‘This Is No Malarkey’: Judgment Day on the Campaign Trail
This evening’s White House guidance sent to reporters summed up Tuesday’s schedule for the president as so: “In the evening, the President will deliver remarks at a campaign event at McCormick Place, Lakeside Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Vice President, the First Family and Dr. Biden will also attend.”
And that will be the end of Campaign 2012 — whether it’s a victory speech or concession, whether the country has President-elect Mitt Romney or four more years of President Obama, or whether a razor-thin vote keeps the country tangled in weeks of recounts and lawsuits.
Despite weeks of early voting, both parties pressed hard on the stump today for one last shot at those Nov. 6 voting traditionalists.
Obama brought Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, and Bill Clinton along. Romney spent his last campaign night with Kid Rock.
Both had swing states on their minds. Romney went to events in Florida, Virginia, Ohio, and New Hampshire. Obama hit Wisconsin, Ohio, and Iowa before landing in Chicago.
GOP vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) stopped in Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, and Ohio before landing in his home state. Vice President Joe Biden hit a variety of stops around Virginia, campaigning with John Mellencamp and Meg Ryan.
Accompanied by his wife Jill, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and former Gov. Tim Kaine (D), Biden dropped in at a Roanoke volunteer center with a stack of pizzas.
“This is no malarkey. We genuinely feel good about the campaign,” Biden said, according to the White House pool report. “I’ve spent an awful lot of time in what they call the firewall – Ohio and Iowa and Wisconsin. We’re going to win all three of those states. We’re going to win Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado. We have a chance not just to win but actually to make a real statement about unifying this country.”
In Johnstown, Colo., Ryan opened by reassuring the crowd, “One more day, one more day.”
“I got to meet John Elway last night. And, yes, he reminded me the last time the Packers and the Broncos met in the Super Bowl, but if we were going to lose, at least we lost to a class act like that,” Ryan said. “But he also wished us well. He said he was behind us. He’s fighting for us. And I’ve got to tell you, from traveling this state all around, I want to thank you. I want to thank Coloradans because you care about your country. You know what built our country. And tomorrow, you’re going to help us save our country.”
Obama told the crowd in Columbus that he brought along Jay-Z and Springsteen because “they tell the story of what our country is but also what it should be and what it can be and what we need to fight for.”
“This is not just a choice between two candidates or two parties. It’s a choice between two different visions of America,” the president said, a refrain heard over and over again through the campaign. “It’s a choice between a return to the top-down economic policies that crashed our economy, or a vision that says, we’ve got to build a strong foundation based on a strong and growing middle class, an opportunity for everybody, not just some.”
In Fairfax, Va., Romney also hit familiar notes, calling out Obama on the unemployment rate and his vow to be a post-partisan president.
“You know, when the president promised change, you actually look and see what happened because change can’t be measured in speeches. It’s measured in achievements and, four years ago, then candidate Obama promised to do so very much, but he’s done so very little,” Romney said.
“I mean, he promised to be, as you recall, a post-partisan president, but he was most partisan and he has attacked and blamed and divided. And it’s not only Republicans he’s refused to listen to. It’s also independent voices.”
Naturally, the airwaves were anything but independent on this final campaign day as this left-right battle came down to the wire.
“I wouldn’t say we’re the closest of friends, but we understand each other very well, and we work together well. And frankly I have no doubts that we’ll continue to work together well,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said of Romney on Fox. “His campaign is solid. Defeating an incumbent president is an overwhelming job. Just ask John Kerry. It’s really hard to do.”
Boehner echoed the point with which most pollsters and pundits do agree: that he’ll keep his gavel after tomorrow.
“We will hold our majority, and I expect that I’ll continue to be speaker,” Boehner said.
“We’re going to win this election, of course. I can tell you this, I believe that the Democratic Party and the president are really on the cusp of history,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on MSNBC.
“There’s an uncertainty in this business, for sure. I think we’ve done all our homework. They’ve kind of given me the Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin party to work over and over again,” Durbin added. “I’ve been in those states. I’ve seen it on the ground. I believe we’re going to close the deal in each of those states. We have a strong position.”
“We know there’s a lot of fantasy talk happening from the Romney team about the number of electoral votes that they think they’re going to achieve. We’re not going to get into that kind of predictions,” Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Columbus. “But the only thing that matters is that more people vote for President Obama than vote for Mitt Romney. We’re confident of that and we’re not going to get into hypotheticals beyond that.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said one doesn’t want to “over-indulge in polls,” but said on CBS that GOP enthusiasm is “reflective of the intensity four years ago.”
