A South Side community came together on Friday, hoping for justice after a woman was shot and killed while her baby was in the back seat of their car earlier this week.
A Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.
Actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, officials said Friday.
A burglary crew smashed into a restaurant in Chicago's southwest suburbs, leaving the owner cleaning up a big and frustrating mess.
Six months after a well-known charter boat captain was found dead at DuSable Harbor in downtown Chicago, a man has been charged with his murder.