Entries in Mitt Romney (101)
US Politics Snap Analysis: Why Mitt Romney "Won" The 1st Debate with President Obama
See also US Elections Video: The 1st Obama-Romney Debate
Photo: ReutersMitt Romney appeared more committed and convincing when explaining his solutions to America's economic woes. Those ideas may appear to be nothing more than wishful thinking when the answers are dissected, but the perception Romney gave was that he has a coherent plan to restore US fortunes. The bottom line to take from the debates was that Mitt Romney appeared Presidential; the actual president less so.
Will that be enough to shift the polls in Romney's favour?
US Politics Analysis: Romney's Big Opportunity in the 1st Debate with Obama
Polls indicate more voters are "disappointed" with Obama's record in office than "happy", and Americans often pay respect to the rhetoric of a limited government that fosters individual responsibility. If Romney can successfully present his vision on those two issues, without fumbling over his dismissal of 47% of Americans as moochers, he may buttress his claim to be the better choice as the next President of the United States among the undecided.
US Elections Analysis: Your Guide to the 3 Biggest "Swing States" and the Challenge for Mitt Romney
President Obama in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Thursday
After the electoral votes from these near-certainties, the election comes down to seven or eight "swing states". Of these, three --- Florida, Ohio, and Virginia --- are vital because their larger number of votes in the Electoral College. To win the election, Romney needs to triumph in two of the three. That is why more than half the money spent by both campaigns has been devoted to the trio of battlegrounds.
The cold challenge for the Romney campaign is that the polls put Obama ahead in all three. Florida is close, with President Obama enjoying a narrow 4% advantage, but in both Ohio and Virginia his lead is about 8%.
So why, despite these numbers, are Republicans hopeful that Mitt Romney can still win?
US Politics Analysis: Why Obama Has the Edge So Far --- Campaign Finance and the State of the Election
Samuel L. Jackson's pro-Obama "Wake the F*** Up, America"
The latest pro-Romney "attack ad" by the SuperPAC American Crossroads
Next Wednesday, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will meet in the first of three campaign debates.
Opinion varies as to how critical the debates are in persuading undecided voters to support a candidate, but the cold fact is that in this campaign they are the last chance for Romney to turn around Obama's momentum. The President is currently leading by margins, especially in the battleground states, that have him as a 4-1 favourite –-- 80% probability --- to retain the White House.
The reasons for Romney's disappointing performance are many, but one that is not receiving the attention that it deserves is that conservatives have not yet been able --- as many feared after the Supreme Court decision of 2010 --- to swamp the Obama campaign with a series of negative ads drowning out the voice of the Democratic incumbent. There is time for that change, especially if big donors are encouraged by Romney's performance in the first debate to pour in last-minute millions, but money has not yet shifted the fundamentals in this race.
EA Audio: World Leaders Take Over New York --- Scott Lucas with the BBC
United Nations General AssemblyLater today we will post the video of President Obama's speech to the United Nations General Assembly, but this morning I took a lighter look with BBC Radio 5 at the PR and politics in New York. The conversation started with British Prime Minister David Cameron's moment of glory this evening on the David Letterman Show, but then moved to the question of which world leaders President Obama and his Republican challenge Mitt Romney should be seeing this week.
That in turn brought a twist in the story: if the Jewish vote in America is so important, why isn't Obama giving the time of day to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week?
The discussion starts at the 1:52:27 mark.
US Politics Analysis: How Occupy Wall Street Tilted This Presidential Election Towards Obama
Tim Pool describes Monday's protests by Occupy Wall Street on its one-year anniversary
What has happened since 2010 that means voters are prepared to re-elect a President whose economic record is so unpopular?
Occupy Wall Street is what happened.
Occupy is not the only reason why Romney's economic narrative has faltered. Indeed, in the larger electoral picture, it is only a small contribution to the GOP's poor campaign, but Occupy did something that observers have failed to appreciate in their rush to dismiss the movement as a fad or failure. The protesters changed the background, even as they failed to build a mass of participation, against which the contending economic visions of Obama and Romney are now framed.
The Latest from Iran (20 September): The Currency "Situation"
Nikahang Kowsar looks at President Ahmadinejad's visit next week to New York for the United Nations General Assembly --- Statue of Liberty: "Mamouti, take your halo and go away!"
See also Iran Analysis: Assessing A Nuclear Warning from Tehran
Iran Feature: How Mitt Romney Got It Wrong on Tehran's "Dirty Bomb"
Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Iran's Political Diversion
The Latest from Iran (19 September): Another Regime Move on Syria
2020 GMT: Economy Watch. Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has stated that "rising prices are putting people under pressure". He criticised the Goverment's management of the economy: "the President mustn’t make decisions alone".
1630 GMT: Assurance of the Day. Inspector General Mostafa Pourmohammadi has claimed that 5% inflation will cause a crisis in Europe, but people in Iran stay calm even with 40% inflation.
Iran Feature: How Mitt Romney Got It Wrong on Tehran's "Dirty Bomb" (Cirincione)
Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 9:14 | Scott Lucas in EA Iran, EA USA, Middle East and Iran, US Politics Governor Mitt Romney's description, caught on video, of what he considered the real nuclear threat from Iran has further undermined his national security credentials, showing a fundamental misunderstanding of nuclear threats. Iran's nuclear program has nothing to do with dirty bombs. Terrorists would not use uranium -- from Iran or anywhere else -- in a dirty bomb. It is unclear if Gov. Romney was just riffing, or if his advisors had fed him this line of attack. But it is dead wrong.
EA Special: Mitt Romney's "Deviant" Politics, a Slain Ambassador, and the Death of American Objectivity
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 12:47 | James Miller in EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, US Foreign Policy, US Politics
There are legitimate reasons to question the administration on many issues, including foreign policy. There are looming questions, like whether drone strikes in Yemen have made us safer, whether there should be intervention in Syria, or how the US can stop Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu from pre-emptively striking Iran and dragging us into a war that our military commanders do not want to fight. There are questions about Pakistan and Afghanistan, China and Mexico, Bahrain and Egypt and Libya. But we're not discussing these because, rather than confront President Obama within the sphere of legitimate controversy, Romney and the GOP have resorted to pulling our entire political dialogue into the sphere of deviance.
This has dangerous implications for American politics. And the media has played an important role in the downward spiral. Terrible daily coverage of the Middle East has led to sensational coverage of events that are more drama than substance. At the same time, a fear of confronting deviance has lent legitimacy to questions that are not legitimate. Those wishing to exploit the media's fear of perceived bias have poisoned the well of public discourse, and the media has distributed the water because, well, they think that it is their job.