Is Joe Biden Ready For Debate?

WASHINGTON -- A small sense of relief emanates from the Obama campaign with the approach of Thursday night's vice presidential debate.

The lackluster performance of President Barack Obama last week in Denver, which he himself confirmed Wednesday in an ABC interview, remains a concern among his supporters.

But the soul-gripping panic that dominated the first days after the debate has subsided slightly, replaced by a more sober assessment. The race was bound to be close. And while polls have tightened in some critical swing states, it remains the president's race to lose. On Wednesday evening, the National Journal reported that the Obama campaign's internal polls had Romney narrowing Obama's advantage in those states to within the margin of error.

"It's not going to be easy," said one Obama aide. "But it never was going to be."

In response, Obama's campaign is pursuing smaller, tactical changes rather than major revisions. The fruits of those alterations will be seen in Danville, Ky. at 9 p.m. when Vice President Joe Biden takes the stage.

Century Fox reports: How things changed after the Presidential Debate

Obama campaign staffers are coy in offering insight into Biden's mindset for his showdown with the Republican nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.). Their diagnosis of Obama's missteps offers clues of what they want the vice presidential debate to accomplish.

It wasn't just that the president did a poor job calling out Mitt Romney for abrupt policy shifts and obfuscations. While everyone agrees that Obama's absence of effective pushback was painfully obvious, there is a counter-theory that doing so aggressively would have hurt Obama as well. His favorability rating, after all, rose after the debate.

What is universally believed is that a big misstep from the first debate was not laying out an affirmative case for what the Obama administration plans during the next four years. The president's speech at the Democratic National Convention, while criticized as bland, did present that agenda, from manufacturing jobs to energy research and independence, to investments in infrastructure and immigration reform.

Aides said a goal heading into the debates Thursday and thereafter is to do that again, only sharper and with more contrast against Romney's plan. It's unclear to what extent the campaign will use the strong September jobs report to bolster its case.

"The president is focused on achieving what most Americans believe is the nation’s top priority -– restoring economic security for the middle class," Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt said in an emailed statement. "This isn’t a small issue -– it will require a combination of reducing the deficit in a balanced way and investments that spur the creation of the jobs and products of the future here in America and he’s laid out a specific blueprint to do it.

Obama allies, including some who consult the White House regularly, see the gains that Romney made in the post-debate period as primarily the product of him presenting an agenda that viewers could grasp. The agenda happened to be more moderate than where the Republican candidate stood during the GOP primary, the allies said. But it was a platform for the next four years nonetheless.

If Biden and Obama fall short of drawing out, in detail, their own platform, there is concern that the campaign's slip in the polls could very well become a free fall.

"I think the thing that he needs to communicate is that we are on the right path and it would be a mistake to get off it," said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress think tank. "I think every president should be able to say what we should do and I think the president should have a clear agenda going into the second term. ... He allowed Romney to sound more specific than he did."

There is, of course, a difficulty in laying out specifics. A 90-minute debate, broken into two-minute answers, is not the ideal forum for waxing philosophically about the future. That certainly is true when the candidate doing the waxing can be as long-winded as the president and his running mate. And therein lies the real challenge facing Biden on Thursday and Obama the week after.

"Romney had big thematics and ignored the facts. What the president did well is release the facts, but had no thematics," said Andy Stern, a longtime labor leader and close Obama ally. "You didn't walk away saying, 'Oh I know what he's going to do, or he has a jobs plan, or an infrastructure plan.' ... He had words.

"The president had a lot of great facts, but they weren't grouped together," Stern added. "People need headlines, they want the Daily News -- not the New Yorker -- when watching the debate."

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Republicans Jump All Over Biden Remark On Middle Class

Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the middle class has been "buried" during the past four years, prompting a rare moment of concord with Republican Mitt Romney's campaign.

"Agree with @joebiden, the middle class has been buried the last 4 years, which is why we need a change in November," Romney said on Twitter.

"We agree!" his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), told a crowd in Iowa. "That means we need to stop digging by electing Mitt Romney as the next president of the United States."

Biden, speaking at a campaign event in Charlotte, N.C., said that Romney would raise taxes on the middle class. "How they can justify . . . raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years?" he asked.

