Eugene Robinson's Blog, page 129

Romney would pass the buck on disasters

Back when he was being “severely conservative,” Mitt Romney suggested that responsibility for disaster relief should be taken from the big, bad federal government and given to the states, or perhaps even privatized. Hurricane Sandy would like to know if he’d care to reconsider.

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What America will we pick?

This election is only tangentially a fight over policy. It is also a fight about meaning and identity — and that’s one reason voters are so polarized. It’s about who we are and who we aspire to be.

President Obama enters the final days of the campaign with a substantial lead among women — about 11 points, according to the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll — and enormous leads among Latinos and African Americans, the nation’s two largest minority groups. Mitt Romney leads among white voters, with an incredible 2-to-1 advantage among white men.

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Obama outpoints Romney in third debate

BOCA RATON, Fla.

The “horses and bayonets” moment is probably the headline. But the larger story of the third and final presidential debate, ostensibly about foreign policy, is that Mitt Romney didn’t really lay a glove on President Obama. For most of the evening, he didn’t even try.

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Why the chill on climate change?

Not a word has been said in the presidential debates about what may be the most urgent and consequential issue in the world: climate change.

President Obama understands and accepts the scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is trapping heat in the atmosphere, with potentially catastrophic long-term effects. Mitt Romney’s view, as on many issues, is pure quicksilver — impossible to pin down — but when he was governor of Massachusetts, climate-change activists considered him enlightened and effective.

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A clear win for Obama

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.

Not a close call. President Obama won the second presidential debate as clearly and decisively as he lost the first. For anyone who disagrees, three simple words: “Please proceed, Governor.”

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Obama’s second chance

First, he has to show up. Then, in his second debate with Mitt Romney, President Obama needs to offer not just history lessons and dire warnings but also a hopeful vision for the next four years.

It would be hard for Obama to turn in a worse performance Tuesday night at Hofstra University than he did at the first debate in Denver. All he has to do is show a little energy and enthusiasm, and the next morning’s headlines will surely be full of “comeback” metaphors. But that’s not enough.

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A performance Obama sorely needed

DANVILLE, Ky.

If the question is who did more to help his ticket, Joe Biden won the vice presidential debate by a mile.

Republican Paul Ryan performed pretty well. He made no major mistakes, and a CNN instant poll of viewers had him winning narrowly, 48 percent to 44 percent. But my assessment of the debate agreed with that of a CBS instant poll of uncommitted voters, who saw Biden as the landslide winner, 50 percent to 31 percent.

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Romney channels Obama on foreign policy

Mitt Romney claims to disagree with President Obama on many aspects of foreign policy. We’re still waiting to hear what those differences might be.

I wasn’t surprised that Romney’s highly touted Major Policy Speech on foreign affairs Monday offered few specifics. But even in its generalities, Romney’s tour d’horizon sounded very much like a speech Obama might have given recounting his overseas initiatives over the past four years.

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Obama’s off night gives Romney an opening

DENVER

I would be careful about declaring the presidential contest “a whole new race” following Wednesday’s debate. Polls show that most voters have made up their minds, and some, due to early voting, have already cast their ballots. One good night for Mitt Romney does not turn the world upside down.

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Which Mitt will show up to the Denver debate?

Wednesday’s presidential debate promises sharp contrasts. One candidate wants to repeal Obamacare, one candidate invented it. One opposed the auto industry bailout, one takes credit for it. One doubts the scientific consensus about climate change, one believes in it. One wants to “voucherize” Medicare, one wants to save it. One dismisses nearly half of Americans as a bunch of moochers, and one claims to champion the struggling middle class.

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