While I'm Enjoying the Good News... I know this election will still be an epic fight.

[berni_mccoy]

I'm loving the bad press Romney is getting from his Mittzkrieg.

I'm loving that Obama's campaign to define his opponent has largely worked.

I'm ecstatic Romney hasn't released his taxes yet and Harry Reid has seized upon that fact to box Romney in on this issue.

I'm excited to see a shift in the polls to Obama.

Even so, this fight has barely begun. The Conventions have not yet happened. Romney has way more cash on hand than Obama and has not yet picked his VP. While I expect Romney to continue to make mistakes, I also know that his campaign is learning as they go and they will get better at fighting back. Will it be enough for them? Maybe. But it will definitely be easier if we get to comfortable with the way things are.

I fully expect Rovian tactics to come into play as scheming demons pointed out yesterday. I fully expect Romney to play dirty and fight tooth and nail. I fully expect problems to crop up with the elections themselves, especially in GOP controlled states, where I expect far too few voting machines to be available to Obama-friendly districts and vote counts to have mysteriously impossible numbers (like more votes than registered voters in a given district, all going for Romney). Simply put, even if it's for the wrong reasons, Romney wants this too much and has the resources by which to obtain it. And he has a lot of wealthy and powerful people willing to help him.

It will be up to us to get the vote out.

It will be up to us to expose election fraud.

It will be up to us to expose Romney's bullshit lies.

And it will be up to us to re-elect President Obama.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. I find this election a real yawner. Romney hasn't a chance.

With a base consisting of older white males and nothing else he has nowhere to go but Palookaville.

BTW I'm an older white male and would fry my earlobes before I would vote for Romney..or any Republican.

[RagAss]

2. LOL !...Do you bread the lobes before frying?

[randome]

3. I agree that Romney hasn't a chance.

I further believe that we are on the verge of a new Progressive era. Look how corporate America is reacting to gay rights. The tide is turning.

Soon it will be Democrats and Republicans versus the Tea Party.

We are winning this time. The GOP is not yet out of the picture but it is wounded and bleeding.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. +1 for optimism

[SpankMe]

5. Never say that Romney doesn't have a chance.

Republicans have become radicalized and are pathological liars and cheaters. They have months to pull off surprises and fuck with the psychology of the electorate to win this thing.

We still have yet to see how their voter disenfranchisement program will affect election results.

We have no idea what kinds of 5th-grade-worthy, Rovian tactical bullshit they have loaded and ready to go - and whether or not the MSM will have the balls to expose and properly characterize it.

Any belief that the election is in the bag for Obama this early in the game would be a titanic mistake. Just saying it out loud could cause certain people to relax enough to allow the Repubs to steamroll us. The pressure is always on us, and we must apply pushback without a single moment of relief.

There isn't enough profanity in all of humanity to describe the disdain I have for Republicans and the conservative perspective in general.

[Freddie]

6. Totally agree.

Don't forget we had 2 terms of Bush. Take nothing for granted, this is going to be a long ugly fight.
But we're on the right side of history.

[OmahaBlueDog]

7. I agree with you and SD 100% on this one

I posted this yesterday in response to a thread on who you'd fear for a Romney VP pick.

I don't fear a VP candidate so much as an uexpected strategy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1054962

The biggest mistake we could make at this point is to underestimate Romney based on the recent trip

Romney is still a well funded, formidable threat. He polls well in categories like the economy, but still fails to connect on trust or likability. My sense is that the handlers are telling him not to worry, and that they can fix this in the fall. Time will tell.

The recent Romney trip makes little difference.

He blew many opportunities to look Presidential. Aside from that, the people upset by Romney's overseas antics aren't voting for him anyway. Insulted Great Britain? Pfhhht! Insulted the Palestinians? Good - I hate all the Arabs/Muslims anyway. Insulted the Russians? I've known all along they were the real enemy. (Never mind the Bush speech about looking into Putin's eyes and seeing into his soul). In fact, it would not shock me to see Romney double down on neo-con foreign policy, and threaten to pull us out of the UN.

What potential Romney running mate do I fear the most?

Preface: This week's statements by Cheney about selecting Palin having been a mistake were a message from the party to the Romney camp -- don't screw this up. At this point, I think we can rule out any BS crazy picks, like Jan Brewer or Sherrif Joe.

Who would I fear: Colin Powell. Relax - he won't be picked (I don't think), but he would be someone a) who endorsed the President in 2008 b) who still commands a good deal of respect c) who many feel was as misled as the rest of us on Iraq d) who has foreign policy experience e) who is perceived as a moderate) and of course f) is a Republican African American.

Who will he pick: For months, my money has been on Marco Rubio. However, starting in about mid June, the words "safe pick" kept emerging in reports I've been reading. The GOP is desperate to avoid a repeat of Sarah Palin. They need an attack dog, and they need someone who can tip a battleground state. The short list (IMO) is Rubio, McDonnell, Portman, Pawlenty, and Ryan. I'm coming around to the idea he'l go with Portman.

Portman gives the campaign help in Ohio, which they must have. He doesn't offend the t-baggers, and he's a deficit hawk, which appeals to the traditional GOP establishment. One can reason that Rubio won't help much outside of Florida. Florida is virtually tied, and with the EV map at it's current count, I think they try to use Portman to take Ohio, and then pour a ton of money into Florida.

Apathy

The biggest enemy both campaigns face right now is apathy. The public is already tiring of this campaign, and enthusiasm among independents for both candidates is dropping. Voter turnout looks to be down for the first time in several Presidential elections. A lot can change between now and November, but (as it stands now) getting out the vote -- especially in the so-called 12 battleground states -- will be absolutely key.