Romney is doing town halls, non stop. Obama is doing none.

[geek tragedy]

Next debate is a town hall format.

Let me guess--part of a brilliant rope-a-dope strategy?

[elleng]

1. rmoney is responding to questions at town halls now???

Think of all such PrezO has participated in for 3+ years!

[geek tragedy]

4. He needs every bit of practice he can get, as we saw last week.

He apparently still feels debate prep is too much of a drag.

[Dawson Leery]

5. He is taking time off the campaign trail to practive with professional debate preps.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

78. Oh get a grip...

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Unfortunately, the President has to be President

The challenger can just campaign.

[mgcgulfcoast]

35. the president is campaigning every day

he needs to prepare. doesnt do any of us any good if he isnt president in 2013.

[MannyGoldstein]

54. You're right

He *is* out there all the time, so he might as well be doing more spontaneous events like town halls.

[woolldog]

3. Good point. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. More concern? Ugh.

[TroyD]

7. You don't think there should be concern after last week?

I can guarantee you Obama's Team is concerned this time.

Time to get studying with those debate preps.

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. I took you off Ignore just long enough to read the response. I won't do that again.

[TroyD]

15. Being concerned is an adviser's job

As someone who has worked on many campaigns I'm just sharing with you what his Team is focusing on after last week.

[gateley]

83. Oops. Looks like you're back on ignore.

Of course they're concerned and rightly so, and I agree they're focusing on not being blindsided again.

I'm pretty confident "we'll" overcome this, but boy! What a ride, huh? I agree with another DUer posted, at least I don't think politics is boring anymore!

[left is right]

37. He successfully avoided looking like the angry Blackman that Mitt and the repuke pundits wanted to p

Passion would have scared away all of the low information viewers and once scared they would be gone for good. The problem wasn't his lack of preparedness he answered every question with grace and intelligence. People are only impressed with Mitt because for 90 minutes he appeared to have a personality. Who knew?

[TroyD]

42. 'He successfully avoided looking like the angry Black man'

But why should we be afraid of that? Eric Dyson brought that up the other day too, but the people who buy into those black stereotypes will never vote for Obama anyway, so who cares what they think?

The majority of Americans voted for Obama in 2008, so racist stereotypes are not as effective anymore. I dont think most people would have a problem with Obama calling Romney out for his lies.

[EasyGirl]

80. Personaly, I wanted O to be more aggressive

He seemed a bit soft to me.

angry Black Woman.

[gateley]

85. Agree -- and I'm guessing he and his team wish he HAD been!

[EasyGirl]

90. I think you are right!

[geek tragedy]

45. Yeah, he looked like a burned out, slow-witted wimp instead. Awesome. nt

[2pooped2pop]

66. instead of looking like the angry black man

he more or less let them call him "boy" I don't think it was a good trade off for him.

That has been part of his problem all along. He is so worried about being labeled the angry black man, that he spends his time trying to reach across an isle that is really a chasm. It's fruitless, and by refusing to reach back, they effectively label him boy, but with the big N word in front of it.

Give me some "angry black man", please.

[gateley]

91. At this point, I think they need to give the base a boost, and ABM would do it.

The Anybody But Obama people will never vote for him anyway, and I can't help but think that those "undecideds" are probably leaning one way or the other and will ultimately follow through on that "lean". I read a letter from a lifelong Dem who was disappointed in the first term, who let the debate make up his mind to vote for Romney. These are the people we need to energize now, and Obama kicking ass might just do it. They probably don't want to switch sides, and we need to give them reasons NOT to.

[geek tragedy]

8. Yeah, what could possibly go wrong from failing to adequately prepare for a debate? nt

[Scootaloo]

11. Well, as mentioned upthread...

Being the president is kind of an important thing. As Joe would put it, "A big fucking deal." I imagine being the leader of one of the most powerful nations on the planet, a nation that is having some pretty hefty troubles on its own, is a little time-consuming.

Meanwhile, Romney has reminded us that he's "unemployed," so he has lots of spare time.

