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Romney Pretty Chatty For A Non-Candidate

Mitt Romney is adamant, he is not running for president.  But every time you look at the news he seems to be leveling pretty specific criticisms at the president.  Now he has taken aim at the democratic front runner Hillary Clinton.

Mitt Romney blames former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton along with President Barack Obama for the situation in Ukraine, saying they both misunderstood the world stage.

“There’s no question, but that over the four years where he and Secretary Clinton were working together, and now the year since then, it’s hard to name a single country that holds America in more esteem and respect than when the president took office five years ago,” Romney said on Fox News’s “Hannity”on Tuesday. “It has not been a time of building America’s respect and admiration and esteem and frankly our soft power or our hard power around the world.” [POLITICO]

Charles Krauthammer pulls no punches either.  He says the world sees Obama as weak, a situation which clearly puts our nation at risk.

 

As Romney says:

The former Republican governor said Obama and Clinton gave Russia “gifts” early in the administration.

“I would not have given Russia the gifts that Secretary Clinton and President Obama gave Russia, this whole reset with the smiling pictures of them pressing the button, it’s like are you kidding me?” Romney said. “Don’t you understand that Russia has different — Putin has different interests than America, and they will pursue those interests?”

He said the president needs to show strength.

“The best way to keep them from pursuing those interests is by being a strong and powerful nation that can stand up to them,” Romney said. “When you say in Syria, ‘There’s a red line here in Syria, you go across that line there’s going to be serious consequences.’ You go across the line, what do you do? You let Putin do a sleight of hand and then nothing. Weakness only leads to other people taking advantage of you, being aggressive and in part, that’s what leads to situations like Ukraine.” [POLITICO]

Like I told you, tough talk is going to be the winning ticket for the GOP nominee, not going soft.

Obama Plays Politics With Storm

Momentum: Papers Endorse Romney

Four major Iowa newspapers have endorsed Mitt Romney, including the Des Moines register.

The Detroit News has endorsed Romney/Ryan.

And now the Los Angeles Daily News, The Boston Herald, The Orlando Sentinel, The Richmond Times Dispatch, The Florida Times Union, The Los Angeles Press Telegram, The Grand Rapids Press, The Columbus Ohio Dispatch,  The Pittsburgh Tribune Review all from critical states have also endorsed Mitt Romney.

I'd say this is progress.

I Hear A Bandwagon Coming!

At one time political campaigns used "band wagons" to get attention.  A wagon filled with musicians rolling along the streets drew attention and the music inspired people to sing and dance along.  Eventually other politicians wanted a seat on the "bandwagon" so they too could get some of the attention.

In today's world the concept of jumping on the bandwagon usually refers to a form of "group think", where people perceive someone to be winning and want to be part of that victory.  It is called "the bandwagon effect".

Well guess what?  The Detroit News just endorsed Mitt Romney.  That's right, the heart of the auto industry, the place where the UAW and General Motors put food in people's mouths, the place where Obama/Biden had to have calculated that they were ahead, would stay ahead and would never have to worry about.

As poll after poll shows Romney inching ahead, closing the gender gap, gaining in democrat strongholds and looking more presidential than the president, this endorsement in my humble opinion, sounds like the rumble of the wheels and the sounds of the horns as the bandwagon approaches.

All aboard!

 

The Final Presidential Debate: My Take-Aways

As Mitt Romney prepared to sit at the same table as Barack Obama and debate foreign policy last night he had to know that this would be his most difficult debate yet at the same time know that it was a meeting which would be filled with rich opportunities.  As it turned out Mitt took the safe road and hit pay dirt.

With the Middle East and Northern Africa in such turmoil, with the recent attack on our consulate in Libya, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Obama's very public snubs of our ally Israel all in the forefront of the news, Romney had a shot at slamming Obama's foreign policy failures in great detail.  Instead he chose to speak more broadly about what America's role should be and how we get back what we have lost over the past four years.

Obama on the other hand was seen on the split screen giving Romney an evil stare.  His body language was as if he was coiled and ready to jump over and hit Romney.  In other words, Obama came expecting a real fight.  When that didn't materialize as he had expected, Obama showed himself to be the same kind of disrespectful, mean spirited, sound bite laden, shallow campaigner that Biden did in his debate.

Obama's attempts to provoke Romney included personal attacks rather than policy debates.  And despite the number of "yo momma" jabs Obama threw at Romney, Mitt took the high road and rarely took issue with a sitting president on current foreign policy decisions, a criticism lobbed at him repeatedly in the aftermath of Benghazi.

