No Huntsman = no win in November.

I love their first one of better but not good enough, when the soft spots in the recovery over the past 18 months can be tracked directly against Republican brinkmanship with the economy.

As for the rest of it... well reality has a well documented liberal bias.

TwoHead: They left out the most obvious one; Manipulate the price of gasoline via the oil futures market. If they could find some way to get the price of gas well above $4/gal maybe even close to $5/gal by late Summer they can kill off the recovery.

Hence why the GOP is threatening to hold the strategic oil reserve hostage to attempt to force premature approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

DNRTFA, but from the url, I'm going to have to say


YOUR BLOG SUCKS


/slackers

It's still mourning in America, at least the part outside of Washington and Wall Street. Obama's stagnant, declinist New Normal is unacceptable for the Last, Best Hope on Earth.

Are the capitalized parts the new catchphrases that tested well in focus groups?

But but but if RON PAUL doesn't win we're all farked! We gotta get RON PAUL elected! We just gotta! Only RON PAUL can save everything!!

They've already given up on the economy and have pivoted to social issues. Obama in a landslide.

A whole lot of "Obama isn't doing enough!" *obama does something after much fussing from the R's* "OBAMA'S DOING TOO MUCH!"

Why with the millions we win from the lawsuit, we can BUY the election, Pinky!

Before RTFA: Invent a ludicrous counterfactual about how Obama has permanently weighed down the economy and that we'd be adding a million jobs a month if Republicans were in charge.

After RTFA: I'd say my call fits numbers 1-4 to a T, and number 5 is an idiotic slam by people who engage in just as much crony capitalism as Obama does.

They forgot the obvious one: STOP TALKING. David Axelrod probably already has a script set up that whenever a Republican offical says anything, the sound bite is immediately copied into an ever-growing YouTube Campaign video. Hell, he doesn't even have to worry about editing.

As for the article itself?

make me some tea: So in other words, feed people bullshiat until they believe it.

It's been working for three decades. Why stop now?

just because his approval rates are around 48% doesn't mean the candidate for the republicans is automatically 52%
I know, shocking.

The Congressional Republicans are giving up. You can tell by the payroll tax cut that they know they can't do anything right now except see what happens in December. The way everything is headed, Obama will have another term and the Democrats may see some drastic gains in either House simply because the Teabaggers went from zero to annoying within weeks of gaining some power.

The presidential primary is turning into another circular firing squad, and the chosen candidate is being soundly rejected by the Base. These are the dark times for the Republican Party, and it's easy to see what most of them are really doing now: quietly sounding out some positions that require no work, and figuring out how they can either capitalize on this confusion (hence Gingrich and Santorum still being in this race) or how they can go independent. At this point, the Republican label is toxic and only being coveted by the dying rural bigots who will provide an excellent 'them' to fight against for the next four years.

GoodyearPimp: A whole lot of "Obama isn't doing enough!" *obama does something after much fussing from the R's* "OBAMA'S DOING TOO MUCH!"

I had that conversation with a really smart coworker. I knew he leaned Republican but didn't know just how far it went, but he started complaining that Obama sits around doing nothing but taking vacations while America's problems get worse. I pointed out that most Republicans seem upset at how much money he's been spending on huge programs like the Reocvery Act, Health Insurance Reform, implementation of the auto bailout and Cash for Clunkers, extension of unemployment benefits, etc. and he seemed genuinely confused. He accepted that those were all massive programs and bad ideas. I think he was trying to say that he thinks Obama isn't doing enough of he right things (hah, Right, nice pun me) for the country or something?

I mean, essentially, the economy is going in the right direction, health insurance coverage has expanded, the american auto industry is on the rise, the wars overseas are drawing down... it seems to me like that the Obama administration has undertaken some pretty dramatic policy reform in the last three years and met with results that are good for America.

the Republican argument these days seems to be a tacit "He's good, but he's not good enough." So, sure, run on that I guess...

