President Obama's 180 Undermines Entire Campaign Strategy

During his press conference this afternoon, President Obama actually offered praise for Governor Romney, softening his tone even further than during his acceptance speech on election night when he made overtures to working with Romney in the future.  "There are certain aspects of Governor Romney's record and his ideas that I think could be very helpful," said Obama. "Well, and to give you one example, I do think he did a terrific job running the Olympics."  Obama added, "He presented some ideas in the course of the campaign that I actually agree with."

Kind words, and perhaps spoken to compensate for a complete lack of kind words the President and his campaign had to offer concerning Romney over the past 6 months.  Now that the President has secured his re-election and can switch out of campaign mode, is he undermining his entire campaign strategy of "kill Romney" by suddenly speaking about him in much more positive light?  Unequivocally--yes.  The President decided early on that his campaign would be built not on his record, but on destroying his opponents; not on the division of our ideas, but the division of our characters.  In sum, President Obama sought to present Mitt Romney as a liar and even felon who was untrustworthy and the complete epitome of everything against which the President so nobly fought in his crusade to save the Middle Class.  Mitt Romney was portrayed as the callous, greedy, out-of-touch, rich white guy who could never lead America because he could never understand America; prevented from understanding the country because of who he is at his core, who he has been bred to be, and because of character flaws so great and so prevalent that he would be precluded from accomplishing any good because he was, at his heart, everything opposed to that good.  So far from being qualified to lead our country in any capacity, the President even felt it necessary to lecture Governor Romney on the nature of aircraft carriers, battleships, and the changes in our Navy over 100 years.  Condescending and playing merely for a political zinger, the President nonetheless used this tactic to further widen the chasm he would have us believe separated him from the Governor.  On one hand was the man we could relate to, on the other was the one who didn't have a clue.

Despite his efforts to convince us that Mitt Romney was not capable of serving his country because his flaws went right to the core of who he is, and his character was unworthy of such a pursuit, the President immediately reversed course, even in his acceptance speech, and now reverses course even further by offering some praise on the man he so recently reviled.  Can it be that the President is conceding that Mitt Romney actually does have at least half a heart after all, and really isn't that bad of a guy?  Is the President himself actually considering working with this man he just spent months convincing the American people isn't even worthy of the chance he is now himself offering?  Work with us to serve the American people, the President says, mere days after telling the American people, there's no way he could work for you.  President Obama has essentially clarified that his campaign tactics were nothing more than that, tactics, and not an accurate reflection on the character of the man who was more than worthy and qualified to lead the American people.  Of course, with no record to run on, the President's campaign strategy is understandable, though still inexcusable.  While dirt is often dug up concerning one's political opponents, and commercials are often aired with a negative connotation, they typically focus on policy divisions and not pure character flaws, and never before has an entire Presidential campaign been built on that strategy alone.  And in 2012, just enough people bought into the lies and deceptions perpetrated by the President's campaign as they sold to the American people a fictitious man that many equated with Mitt Romney.  The President's campaign team created Myth Romney and sold him to just enough people to lie their way to another 4 years in the White House, once the office of the most trusted and presumably upright leader in the world.

Dr. Jekyll & Harry Reid

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has a wildly colorful history during his recent years in the Senate.  Guided by his mantra of political expediency, people are left to wonder what he'll say next that completely undermines something he said yesterday, last week, or last year.  Throughout 2005 and 2006, his political rantings against out of control spending while Republicans controlled the Senate under President Bush's tenure reached a fever pitch with accusations of insanity, recklessness, and other colorful metaphors to describe his political opponents.  Of course, his tune changed once his own party took control of the country's purse in 2006 and, eventually the Presidency, in 2008.  Since that time, deficits have tripled, the national debt has skyrocketed faster and higher than under any other U.S. President, and a budget hasn't been passed in 3 years.

More recently, Senator Reid opened his political heart once again and allowed us a glimpse into the amazing speed with which his political philosophy can so rapidly reverse course and completely change within a matter of days.  He recently belittled and even mocked Governor Romney's overtures of bipartisan cooperation during the closing days of the Presidential election.  Governor Romney consistently spoke about reaching across the aisle and bringing both sides together to find common ground.  Responding to Governor Romney's message of bipartisanship, Harry Reid didn't merely downplay the possible effectiveness of any strategy Romney may pursue, Reid went even further by mocking such a thought as a "fantasy" and that the notion that the Senate would approve his conservative agenda as "laughable."  When faced with the possibility of working with a new executive, Reid folded his arms, pursed his lips, and reacted in much the same manner a school yard bully would when faced with the possibility of not getting his way.   Bipartisan cooperation would be, according to Harry Reid's words, not possible and something he would prevent from happening if Romney won.  Of course, once President Obama won re-election only a few days after his comments, Senator Reid remarkably changed his tone, softened his stance, and now expected Republicans to do the very thing he refused to do only days before.

In recent statements, Senator Reid urged Republicans to "turn away from divisions of the past & join us in cooperation & compromise."  Going even further, Senator Reid acknowledged that "Americans need more jobs, economic certainty, opportunity & fairness. It is within our power as a Congress to quickly address these needs."  Acting quickly as a Congress seems to have eluded Senator Reid, however, on adopting a budget--something they have failed to do for 1300 days.  Economic certainty and jobs have also been something that have plagued us for the past 3 years, as jobs continue to be lost at rates faster than they can be replaced while tepid and declining economic growth in the face of a fiscal cliff has brought about a first ever forecast of a potential recession in 2013 if fiscal problems can't be addressed.  Of course, as Senator Reid has shown us through his recent remarks, compromise is much easier when you're the one wielding the power and giving up what you want is much harder than asking the other party to give up what they want.  In any case, it's even easier when you have a media condoned fall back plan of blaming Bush and branding those as obstructionists who aren't willing to kowtow to your unmitigated demands. Thank you, Senator Reid, for making our job much easier of knowing who to brand as an obstructionist when nothing gets done in Washington.