With the advantage of a bit of election fatigue, a football game gearing up on another channel and the snooze inspiring energy of Bob Schieffer orchestrating the affair, what anybody who might have been watching with an open mind came away with was that the president is very thin skinned, shallow and spiteful while Mitt Romney is confident, knows what he is talking about and has a plan for America to regain its place as the leader of the free world.  And that plan, when it comes to national security, is based in large part on the USA not continuing our economic decline.

Romney will continue gaining on Obama in the polls right up until election day.  The big question remaining is whether Romney will win in the key counties in the key states so that he secures enought electoral college votes.  Last night he helped himself on that count.

Are The Results Of The Election "Fixed"?

You tell me what you think this means:

 

Final Presidential Debate Tonight - What To Look For

Tonight's debate will focus on foreign policy.  It will be moderated by Bob Schieffer another known liberal  plant. (You will recall his open dislike for Sarah Palin)  Considering the recent poll numbers which seem to be trending toward Romney and what the media has been forced to admit were two good performances by the Governor, look for Schieffer to play the "war hawk" card.

It cannot be rationally disputed that our standing with foreign countries has not improved under Barack Obama.  The world is a much more dangerous place.  We've seen another terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi and the administrations shifting narrative suggests ineptitude at a minimum, a cover up of something as the middle ground, and direct involvement as the most incredible possibility but certainly not beyond the pale.

But do you think that Schieffer is going to go hard after Obama on any of these failings?  That is doubtful, but don't expect Romney to go lightly.

What Obama and Schieffer will do is tag team Romney and accuse him of being all too ready to go to war with Iran, Syria and others.  Schieffer will also bang Romney hard over his opposition to announcing withdrawl dates from Afghanistan suggesting that the public wants us out of there and that Obama is responsive to that demand.

But more importantly watch for some bombshell from Gloria Allred or some other lefty troublemaker to capture the headlines today in advance of the debate and cast Romney in a scandalous light.  I've caught wind of two possibilities which are "on deck" as the October surprise to sink Romney's chances.  And don't forget that Obama plays by the Chicago rules.

Expect viewership of tonights debate to fall below the last one leaving far more room for spin in the morning.

The debate will air at 9 pm tonight.

Obama's Blind Eye To Illegal Money

It is illegal to accept foreign donations in a presidential campaign, and though Romney has safeguards in place that seem to prevent them, Obama does not.  In fact one report says that it is Obama's campaign easily accepts illegal donations without any filters at all.

Chris Walker, a British citizen who lives outside London, told The Post he was able to make two $5 donations to President Obama’s campaign this month through its Web site while a similar attempt to give Mitt Romney cash was rejected. It is illegal to knowingly solicit or accept money from foreign citizens.

The Obama campaign’s apparent lack of safeguards makes it possible to violate the law, says a report released by the Government Accountability Institute, a Florida-based watchdog group.

The report found that one Obama site — Obama.com — gets almost half of its traffic from foreign computer addresses. The site directs users to an Obama donation page. [New York Post]

 

Krauthammer Predicts Jaw Breaker In Next Debate

Charles Krauthammer has a warning for Obama and a criticism of Mitt in advance of Monday's final presidential debate.  He says that Romney missed an opening in the last go around but shouldn't miss it again.  And, says Charles, it is enough to knock Obama out of the race.

Referring to something Obama said in the first debate, Charles advises Romney to be ready.

Substituting unctuousness for argument, Obama declared himself offended by the suggestion that anyone in his administration, including the U.N. ambassador, would “mislead” the country on Libya.

This bluster — unchallenged by Romney — helped Obama slither out of the Libya question unscathed. Unfortunately for Obama, there is one more debate — next week, entirely on foreign policy. The burning issue will be Libya and the scandalous parade of fictions told by this administration to explain away the debacle.

Romney will be ready Monday.

You are offended by this accusation, Mr. President? The country is offended that your press secretary, your U.N. ambassador and you yourself have repeatedly misled the nation about the origin and nature of the Benghazi attack.

The problem wasn’t the video, the problem was policies for which you say you now accept responsibility. Then accept it, Mr. President. You were asked in the last debate why more security was denied our people in Libya despite the fact that they begged for it. You never answered that question, Mr. President. Or will you blame your secretary of state?

If he gets it right this time, Obama’s narrow victory in debate No. 2, salvaged by the mock umbrage that anyone could accuse him of misleading, will cost him dearly.

It was a huge gaffe. It is indelibly on the record. It will prove a very expensive expedient. [Washington Post]