President Obama and the Elusive Knockout Punch: A Critical Review

Count down To the Third and Last Debate and the Unending Governor Romney's Deceptions: A way Out!

When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  Act 3:3-6. New International Version

As political events unfold, it is becoming more and more apparent that Governor Romney is not waging a clear-cut campaign. He has become brazenly deceptive and exuberantly irresolute - abandoning one policy position after another with impunity and deploying every shady and diabolical tactics unknown in modern Presidential campaign. There is no harm in being pragmatic, but at least, a true leader, especially one who is campaigning to become the Presidential of the only surviving superpower on earth must be highly principled and steadfast in his core beliefs given the enormity of the responsibilities and challenges inherent to the Oval Office that he is laboring to occupy. Governor Romney is not being pragmatic; he wants to be all things at the same time. His grand scheme is obvious: First, you must attack and trivialize your fellow competitor/opponent's position with dubious claims, then convert most of his ideas as yours where possible, and finally, try and sway the electorates into believing that you have great ideas/knows how to create jobs, without actually supporting your claims with ascertainable facts and figures/no evidence and no record of job creation. It is called "DECEPTION." It is called LIE. It is vintage Mr. Romney and his campaign team. And it is un-Presidential.

The second debate came, and as expected, President Obama, won convincingly. However, on the question of who Americans trust to do a better job on the economy, according to the poll result taken immediately after the second debate among the undecided voters, Governor Romney won. Few days earlier, or prior to the debate, the reverse was the case - the President was on top in every category. The question then remains: what policy statement, specifically on the economy did Governor Romney develop or initiate to engender the confidence; to wit he knows how to create jobs? None, okay, absolutely none. He did not develop or craft any policy statement during the debate to elicit or warrant the alleged confidence on the job question. He was simply being Mr. Romney: brazenly devious and on a fraudulent mission intellectually. 

On the issue of the 'Auto Industry Bail Out,' he told the audience that President Obama did exactly what he, Governor Romney, proposed. In other words, President Obama stole his bankruptcy idea and saved the auto industry in the process - a calculated lie and blatant misrepresentation of facts. Unfortunately, there was no rebuttal from the President in the debate. Adding to that, the President did not make the distinction: for the avoidance of doubt, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” (a total close down approach reminiscence of Bain Capital/Romney’s model) enunciated and openly canvassed by Governor Romney in an op-Ed piece in the New York Times is, with all intents and purposes, different from the systematic and steady (staying alive while continuing funding) approach adopted by President Obama and his administration that ultimately resurrected the auto industry. Making such a distinction in the first debate and in the second debate would have been very helpful to the President and his campaign. 

Adding to that, Governor Romney repeated ad infinitum, albeit rather deceitfully throughout the first and second debates that he knows how to create jobs. Sadly, the President did not provide a rebuttal or refute the Governor’s job creation hogwash. The truth is that, while Mr. Romney was the Governor of Massachusetts; the Commonwealth was   at the periphery in jobs creation.  By simply declaring ad nauseam the job creation lies, he succeeded to a certain degree in convincing more people that he is a better candidate to manage the economy than the President. That's what is sustaining Governor Romney right now in the campaign - unfounded assumption of ability he does not possess. Therefore, the outcome of this election now depend on the ability of President Obama and his campaign to manage and put an end to that open lie. And it won't be his last. As we said in a previous piece: once a liar always a liar. 

What is true and in fact verifiable is that, while he was at Bain Capital, he sent more companies into bankruptcy and more workers into unemployment lines contrary to what one would reasonably expect of a CEO or a Presidential candidate who professes a spirit of compassion and philanthropy. In addition, that the state of Massachusetts ranked 47th in job creation out of the 50 states during Governor Romney era is no longer a secret. But for the unwillingness of the President to go the distance with him on the job creation claim and "Let Detriot Go Bankrupt" declaration during the debates and refute the lies instantly, and to his face, Governor Romney would have been history by now politically. 

Our opinion here is not an afterthought or a recent development.  We said so in June. And last Tuesday, October 16, 2012 (the morning before the second debate) we had this to say in an article, titled “Governor Mitt Romney: What the Presidency is Not About” posted on this Blog and also, posted on my Facebook Time Line for everyone.

“Also, if Governor Mitt Romney is truly a job creator, he should explain to the audience why Massachusetts (during his term as Governor) was at the 47th position out of the 50 States in the country in terms of job creation. The Massachusetts experience is a true indicator of what the undecided voters should expect or should be aware of in a Governor Romney's presidency.”

