Our real secret weapon in November

[Proud Public Servant]

This birth control flap has convinced me: our real secret weapon in November is going to be optimism and good cheer. Every single GOP candidate (except maybe Paul) is an angry, sour, finger-wagging scold. And you know what the angry candidate never does? Win. Seriously; I'd argue that every winning candidate since 1960 has been the candidate who better projected an optimism about America's future and an overall upbeat demeanor (yes, even Nixon in '68, since the perennially-cheerful Humphrey was on the defensive about Vietnam). To the extent that there's a constant in modern elections, that's it -- and Obama-Biden have it nailed.

[get the red out]

1. Any woman that would vote GOP

Needs all the mental healthcare that those bastards would oppose. There is no way that any female but brain-washed Dugger-lites would vote for any of them at this point.

[RZM]

2. I don't know. Newt is certainly a scold

Santorum too, though perhaps less of one (it's pretty hard to top Newt in that category). Paul is too, but not in as much of a mean-spirited way. Paul's entire shtick is finger-wagging at just about everybody and everything, but he does it with a wacky-looking smile.

But Mitt doesn't really strike me like that. I don't detect a lot of anger from him. I detect a lot of lameness, but not really anger. Just my impression.

But some measure of anger and negativity is necessary when you're running against an incumbent. That's one of the benefits of being an incumbent. Unless their approval is in the basement, they can afford to concentrate on the positive case of why they should stay. The challenger must make a positive case too, but they must also make a negative one to show people why the incumbent has to go. There's not really any way around that. People aren't going to vote out an incumbent if nobody is making the case that the incumbent must go.

[Proud Public Servant]

4. For Mitt

it's not anger (though he's clearly starting to get ticked off) as much as contempt, condescension, and pique ("corporations are people, my friends" wasn't just a stupid soundbite, it was a pissy one). But it amounts to the same thing when placed against Obama's positivity.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. Please oh please God let Santorum be the nominee

Even fiscally conservative GOP women should have a hard time getting behind a candidate who wants to take us back to the days when women were chattel. Maybe Republican women won't vote for Obama, but if they feel downright resentment against their own candidate, they'll stay home on election day, won't help turn out the vote, and won't contribute $$$.

[Proud Public Servant]

5. Not only that

but a Santorum nomination would absolutely re-animate Obama's 2008 youth vote, who otherwise will be a tougher sell this time around (they had the highest hopes, and are feeling the most let down).