“I saw an article somewhere where it described the Democrats as sort of grim determination. You know, it’s kind of hard to win with grim determination as opposed to real genuine excitement. But the internal polls is what it’s all about,” Kasich said.
“Anything is possible out here,” he said of his home state. “It’s so close there isn’t any question — look, if I were to hear Obama won, would I be stunned? No, but but, I don’t expect that will happen.”
With such a tight outcome expected, and accusations of voting irregularities expected, both campaigns were preparing for challenges over the next day — and for potential court action beyond Tuesday, as well.
“We want to be prepared to make sure that people have confidence that their vote is going to count. So that’s why we have lawyers in states — Florida, of course, is one of them; Ohio and any of these swing states. And we’re dealing with issues that come up on a case-by-case basis,” Psaki said.
“It’s not that there are more issues than there have been in past years, but you always want to be prepared to make sure that people who are voting for the first time, people who haven’t voted in 20 years — we’ve seen many reports of people who are 90 and are voting for the first time — are confident that their vote will count,” she continued. “So that’s why we’re fortunate we have lawyers in states across the country. And we’re going to be dealing with issues on case by case. We’re confident we’ll be able to resolve them.”
While stressing that nothing will be left to chance and being similarly prepared for challenges, the Romney camp expressed confidence that it wouldn’t need the legal wrangling in the end.
“We are committed to ensuring an open and fair election for all Americans and we are confident we will win the election decisively on November 6th,” rapid response director Lenny Alcivar told PJM.
John Kerry and Springsteen drew 80,000 in Madison in 2004. Obama and Springsteen only drew 18,000 today. Only 15,000 showed up at the Ohio arena that holds 20,000 where Springsteen appeared with Obama. Romney has been drawing far larger crowds than that at less centrally located venues, usually without the benefit of A list talent.
Then there is the story that more counter demonstrators seemed to show up at an impromptu meeting in Lancaster in south central Ohio than showed up across the road at the high school where an official Biden event was being held. On the other hand Ryan drew 10,000 to an airport hangar in Minneapolis.
People flock to winning campaigns, which take on an energy all their own in the closing days. There tends to be an undercurrent of pity at losing campaigns. The energy level is much less because only the die-hards show up, and they are often a bit embarrassed for the candidate who too often doesn’t seem to see what is coming.
The fight to take back our country is just beginning
The Tribune and Sun Times: Enemies of Chicago’s People
http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2012/11/05/the-tribune-and-sun-times-enemies-of-chicagos-people/
And The People, if they know what is good for them will vote him, and his gang, out!Tens of thousands of American-Israelis sent in their absentee ballots, and the highest percentage voted for Romney. Not only that, but the ex head of the Israeli Dem Party also voted for Romney! If that doesn’t send a message…..
It is hard to believe that Americans will vote in a KNOWN pack of revolutionaries to continue to take care of the people’s business – http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/10/07/when-authentic-revolutionaries-hold-the-reins-of-american-power-centers-via-the-most-radical-regime-in-u-s-history-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
My last thought on the race: The Obama campaign has attempted everything possible to demoralize Romney voters. They know their only chance of winning will be if enough voters are persuaded their vote doesn’t matter. As one who endured Florida 2000 I can tell you that sometimes absolutely every last vote matters. Regardless of what the media says, VOTE! They don’t care if you are persuaded the race is rigged, so long as you are persuaded your vote won’t make a difference. That is their game plan. Please, no matter how blue your state, your vote absolutely matters in the full count, which, if large enough will make it all the more difficult to challenge.
This is the opportunity you have waited for to express all the frustration of the past four years. Whatever they say, don’t permit them to demoralize you into silence.
Besides, we have a team worth fighting for.
If you are a Romney supporter, or just want to get rid of Obama, your vote is important, even in a deep Blue State. Why? Two reasons:
1) The popular vote legitimizes him. If it is close, you get Bush/Gore redux. If it’s big, you get to tell the Libs to shut up. Doesn’t matter if the votes are in Kalifornistan. The total votes matter;
2) Each vote is political capital for Romney during his Presidency. A huge vote total makes him huge in DC.