Century Fox News: "Forget the Polls, romney will win." say Supporters

After Republicans seized on the comment, Biden said: "The middle class was buried by the policies that Romney and Ryan have supported."

The Romney campaign obviously sees the remark as a potential stumble for President Barack Obama, who has maintained a slight edge in the polls during the past two weeks.

Romney surrogate John Sununu, in a conference call with reporters, was asked if he thought the vice president's words would move poll numbers. The former New Hampshire governor replied, "No, but I think it sets the stage for the debate that will take place tomorrow."

More Analysis: 5 things to watch out for in Presidential Debate

Romney, who is in Denver preparing for Wednesday's first presidential debate, said in an interview Tuesday that he would not deport young illegal immigrants who have received temporary visas under an executive order issued by Obama.

"The people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid," Romney told The Denver Post. "I'm not going to take something that they've purchased. "

Romney, who has criticized the president's executive order as a temporary fix, has not been specific about what he would do about the country's 11 million illegal immigrants, except to say he would not "round up" and "deport people."

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Sarah Palin: "America Needs Come To Jesus Moment"

Mitt Romney has been getting lots of gratuitous advice from fellow Republicans and conservatives worried about what they see as a presidential campaign that’s slipping toward defeat.

As usual, Sarah Palin is the most direct and colorful. In a statement to the Weekly Standard on Saturday, she put it this way:

"With so much at stake in this election, both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan should 'go rogue' and not hold back from telling the American people the true state of our economy and national security. They need to continue to find ways to break through the filter of the liberal media to communicate their message of reform."

 "America desperately needs to have a 'come to Jesus' moment in discussing our big dysfunctional, disconnected, and debt-ridden federal government," the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate told the conservative magazine.

Century Fox Report: Romney's Winning Edge

To some Republican kibitzers, “going rogue” means unleashing Rep. Paul Ryan, Mr. Romney’s running mate and a relative youngster who seemed to bring some pizzazz to an otherwise staid ticket.

“They not only need to use Ryan out on the trail more effectively, they need to have more of him rub off on Mitt because I think Mitt thinks that way but he’s gotta be able to articulate that…. I think too many people are restraining him from telling his vision,” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walkertold a radio interviewer Friday.

Where’s the evidence of Romney’s so-called “bold choice” in picking Ryan? others ask.

“Even in Wisconsin, I think he’s being underused,” Charlie Sykes, the radio host who interviewed Gov. Walker, told Politico. “I guess what’s frustrating is especially now that we’re embroiled in this conversation about the makers versus the takers, where is Paul Ryan? He is eloquent, he knows the numbers, he can frame this in a very compelling way. The fact that he is not front and center on some of this is, I think, a lost opportunity.”

Even in Wisconsin – Ryan’s home state – an NBC poll shows Obama leading Romney by 5 percentage points, and that’s just part of recent polling news the Romney campaign must find troubling.

As the Monitor’s Mark Trumbull reported this week, Obama leads Romney in eight out of nine swing states where the two are in tight contests: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin. North Carolina is the only one where Mr. Romney currently has an edge.

Expert Analysis: Romney can still win

Unleashing Ryan may not be the answer, of course. AsHouse Budget Committee chairman, he authored a plan that was controversial – particularly for what it portended for Medicare, the health care program for seniors. He tried to explain it at an AARP meeting this week, but was booed by many in the audience.

Apparently, that wasn’t just a one-time deal in a room full of retirees. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll this week shows Obama leading Romney by 10 points (47-37) in dealing with Medicare.

It’s a law of all organizations – including (maybe especially) political campaigns – that when things are tough, infighting and finger-pointing will ensue. Politico’s must-read scoop last Sunday – “Inside the campaign: How Mitt Romney stumbled” – set off something similar among conservative pundits.

Weekly Standard editor William Kristol called Romney’s comments about “the 47 percent” who presumably would never vote for him because they pay no federal income taxes “stupid and arrogant.” Rush Limbaugh complained that “every Democrat under the sun's retweeting that all over the place,” that too many conservative fellow travelers who once supported Romney “have bailed on him.”

Over at the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, columnist and former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan wrote, “It’s time to admit the Romney campaign is an incompetent one.”

