Monday, June 04, 2012

Still Blaming Bush?

The summer doldrums are upon us and there's really nothing about the upcoming election for the news media to report. So it is relatively quiet for now.

There's been just a tiny bit of stirring with the media-made panic concerning Obama's campaign. The polls show Romney slightly ahead. The news reports that Obama barely beat's prison inmates in state primaries. Move-On.org is not happy with Obama. The media is calling for Obama to fire Axlerod. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney seems to be getting a free pass while he hammers away at the incumbent.

Obama’s weakness is that he doesn’t actually have a punch. He’s a front man, an entertainer, not a boxer. Romney is proving to be a boxer. Romney’s strategy is get out and stay out in front of the President with the issues. Romney is adhering to the idea that “action beats reaction”. Call it pre-buttal or whatever you want, Romney has Obama off balance, on the defensive. Obama can’t deliver the charm when he’s back-peddling and playing rope-a-dope.

I don’t believe this is so much a character defect with Obama as it is a burden all incumbents face when times are lousy. You just can’t blame it all on Bush.

The Democrat faithful will still pull the lever for Obama, but that’s not enough to win. Obama has to court the independent vote and that will be a challenge. Obama will get a break if the economy improves. Obama will get a huge break if Ron Paul decides to take his voting block and run as an independent. But if Mitt can woo Ron and the economy stays lousy, Obama may be a one-termer. At least Jimmy Carter will be happy – he’s no longer the worst president.