It’s very telling the difference between Obama and Romney. One guy talks about revenge, apologizes for America, blames his predecessor for 4 years and everyone else for the mess we’re in, has NO plan to fix ANYTHING (high unemployment, rising inflation, rising deficits, runaway national debt, illegal immigration, broken foreign policy, unraveling of the Middle East, terrorism, homeland security), signed Sequestration into law which will absolutely decimate the military and cost federal workers and military members their jobs, constantly engages in personal attacks against his opponent, talks in unpresidential, low class language in interviews (“bullsh____ter”), spent millions of dollars of DNC money to hide his background (college records, passport information and medical records), divided the country like no other by engaging in class warfare, race baiting and granting unequal, preferential treatment and advantages to special interest groups (unions, etc.), lied about Benghazi and made his cabinet members lie about Benghazi, campaigned in Vegas and met with Letterman and Beyonce right after the U.S. Ambassadors and 3 others were murdered while blaming the murders on a video, admitted to constant coke and potsmoking in his autobiography, received a security clearance despite hanging out with radicals, communists, a convicted felon (Rezco) and even a homegrown terrorist (Ayers).
The other guy actually has a concrete plan to create jobs and fix the economy, talks about how great and exceptional America is and how he will work and fight for ALL Americans, support small businesses so that they will hire more, will keep the military strong and mighty by not decreasing the defense budget, is humble and gives millions of his own money to charity, has all the credentials, qualifications, experience, education (Harvard law degree and Harvard MBA) and PROVEN RECORD to fix and improve this country in every aspect, actually balanced his state’s budget all 4 years that he was Governor of Massachusetts, saved the U.S. Olympics and donated his entire salary to the effort, worked with Democrats as a Republican Governor in a Massachusetts legislative body that was 85% Democrat, was a Sunday school teacher, is endorsed by lifelong Democrat businessmen Lee Iacocca and Steve Wynn and over 300 retired Army and Air Force generals and Navy admirals. This man is the real thing.
America needs a change from the miseries and failures of Obama. Vote Romney for a new and better Way Forward.
The Benghazi Story: Mass Grave of Reputations
Maybe the anonymous “senior U.S. intelligence officials” who gave out a “detailed timeline” about the Benghazi fiasco on Thursday never heard of Healy’s Law: “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”
That is because the hole in which they found themselves will surely end up a mass grave for their reputations and for many others’ — beginning with General David Petraeus.
Petraeus’ sterling reputation was beginning to become forever tarnished by the failure of his COIN strategy, but that’s a tale for another post, because the “detailed timeline” that was briefed or e-mailed to the media is coming under severe attack on The Hill and elsewhere — particularly by Fox.
The “detailed timeline” contains glaring conflicts with earlier background briefings, leaks, and independent reporting, but, most importantly, it contains conflicts with what Petraeus himself told Congress when he, just three days after the attack, was calling it, as described by the inimitable Mark Steyn, a “movie review that just got a little out of hand.”
Obama was looking at this scene and continued speaking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA9vVILZ4Ao
After four very long years, I get to go to the polling place tomorrow and proudly cast my vote to fire our first Communist President! I will do this and you will do this and with the help of God we will be shed of this great threat to the dignity of all freedom loving Americans. Mitt Romney will prove to be a great President because he is both a capable and an honest man. ABO2012
Union and community organizers in Ohio and Pennsylvania are paying center city “voters” up to $500 (cash only) per vote. They’ll provide IDs and necessary information; all the voter has to do is show up in person and get by the election officials.
But, the community and union organizers are cheating the “voters” and keeping cash for themselves.
If your union or community organizer is not giving you $500 for every vote you cast, you are being cheated! The Mfer is stealing from you! He is taking the food from your children and putting it in his own pocket. Make him pay you the $500 per vote that the party and union has given him to pay you!!!
Up here in Kanukistan, Reuters and Ipsos-Reid both report that 86% of people in Ontario (where I live) and 91% of those in Quebec (Frogland) would vote for Obama if allowed. I discussed this with one of the partners at my firm this morning — his family are descended from Loyalists — and he said that doesn’t surprise him, as Obama has the European viewpoint which most Canadians share. I tried to explain to my boss that Obama is not one of us (the partner I was talking to does get it) but she still thinks it’s a matter of my just not liking him. Trying to explain American Exceptionalism to Europeans is a labour of Hercules.