The Halloween scare to end all scares might be over. Mitt Romney’s grotesque campaign for president of the United States seems to be fizzling.
I’ve been holding my breath, waiting for the latest jobs report. A bad report would be the only legitimate thing left for Romney to use against President Obama. The non-farm payrolls report isn’t due until Friday, but the revised ADP National Employment Report for October came out today, and here’s what Reuters had to say about it:
Companies added 158,000 jobs in October in the biggest gain in eight months, data from a payrolls processor showed on Thursday in a revamped report on the private sector labor market…
That leaves me feeling that Friday’s news will be pretty good. And where will that leave Romney?
Obviously, the Republican challenger has run out of ammunition. Why else would he resort to inventing “facts” that are so easily disproved? Even the TV pundits are amazed at the blatant fabrications coming from the Romney campaign. Surely, Romney and his folks must know they can’t get away with turning the truth on its head the way they do?
You may have heard about their recent claim that Jeep is planning to move its manufacturing operation from the United States to China. Romney not only said it on the campaign trail; he put out a TV commercial repeating it. And when Jeep indignantly denied the story, he put out a radio ad to reinforce the lie.
It’s how the Romney campaign rolls. They said they would not let fact checkers “dictate” their campaign, and they haven’t. They have spread a swarm of lies, totally ignoring the “pants on fire” reaction of the media. One newspaper described the Romney strategy as “outsourcing the truth.”
The strategy isn’t working.
Salon.com columnist Joan Walsh reports today:
With reliable polls in Ohio and Wisconsin Wednesday showing Obama with solid leads there, Romney has almost no path to victory on Tuesday. Polls today also showed him holding smaller leads in the swing states of Virginia, Florida and Nevada, and tied in North Carolina.
It’s still theoretically possible that lingering post-Sandy problems – and they will be massive – could sour voters’ moods or hamper turnout on Tuesday. This race is still tight. But Romney’s inability to close the deal after his Oct. 3 debate surge is looking permanent.
I am a Joan Walsh fan, and I am confident she knows what she’s talking about.
Also, checking with Nate Silver’s usually reliable blog on the New York Times site, I was reassured to see that he gives President Obama a 70 percent chance of being reelected. Silver figures Obama will get 300 electoral votes and Romney will get 238.
Furthermore, I could see with my own eyes how the president’s prompt and competent response to Hurricane Sandy’s devastation turned Chris Christie around. The Republican governor of New Jersey is a Romney surrogate, and he was one of the president’s fiercest critics. He has completely changed his tune since the Sandy disaster ravaged his state and President Obama stepped in to help.
Meanwhile, Romney was trying to fool the media with a staged “relief rally” that featured donations of food and stuff. It didn’t take reporters long to find out that his campaign bought most of the “donated” food themselves and gave it to members of the crowd to take up to Romney for the benefit of photographers.
I cannot believe American voters – the few who still haven’t made up their minds – will be fooled by Romney’s phony stunts. I cannot believe they aren’t impressed with the President’s handling of the Sandy catastrophe.
Barring some hanky-panky with the voting machines, I see no way for Romney to win this election.
Click here to read Joan Walsh’s column.
Click here to read about the “pants on fire” Jeep ad.
Click here to read about Christie’s about-face.
