I am fucking LOVING this "Not Just Business, It's Personal" thing.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Watching "Hardball" and they're discussing it.

I don't want President Obama to pretend he "likes" Romney. Let's just call it the way it is.

Book details Obama's dislike of Romney



Thrush notes that Obama "began campaign preparations feeling neutral about Romney, but like the former governor's GOP opponents in 2008 and 2012, he quickly developed a genuine disdain for the man," according to excerpts released by Politico.

"That scorn stoked Obama's competitive fire, got his head in the game, which came as a relief to some Obama aides who had seen his interest flag when he didn't feel motivated to crush the opposition.

Obama, a person close to him told me, didn't even feel this strongly about conservative, combative House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the Hill Republican he disliked the most. At least Cantor stood for something, he'd say.

When he talked about Romney, aides picked up a level of anger he never had for Clinton or McCain, even after Sarah Palin was picked as his running mate. 'There was a baseline of respect for John McCain. The president always thought he was an honorable man and a war hero,' said a longtime Obama adviser. 'That doesn't hold true for Romney. He was no god------ war hero.'"

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/book-details-obamas-dislike-of-romney/1

[randome]

1. I think that's on the mark.

Obama isn't just trying to win an election (although that is his primary concern). He also has the moral conviction that Romney would be a disaster for all of us.

He's fighting for more than just another 4 years.

[zbdent]

2. I'd hate to see what Republicans say about Obama

when they THINK the mics are off and it's "off the record" ...

[elleng]

3. I think we could all live without this,

don't need to see msm attach itself to alleged personal animus against rmoney on the part of President Obama.

[randome]

6. Yeah, but it was more than just Obama versus Romney.

EVERYONE who goes up against Romney comes away with a personal dislike of the man.

He is that unpleasant to be around.

[elleng]

8. All that I'm HAPPY to see published,

like the dislike of the repugs running against eachother in the primaries. There was one particularly good story about that, they didn't want to hang out, speak, or be seen with him. I HATE to see anything suggesting what might be considered petty against President Obama.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

11. On one hand, I hear you, on the other, I don't think it plays out that way

From what I've seen, the only people who can stomach this guy are members of his own family, and I bet they have issues, too.

Even Tweety presented it that way..."NOBODY likes this guy." I'm not saying President Obama should sink to MY level when discussing Romney ( )...but if he pretended to be indifferent or "diplomatic" it would come across as what it is...insincere. He's praised Romney as a "family man"...which he seems to be...but how annoying is that family, you know? I think the President's diplomacy in this area has been completely appropriate, and if he went off a few times behind closed doors, it only lets me know he's human.

[hifiguy]

4. Does ANYONE outside his family

actually like Mittens? To meet the klown is apparently to hate him.

[WI_DEM]

5. frankly, the more you get to know Romney I think the more you come to detest him...

He's shallow, has no principles, a hypocrite and a liar.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. 'At least Cantor stood for something, he'd say...'

Damning words right there. Cantor is an asshole, but at least he doesn't run away from his assholishness and hide it like Romney.

[BeyondGeography]

9. On top of all that, Romney's condescension toward Obama has consistently been off the charts

I'm sure that got Barack's attention.

How funny it must have been for the Prez to watch Romney fumble Brian Williams' softball question in London. Less funny were the culture comments re. the Palestinians, but they were part of the same picture. Romney is not very good at politics at all. He has won one election his whole life, and has left himself wide open for the sort of attacks that have pushed this contest away from him before he even got started.

But that's just politics. Romney doesn't know the very basics of human behavior. His manners SUCK, and he doesn't even realize it. So looking forward to the debates when all the true believers on the other side who think "Barry" is a lightweight are confronted with the reality that one person on that stage will sound like a President and it won't be Mitt.

[demosincebirth]

12. Let's hope so. In the debates, he needs to get "down and dirty" with the truth

against Rmoney and company

[Flatpicker]

15. To a point

Obama does have to be careful that his debates with Mittens don't create a sympathetic character.
You have to beat him without making him look too pathetic.

Otherwise, it may be that the fence sitters come out to defend the white guy from that mean black dude. I'd rather the closeted racists just stay home come November.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

19. If he stands firm on the facts, I think he'll be fine.

Unless Romney has a dramatic strategic shift in mind, he will probably position himself as a "jobs creator" and will then attempt to chip away at Obama's "failed policies."

So Obama basically needs to show up with a list of accomplishments and concrete plans for his second term, and he will automatically be light years ahead of Romney if he does nothing else.

I've said it in other threads on DU...I believe Obama will be calm, cool, collected, and armed with facts and dates. I see Romney coming off as less than "Presidential" and more like Nixon in his "Checkers" speech.

[Rozlee]

10. During the primaries

Republicans that were voting for Romney's opponents were fervently dedicated to their nominees. Most of the ones voting for Romney replied in polls that they voted for him because he was the one "most likely to beat Obama." He never really broke the 50% ceiling of favorability among his own party. More moderate Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents favored him mostly because they considered him the least batshit crazy of the candidates. But, he's not popular even among his own bloc. His rallies are filled with small crowds cheering tepidly, looking long-suffering and droopy-eyed. And the more they know about him, the more uncomfortable they feel about him. I guess they'll mostly show up at the polls in November and vote for him, but I feel that it'll be an dreary ordeal for them, kinda like having to get an enema.

[JDPriestly]

13. Based on the fact that Romney asked for and received a lower appraisal on his

La Jolla house just a few years after he bought it suggests to me that he isn't even very clever when it comes to business.

That the housing market was overpriced would have been very obvious to him had he tracked the relationship between wages and housing prices. That he apparently did not do that suggests to me that he does not know how to judge a market and has virtually no understanding as to how the economy works.

[FailureToCommunicate]

14. Ask almost ANYONE from Massachusetts. He was awful. Luckily he

was pushed to sign a sorta okay healthcare law...
but mostly Rmoney was 'elsewhere'

[JoeyT]

16. This should feed the idea that President

Obama is just a regular guy. Why shouldn't he hate Mittens? Absolutely everyone else does.

[usaf-vet]

17. Are we finally going into the alley......

....it's about F..ing time.

Since the theft of the 2000 elections I have been waiting and posting about the need for Democrats to drag their political opponents into the metaphorical alley and beat the ever loving piss out of them to send them crawling out of the alley bloody and beaten so they know that are in a fight. All metaphorically speaking of course.

We need to stop being nice guys who play by the rules and who accept defeat with a smile. All that has gotten us is more defeat and more outrageous behavior by the repugs.

If we loose and our knuckles are bloody I'm fine with that as long as the opponents "injuries" allows us to say "you should have seen the other guy."

If Harry Reid is lying about Romney not paying 10 years of taxes I say fine it's about time. For all of Obama's Presidency the repugs have been screaming let's see your papers.

It's about time we grab the repugs by their throats and say to Mittens lets see you F...ing tax returns.

No more nice guys.

[Jamaal510]

18. Who can blame him for hating Willard?

The guy lies and fear-mongers about Obama daily, he outspends his opponents in order to win elections, and he accepts endorsements from Birthers and has-been rockstars who talk about assassinating the president.