Romney Fails to Wow with Foreign Policy Speech

There was a point in the 2008 presidential election--some time in September, I think--that Obama supporters began to freak out and swallow their tongues. McCain/Palin had improbably surged, and the Obama/Biden ticket fell upside down in the polls. Used to losing after Bush/Cheney 2000 (where we felt it was stolen) and Bush/Cheney 2004 (which was hinky, but we had a dull candidate), we expected the worst. There was much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth for a week or so, and then the polls flipped over again, and all was right in Democratland.

Image from source, NYT.

We've had a bit of a repeat, this time due to the perceptions formed around the first presidential debate. It hasn't been quite as dramatic or decisive--not yet--but it still has many liberals worried and upset. I'm a bit of a pessimist, so I'd be worrying some anyway, but I'll cop to feeling a bit blue after having a nearly carefree spring and summer politically. I don't think it's as dire as it's being made out to be, but sometimes it is perception that rules the day. Obama's camp has been doing a bang up job since the debate, except for a minor kerfuffle over Sesame Street and Andrea Mitchell (?!). But polls are slow, and it's hard to know when a bubble or bounce is over, or if the trend is here to stay.

For their part, the Romney campaign hasn't actually been setting the nation on fire. The "undecideds" might be so fickle as to change horses after a single debate, but could they change back? After debacles like Monday's Mitt Romney foreign policy, will the needle move? Do the undecideds even pay attention to substance (or lack of it)? I don't know. So I'll be over here in the corner hoping for the best. . .

[Excerpt]

Parsing Romney’s Foreign Policy Speech

There’s hardly a paragraph in Mitt Romney’s foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute that doesn’t need clarifying in one way or another. . .

Read more at: New York Times