[geek tragedy]

13. Getting re-elected should be his #1,#2, and #3 priorities.

Everything else is a secondary concern.

[Scootaloo]

19. That's the dumbest fucking thing I've heard all night

And I just got off from work, where my boss was trying to get me to make chicken noodle soup, but with chicken-fried steak. So, yeah, you just said something really fucking dumb.

No. His #1, 2, and 3 priorities should be doing his job as president.

Unbelievable. Thanks for the headache.

[geek tragedy]

46. If he doesn't work harder than Romney for this he loses four years

Of Presidenting.

He can take two weeks off.

[woolldog]

16. well if he keeps it up, he won't have to worry about not having enough spare time soon enough

and a lot of people will suffer the result.

[Scootaloo]

20. Well, let's see what the alternate universe where he follows your advice would look like!

Let me just fire up the machine and... Oh! Oh my, there we go!


Neat, huh?

[woolldog]

21. lame

because he IS campaigning now. No one is criticizing him for that. But he's giving his stump speech And rallies and not doing townhalls which is the OPs point. He should be doing townhalls since that's the format of the next debate. And everything is riding on that.

[TroyD]

22. Why is the next debate a townhall?

I guess they've been part of the format for a long time (Clinton made a huge impact in the famous one from 1992 when he answered that lady's question in a sympathetic way that Bush Sr did not), but I'm just wondering if a direct confrontation format would be better for the 2nd one so that Obama can get his game back.

I guess that's the format for #3?

[woolldog]

24. It favors Obama

since Romney is usually not good with people and not good unscripted. Unless Romney changes who he is overnight....which is possible with him.

But obama is good in townhalls. He just needs to call Romney out on his lies, be forceful and engaged. Not bumble with so many ahhhhhs.

[TroyD]

26. I guess Obama ultimately has to be himself

But should he speak at a faster rate?

As you may know, they counted that Romney speaks faster and squeezes more words into a minute than Obama does. Don't have the exact word count here, but they were published in an article after the debate last week.

I'll guess his Debate Team will have to analyze that one.

[woolldog]

27. Yes definitely.

It's often frustrating listening to Obama because he takes so long to make his points, he pauses a lot, and uses more words than necessary. That in addition to poor body language and letting Romney lies go unchallened has to change.

[faith woos science]

31. LOL

Can you check the election results with that thing?

[Scootaloo]

33. Alternate universes, not the future.

I could check an election. Did you know that in most dimensions, it was actually velociraptors that invented democracy? We're kind of special that way.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. And your hyperventilating about it on a messageboard changes that how?

[Champion Jack]

61. Exactly

[AverageJoe90]

9. Concern trolling much?

Get a grip. We can't afford to be pessimistic now.

[geek tragedy]

12. If Obama weren't overconfident (still!) I would be less pessimistic.

But, incredibly, he and his team think the last debate didn't change the race.

[NYC Liberal]

17. They're correct. nt

[geek tragedy]

44. Just like the infidels were routed at the gates of Baghdad.

Obama is behind and losing steam. Romney is ahead and gaining steam.

Because of the debate.

Pretty soon we'll see unscrewing of the polls showing Obama behind.

[NYC Liberal]

94. You can believe whatever you'd like. Romney was always going to get a bounce,

just like every challenger has for the last 30 years after the first debate.

The debates will have little to no effect on the election, whether Obama wins or loses them. They never have and that's not going to change this year.

[AverageJoe90]

32. Looking back on that, I guess I overreacted a tad.

Still, though, too much pessimism could backfire on us, I think.

[bigwillq]

18. It's the chess, stupid.

[Cali_Democrat]

23. "Romney is doing town halls, non stop"

No he isn't.

[speedoo]

29. Why are you messing with the OP's fiction?

Truth does not allow him to complain.

[geek tragedy]

43. You can read about it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/mitt-romney-retail-politics_n_1949485.html

Romney won the last debate, and is working harder to prepare for the next one.

Obama got his ass handed to him, and is doing Hollywood fundraisers rather than any kind of debate prep.

