If you look straight up and squint really hard, you might be able to see where Obama surrogate Robert Gibbs raised the bar this morning on MSNBC. Gibbs says that tonight in the second presidential debate President Obama will be “exceptionally strong,” along with “passionate” and “energetic.”
Adjectives not mentioned: “factual,” “accurate,” “honest,” “straightforward,” “candid,” or “believable.”
Even Chuck Todd was impressed by Gibbs’ reach.
I could be wrong here, but Gibbs’ comments amount to a bulletin board statement. In sports, you never want to give your opponent anything to rally around so you don’t want to publicly predict outcomes, we’ll do this, we’ll do that, etc. Opponents will tend to take whatever you say and pin it to their bulletin board as a focal point to rally around.
Gibbs just gave the Romney team a bulletin board statement.
Also, having set the bar up near where the Red Bull Stratos guy jumped from, anything less than “exceptionally strong” from Obama will be a disappointment. But seeing a whole new and different Obama may come off as phony showmanship.
That’s a nice pickle the Family Guy has put his president in.
– of Team OFA are showing up nightly on MSNBC. Taffy pull is the polite term.
Don’t underestimate. The stops are being pulled out. Mitt Romney needs to be able to politely and calmly–but without bonhomie–call a spade a spade if needs be. He will be deliberately insulted, and the key is to be the man in the command chair, not the man trying to win over people.
They want him to appear weak, and a way to do that is for him to respond poorly to the insinuations–especially if he responds in an oleaginous fashion.