Poll trends in Ohio over the last month (Average of polls, from RealClearPolitics.com). Despite this being average of all polls, Repubs continue to insist on poll bias. Or media bias. Or, many are just assuming they're going to lose at this stage, and are blaming Romney. It's not the polls, or the media, or even Romney himself. It's what the Republican Party stands for.
I love the panic right now among Republicans. Ever since the conventions, and ever since Romney lost his ability to censor himself, the polls have moved very strongly in Obama’s favor. InTrade had Obama with a 54% chance of reelection before the conventions. Now, it’s over 75%.
Republicans are in a state of shock. They just assumed they would win this election, solely based on the state of the economy. Their entire strategy was based on the proposition that voters would blame Obama for the current slow economy, and would vote for the Republican candidate by default, whoever that candidate turned out to be. Now that Obama is widening his lead in Ohio, Florida, and other important swing states, Repubs are placing the blame on one of 2 factors 1) Romney himself, or 2) “biased” polls.
There is no getting over the fact that Romney has run a miserable campaign. More on that in a second. Beyond Romney though, there have been numerous stories and opinion pieces out this week from the right claiming some kind of conspiracy or bias in the poll numbers. Despite the fact that every poll on the planet has Obama in front nationally, and in front in Ohio, Florida, and every other swing state, Repub pundits are claiming it’s all a part of an effort to depress Republican voter enthusiasm, that the polls are using incorrect assumptions, and that these same Repub pundits “know better” than the pollsters. Republicans just seem to be in shock that the electorate isn’t rushing to support them. It HAS to be the polls, right? There’s no way people actually LIKE Obama and Democrats!!!
I am absolutely loving it. I’m loving seeing the Republican party completely self-destruct. The election is still almost 6 weeks away, but Republicans are falling all over themselves right now, trying to play the blame game. IT’S ROMNEY! If ONLY Romney were more like Paul Ryan! Or, IT’S THE POLLS! The media and the polls are out to get Repubs!
Well, guess what, Republicans? It’s not Romney. It’s definitely not the polls. It’s not some liberal media conspiracy. It’s your entire, deluded, $hitty excuse for a political party that’s at fault.
Let’s start with Romney himself. Clearly, of the miserable batch of Republican “stars” that were in the primaries, Romney was the most “electable”. He was the most qualified. He was the right choice, from a Republican perspective. But in winning the nomination, Romney has been forced to act like he’s something he’s not…a hardcore, right-wing conservative of the kind that Republican leadership INSISTS on. Romney has had to abandon his former moderate stances and has shifted so far to the right he can’t even remember where he came from. Granted, given how extreme the Republican party has become, he likely wouldn’t have won the nomination if he hadn’t moved to the right. Some assumed he’d move back towards the center after winning the nomination, in preparation for the election against Obama.
However, Republican leadership simply hasn’t allowed any wiggle room for Romney. Be it foreign policy or the tax policy back home, Romney has been squeezed into a position where he’s forced to continually reiterate the most extreme conservative positions. Obama has taken out Bin Laden and kept us safe at home, but Republicans continue to act as if they alone are the standard-bearers for security and the military. Hence the sabre-rattling tone from Romney on every foreign policy issue, as if America acting “tough” is the answer to the delicate and extremely complicated issues in the Middle East and elsewhere. Romney continues the bravado when talking foreign policy, however, simply because he HAS to. His base insists that he act “tougher” than Obama.
Things are no different on the domestic front. Romney and every other candidate running for the nomination were all pushed into a position where even a $1 tax increase for every $10 cut in spending was too much. Romney has been pushed into a position where he has to continually talk about cutting taxes, while at the same time, somehow magically maintaining or increasing our military budget, and balancing our overall budget. It’s an impossibility…but logic or fact have given way to ideology for the Republican party. Romney is a problem-solver…he’s not one to carry the Republican ideological flag.
It’s a mismatch, it’s been doomed from the start, and there’s no one to blame other than Republican leadership and the party as a whole. Republicans, you’ve been done in by your own hatred, your own intolerance, your sole focus on being the “anti-Obama”, rather than standing for anything meaningful. You’ve been done in by your extremism, by your unwillingness to compromise, no matter the consequences. You’ve been done in by a vision for America that bends over backwards to accommodate those with money and power, while abandoning those who need our help.
It’s not Romney. It’s not the media. It’s not biased polls. Don’t act shocked that you’re losing, that people aren’t stampeding to support Romney or Republicans. You simply don’t represent what America wants, or needs.