1. Better but not nearly good enough. He's saying that the R's could try to make Americans think about more robust recoveries in the past. The problem is, if you get them thinking about the past, they'll remember that most of this started under Bush.

2. The Big Spend was a Big Bust. Some of the R candidates were in favor of the stimuli.

3. The recovery isn't "built to last," not with all that debt. Only Ron Paul has made serious proposals to reduce spending and therefore reduce debt long-term.

4. Obama is President (Didn't) Fix It. Takes two to tango. Everyone knows that Obama and Congress haven't agreed on much. If you emphasize that things haven't gotten done, many people (though certainly not all) will blame Congress for that. So you will gain some votes and lose some.

5. Obama wants to "win the future"-with crony capitalism. And Mitt/Newt/Rick don't? Seriously?!?

YOUR BLOG SUCKS!

/not clicking that shiat

error 303: GoodyearPimp: A whole lot of "Obama isn't doing enough!" *obama does something after much fussing from the R's* "OBAMA'S DOING TOO MUCH!"

I had that conversation with a really smart coworker. I knew he leaned Republican but didn't know just how far it went, but he started complaining that Obama sits around doing nothing but taking vacations while America's problems get worse. I pointed out that most Republicans seem upset at how much money he's been spending on huge programs like the Reocvery Act, Health Insurance Reform, implementation of the auto bailout and Cash for Clunkers, extension of unemployment benefits, etc. and he seemed genuinely confused. He accepted that those were all massive programs and bad ideas. I think he was trying to say that he thinks Obama isn't doing enough of he right things (hah, Right, nice pun me) for the country or something?

I mean, essentially, the economy is going in the right direction, health insurance coverage has expanded, the american auto industry is on the rise, the wars overseas are drawing down... it seems to me like that the Obama administration has undertaken some pretty dramatic policy reform in the last three years and met with results that are good for America.

the Republican argument these days seems to be a tacit "He's good, but he's not good enough." So, sure, run on that I guess...

The sad thing about that argument is that it still brings to light how awful and out of touch the Republican candidates are. Would you have a possible Clinton second term or another Dubya in office? Because that's not a choice at all, not in the slightest.

5. Obama wants to "win the future"-with crony capitalism. It was government meddling in the private sector that created the housing bubble and financial crisis. But rather than learn that lesson, Team Obama wants to double down on "state capitalism," whether through new policies to try and reinflate the housing market or venture socialism/industrial policy in the "clean energy" sector.

And by "meddling" we mean "not meddling enough".

BTW: Chocolate rations are going up, despite the Eastasian embargo!

Go ahead GOP, make your case. Tell the American people how Obama is strengthening the economy and lowering unemployment JUST so he can get reelected, because he's a big mean selfish partisan poopie head.

I'm sure that will fly.

Slives: I almost want the Republicans to gain enough control to do things the way they want to, watch the economy all but fall apart and then enjoy the bloodbath that takes place after that.

We did that from 2000-2006. We are still recovering. Let's not do it again, if you please.

/thanks

make me some tea: So in other words, feed people bullshiat until they believe it.

Hope and change...

GentDirkly: Obama wants to "win the future"-with crony capitalism. And Mitt/Newt/Rick don't? Seriously?!?

You don't get it. "Crony Capitalism" means involving labor unions interests in policy decisions, which as we all know is socialism. Involving global corporations and their CEOs in policy decisions is perfectly acceptable and in fact what American Jesus would have wanted.

Guntram Shatterhand: At this point, the Republican label is toxic and only being coveted by the dying rural bigots who will provide an excellent 'them' to fight against for the next four years.

That's what was said before the 2010 mid term elections when Republicans took the House, made gains in the Senate and had historical pickups in Gubernatorial and State Legislature elections.

In the summer of 1933, a nice old gentleman wearing a silk hat fell off the end of a pier. He was unable to swim. A friend ran down the pier, dived overboard and pulled him out; but the silk hat floated off with the tide. After the old gentleman had been revived, he was effusive in his thanks. He praised his friend for saving his life. Today, three years later, the old gentleman is berating his friend because the silk hat was lost.

