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From time to time we have items written by Josh Kraushaar of National Journal which is part of the main stream media. Kraushaar, however, has an independent mind. Here’s something he wrote before Ryan was picked that illustrates the point.
… I’m having an increasingly difficult time reconciling the buzz that Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are the clear favorites, even as I’m finding it harder to see what they add to the ticket. Given Romney’s tendency to play it safe, GOP operatives insist they’re the front-runners, but my gut instinct and contrarian nature make me think we could be in for a preconvention surprise. …
… By picking Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan, he could send a message that he’s willing to undertake the tough but necessary entitlement reforms to get the economy back on track. Romney always finds himself in his element when he preaches the merits of the free market. Why not embrace the wonkery and go with a fresh-faced pol who has maintained widespread appeal in a competitive district despite the many attacks on him from the left?
That said, picking Ryan also carries the most risk of any of the prospective candidates. Romney badly needs to win over the remaining undecided working-class voters, who don’t naturally connect with his privileged background. By picking a running mate whose driving theme is reforming (read: trimming) entitlement programs that many depend on, Romney could push some of them into Obama’s camp. …
… Of course, each of these choices carries varying degrees of risk. Jindal’s unstinting social conservatism could turn off women, Rubio faces murmurs about ties to ethically-tainted Florida politicians, Christie’s Jersey bluntness may not play well in other parts of the country, and Ayotte is untested on the national stage. But the reality is that the so-called safe picks – Pawlenty and Portman – offer just as much risk, if not more. Their biggest risk is that they don’t offer Romney much other than the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Establishment Approval.
Romney holds a fundamental advantage over President Obama in the November election: He controls his own destiny. Obama already has used up most of his best attack ads against Romney and is merely hoping that the economy doesn’t get any worse. He’s largely at the mercy of forces beyond his control now. Most voters have already made up their minds about him. But by picking a talented running mate and delivering a winning convention acceptance speech, Romney has the opportunity to convince the skeptics and redefine the election.
Three weeks after the above by Kraushaar, he penned an approving piece on the Romney decision to attack Obama’s ideology.
… Remember: Obama isn’t actively campaigning on most of the policies he advanced during his three years in office, save for the bailout of GM and Chrysler. He’s relying on caricaturing Romney as a crude capitalist, while broadly contrasting his agenda as protecting the middle class. No mention of the stimulus, with only sparing mentions of his health care law and historic support of gay marriage — usually to his most ardent supporters at fundraisers.
Polls show the economy being the most important factor in voters’ decisions, but all these tangential issues have direct impact in their views of the candidates’ economic competence. The Romney campaign, for example, is making the case that trimming spending and tackling entitlement reform, are steps to ensure the economy’s long-term health.
One of the most significant takeaways from the national polling over the last several months is that Obama’s job approval rating has remained relatively stable even as their perception of the economy have dropped markedly. There’s a plausible argument that voters are resigned to a “new normal” — it’s a theory that my colleague Ron Brownstein first broached last month.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Romney campaign reached the same conclusion, even if they won’t admit it. They’ve tacked away from a generic critique of Obama’s economic performance — the “prevent defense” strategy — and gone full bore with the ideological red meat. So far, it’s working.
There is something strange going on at the NY Times. There have been a number of items on the administration that are not very favorable. First on Saturday there was a page one piece on Valerie Jarrett.
President Obama was in a bind, and his chief of staff could not figure out how he had ended up there.
Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were up in arms last fall over a proposal to require employers to provide health insurance that covered birth control. But caving in to the church’s demands for a broad exemption in the name of religious liberty would pit the president against a crucial constituency, women’s groups, who saw the coverage as basic preventive care.
Worried about the political and legal implications, the chief of staff, William M. Daley, reached out to the proposal’s author, Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary. How, he wondered, had the White House been put in this situation with so little presidential input? “You are way out there on a limb on this,” he recalls telling her.
“It was then made clear to me that, no, there were senior White House officials who had been involved and supported this,” said Mr. Daley, who left his post early this year.
What he did not realize was that while he was trying to put out what he considered a fire, the person fanning the flames was sitting just one flight up from him: Valerie Jarrett, the Obamas’ first friend, the proposal’s chief patron and a tenacious White House operator who would ultimately outmaneuver not only Mr. Daley but also the vice president in her effort to include the broadest possible contraception coverage in the administration’s health care overhaul.
