Entry tags:
2012-09-03
Entry tags:
YR NEVER GOING TO TAMPA WITH ME
Before you ask – no, I didn’t watch the RNC convention. I don’t watch them in general. I won’t be watching the Demo convention in Charlotte this week, either. Expat status, time differences and lack of cable TV aside, I think conventions are glorified coronation ceremonies to rally the national party base. Non-believers need not apply.
Sure, this one was supposed to be the one where Rick Santorum was supposed to come to Tampa and prove to America that you don’t need a moderate to win the White House because batshit Christian conservatism was now the mainstream.
Ha ha.
Still, as an American citizen I’m required by law to post about everything political. Luckily – and as usual – Jon Stewart saves me a lot of work. As does![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bedsitter23 , both of whom point out that the real point of the convention wasn’t to nominate Mitt Romney so much as get Chris Christie’s 2016 campaign started. Which may or may not say a lot about the GOP’s assessment of Mitt’s chances.
Anyway, here’s a few highlights for me:
1. Clint Eastwood vs Invisible Obama
I think it’s fair to say Clint stole the show, albeit for all the wrong reasons. I do give him credit for trying something different, even if it was the equivalent of an actors’ studio exercise. And in a weird way it was impressive to see him get a room full of Republicans to applaud the statement that going to war in Afghanistan was a bad idea, which was as close as they got to ever acknowledging that there was a Republican presidential admin between Clinton and Obama. Because as we all know invading Afghanistan in October 2001 was all Obama’s idea. Somehow.
2. Dubya who?
Speaking of which – and it’s been pointed out by others – it says a lot that the convention was just as notable by who WASN’T onstage – namely, every major figure in the Bush Posse apart from Condi Rice (who, by the wildest coincidence, is both African American and a woman, two groups of people the GOP have allegedly declared war on). And, notably, one of her key points was, “It's not a time to look back, it's a time to look forward.”
Well, yes. Why dwell on the past? Why remind people that the last time they put a Repub in the White House, he left office with two money-pit wars, an economic crash and the lowest approval ratings since Nixon? Why talk about that when we can talk about why Presidente Hussein Obama hasn’t fixed everything?
3. Mitt’s post-convention bounce
There wasn’t one.
And so much for that.
So it’s officially Romney/Ryan vs Obama/Biden. And Romney/Ryan will spend the next three months trying to talk about the economy, as opposed to talking about what all the crazy batshit people in their party think about rape (which won’t be easy, as one of them is, apparently, Paul “Method Of Conception” Ryan).
Good luck with that.
I think it’s too early to call a result just yet – three months is a long time in politics, and for all Mitt’s Mittness, he’s neck and neck with Obama in most polls. Which may be why the GOP’s big priority now seems to be is keeping Gary Johnson and certain voters out of the election.
But for the moment, I think the election is Obama’s to lose. Barring any unforeseen disaster or scandal – to include another recession – I think Obama is perfectly capable of speechifying his way to a second term, and I don’t see Romney/Ryan doing much to spoil that on their own.
Somebody keeps moving my chair,
Sure, this one was supposed to be the one where Rick Santorum was supposed to come to Tampa and prove to America that you don’t need a moderate to win the White House because batshit Christian conservatism was now the mainstream.
Ha ha.
Still, as an American citizen I’m required by law to post about everything political. Luckily – and as usual – Jon Stewart saves me a lot of work. As does
bedsitter23 , both of whom point out that the real point of the convention wasn’t to nominate Mitt Romney so much as get Chris Christie’s 2016 campaign started. Which may or may not say a lot about the GOP’s assessment of Mitt’s chances. Anyway, here’s a few highlights for me:
1. Clint Eastwood vs Invisible Obama
I think it’s fair to say Clint stole the show, albeit for all the wrong reasons. I do give him credit for trying something different, even if it was the equivalent of an actors’ studio exercise. And in a weird way it was impressive to see him get a room full of Republicans to applaud the statement that going to war in Afghanistan was a bad idea, which was as close as they got to ever acknowledging that there was a Republican presidential admin between Clinton and Obama. Because as we all know invading Afghanistan in October 2001 was all Obama’s idea. Somehow.
2. Dubya who?
Speaking of which – and it’s been pointed out by others – it says a lot that the convention was just as notable by who WASN’T onstage – namely, every major figure in the Bush Posse apart from Condi Rice (who, by the wildest coincidence, is both African American and a woman, two groups of people the GOP have allegedly declared war on). And, notably, one of her key points was, “It's not a time to look back, it's a time to look forward.”
Well, yes. Why dwell on the past? Why remind people that the last time they put a Repub in the White House, he left office with two money-pit wars, an economic crash and the lowest approval ratings since Nixon? Why talk about that when we can talk about why Presidente Hussein Obama hasn’t fixed everything?
3. Mitt’s post-convention bounce
There wasn’t one.
And so much for that.
So it’s officially Romney/Ryan vs Obama/Biden. And Romney/Ryan will spend the next three months trying to talk about the economy, as opposed to talking about what all the crazy batshit people in their party think about rape (which won’t be easy, as one of them is, apparently, Paul “Method Of Conception” Ryan).
Good luck with that.
I think it’s too early to call a result just yet – three months is a long time in politics, and for all Mitt’s Mittness, he’s neck and neck with Obama in most polls. Which may be why the GOP’s big priority now seems to be is keeping Gary Johnson and certain voters out of the election.
But for the moment, I think the election is Obama’s to lose. Barring any unforeseen disaster or scandal – to include another recession – I think Obama is perfectly capable of speechifying his way to a second term, and I don’t see Romney/Ryan doing much to spoil that on their own.
Somebody keeps moving my chair,
This is dF