Getting Away!

I’ve been thinking all day about Joe Biden and the debate Thursday night. I didn’t like it. I know what was going on, but I still didn’t like it. I think I’m gonna give up on the campaign. Then Samuel Jackson – yeh, that Samuel Jackson – breaks into my joint and bangs me upside the head and screams at me! You’re probably thinking I’ve gone crazy!
by Charlie Leck

You know, I think I need to get away.

The election campaign is getting me down. I take all this stuff way too seriously. I need to get away. So, I’m planning a trip to Manhattan just before the election. I’ve got tickets to see Chaplin at the Ethel Barrymore. The reviews are pretty good. I might try for tickets to the opera, too. We’ll get back in time to vote, but I need to do something to get my mind off all these numbers and all the frantic behavior of candidates here, there and everywhere. It’s the damnedest campaign I’ve ever witnessed. Did Joe really need to tear Ryan’s ass out like that? Wasn’t there some reasonable way to do it?

I just can’t get into it like I did in 2008. I worked phone-banks back then. I wrote hundreds of letters and emails to just about all my contacts, urging them to vote for change. Vote for Change!

Oh well, that was then and this is now.

Just as I wrote that, someone came crashing into my peaceful study up here in my treetop hideout. It was Samuel Jackson. I’m not kidding you – it was that Samuel Jackson. He screamed at me and scared the living daylights out of me – if you know what I mean!

“Wake the fuck up,” he hollered at me!

Can you believe it? The Jewish Council for Education and Research put the video ad together. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen – especially the scene in which two very old married folk, who seemed too old and way too ill-shaped to really do it, are about to start – you know – uh, uh – copulating!

Someone tells me there’s a lot of this stuff on You Tube – on Obama’s own You Tube channel and the ads are just a stitch. Some of them are made by the best pros in the business. They are not reaching people, however – not, at least, like they did in 2008. Remember the great YES YOU CAN video?

Now so many of us are slumbering this election out that we need to be shaken and told to get our asses in gear again. Oh well, maybe the trip to Manhattan can wait.

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The Debate Turns Polling Toward Romney

I wouldn’t have expected it in a hundred years. No way! The polls could not be turned so dramatically by a simple presidential debate; however, they were. The important toss-up states that I’ve been listing for the last four weeks were all running strongly toward the President. Now they’ve shifted to even races that anyone could win!
by Charlie Leck

Oh, my! Obama had this election nearly and neatly wrapped up. He only needed to put a bow on it. Then he went to Colorado to debate the challenger, Mitt Romney, and he was lackluster and disinterested. He got blown out of the water and, suddenly, Mitt Romney is very much alive and could pull out a win – a win that was very unlikely only 10 days ago.

Obama’s safe states are still safe; however, he had left himself about 35 electoral votes short of victory. It looked like he’d get a good portion of those in Virginia – or Wisconsin – or Colorado. He’d close it out in either Ohio or Florida. As a matter of fact, all five of those were moving comfortably toward him. Today – a week after the famous and disastrous debate – all of them have dropped back to even or have Romney slightly ahead.

Oh, my! As of today, here’s where these vital states stand…

Colorado               Dead even! Not even a spitting distance between them. Last week  it appeared that Obama was pulling out in front.

Ohio                      Dead even! Last week Obama had a 5 to 7 point lead!

Virginia                Dead even! Obama’s small lead of last week has vanished!

Wisconsin             Obama continues to hold a small lead – a lead just outside the statistical error category.

North Carolina     Romney has inched ahead. His lead is not safe, but he is ahead and his lead is just outside the statistical error category.

Nevada                  Dead even! Obama’s small lead has disappeared.

Florida                  Dead even! Obama was building a lead here and it has dissolved. Bad news for the President.

Iowa                      Obama continues to hold the slimmest little lead here.

In addition, Omaha was killing Romney in states like Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Now those states have pulled back within the statistical margin of error – meaning Obama’s lead is only a statistical one and not a real one.

The Next Debates
So, the next debates, including Biden’s tonight against Paul Ryan, are crucial. This may be an election that is decided by the House of Representatives and that is, as we know so painfully well, controlled by the Republicans.

I’m not kidding you!
This campaign is leading us slowly toward one of the most dramatic presidential races in the history of the land. I don’t like it! I don’t know how I’m going to stand up under it, but that’s the way it is. I thought I’d be able to go to bed early on Election Night and now I’ll need some kind of medical attention as I await the results.

Next Thursday
That’s it for this week! Next Thursday we’ll take another look at where the numbers stand. Also next Thursday, I’ll try to run a separate blog on where the important races in Minnesota stand, including the attempt to remove Bachmann from office.

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The First Great Debate

In the first of the 2012 Great Debates, Romney has been declared the winner! Really? Here’s my take on it and on the next two debates!
by Charlie Leck

I’m not going to go on and on here about last night’s debate. I’ll get right to my take. If you were keeping score on zingers, as everyone is calling these sharp, biting criticisms, Romney probably won the debate. In boxing, these zingers are called jabs. Fighters throw jabs as they feel each other out, trying to annoy their opponent by landing dozens of these little flicks of a punch. What both fighters are really waiting for is a chance to throw a knock-out punch – a round-house punch that comes from way back with all the force that a fighter can muster – a punch, if landed, that will knock the opposing boxer out of the ring and out of the fight.

There were no round-house punches thrown last night. Obama was being too careful, bobbing and weaving and dancing around the ring, happy to take a jab here and there as he awaited the opportunity to throw a knock-out punch.

Mr. Obama was trying too hard to be presidential. He backed off of mean, nasty, testy and dirty, in order to appear to be what he is – the President of the United States of America.

In the old, classic championship heavyweight fights of yesteryears, there was always a rule of hand that said a challenger could only win the fight and the championship by completely beating the reigning champ. Little jabs – even if a challenger landed dozens more than the champ – would not do it. The champion could show patience and wait through all kinds of annoying little efforts by the challenger. If the opportunity came, the champ would go for a big punch and, perhaps, a knockout; but he was not going to gamble by opening himself up to a desperate challenger.

It is that of which I was reminded last night. The President is protecting a big lead. He’s not going to make a serious mistake.

And, I must say, President Obama sure did look like a President last night. He looked patient and wise. He didn’t look like he would do anything out of desperation and everything only after contemplation and consultation.

Who won? The Champion, of course, because he sustained no tough punches and only a few light, silly jabs.

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