“He told the Massachusetts electorates that he is a Business man who knows how to create jobs. They fell for it. But he went away, without completing his term or creating the jobs as he promised. That is not an attribute of a true leader we can trust and depend on. And that is not what the Presidency is about.”

“What is true, and in fact, according to the information in the public domain, is that he knows how to make money for himself and his investors. He would borrow largely from the Government and the Banks and inject the new money into the companies that he acquired, making himself, the management team and his investors richer - essentially on the borrowed money. Most often, he would cash-out unceremoniously leaving the companies under-capitalized and on borrowed time to contend with bankruptcy as the last resort.”

“That is the ill of the over-leveraged capitalism that Mr. Romney and his management team have perfected so well. At the end, it is the employees that bear the brunt - the pink slip and the disappearance of benefits and health Insurance coverage.”

Going through the transcript of the second debate, the President only alluded to the issue covered in the last two paragraphs - something the New York Times headed "Corporate raiding" the morning after the second debate. But Mr. President completely left out the first two paragraphs dealing with the Massachusetts job lies. We are not here to pass blame, but to set the record straight - why the Presdent is performing below expectations in the debate and what he must do to overcome the Governor's surge.  

Be that as it may, to the extent that the President is seemingly loathe to going for the killer punch each time occasion calls for it, Governor Romney will not lose steam. We hope and pray that  President Obama will take care of business in the third debate and make Governor Romney laughable. 

From all indications, Mr. Romney has nothing substantively beneficial to offer the electorates; he wants you to elect him President, because the name of the incumbent is Barack Obama. There is no way to reasonably explain his shameless inconsistencies, vagueness and intellectual dishonesty over the past five months and hope that he will be the next President of United States.

CONCLUSION

Given that the debate is only about 90 minutes, you can successfully emasculate your opponent by deploying calculated lies and frivolous statics as long as viewers take you for being assertive. That, my friends, is the reason Governor Romney is gaining steam. And that is his modus operandi in the on-going debates and campaign. Therefore, President Obama and his campaign team should concentrate on Governor Romney's answers and dubious claims, and rebut and refute them as appropriate and decisively.

We anticipate dirty campaign and vilification of the President by the vast coalition network of the Republican Party and the numerous PAC Karl Roves. Also, we were very apprehensive of the fact that most influential Democrats, pundits and opinion leaders were intent, and in fact, about burying the President and his campaign team alive politically in May and June. Thus, our involvement was clear and simple: To provide  Democrats and the Presidential Campaign Team a framework for attack and defense - reminding them that they have achieved a lot, in spite of the Right Wing intransigence that they should be proud of. Also, that Bain Capital, Let Detriot Go Bankrupt, Big Business or Wall Street are part of the game and that the President and his Campaign Team cannot, contrary to the views of pundits and opinion leaders, adequately define Governor Romney without integrating them into the equation. And it works.  But what we did not anticipate during the first debate was that the President will resort to lecturing rather than confronting his opponent with facts and bullets and repeat concisely the usual lines that worked effectively in the past. In addition, we never in our wildest imagination expect that Governor Romney would descend so low as to abandon his extreme ideological position and lay claim to principles and ideas once alien to his core beliefs. It is a gamble that Mr. Romney cannot win.

So, Mr. President, Governor Romney is not a job creator. He simply made Americans to believe he is. Massachusetts and Bain Capital tell different stories. It is your responsibility to tell the World about his exploit at Bain Capital (bankruptcy unlimited and the fact that Massachusetts ranked 47th in job creation during Governor Romney's time). Granted that Republicans and Governor Romney’s campaign team would be reading this, but let your words be against his. It is that simple. Leaving him completely unchallenged in his bogus mudslinging is catastrophic to put it mildly.  He killed jobs as CEO OF Bain Capital. He bankrupt companies as CEO of Bain Capital - it was a no-mercy-business-dealing. He has no inkling of American reality. He did not support the Auto bail out. He wants DETRIOT TO GO BANKRUPT. He said so. He does not know how to create jobs. He did not create job anywhere. Most importantly, he is never consistent. It is about trust. He doesn't have it. Mr. President, put an end to all his lies right now and walk away taller.  Any job worth doing is worth doing right. Good luck in the third debate and in the election.