X Factors

Gary Pearce posted on September 12, 2012 09:43

Every time I’ve handicapped the presidential race, I’ve warned about X Factors – big events out of anybody’s control that can sway elections. A big one exploded in the Middle East last night.

A foreign policy crisis in September is a huge X Factor. It dominates the news. It challenges the incumbent. And it tests the challenger.

Last week, President Obama seized the strong-defense flag. (Did you know he ordered the mission that killed bin Laden?) Romney got roundly criticized for not mentioning Afghanistan or the troops.

Romney had pledged to refrain from campaigning on the anniversary of 9/11. But late last night, his campaign put out a statement criticizing Obama on its reaction to the embassy attacks in Egypt and Libya. To keep its 9/11 promise, the campaign embargoed the statement for midnight. (Really, I’m not making this up.) Then it lifted the embargo.

It looked like a hair-trigger overreaction from a panicky campaign that’s been royally ripped by disloyal Republicans. Which it is.

All this on top of a flap about Israel pushing Washington on attacking Iran.

Suddenly, the world looks very dangerous. And the election is totally upended.

Posted in: General, National Democrats , National Republicans , Issues

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# dap916

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 4:12 PM

The dems have their shit together...that's for sure. They're getting some leadership from somewhere to post things like you've posted here, Gary...just like is posted on www.dailykos.com. CNN is now in full democratic campaign mode presenting all of what the dems are saying at every opportunity as is CBS, MSNBC and the like. Republicans are facing EXACTLY what they faced in 2008. I give them kudos because it's working and will continue to work. I regularly listen to FM94.5 in the morning on the radio. This is where Beck and Limbaugh are presented so you KNOW that it's a conservative deal there. Lately, there have been an unusually large number of black, radical democrats calling into the morning show specifically to offer up rejections to what Carmen says there. We're seeing a coordinated effort all around by the dems and they're using their left-leaning media outlets to do their bidding for them as well as calling in to just so many conservative radio shows and posting on conservative blogsites.

I don't think the Romney folks are ready for this and I don't think they'll have much of an effective response. It's good politics...and it's going to take our country into an era that no one EVER thought could happen in this country.

X Factors....that's where the dems make hay. "Never let a crisis go to waste"...one of the democratic mantras. They're winning, folks...and I don't think it can be stopped. I'm certainly not giving up and I'm certainly going to fight this scourge tooth-and-nail...especially at the local and state level. Romney? He may be in over his head.

# Carbine

Friday, September 14, 2012 5:19 PM

If it "looked like a hair-trigger overreaction" that's because the media painted it as such. In reality he criticized an offensive and idiotic statement put out by the Cairo Embassy, and he was right to do so. The Obama campaign must have agreed with him because they repudiated the statement also.

The bottom line is that despite the warnings, security in our Benghazi consulate was inexcusably lax, and it cost four Americans their lives. I don't blame Obama personally for that, but you know as well as I do that had this happened under a Republican president the media would be tearing him apart for it, and their would be no concern all on their part about the propriety of the Democratic challenger's critiques. As it happens the president gets a pass from his pals in the press, and jets off to golf and fund-raise without a whisper of disapproval.

The media in this country are leading us into a one-party state.

X Factors

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