Will Obama Go for the Knockout or Play it Safe?

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/10/03/will_obama_go_for_the_knockout_or_play_it_safe.html

Will Obama Go for the Knockout or Play it Safe?


David Gergen notes that while conventional wisdom suggests President Obama "can simply go for caution" in tonight's debate, he argues the president "ought to be pressing for a victory, too."

"In some polls over recent weeks, especially from key states, the president has now opened up a second possible path to re-election. For a long time, his campaign advisers have assumed that he would win but that his margin of victory would be narrow -- less than three points. Even now, his advisers -- even as they are quietly confident about the ultimate outcome -- are running scared, assuming the race will likely close significantly in the final weeks."

"But it is becoming apparent there is another possibility: Contrary to much conventional wisdom, Obama may actually be able to bust open this race, sweeping almost every state he won four years ago and rolling up a victory margin of perhaps five points or more."

[Avalux]

1. Obama only needs to do one thing.

Call out Romney on not releasing his tax returns, and POINT BLANK ask him if he paid taxes in 2009. Romney will either not answer or say yes.

After which, Reid can show us his hand. October Surprise.

[magical thyme]

13. that would be a disaster in the making.

Of course Romney paid federal income taxes in 2009. What we don't know is if he took amnesty in 2009 to avoid prosecution as a tax felon.

[Vincardog]

2. He and the Democratic party could go for the knockout by simply stating "Re-elect us, give us a

Democratic Congress and we will pass Medicare for everyone.
We will guarantee everyone a livable income payed for by a 10 Cent per transaction tax on every Stock Future and Derivative trade."

It is that easy. Just come out with an unequivocal POPULIST policy.

[Iggy]

3. Totally Predictable:

tonight's "debate" will likely be Booooooooooorrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnnng.

both candidates will play it safe.. Willard as to avoid his usual gaffe-a-thon, elitist bullcrap.

Obama has to avoid sighing.. and long, wonky Gore-type baloney responses

[gkhouston]

16. Romney can't afford to play it safe. He's got to do something to keep people from writing him off.

The risk that he'll do more damage than good is high, IMO, but he's doomed if he doesn't try.

[Iggy]

17. With the debate now in the books...

Rmoney said _nothing_ different from what he's been saying the past 30 months.

what he did do is channel Grandpa Reagan fairly well... he vigorously presented his principles, but as
Obama has been pointing out for months now-- where are the freakin details? and-- Rmoney needs a
new calculator, re: how he thinks he's going to pay for the tax cuts he's proposing, combined with the
massive increase in military spending.

Obama is correct-- getting rid of the tax loopholes. deductions, exemptions. credits, all of these DO NOT
add up to the equivalent of what Rmoney proposes.

and further, getting rid of the tax breaks for the One Percent will never get thru congress-- Obama needs
to hammer on this point in the next debate-- or Biden needs to do this in his debate next week.

[awake]

4. Obama will be himself

calm collected and confidant, while the other guy which ever one shows up will do what he has been doing all year and as Clint said he will F*#% himself.

[frazzled]

5. Beware of advice from David Gergen

Sorry, but if I were the president, I wouldn't take debate advice from anyone but Axe, Plouff, and ... Michelle.

[babylonsister]

7. My first though also, re: Gergen. It will be interesting

how the Prez plays his; and yes, absolutely, he should listen to his advisors, all of them!

[BlueStreak]

6. Neither. He will treat the moderator, his opponent, and the public with respect.

Despite what the frothing heads will say in their commentary, the impact of this event will not be judged by who scores "punches" and "zingers".

Obama will be successful if he continues to demonstrate calm, thoughtful leadership while presenting a REALISTIC view of the path ahead. That's what he has done for 5 years now. He isn't going to change tonight.

[Cha]

8. Email from Stephanie Cutter..doing a Great job of pre-empting mittzingers

It's President Obama's chance to talk to the American People with a Huge audience in attendance!

My guess is that voters watching will be using a different scorecard -- not who can fire off the best one-liner, but who lays out a detailed plan to get the middle class thriving again. That's how President Obama sees this debate -- as an opportunity to talk about his specific plans to continue moving the country forward.

So before President Obama and Mitt Romney take the stage, take a look at some items we've put together on Romney's record -- both as a corporate buyout specialist and as a governor -- and his economic plans so that you have all the facts you need to tell your family and friends why he's not the right guy for the job.

#1 Ten things you need to know about Mitt Romney's business record
Mitt Romney has based his candidacy for the presidency on his experience as a corporate buyout specialist. But a closer look at Romney's business record reveals a pattern of job loss, bankruptcies, and outsourcing -- a kind of economics that Americans just can't afford. Before the first debate, listen to middle class workers talk about what Romney economics meant for them, and check out ten facts you should know about Romney's tenure at Bain Capital. Make sure others know them, too:


#2 Ten things you need to know about Gov. Romney's Massachusetts record
Ten years ago, Mitt Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts on his promise of more jobs, less debt, and smaller government. He left the state with the largest per capita debt in the nation and increased spending, and the state fell to 47th in job creation. At the debate, beware of Mitt Romney claiming that he cut taxes for middle class families 19 times as governor. In reality, Romney created or raised more than 1,000 taxes or fees during his four years as governor. Romney economics didn't work for Massachusetts, and it won't work for America. Check out this post about Romney's record as governor, and let others know about it:

#3 What you need to know about Romney's tax plan
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a big economic plan: Offer $5 trillion in tax cuts weighted towards the wealthiest Americans without adding a penny to the deficit. According to Romney, they'd pay for it by closing loopholes and deductions for the wealthy. The problem is that the math doesn't add up, especially because they've taken measures that benefit the wealthy, like the loophole for carried interest and preferential treatment for investment income, off the table. Nonpartisan experts, including some of Romney's own outside economic advisers, have added it all up, and they say that in order to make the Romney-Ryan tax plan work, deductions that middle class families rely on -- like mortgage and child deductions -- will have to be cut, leading to a $2,000 tax increase for the average middle class family with children. When Ryan was asked this weekend to explain how they'd actually pull this off, Ryan said, "I don't have the time. It would take me too long to go through all the math." But no amount of time would make that math work. Get the facts on Romney's tax plan, and share them with others:

[renate]

11. I was super nervous about the debate until this morning

Now I'm finally realizing that all Obama has to do, besides give us the facts about how the economy is improving and he has cut taxes for the middle class, is quote Romney's own words and deeds. The things that the GOP says most loudly about Obama are not true; dog-whistles will not work tonight. The facts about either his own record or Obama's are not on Romney's side, and on a national stage, everything he says will be fact-checked rigorously. This simply cannot end well for Romney if he says anything more debatable than "the sky is blue."

[rock]

9. Obama will play it straight

Of course, that make effect a knockout.

[DCBob]

10. Presidential...

above the fray.

[Grey]

12. How does one...

David Gergen notes that while conventional wisdom.... even as they are quietly confident .... are running scared,

This does not compute...

[magical thyme]

14. meh. they're trying to bait him into playing it their way.

He doesn't need to go for any knockout punch. Romney has delivered multiple knockout punches to himself and will continue to do so over the next few weeks.

Obama will play it safe, be serious and respectful, not take their bait and allow Romney to continue sticking his feet in his mouth.

Gergen is full of shit. The gap has been widening, not narrowing, and will continue to do so.

[NYC Liberal]

15. Obama doesn't need to go for the knockout. Romney does.

Obama will play it cool because Romney will be trying desperately to deliver a knockout punch with over-the-top rhetoric (and lies). But Romney look "unpresidential" doing that as Obama calmly knocks him down.