Mark Halperin talked to anonymous Obama advisers. Confirms what any Obama supporter should pretty much know. One lying liars' debate doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
HALPERIN: So, to the extent the debate had an impact on those nine states, what was it? How would you qualify it or quantify it?
OBAMA ADVISER 2: Well, first of all, ..I think it’s too, it’s becoming about time to look or a little soon to figure out what’s noise and what’s not. But, you know, … there’s just not a lot of movement out there. This race is pretty stagnant.
HALPERIN: So, the conventional wisdom is, driven partly by the national polls and some state polls, that the debate had a transformative effect on the President’s and Governor Romney’s standing nationally and in the battleground states is incorrect?
OBAMA ADVISER 2: Correct, we do not believe that at all. And, you know, if you want to believe the Pew poll that shows us tied with women voters and having party ID move ten points in a month, which would be 20 million people, I think that you should…
OBAMA ADVISER 1: 20 million people decided they were Republicans in the last month.
OBAMA ADVISER 2: Right, it’s just not, you know, it’s just not…
OBAMA ADVISER 1: And we’re going to see more of these polls coming out to show tightening of the race and that’s just, that’s how it goes. And, you know, just like we got a bounce coming out of the convention, we knew that bounce wasn’t real and wasn’t going to be sustainable. This isn’t going to be sustainable either.
OBAMA ADVISER 2: But here’s what the last ones didn’t change, it didn’t change his problems in the Midwest, on a whole host of issues. Didn’t change on cars. Didn’t change on outsourcing. It didn’t make him a better candidate in Ohio or Iowa or Wisconsin. And, you know, you just look at the map, he’s going to continue — we have more pathways to 270 — he’s got his problem, you’ve written that, and you’re right. It is, for him, and for us, in the end, about the map.
Read more: http://thepage.time.com/...
I haven't diaried in a while but follow the Kos crowd for inspiration and motivation. Hard to find any here. Gonna keep my head out of twitter and Kos starting next week when I head to my nearest swing state for 3 weeks of GOTV.
Nothing matters right now but the votes.
Update: This is a really long discussion. I really don't like Halperin and can't believe people make time to talk to him. But his questions were good and elicited detailed responses from the advisers. I think they're talking to us, the troops, buck-up! Keep your head in the game. No way we go from Obama to this lying loser in 4 years. We are a better country than that.
HALPERIN: What is your message to, as David Plouffe would say, the bedwetters in the Democratic Party, who are all concerned about the debate and what it’s done to the public polling? What would you say to them?
OBAMA ADVISER 1: We weren’t geniuses last week and we’re not stupid this week. It’s going to be a tight race. We’ve always said that.
OBAMA ADVISER 2: And in the battleground states we continue to have more pathways than they do to 270 electoral votes. And we just got to close.
Read more: http://thepage.time.com/...