A Chicagoan who helped Mr. Obama navigate his rise through that city’s aggressive politics, Ms. Jarrett came to Washington with no national experience. But her unmatched access to the Obamas has made her a driving force in some of the most significant domestic policy decisions of the president’s first term, her persuasive power only amplified by Mr. Obama’s insular management style.
From the first, her official job has been somewhat vague. But nearly four years on, with Mr. Obama poised to accept his party’s renomination this week, her standing is clear, to her many admirers and detractors alike. “She is the single most influential person in the Obama White House,” said one former senior White House official, who like many would speak candidly only on condition of anonymity.
The next Times hit piece was on Obama’s competitiveness by Jodi Kantor.
… For someone dealing with the world’s weightiest matters, Mr. Obama spends surprising energy perfecting even less consequential pursuits. He has played golf 104 times since becoming president, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, who monitors his outings, and he asks superior players for tips that have helped lower his scores. He decompresses with card games on Air Force One, but players who do not concentrate risk a reprimand (“You’re not playing, you’re just gambling,” he once told Arun Chaudhary, his former videographer).
His idea of birthday relaxation is competing in an Olympic-style athletic tournament with friends, keeping close score. The 2009 version ended with a bowling event. Guess who won, despite his history of embarrassingly low scores? The president, it turned out, had been practicing in the White House alley.
When he reads a book to children at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Mr. Obama seems incapable of just flipping open a volume and reading. In 2010, he began by announcing that he would perform “the best rendition ever” of “Green Eggs and Ham,” ripping into his Sam-I-Ams with unusual conviction. Two years later at the same event, he read “Where the Wild Things Are” with even more animation, roooooaring his terrible roar and gnaaaaashing his terrible teeth. By the time he got to the wild rumpus, he was howling so loudly that Bo, the first dog, joined in.
“He’s shooting for a Tony,” Mr. Chaudhary joked. (He has already won a Grammy, in 2006, for his reading of his memoir, “Dreams From My Father” — not because he was a natural, said Brian Smith, the producer, but because he paused so many times to polish his performance.)
Asked if there was anything at which the president allowed himself to just flat-out fail, Mr. Nesbitt gave a long pause. “If he picks up something new, at first he’s not good, but he’ll work until he gets better,” he said.
Mr. Obama’s fixation on prowess can get him into trouble. Not everyone wants to be graded by him, certainly not Republicans. Mr. Dowd, the former Bush adviser, said he admired Mr. Obama, but added, “Nobody likes to be in the room with someone who thinks they’re the smartest person in the room.”
Even some Democrats in Washington say they have been irritated by his tips on topics ranging from the best way to shake hands on the trail (really look voters in the eye, he has instructed) to writing well (“You have to think three or four sentences ahead,” he told one reluctant pupil).
For another, he may not always be as good at everything as he thinks, including politics. While Mr. Obama has given himself high grades for his tenure in the White House — including a “solid B-plus” for his first year — many voters don’t agree, citing everything from his handling of the economy to his unfulfilled pledge that he would be able to unite Washington to his claim that he would achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Those were not the only times Mr. Obama may have overestimated himself: he has also had a habit of warning new hires that he would be able to do their jobs better than they could. …
Andrew Malcolm with late night humor.
Leno: The Democrats are getting ready for their convention in North Carolina. Or, as they’re telling Joe Biden, “South Carolina.”
Fallon: The party announced that most Democratic National Convention speakers this week will be women. Though it’s really gonna be annoying when they stop speaking, but won’t tell you why.
Leno: Tropical storm Isaac threatened to hit the GOP convention in Tampa. But thanks to Obama’s economic policies many Florida businesses are already boarded up.
Letterman: What’s great about America. They’re now making waffle-flavored vodka. See? Good things are happening under Obama.
Fallon: The Obama campaign is suggesting supporters text the word “GIVE” to donate $50. Though it’s frustrating when the phone’s autocorrect keeps changing it to: “Fix the economy!”
Leno: Joe Biden was going to visit Tampa to cause problems for the GOP convention. Then he was going up to Charlotte to do the same for the Democrats.