Then she revised her estimation: “This week I called it incompetent, but only because I was being polite,” she wrote. “I really meant ‘rolling calamity.’"
 
 That left Chris Wallace at Fox News questioning Ms. Noonan’s “conservative bona fides.”

“Sometimes they’re New York City’s idea of conservatives,” Mr. Wallace said of Noonan and others similarly critical of the Romney campaign. Ouch. And here we thought such intramural squabbles were principally the province of Democrats

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President Obama And Romney Prepare For Finish Line

WASHINGTON — U.S. presidential elections, like pro basketball or football games, are played in quarters; the Democrats just won the third, giving President Barack Obama a small, not decisive, advantage going into the final stretch.

Chalk this up mainly to Republican miscues: Mitt Romney’s flawed trip to Europe; the offensive comments about women by the Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin, and a missed opportunity to better define the election at the party’s convention in Tampa, Florida. With a little more than eight weeks left, and the Democrats riding a little momentum from their convention, Mr. Obama is where he wanted to be at this stage.

Century Fox Report: Outlook is bleak for both Presidential candidates.

Almost certainly, however, this will be one of those close U.S. elections, like 1960, 1968, 1976 and 2000, that may not be settled until the closing days.

Over the last 40 years, the shape of most presidential races was evident in the September soundings after the convention. Two anomalies, as measured by the Gallup poll: Four years ago, when Senator John McCain of Arizona got a bump that even most Republicans knew wouldn’t last. And in 2000, when the Democratic nominee, Al Gore, again with a convention bump, had a lead (actually, Mr. Gore ended up winning the popular vote that year). The real outlier was 1980, when Ronald Reagan trailed Jimmy Carter by seven points in early September and ended up winning by almost 10 points; campaigns can matter.

Much of the calculations from the campaigns and the pundits centers on the four national debates, slated between Oct. 3 and Oct. 22. Yet, since Mr. Reagan, these debates have made a difference only when a candidate made a careless mistake — Michael Dukakis fumbling over what he would do if his wife were raped, George H.W. Bush looking at his watch, Mr. Gore sighing. John Kerry, most experts said, had the upper hand in the 2004 debates; his margin of defeat in November was identical to the September survey.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, both very smart and very cautious, aren’t apt to make unforced errors. More important may be which camp sets the agenda over the next three and a half weeks.

More: President Obama and Romney cross Paths.

Mr. Romney wants the conversation to be dominated by the nation’s persistent economic struggles — underscored by the weak jobs report last week — the fading American dream and the prospect of four more years of the same. The Republican candidate’s campaign seems intent on accentuating, not playing down, its vice-presidential nominee, Paul D. Ryan, and his economic prescriptions.

Mr. Obama wants to focus on the choice between whether to favor the middle class or the rich, whether to move forward with Bill Clinton-type policies or return to the George W. Bush years. The reliance on Bill Clinton, at the convention, in the Obama video and commercials, and on the stump, is striking.

The influence of money in this presidential campaign is exaggerated. The Obama campaign won’t enjoy the huge resource advantage it had four years ago; it will have plenty of funds to be competitive anywhere it chooses. The Republican advantage with outside money, perhaps decisive in congressional races, will have less impact on the presidential contest.

In a close election there are critical constituency groups. There is much chatter about the Republicans’ “gender gap” with women. Conversely, Mr. Obama has a gender gap with white males. He lost that vote 57 to 41 in 2008; this time, he probably needs to get three out of every eight of these voters.

Married women with children went 51 percent to 47 percent for the Democratic nominee last time. Both candidates need to carry that swing group, about 15 percent of the electorate. Suburban independents narrowly went for the Democrat last time and are an obvious battleground group.

Century Fox Report: Point by point, Bill Clinton supports Obama(Video)

If the fast-growing Latino vote turns out like it did in 2008, it’s bad news for Mr. Romney, who, as the San Antonio mayor, Julián Castro, said in his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, “just rubbed the Hispanic community the wrong way” with his immigration-bashing during the primaries.

Geographically, the most pitched battleground will be the Midwest. Rich Beeson, Mr. Romney’s political director, says the two states that have most come into play in the past few months are Iowa and Wisconsin, which had been considered reliably Democratic. Ohio, as usual, is prime real estate.

