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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forum"Obama’s gay marriage and immigration moves: How the president is outfoxing Romney. "
Obamas gay marriage and immigration moves: How the president is outfoxing Romney.By Jacob Weisberg at Slate Magazine
http://mbcalyn.com/2012/06/23/obamas-gay-marriage-and-immigration-moves-how-the-president-is-outfoxing-romney-slate-magazine/
"SNIP...............................................
But the politics of that issue may actually be on Obamas side. Taking a moral stance on an issue of civil rights reanimated liberal voters who had drifted into disaffection, especially young voters who were crucial to his 2008 victory. Mitt Romney, who didnt expect the move, found himself in an awkward position. With his radical Republican challengers dispatched, conservative positions on social issues were the last thing Romney wanted to emphasize. At a press conference, he called his own opposition to gay marriage my preference and declined to criticize Obama for changing his position or pandering to a Democratic special interest group. Romneys response was essentially a tactical surrender that underscored the inevitably of liberal victory on the issue.
This same dynamic was at play last week when Obama issued an executive order that allows illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to remain in the country. Obamas unanticipated move aligned sound policy with good politics, reawakening Latino supporters who had lost heart over his failure to get a more comprehensive reform of immigration laws through Congress. The decision will play particularly well in swing states such as Florida, Colorado, and New Mexico, where Hispanic turnout can be decisive.
With his immigration surprise, Obama showed his ability to act without help from the recalcitrant Republican-led Congress that is likely to remain in place even if he wins a second term. He again stole a march on Romney, who was in the midst of figuring out how to evolve from the insincere, hard-line anti-immigration stance he adopted in the primaries to something friendlier. On the CBS program Face the Nation, Romney was asked several times whether he would overturn the presidents decision. Each time, he dodged the question and refused to say. A week later, he remains stuck on the issuereluctant to attach himself to his partys anti-immigration absolutists, unwilling to concede that the president is right, and with no apparent position of his own.
The president has seldom been a risk taker; he has operated within the boundaries of the possible, avoiding postures that yield no results. But he and his campaign have cleverly recognized that Romneys slow-footedness and lack of imagination present an opportunity for them to shine in contrast. They have reversed the usual dynamic of re-election campaigns, highlighting the challengers stodginess while making Obama into a nimble incumbent.
................................................SNIP"
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"Obama’s gay marriage and immigration moves: How the president is outfoxing Romney. " (Original Post)
applegrove
Jun 2012
OP
longship
(40,416 posts)1. Obama: "a nimble opponent"
And Rmoney won't say where he stands?
This sounds like the ol' Rope-A-Dope to me.
Go Obama.
R&
Rosanna Lopez
(308 posts)2. Obama needs to be as strong on the economy as on social policy
Yes, I think the Democrats are winning on gay marriage and on immigration/outreach to Latinos.
However, Obama has not yet won on the economic argument - and that's the most important this year. He has outmaneuvered Romney on the social questions, but now he has to do so on the economic ones in order to assure victory.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)3. +1 nt
DCBob
(24,689 posts)4. I think the strategy is to fire up the various groups within the base with hotbutton issues...
to get their attention and make sure they show up to vote. It's a page out of the GOP's textbook and it seems to be working great so far.