Did The Fact That We Learned That Rmoney Has Been Coached To Use Zingers In The Debates Take Away...

[global1]

the use of zingers by Obama? First they claimed that Obama is a liar. Now they are saying that Mitt will use well placed zingers against Obama. A lot of us here and elsewhere have criticized or made fun of that. Given that - can the President use some well placed zingers and get away with them or will he be criticized if he does?

[annabanana]

1. Timing is everything.

One of the candidates has timing.

[Nye Bevan]

2. Has there ever been a debate where the candidates did not prepare "zingers"?

I don't think Lloyd Bentsen thought up "You're no JFK" on the spur of the moment.

[monmouth]

3. Do you remember the time Senator Obama was doing an interview with Time mag I think,

and there was an annoying fly/gnat buzzing around. He reached out and killed the pest. That my friends, is a zinger with a stinger..LOL

[Flashmann]

6. Yes,I do

If both trade zingers,rmoneys will have been coached and rehearsed and,consequently will appear so...The Presidents will be,as in the instance you cite,will be off the cuff,and will appear natural.....

[pinboy3niner]

7. When this is over, Romney will envy that fly :)

[Odin2005]

19. Oh, I just LOVED that!

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. Not a problem

Bottom line is Obama doesn't need great zingers in the debate in order to have a prayer of winning the election. That's Romney's problem. People will always appreciate good zingers, and Obama is better equipped to land them than Romney anyway. The only way a zinger from Romney can in any way hurt Obama is if the media goes absolutely ape shit over it and repeatedly keeps covering that and NOTHING else. It is in all of our interest to stress in advance how relatively inconsequential per-scripted zingers should be in helping anyone decide who deserves to be President, whether they are from Romney or Obama.

[Hamlette]

5. I think it will do the opposite: take away the impact Romney is counting on because we expect it. nt

[salin]

8. Somebody in his campaign, really dislikes him.

the whole idea that he has spent a month rehearsing "zingers" for the debate make him look ridiculous, and seriously look like unpresidential material. Plus he already comes of smug and smarmy (the $10000 bet), who ever suggested this tactic also is either incompetent, or really doesn't like Mitt.

[treestar]

10. I'll bet everyone who works with Rmoney really dislikes him

after a certain amount of time.

[zbdent]

11. Imagine poor Ann ...

[Monk06]

9. Romney will deliver each 'zinger' with a smug smile and look like an idiot. n/t

[Raine]

13. then he'll give his demented Beevis/Butthead laugh hee hee hee look even more IDIOTIC. nt

[rppper]

12. The zinger zapper part duece....

&sns=em

[spanone]

14. fuck 'zingers', the people are tired of that shit. GObama

[Bucky]

15. You mean zingers like "Yes, Mr. President, I too believe in hope and change... FOR YOUR FACE!!!" ?

Yeh, I'm not feeling the Presidential debate zingers. I hope Obama's well practiced coolness will guide him around the most obvious and corny of these.

[discopants]

16. I find it hilarious that scripted "zingers" ...

… are even being discussed as a winning strategy for Romney. This whole thing just makes the impression of how pathetic he is that for a true debate he must have some extra Reaganesque zazz. Really, fuck him.

[global1]

20. But The Zinger Message Is What They Are Telegraphing.....

I too think it's hilarious that they are talking about it as a winning strategy for Rmoney - but - then it falls in line with my theory - they want to take the zinger away from Obama - because I'm sure they know that he's got a ton of them to use on Rmoney. They don't want him to use them.

The other thing that bothers me - I listened to Tweety's program this a.m. and the first half of the show was he and his panel giving tips to the Rmoney people as to what he needs to do to be successful and win the debates.

I think they should have touched on this zinger strategy and made a comment that if this is their strategy that it is really pathetic.

[reformist2]

17. There hasn't been a real "zinger" in over 20 years.

The last one that did any real damage was Lloyd Bentsen's undressing of Dan Quayle - "the you're no Jack Kennedy" line, and that was in 1988. And it didn't even change the outcome of the election.

[Buns_of_Fire]

18. I don't believe for a second that's their strategy.

If it was, why on earth would they advertise it ahead of time? I mean, you'd have to be a complete and total idiot to do that. (Yes, I know what you're thinking, but still...)

No, as far as any "zingers" go, their campaign will rely on a few "things for the candidate to remember" and Zomney's natural quick-wittedness and ability to think on his feet.

In other words, they're screwed.

[jmowreader]

21. I'd be surprised if Romney used any zingers that didn't come from one of Reagan's debates

They apparently plan to use Reagan's famous "there you go again" zinger with Romney.

If he says it, I really expect Obama to instantly reply with something like, "that zinger sounded a lot fresher in 1980 when Reagan said it the first time," then keep on with his original game plan. This will completely throw Romney because Romney is an amateur debater. Obama went pro a LONG time ago.

[Gal Friday]

22. If Romney is relying on "Zingers" to save his campaign,

then he has already lost.

[Monk06]

23. It'll be as spontaneous and 'zingy' as Bob Hope slagging hippies and draft dodger at Da Nang AFB.

Republicans are such stuffed shirts, a point adequately illustrated by the dearth of RW stand up comics.

Who they got Dennis Miller and Ford Fairlane? Every time Romney opens his mouth he reminds me of the 'Hey Mikey' commercials from the seventies.

On a related topic, the now famous, Romney failed suck up to Ryan in Dayton last week, seen here on the Morning Joe,

reminds me of a Sylvester the Cat cartoon starring Spike and Chester. Obama is Sylvester and his panther doppleganger. I see Spike as Romney and Chester as Ryan. You can make up your own minds about who's who in the cartoon but the equivalence is hilarious.