It is uncertain, too, which side will best turn out its voters. Team Obama points out that in 2008, more than half of new voter registration occurred after Labor Day and predicts a repeat performance this year.

The much-discussed electoral map, which only matters if it’s one of those close elections decided by a point or less, favors the president. It’s almost impossible to see Mr. Romney winning this election without carrying both Ohio and Florida.

One leading indicator over the next week, says the Democratic pollster Peter Hart, is the content of the television commercials. “If you see the Obama acceptance speech up, you know all that you need to know about the success of the speech” at the convention, he notes. “If not, the speech didn’t sell.” He says the Romney campaign, since Tampa, has gone back to running strictly attack ads.

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   Obama's Remarks           White House            Medicare            U.S           Religion 

    CBO             Voters Undecided             Clint Eastwood              Bill Clinton

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Clinton Is Obama's Most Valuable Weapon

(Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton made a more comprehensive case for President Barack Obama's re-election in 49 minutes on Wednesday than the rest of the speakers at the Democratic Convention could muster in the 11-1/2 hours that preceded him.

In a detailed and passionate endorsement of his former rival, Clinton amplified the central argument of Obama's campaign: that voters face a choice between Democratic policies that lead to broad prosperity or Republican policies that benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

But he didn't stop there.

Frequently veering from his prepared remarks, Clinton tackled important topics that have been largely absent from this tightly scripted convention.

He praised Obama's 2009 stimulus, his expansion of college aid, and his efforts to boost renewable energy. He explained how Obama's healthcare law would benefit ordinary Americans, and warned that Republican healthcare cuts would hurt the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. He argued that Republicans would deepen the country's fiscal woes and prevent more people from voting.

He unraveled Republican attacks on Medicare spending and welfare that have been deemed misleading by independent fact-checkers and warned that proposed Republican cuts to healthcare would hurt the poor and disabled, not just the middle class.

And he tackled a question that initially flummoxed Obama aides when Republicans pressed it last weekend: Are Americans better off than they were four years ago?

"The answer is yes," Clinton said. "But too many people are not feeling it yet."

A MODEL FOR OTHER DEMOCRATS

Clinton's arguments are sure to be a template for other Democrats during the two months leading to the November 6 election, said Samuel Popkin, author of "The Candidate: What it Takes to Win - and Hold - the White House."

"He did a better job of messaging Obama than the Obama people have done," said Popkin, a professor at the University of California-San Diego.

Though Clinton is rarely concise, Democrats and Republicans alike say he has few equals when it comes to explaining complicated subjects.

"It was what we needed to put things in plain English so people understand," said Florida delegate Kevin Muth.

Obama has had less success on that front.

Economists say his 2009 stimulus created millions of jobs, but most voters view it as a failure. Polls show that most Americans like many aspects of his 2010 healthcare law, but they don't like the overall package.

More: TODAY WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT MITT ROMNEY

And his overhaul of financial regulations won him many enemies on Wall Street, but gained little traction among the general public.

Republicans used this complexity to their advantage as they portrayed the stimulus as a green-energy boondoggle and turned "read the bill" into a rallying cry against the complicated health-care overhaul.

Obama's Republican rival for the presidency, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, has steered clear of specifics on the campaign trail and explained his proposals to cut spending and simplify the tax code only in broad strokes.

More: ROMNEY SPREADS HOPE AND PROMISES JOBS

Clinton argued that while the details may not be known, Romney's policies would either balloon the national debt, shift more of the tax burden to the middle class or hollow out programs such as child nutrition and transportation.

Otherwise, the math doesn't add up, he said.

"I'm just a country boy from Arkansas and I came from a place where people thought two and two equals four," Clinton told the delegates.

Many of the convention's speakers have focused on a handful of topics, such as reproductive rights and amnesty for the children of illegal immigrants, that appeal to important elements of the Democratic base.

Clinton aimed for a wider audience.

By tackling the entirety of Obama's record and Romney's proposals, Clinton sought to win independent voters who are still unsure whether they will see improvement if they give Obama another four years in office.

"Bill Clinton is the cleanup hitter and is aiming at the center of the electorate," said Hunter College political-science professor Andrew Polsky.

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Has Obama Played A Role In America's Downfall?

