a very lovely civil war

The Guardian: Barack Obama’s strategists find rich pickings as feuding Republicans attack Mitt Romney …. The fierce fight for the Republican presidential nomination, which is likely to see Romney emerge as the party’s candidate, is offering an arsenal of potential ammunition for the Democrats…..

…. Republican infighting has already done much of the work for President Obama and his re-election planners. Over the past week, two of Romney’s major rivals, Gingrich and Perry, have brutally attacked Romney’s time as head of Bain Capital….

…. The civil war is disturbing the Republican establishment who are concerned that Perry, Gingrich and their allies are doing the Democrats’ work and causing huge damage to the Republican name….

….In order to woo social conservatives in the Republican base, Romney has embraced an anti-abortion stance and come out strongly against gay marriage. However, as governor of Massachusetts Romney had quite different and much more moderate positions. Such “flip-flops” are a powerful weapon to be used in any election campaign and Romney has become notorious, even among Republicans, as someone who has switched beliefs for political gain.

…. The really significant story about the 2012 fight between the Republicans and Obama might be unfolding outside South Carolina, as the US economy gradually but noticeably revives …. If the upturn lasts, the anti-Romney playbook already being devised will continue to write itself

Full article here

Thanks Desertflower

best bet

First Lady Michelle Obama at the BET Honors 2012 at the Warner Theatre, January 14

….. with Maya Angelou

(L-R) Spike Lee, Michelle Obama, Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder

willard’s woes

Aw, this conservative seems a bit concerned about Willard’s prospects of beating PBO…..

Quin Hillyer (The American Spectator): …. all sorts of people are suddenly realizing that Mitt Romney is hardly the candidate with the best chance to beat Barack Obama …. former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis: “…. Democrats have not had to strain to plan the race they would run against Romney. For four days in the week, they will paint him as a flip-flopper who has occupied both sides of a lot of ground; for three days, as an entitled tool of corporate interests who made millions doling out pink slips on behalf of a shadowy management firm.”

…. I see, first, a candidate who “fails to inspire”. This is hugely important. It’s the old Dole/McCain/Bush 41 thing again: Without energizing one’s base, it doesn’t matter if you can get a few extra percentage points from “swing” voters…

…. there’s the attacks on his tenure at Bain Capital … coming from the left in a general election campaign, they will work ….Romney’s main selling point has been that he is a good businessman who proved himself in the private sector; if that gets taken away, he’s toast, because his record as governor was nothing to write home about…

Romney is the perfect foil for the Obama campaign, first because he is the very epitome of a Republican born rich who got richer by moving money around – a millionaire plutocrat who just can’t relate to “ordinary” Americans, and second because he is yet another Republican political/dynastic legatee….

Combine that with what appears to be a plastic insincerity …. with a “how dare you question me” attitude that increasingly has shown itself in debates, and with an utter failure to “connect” emotionally with what once were known as “Reagan Democrats” and you have a recipe for an extraordinarily weak general election candidate.

…. All of which is to say that Willard Mitt Romney has very low growth potential in a general election campaign against Obama …. this can be an easy recipe for what I call a “respectable loss”. But a loss is a loss is a loss. Romney is a weak general-election candidate who isn’t likely to get any better.

Full article here

Thanks Loriah

afternoon all

A very good afternoon from Little Miss Cranky

Thanks for putting up with that whinge last night, and for understanding what I was rambling on about. From now until November (and for all of PBO’s second term too) this will be a ‘press on’ kind of blog, with not a whole lot of room for the doom merchants.

Just to make one thing clear:

Not in a million years am I asking anyone to stop commenting about the smears and lies out there, we need to know what crap is being spread so we can fight back with the truth with our friends/families, on Twitter/Facebook/comment sections on websites/emails to the MSM/newspapers, etc, etc. And I welcome – with a hearty hug – links to stuff exposing Romney and the GOP for what they are …. keep ’em coming!

At times that will make this place seem depressingly negative, but fighting the lies this year will be as important as reporting the good stuff – so hang on in there, it’ll be worth it in the end.

All I’m asking is that some of you – and it’s only a teency weency minority here – stop trying to put a dampener, using GOP talking points, on every single bit of encouraging news we get. And stop linking to comically awful GOP/Firebagger sites – instead, link to truth-tellers like Steve Benen and Greg Sargent who actually make an effort to expose the lies. I end up not being able to distinguish you from GOP/Firebagger trolls, even if you’re genuine supporters of the President. And I’m just not going to waste anymore time trying to figure it out, there’s more important work to be done.

So, keep on arguing, keep on being passionate about the issues that matter most to you, and keep on doing what you do here. You’re a completely amazing, inspirational bunch of people, I can’t even begin to describe how much I appreciate you all.

And one last time: Personal abuse towards others here will never be tolerated – ever.

Okay, “with patient and firm determination”, let’s press on 😉

Chat away….

rise and shine

Morning everyone, will catch up in a while 😉

a word …. or several

There’s a new (cranky) sheriff in town

Hi everyone,

Apologies for another cranky post. It’s triggered by a less-than-chirpy week on the blog when some went out of their way to put a miserably negative spin on any positive news. There were times I felt like I had dropped in to HuffyPost, or MittIsAwesome.com.

And then I got an email tonight from one of our friends here, pointing out some of the curious negativity in the comments the past few days, confirming what I’d already felt.

So, just a reminder:

– – – – > This is a place for those who support President Obama and who want him re-elected < – – – –

That’s simple enough to understand, right?

If you are not a supporter of the President, and would quite like to see Mr Bain occupy the Oval Office next year, then please, find somewhere else on the internet to play.

Even if you are a ‘supporter’ of the President, but are determined to demoralize everyone else with your endless GOP-talking-points-induced gloom, please find somewhere else on the internet to play.

GOP talking-point-crap, lies and smears about PBO, and links to sites that post that shit, are never welcome here. Ever.

**** Seriously, how many times do I have to say that? ***

So, I’m just going to block the people who post that stuff from here on in – and there’ll be no warnings or apologies. When your comments don’t appear, you’ll know you’re done here.

Again, “but, but, but…. PBO is doomed because [random wingnut name] say so” comments will go straight in to the trash.

As I’ve said time and time again, this is a place for supporters of the President to escape the bile they experience elsewhere. That doesn’t mean we can’t throw punches at each other and argue things out, it just means we have a common cause, and if you don’t share that cause then, please, go somewhere else.

I honestly don’t have the time – or desire – to argue it out, between now and November I only want people on the blog who are battling towards PBO’s re-election, anyone intent on trying to demoralize that effort ….. bye.

PS I asked someone recently to end their personal feud with someone else on the blog – they promised they would. And then they posted a miserably ugly personal attack on the same person, which I deleted as soon as I saw it. I won’t name the person, but they’re banned. I honestly try not to set many rules here, but the one rule that really matters to me is ‘no personal abuse’, we get enough of that on other sites we visit. Any one who can’t accept that rule …. sorry, this isn’t the place for you.