Romney is such a bad candidate that it's easy to see him as "losing" this race instead of seeing Obama as "winning" it. But let's give Obama credit where credit is due.
He's just a hell of a campaigner and he has an excellent campaign staff.
He campaigns hard. He's out there almost every day at multiple events. And his staff puts him in places that matter. Romney by contrast is lazy, takes lots of days off and rarely does more than one event on any one day. Apparently Romney's sense of entitlement led him to believe he wouldn't have to work hard to win the presidency. And his staff makes strange choices in his scheduling, repeatedly sending him to states he has already bagged or ones he's obviously lost.
Obama has had a plan for his campaign all along. And he and his staff have stuck to it. He has also been consistent in his message. But Romney's campaign and message seem to be catch-as-catch-can. That's no way to run a business, let alone a political campaign. Romney and his Bain associates who help run his campaign have no respect for the job they are trying to do. He was tearing apart and rewriting his acceptance speech AT THE LAST MINUTE, and it showed.
Obama has a good ear. He hit the exact right note in his convention acceptance speech after working on it for weeks. Pundits chastised him for not "soaring" in his rhetoric as in 2008, but that would not have been appropriate in these economic times. He chose to lift the people in another way, by reminding them of the best that's in THEM. The speech was about the people, not about him. He spoke to the good in people, their sense of fairness, and their willingness to help out their brothers and sisters. It was about "We the People". It was the way the Kennedys and Martin Luther King reached people. And when people feel good about who they ARE, they want to hang on to that. Romney, by contrast, has a dark view of Americans as caring solely about financial success.
Obama IS the president. He said so in his acceptance speech. And he looks like a president at all times, acts like a president, and talks like one. He has dignity - miles of it. That's why he can croon the blues and do other light-hearted stuff without turning people off. He's PRESIDENTIAL. And Romney is not. Romney's a pathetic jerk, a semi-demented doorman.
Obama's a fighter. People like that quality. Romney pretends to be one. People can tell the difference. So can our enemies. Romney merely talks tough but there's no conviction in it. He can't even fight a political campaign, so how would he do against our enemies? He said he wouldn't have gone after Bin Laden (then changed his tune of course). But Obama killed Bin Laden. And Obama's gutsy on the campaign trail. We all like a gutsy guy.
But Obama also has a great sense of humor, plus a comedic timing any top comic would kill for. Romney has a fake cackle and a pathetic sense of what's a joke. Plus he has no sense of the room, as they say in show biz.
Finally, there's Obama's smile and his contrasting cool. It's a remarkable combination in one man. I haven't seen this since JFK and FDR: a calm, resolute demeanor that can switch to a wonderful smile that lights up the world. We call them "the happy warriors", and we love them.
The rest of what's great about Obama is what he isn't. He doesn't whine. He doesn't brag about his own remarkable success in life. He doesn't tie dogs to the roof of his car. He doesn't hide his tax returns or his plan for the tax code. He doesn't tell lies. In other words, he isn't Mitt Romney. And that's the biggest plus any candidate could want.
But don't short-change Obama's positives. Some commentators say he's mainly lucky. No, that's not it. He's worked hard and played smart, and he plays the long game. Remember that he and his team beat the sure-winner Clinton team in 2008 by figuring out how the caucus states could give him the primary win. (He's also got a great plan at work for the so-called "fiscal cliff" that's coming at the end of the year, but that's for another posting.)
And, honey, he's got a good singing voice! The only pres in history that can sing! You gotta love it!
He's campaigning hard, and we must do likewise. It's OUR country at stake. Obama is trying to help US! We are the ones at risk. Help get those voters to the polls because if Obama loses, YOU lose.
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Hey, Mitt, you know those old gangster movies where the crook finally "sings" and gets sent to the "Big House"? So let's hear you "sing" about those tax returns! Maybe you'll then qualify for yet another big house to add to your collection? It'd make a great musical: "Singing in Sing-Sing"!
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