Why did God put Barack Obama on this earth? If you had asked that question between his 2004 convention address and his 2008 campaign, the answer could have been summarized in a short elevator speech.

Obama was here to heal our politics, to move us beyond the stale debates and the childish partisanship that lead to stagnation, futility and silliness.

This purpose did not survive contact with reality. But President Obama found other clear missions. In 2009, his mission was to avert the worst of the financial crisis. In 2010, it was to expand health insurance coverage.

During this time, you knew what Barack Obama was about, where his priorities lay. But, since 2010, that has not been the case. Since then, Representative Paul Ryan has been driving the Washington policy debate with his plan to cut spending and restructure entitlements. President Obama, meanwhile, has produced a string of budgets so inconsequential that members of his own party have not even noticed them.

More: GOOD OBAMA, BAD OBAMA

Obama has been reactive. He has been defined by the various negotiating positions he has taken in his confrontations with Congress. He’s used a more partisan political style to mask his small-bore policy substance. It’s not clear what he is passionate to do if he is elected for another four years.

The Democratic convention is his best chance to offer an elevator speech, to define America’s most pressing challenge and how he plans to address it.

He has three clear options.

First, global warming. President Obama has occasionally said he’d like to do something about climate change if he gets a second term. Given the country’s immediate economic and fiscal problems, this seems obtuse to me. But if this is really where Obama’s passion lies, he should go for it.

He could vow to double down on green energy and green technology. He could revive cap-and-trade legislation that would create incentives for clean innovation. He could propose a tax reform package that would substitute gasoline and energy consumption taxes for a piece of our current income taxes. He could say that his No. 1 international priority will be to get a global warming treaty ratified by all the major nations.

This would be a big, intellectually serious agenda, designed to address a big problem.

More:  THE DARK SIDE OF OBAMA WHITE HOUSE

2:24 AM    

Second, broken capitalism. Obama could go before the convention and say that there has been a giant failure at the heart of modern capitalism. Even in good times, the wealth that modern capitalism generates is not being shared equitably. Workers are not seeing the benefits of their own productivity gains.

Obama could offer policies broad enough to address this monumental problem. He could vow to strengthen unions. He could promise to use federal funds to pay for 500,000 more teachers and two million more infrastructure jobs. He could cap the mortgage interest deduction, cap social security benefits, raise taxes on the rich, raise taxes on capital gains and embrace other measures to redistribute money from those who are prospering to those who are not. He could crack down on outsourcing and regulate trade. He could throw himself behind a new industrial policy to create manufacturing jobs.

This agenda wouldn’t appeal to moderates, or people like me, but it’s huge, it’s serious and it would highlight a real problem.

More: OBAMA'S DOWN AND DIRTY CAMPAIGN TACTICS

Third, Bowles-Simpson. Everybody pays lip service to the Bowles-Simpson plan to reduce the deficit, but neither campaign really embraces it.

Obama could use his convention to throw himself wholeheartedly behind the general Bowles-Simpson approach. He could argue that America is weighed down by rotting institutions and faces fiscal ruin. He could vow to push through tax reform that would lower rates and reduce loopholes. He could endorse a 22 percent cap on government spending. He could commit to limiting the growth of domestic and defense spending. He could double down on his health care cost containment ideas. He could restructure Social Security and make it more progressive.

This, too, is a big, serious agenda, addressing a real national need. This, too, is an agenda commensurate with the size of the problem that confronts us.

Personally, I wish Obama would use this convention to embrace Bowles-Simpson. That would lay the foundation for decades of prosperity. It would galvanize a new center-left majority.

But, mostly, I wish he’d be for something. I wish he’d rise above the petty tactical considerations that have shrunk him over the past two years. I wish he’d finally define what he stands for. A liberal populist? A Clintonian moderate? At some point, you have to choose.

Four years ago, Obama said we could no longer postpone tackling the big problems. But now he seems driven by a fear of defeat. His proposals seem bite-size. If Obama can’t tell us the big policy thing he wants to do, he doesn’t deserve a second term.

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Romney's Federal Tax Records Reportedly Stolen

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The Secret Service said Wednesday that it is investigating the reported theft of copies of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's federal tax records during a break-in at an accounting office in Franklin. Someone claiming responsibility demanded $1 million not to make them public.

