I have a bad feeling about the progress of this election. It’s not time for bed wetting but it is time for hand wringing. It was a colossal mistake for President Obama to go weak knee’d and play it safe in the first debate. In every competitive venue, the time tested wisdom is when you have your opponent down, you go for the kill.
Even if you don’t succeed, you plant fear into their hearts and let them know you are not a punk. This is true in baseball when you have a lead going into the eighth inning you bring in your closer. It is true in football when you have a lead late in the fourth quarter, you tee off on the quarterback. In basketball you open up the floor and go to the basket. You cannot hold the ball and play prevent defense.
In politics, a day is a lifetime. If you let your opponent live another day, it could be a day you rue. All the President had to do was debate his opponent, and at worst, it would still be even.
Now that Mitt Romney has lived another day, here is the picture. As I said in my “Smoked “ commentary, the Republicans have the ability to do what it takes to win. They will suppress the vote, they will abuse the absentee ballot process, and they will lie, cheat and steal.
Democrats feel they should win because they are right on the issues. Republicans know that most people do not follow the election hour by hour and day by day. Republicans know that most people don’t even understand the issues in any technical sense. Most people are too busy with real life – work every day, picking up kids, shopping, cooking, watching Dancing with the Stars and the new television season, following Mariah and Nikki, soccer games on the weekends, the Olympics, the new football season, the baseball playoffs, Sunday School etc., etc., etc.
When those 67 million people tuned into the debate, many with soft positions of support, Romney convinced them that he was the man for the job and the President did not dispute him. The people, who switched to or became firm for Romney, may not watch another debate because, having had their minds made up for them, they will go back to real life.
Now it is going to be real hard for the President to get back in the game and Big Bird is not the answer.
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