[morningfog]

47. LOL! None of those were town halls. CPAC? Roundtable with Generals?

None of those were town halls.

[geek tragedy]

50. Romney has a town hall in Mt Vernon plus two other events today

Obama is taking the day off from campaigning

Romney wants it more.

[Maximumnegro]

72. So what's your excuse for when Romney

was doing fundraisers while Obama was hitting the stump just the other day?

[WI_DEM]

75. maybe he's preparing as you advise him to do or being president which

is his day job.

[speedoo]

81. Now you are making a fool of yourself.

My advice to you is back off.

[gkhouston]

60. CPAC is Romney's idea of a town hall.

What, you thought he was going to meet with with the peasants?

[writes3000]

25. Obama has been doing fundraiser and glad-handing for MONTHS now. You don't think he's experienced..

getting questioned by citizens in public forums? Really?

It seems like you're just looking for excuses to claim that YOU know more and Obama's team is failing at every turn.

Whatever gets you off, I guess.

[geek tragedy]

41. He did worse then Romney at the Univision forums.

Think about their immigration records and consider what it means to underperform Governor Self-Deport.

He's good for a rousing stump speech, but that's about it.

[Cane4Dems]

64. No he didn't

I was at the Univision Event and most people thought that he did excellent....it was Romney who wouldn't answer the hosts questions and pulled a tantrum when they didn't announce him properly

stop spreading all this negativity please

[faith woos science]

28. So Mitt is

doing town halls? Do you have video or a source of him answering questions? Or do you call his fox and cnn glad-handling a town-hall?

Thanks I'll be waiting patiently for your response.

[geek tragedy]

39. Link for you:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/mitt-romney-retail-politics_n_1949485.html

Obama's only good moments since the bear hug have been in front of adoring crowds.

And even then, his DNC speech was underwhelming.

60 minutes
Univision
First debate

He's had a lot of 'off' moments and does not appear to be getting better.

[alcibiades_mystery]

63. So then he'll lose

What's your point?

[faith woos science]

95. Romney has held town-hall style calls...

In the days since the first debate, Romney has held town-hall style calls, visited local restaurants and stopped by an elementary school.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/mitt-romney-retail-politics_n_1949485.html

Yeah I got one of those

Romney has held town-hall style calls

it was prerecorded and it did tell you to push *3 to ask a question. Kept waiting for the questions that never came, amazingly ayn called 5 minutes later with another recording, maybe that's what pushing *3 got me.

[TroyD]

30. Who is hosting?

Candy Crowley? Or is she doing the foreign policy one?

[davidn3600]

36. Crowley doing the town hall. Bob Schieffer doing the foreign policy one

[TroyD]

40. Which works better for Obama?

Not necessarily a clear cut situation, but Crowley seems more biased in favor of the Republicans to me.

Am I sensing that correctly?

[smorkingapple]

34. There is a disparity folks...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/mitt-romney-retail-politics_n_1949485.html

I think this is part of Obama's strategy to not open himself up to too many unscripted moments that could provide gaffe material. Same for Biden.

I think it's stupid but hey...

Romney and Ryan have had more town hall sessions, but of course it's with fawning supporters tossing softball questions and only a few at a time. Sometimes they are held off camera to avoid their own gaffes.

I don't think this really means much in the larger scheme but let's not deny reality here.

[geek tragedy]

38. They had the same approach for avoiding press interviews.

Obama's DNC speech was blah, his 60 minutes interview was flat, he somehow was less impressive than Romney at the Univision town halls.

There's not a lot of reason to "chill out because he's got this."

[morningfog]

49. Except that pesky Electoral College, where Romney has no viable path.

Even now as you try to write Obama's campaign off completely.

[geek tragedy]

51. Obama could still lose Ohio. His support is not solid there.

He's within the margin of error in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

[morningfog]

56. Romney has ceded PA. MI ain't going nowhere.

OH isn't a real threat either, yet.

[morningfog]

48. These are "town halls?

CPAC meeting
"closed-door roundtable with laid-off coal workers and their wives."
tele-townhall (getting closer)
a local fish and chips restaurant
roundtable discussion with retired generals

That is hardly town halls non-stop, by any measure.