An anonymous letter sent to Mr. Romney's accounting firm and political offices in Tennessee and published online sought $1 million in hard-to-trace Internet currency to prevent the disclosure of his tax filings, which have emerged as a key focus during the 2012 presidential race. Mr. Romney released his 2010 tax returns and a 2011 estimate in January, but he has refused to disclose his returns from earlier years.

Report: THE DETAILS OF ROMNEY'S BAIN DOCUMENTS UNFOLDED

Mr. Romney's accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said there was no evidence that any Romney tax files were stolen. "At this time, there is no evidence that our systems have been compromised, or that there was any unauthorized access to the data in question," PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesman Chris Atkins said.

In Washington, Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan confirmed that the agency was investigating. The Romney campaign declined to comment, referring all questions to the accounting firm.

Franklin police said there were no recent alarms or break-ins reported at the site. "We've had nothing from that address in August," Police Lt. Charles J. Warner said.

There was no sign of forced entry at the five-story building that housed the accounting firm's local office, not far from the Cool Springs Galleria, a large mall about 20 miles south of Nashville.

The building does not restrict access during business hours and has no guard. After-hours access to the doors and elevators appears to be controlled by keycard. A spokeswoman for the building manager, Spectrum Properties, said the company would not speculate on the burglary claim. "All of the tenants operate independently, and the building is highly secured," spokeswoman Beth Courtney said.

The data theft was claimed in letters left with political party offices in Franklin and disclosed in several Tennessee-area newspapers. Jean Barwick, executive director of the Williamson County Republic Party, said employees in the GOP office found a small package Friday with a hand-written address. The package contained a letter and a computer flash drive, she said.

More: ROMNEY INVESTED MILLIONS IN CHINESE FIRM THAT PROFITED ON U.S. OUTSOURCING

Peter Burr, chairman of the county's Democratic Party, said he received a version of the letter and a thumb drive Aug. 27. "I have no way of knowing this is real or not," he said. "I doubt it is, but I suppose it's conceivable."

An anonymous posting on a file-sharing website said the returns were stolen Aug. 25 from the accounting firm's office. After "all available 1040 tax forms for Romney were copied," the posting said, flash drives containing encrypted copies of his pre-2010 tax records were sent to the firm and to Republican and Democratic party offices.

The group threatened to divulge the tax files by Sept. 28 unless it was paid $1 million.

Ms. Barwick and Mr. Burr said they turned over the materials to the Secret Service.

"The agents said there wasn't a whole lot they could say, but they agreed that bizarre stuff during campaign season isn't exactly unusual," Mr. Burr said.

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Where Obama Went Wrong?

Barack Obama goes into this week’s Democratic National Convention neck and neck with Mitt Romney in the race for the U.S. presidency, a competition that appears likely to be settled based on which candidate voters decide is the least worst. The euphoria that developed around Obama in the 2008 election is long gone; it may be surprising that he’s even still in the race at all, albeit against a rival about whom Republicans are similarly unenthused.

Here’s an assessment of Obama’s position and what went wrong with his first four years:

1. He grossly oversold himself. No one could have delivered on the expectations that Obama’s campaign saddled him with by the time of the 2008 vote. Perhaps he needn’t shoulder all the blame – if voters insist on treating you like a messiah, are you supposed to talk them out of it? Even the Nobel committee was caught up in it, awarding him a peace prize just for existing. But he actively fed the beast, pledging a degree of change that was simply unachievable, particularly his vow to change the way Washington does business. Nothing short of an invasion of Huns could separate Washington away from its armies of lobbyists, special interests, financiers, ego-gratifiers and union/corporate enablers. And you can’t change Congress unless it wants to change, which it doesn’t. He was either foolish in thinking he could, or irresponsible in promising it anyway.

Report: GOOD OBAMA, BAD OBAMA

2. He landed splat in the midst of the worst economic disaster since 1929. Even if his campaign promises had been more reasonable, he wasn’t going to get a chance to act on them while the economy was collapsing around him. The auto industry, Wall Street, the housing collapse – it was an enormous mess and anyone who suggests in retrospect there was some obvious solution is kidding himself. Even though the collapse was a decade in the making, voters gave him less than two years to fix it before impatiently filling Congress with Tea party members dedicated to ensuring failure through obstruction.