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

That's not a list of "why the author thinks Obama will lose". That's a list of "why the author thinks Obama sucks".

theknuckler_33: a slowly falling unemployment rate of 8.0 percent by year's end

Ignoring for a moment the quality, or lack thereof, of the blog, am I the only one who finds this a bit pessimistic? I mean, I realize that the 'official' UE rate will struggle to come down as more people rejoin the search for jobs, but cripes, it's only February. I was thinking it could dip below 8 before the election.


I think you underestimate the Republicans.

Funny, because last I checked, the GOP has shifted their focus to social issues, for whatever farking reason.

soy_bomb: That's what was said before the 2010 mid term elections when Republicans took the House, made gains in the Senate and had historical pickups in Gubernatorial and State Legislature elections.

Democrats tend to remember that kind of lesson and learn from it.

Republicans tend to forget that kind of lesson and try to nominate Newt Gingrich.

I didn't RTFA, but I know how the Republicans can win easily:

Use a brokered convention to nominate Sarah Palin and let her weave her sweet, sweet black magic over the GOP. Make sure Rick Santorum gets the VP nod. Continue to hammer Obama on his weak points: his war on religion via the new contraception rules, his fake birth certificate, and his continued insistence on being black. Be sure to not develop any rational ideas or new thoughts on why Obama should not be re-elected. By early November the sheer holy power of Palin-Santorum ticket will cause Jesus to return and officially declare Obama the anti-Christ. At that point Obama and all liberals, uppity intellectuals, Iranians, global warming and socialism will be thrown into the lake of fire. Jesus will be so awed by Palin-Santorum that he uses his powers over creation to fuse them into one entity: PalTorum. PalTorum will then rule the Earth for 10,000 years. At the 5,000 year mark PalTorum will see that their work is done early and quit, but no one will care due to the conservative paradise that was created during their benevolent rule.

FTFA:
State capitalists fear Schumpeterian creative destruction because they cannot control it or squeeze campaign contributions from it.

Economic freedom, on the other hand, creates prosperity by unleashing the imagination of the individual and rewarding his or her effort. As analyst Ian Bremmer puts it, "Creative destruction invests liberal capitalism with a self-regenerating dynamism. ... Human beings value opportunities to create prosperity for themselves and their families, and free markets have proven time and again that they can empower virtually anyone."

FTFW:
Creative destruction is a term originally derived from Marxist economic theory which refers to the linked processes of the accumulation and annihilation of wealth under capitalism.
...
In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, [Joseph Schumpeter] developed the concept out of a careful reading of Marx's thought...arguing that the creative-destructive forces unleashed by capitalism would eventually lead to its demise as a system.

I love that capitalists have taken a principle of their system that people on the outside see as one of its greatest weaknesses and turned it into "self-regenerating dynamism". Karl Rove would be proud, or possibly stole their tactic.

theknuckler_33: a slowly falling unemployment rate of 8.0 percent by year's end

Ignoring for a moment the quality, or lack thereof, of the blog, am I the only one who finds this a bit pessimistic? I mean, I realize that the 'official' UE rate will struggle to come down as more people rejoin the search for jobs, but cripes, it's only February. I was thinking it could dip below 8 before the election.

I think it definitely could be. New claims fell again this week to the lowest level since before Obama.

soy_bomb: Guntram Shatterhand: At this point, the Republican label is toxic and only being coveted by the dying rural bigots who will provide an excellent 'them' to fight against for the next four years.

That's what was said before the 2010 mid term elections when Republicans took the House, made gains in the Senate and had historical pickups in Gubernatorial and State Legislature elections.

and elected the most unpopular Congress in US history in the process.

theknuckler_33: am I the only one who finds this a bit pessimistic

It's almost like he's a partisan hack, projecting the worst case scenario that will help his team in the election. Almost.

Zerochance: Funny, because last I checked, the GOP has shifted their focus to social issues, for whatever farking reason.

yup, it's called flailing. The internal polling has come back and it's headless chicken time.