The First October Surprise

            The first October surprise has arrived: Obama has fizzled and Romney has sizzled.  President Obama’s “hope and change” campaign of 2008 is now a tedious - we think we’re starting to turn things around, growth is anemic, unemployment seems stuck above 8% forever, more people are on food stamps than ever before, we have no idea of how to get the deficit under control, we refuse to work with the Republicans - BUT we should not change the path we are on.  On the other hand, Governor Romney’s “growth” plan offers the hope and change that Obama has never delivered.

The tired line that the President inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression was restated for the sixteen-trillionth time (once for every dollar of our national debt).  The problem is that most Americans realize that the recession was not the President’s fault.  However, the lack of a recovery from that recession – or even a credible plan to do so – was (and remains) the President’s responsibility.  He has not delivered on this responsibility and Americans are acutely aware of this fact.

Americans like the President.  They just want him to take some responsibility for the mess he has allowed to linger.  They want him to say that he has learned from his past mistakes AND that he now has a credible solution to fix the mess.  Nobody wants to hear “stay the course”.  Note to President Obama:  Americans do not believe that everything is okay.

The optimism of the 2008 campaign is gone.  It has been replaced with a tired President with no new ideas.  Worse yet, the President either believes, or wants the American people to believe that everything is wonderful – there is no longer the need for that hope and change stuff.  Besides, President Obama is going to improve the education of some fourth grader and that superior student is going to make America more competitive in the global economy.  We just have to wait another twelve years for her to finish college.  Furthermore, we should hire thousands more teachers right now so that we will have millions of these economic stimulus package students ready to turn the economy around upon graduation in 2024.

Contrasting with President Obama’s dour outlook, Governor Romney was optimistic.  He provided a ray of hope that America can regain its economic muscle.  And, he said we could do it without throwing the downtrodden under the bus.  His message resonated because at our very core, Americans believe in America.  Governor Romney just simply stated that with a more experienced economic leader, a leader with real executive experience, we can put America back to work.  Governor Romney’s “growth” is his “hope and change” - it is his “morning in America” – it is the rebirth of his campaign.  Jobs for the American people will not only increase the middle-class standard of living, it will broaden our tax base and thereby increase tax revenues – even without raising tax rates.  “Growth” is what Americans want.  It is the hope and change that they thought President Obama had promised.  Well, if we can wait for the graduating class of 2024, maybe President Obama’s hope and change will someday, mean economic growth.

Governor Romney’s common-sense, clearly worded plans resonated with the American public.  The only person that did not understand Governor Romney appeared to be President Obama.  At one point (after the umpteenth repeating of the $5 trillion tax cut line) I thought for sure that Governor Romney was going to say: “Mr. President I have attempted to clear your confusion on that matter numerous times, I realize that you are not understanding my clear words but I am confidant that the American people watching this debate understand my position so I am not going to respond to your repetitious mistruths any longer.”  I made that very statement to the TV image of the President and I believe that millions more Americans did the same.

If Governor Romney can continue with a positive, pro-growth message, he will inspire the millions of undecided Americans to latch onto the Romney train.  And, he will get help in the next few days from the Democratic spin machine.  They will be cranking out negative messages claiming that Romney was dishonest in his debate remarks.  The Democrats cannot help themselves.  They believe that they have to do damage control.  Unfortunately, the horse has left the barn and the damage control will just be the blimp that provides real-time video of the galloping horse.  The blimp cannot catch the horse – it can only provide a different angle to view the horse.  But the blimp will be filled with the caustic Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter’s commentary of negativity.  It will be a stark contrast to Governor Romney’s positive message.  It will harm the President even further because Americans are looking for civility in our politics.  Governor Romney oozes class. Stephanie Cutter does not.

Political bickering is not going to win a single vote.  So Governor Romney needs to stay positive and he needs to give the Democrats all the rope they need to hang themselves.  Stephanie Cutter knows how to do that very well.  Then there is the upcoming Vice Presidential debate next week.  Can you imagine Vice President Biden trying to draw blood from Representative Ryan?   Looks like Governor Romney will be enjoying a few weeks of good news.

●      ●      ●

Other observations from last night’s first presidential debate that contributed to the President’s poor performance – and Romney’s stunning large margin of victory: 1) Romney was likable, even personable; 2) Obama was not, he appeared to be angry; 3) Romney had command of the details; 4) Obama did not; 5) Romney was enthusiast; 6) Obama was not; 7) Romney looked right into Obama’s eyes and said, your policies have failed; 8) Obama looked down at the floor and kept repeating accusations that Romney clearly refuted – it appeared as though Obama was not listening to the discussion.