More: THE DARK SIDE OF OBAMA WHITE HOUSE

3. He made some big mistakes. Whether or not it was a good idea to pour stimulus money into the economy is debatable, but Obama erred big-time in letting Democrats in Congress waste much of it on vanity projects and partisan crusades. He similarly let slip an opportunity in the early days of his administration to engage Republicans in a badly needed overhaul of the tax system, and delegated too much power to congressional Democrats in crafting his health-care plan, turning it into a partisan slugfest that alienated Republicans when he badly needed them.  In the end the bill was passed without Republican support, leaving many Americans to feel it was a flawed plan being imposed on them to burnish the president’s legacy.

Report: 'HOW ROMNEY TURNED THE TABLES ON OBAMA IN RECENT POLL"

4. Once elected he quit campaigning. The fiery speeches, the soaring rhetoric, the eloquent appeals for hope and change disappeared, as did Obama for surprising stretches. Author Jodi Kantor reports in The Obamas that the president dislikes the phoney backslapping and faked camaraderie of Washington, the schmoozing and ego- gratification sessions, and spends much time alone with his thoughts, working out plans in his office within the White House residence. Members of Congress only hear from him when he wants something, and he spends his private time with a small group of non-political friends. That’s not the way to get things done in a political system that divides power between president and Congress, and awards Congress – and many indovduals within it – enormous powers to frustrate, disrupt and obstruct.

More: 'LESS JOBS' IS A MAJOR CONCERN FOR OBAMA'S ELECTION CAMPAIGN

5. After running as a consensus-builder, he seemed to default to the left once he came under pressure. He dismissed the Keystone pipeline project even though the benefits to the U.S. were obvious, as a sop to the upset environmental lobby. He changed position on same-sex marriage without having adequately prepared the ground. (It didn’t help that his vice-president prematurely blurted out the plan out on a Sunday TV show, forcing a week of desperate spinning by an unprepared White House).  The Democratic convention schedule may please Democrats hot on unions, abortion rights, carbon taxes and Hollywood (Mary J. Blige! Will.I.Am!), but it likely won’t reassure those who suspected Obama was always more of an ivory tower liberal  than he let on, his sympathies more with the groups that like to spend the money than with those who struggle to produce it.

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A Hell Of GOP Show

Liberals and the mainstream media are having a field day over Clint Eastwood’s appearance at the Republican National Convention, mocking it ceaselessly on cable. They’re using it just like the storm beforehand—doing whatever it takes to distract from Mitt Romney and the message he wants to convey. But no matter how crazy it drives critics, Clint pumped up the hall, showed people it was OK to poke fun at President Obama—and left ’em laughing in the aisles. No amount of post-game complaint can change the fact that the GOP—and convention organizer Russ Schriefer in particular—put on a hell of a show.

Russ Schriefer and Mitt Romney. 

Heart, brains, and courage. It was all there for America to see on stage. And Schriefer was the man behind the curtain. Given the challenges faced by the party and its nominee, he proved to be a true wizard.

Report: Romney gives new 'Hope' and promises Jobs

Fighting hurricanes of nature and man (Isaac and Todd Akin), not to mention the very difficult and divided factions within the GOP these days, Schriefer managed one of the most successful conventions in memory.

Russ is the second half of the well-known Republican consulting duo of Stevens and Schriefer, the media-and-strategy team that has held the reins of the Romney operation since the beginning. Stuart Stevens usually gets most of the attention, as he is a flamboyant character who writes for movies and television and participates in extreme sports. Schriefer is the quiet half of the team. But as anyone who has worked with them knows well, Russ’s talent and contribution are just as strong as Stevens’s. Like any great team, it works because they complement each other so well. (Rumors that the two were at war over the Eastwood appearance are greatly exaggerated.)

The problem with the nominating conventions, as I’ve recently written, is that they are anchored by tradition and legacy. It’s hard to break with both and do anything that seems truly modern and in step with today’s media and consumer demands. Russ ran the 2004 Republican convention (which media critic Tom Shales pronounced to be “more media-hip and glitzy than the Democrats’”), and played a heavy role in 2000 as well. We had dozens of conversations about how to change the format. Could we get outside the cavernous, impersonal building? Did it really have to be four days? And the answer was and is always, “No” and “Yes.”