[TroyD]

53. "closed-door roundtable with laid-off coal workers and their wives."

Were the coal workers there voluntarily?

That's what I'd like to know.

[sweetapogee]

89. how could they not have been

if they were laid-off workers?

[mojo2012]

58. I agree

I don't' think Romney would expose himself to possible "gaffes" in a town hall format. I don't think those are town halls, they seem more like controlled groups of supporters. Town halls include any voter who could ask him a question he doesn't want to answer. No, I don't think he'd be doing town halls on his own at this stage of the game....

[lunatica]

52. So vote for Romney

and stop pretending you don't despise President Obama

[alcibiades_mystery]

57. +1,000,000

That would seem to be the point of geek's posts lately, to be sure.

[geek tragedy]

62. I hate Romney. But I have difficulty respecting someone who can't be bothered

to prepare for a debate when the consequence of failure is having that sociopathic vulture Romney as President.

He's taking the day off from the Presidential race. As he's falling behind.

[lunatica]

67. So you do everything in your power to help Romney

like I said, just admit you respect him more and be done with it. You don't have anything to say about Romney which means you have given him a pass. I'm sure no one will notice.

[JoePhilly]

55. I heard Obama puts mustard on hamburgers. Why does he hate America?

ffs.

[macisme]

59. Sounds like a Romney supporter!

And everyone including me, is doing exactly what he wants! Close thread by not responding to it!

[TroglodyteScholar]

65. PRESIDENT Obama has a job to do.

Would you have him neglect all his duties?

[phleshdef]

68. Obama has been doing townhalls as President very frequently...

...for about 4 years now. I know. I've watched the live streams of them quite often. These are the ones where he always does the "boy/girl boy/girl" questions. You are full of crap.

[BlueInPhilly]

69. Why all the hate for GT?

How can we be pumped up when our president is seen as not even trying?

[phleshdef]

76. Because he, like you, is making shit up and ignoring Obama's numerous townhalls...

...that he has held over the past 3.5+ years as President.

[BlueInPhilly]

88. And I rest my case

[faith woos science]

96. Guilty

[andym]

70. Town Hall format means relating stories about people you have met

Obama knows plenty and Romney is well practiced with this. Expect Obama to do great. Unfortunately, this format is perfect for a liar like Romney.

[cliffordu]

71. I wish the campaign would listen to you.

but they don't.

[we can do it]

73. Where is rMoney doing town halls exactly? Link please

[fugop]

79. No kidding

I've seen on coverage of all these Romney town halls. Then again, perhaps it's just being buried by the relentless debate coverage.

[WI_DEM]

74. yet another negative, get 'em down post by you.

[alcibiades_mystery]

92. I like geek tragedy, and have for years...but I'm putting his ass on ignore until after the election

He's acting like a total douchebag and revving up some distinct Obama hate that's starting to look very very ugly in character. Finis. I'll look to his posts again once this is all over.

[gateley]

77. ...

Maybe they feel he can reach more people doing the larger venues? Since for some reason they haven't included me in their strategic planning, that's just conjecture on my part, but I don't think they're slacking. They probably feel pretty confident Obama will shine in that setting.

[Myrina]

82. ... and CNN is running them NONSTOP

Free publicity for the GOP ... while the Dems and POTUS are ... where, exactly?

Not looking good for us, IMHO.

[MjolnirTime]

84. nothing and noone could ever be as brilliant as you!

[ProSense]

86. Rasmussen shows that Mitt just lost his lead in CO

Maybe Mitt needs to do a townhall there.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021507150

[jenmito]

87. He's answering friendly questions from supporters. As reported today, his first "question"

began with, "I commend you..." He's not getting tough questions which WOULD prepare him.

[argueta]

93. Mitt Romney Foreign Policy speech

Mitt Romney Foreign Policy speech

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney gives a major foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute ahead of the debate with President Obama which will concentrate on foreign policy issues.