So, let’s stipulate that if there weren’t decades of history and physics that don’t leave a lot options, it’s unlikely you’d sit down and decide in the 21st century to have four nights of speeches from lone figures standing in the middle of an empty stage in a huge convention hall with thousands in stadium seating and expect a lot of sustained public or media interest. But let’s look at this last week for what was actually accomplished.

It’s easy to criticize the Eastwood moment. But who among us would not have done the same if offered the most iconic actor in America today?

Mitt Romney became not only the nominee of a now-united party, he became the leader his party, and quite possibly the country, needs. We already knew he had a brain, but we also saw his heart and his courage through the reflection of his wife’s love and the moving testimonials of those who have seen him quietly caring when no one was watching. His running mate, Paul Ryan, proved he is the man for the task ahead, serious and earnest, likeable and charming, and—most important—ready for a fight. The party also showed a deep and diverse bench of talent, from the unexpected stars Mia Love and Susana Martinez to the expected all-star performers Condoleezza Rice and Marco Rubio. And despite skirmishes on the floor over rule changes and distractions lobbed by Democrats and the media, the focus remained positive, and on the economy and the future.

More: Ann Romney wins hearts at a high stake convention.

“A convention is a circus on steroids where everyone from the man with the big mustache to the gang in the clown car has a disproportionately oversized ego,” said Jim Dyke, senior advisor to the convention. “Russ outlined a program that would communicate the critical policy positions that are the foundation for governing and the personalities that connect Americans with the character of our party and our candidates. He then executed the plan with a contagious calm.”

Beth Myers, Romney’s trusted head honcho who ran the vice-presidential selection process, effused, “Russ was absolutely the perfect person to run the convention for Mitt. He intimately understands both Mitt and the campaign, and he has Mitt’s full confidence. Russ crafted each night’s theme in order to tell Mitt’s story in a way that all Americans would learn about the man that you can’t see in sound bites and 30-second ads.

“Russ’s creativity and vision are what made this convention feel different. The warmth and intimacy of this large hall didn’t happen by accident—it’s a product of Russ’s drive to get everything right. From the lighting to the stagecraft to the programming. It’s creative, innovative, and reflects Mitt in every detail. The program, of course, is the heart of every convention. And the program told every facet of the Romney story—his family, his faith, his service, his business acumen. It’s a daunting task, and Russ got it all right.”

The Wizard got a strong assist from the convention program director, Anne Hathaway. “Every successful organization has a backbone that keeps all the parts functioning, and if not for Anne we definitely would have lost at least our head along with a few limbs,” said convention press secretary Kyle Downey. “Our success is a testament to both her skills, constant optimism, and friendship.”

It’s easy to criticize the Eastwood moment. But who among us would not have done the same if offered the most iconic actor in America today? Not me. He’s always delivered. He’s always made our day. And despite the mainstream media and liberal hysterics, I’ll bet a lot of conservative and independent voters found Eastwood’s routine refreshingly nonpolitical and authentic. And who knows how many people tuned in to see Eastwood and no matter what they thought about his performance, they likely stuck around to watch Romney’s speech and see a side of him they’d never seen. It was impossible not to be moved by the human moments like Mitt choking up telling the story of his father and the roses he gave his mother every day, until one day a rose didn’t show up and that’s how she knew he had passed.

Schriefer is a big fan of politics and a consummate political pro, having now worked for four out of the last five presidential campaigns, and numerous gubernatorial and Senate races, including Chris Christie’s. But he’s also a fan of the theater, and serves on the board of Washington, D.C.’s Signature Theater. To pull off a successful convention, it took someone like Schriefer who has the vision and creativity of a theatrical director.

Schriefer oversees all the advertising for the Romney campaign.  He produced the terrific Romney biographical film that Joe Scarborough dubbed “amazing.” And in his spare time, he oversaw the entire convention. He’s the quiet man behind the curtain. But, make no mistake, he is a wizard. And deserves a lot of credit.

As global vice chair of Hill+Knowlton Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations, and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. He is cofounder of No Labels and co-chair of Arts & Labs.

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Edited By Cen Fox Post Team

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