My guess is that Rmoney will be so desperate by the time of the debates...

[WI_DEM]

that he will make some kind of stupid error. Our president is at all times cool, calm and collected and will be so in the debates, but Rmoney will be desperate to try and make something happen to help his falterning campaign that he will come across as desperate and well... even more unlikable.

[Politicalboi]

1. My guess is

There will be no debates. Rmoney is too chicken, and he'll make up some bullshit to get out of it. No taxes, no debates, it's what the GOP are trying to get away with. Just show what you want your people to see.

[cheezmaka]

21. I believe Romney is chicken too

For Romney not to show up would be political suicide(I hope you're right). His campaign manager is going to push him out on the stage, He'll have too much to lose...

[Bjorn Against]

28. The debates are his last good chance to catch up

Obama actually faces more danger in the debates than Romney does because expectations are high for him and low for Romney. Expectations are so low for Romney that if he makes it through the debate without pissing his pants he will probably get a boost in the polls. He won't drop out of the debates because they are really his last chance to pull ahead, if he loses the debates it is all over for him.

[central scrutinizer]

35. the low expectations meme is two edged

the press has been building up the Lyan King and Biden is known for gaffes (see even Doonesbury) so if Joe can catch him in some whoppers it will tear down that facade.

[Bjorn Against]

36. That is true, the VP debate is a whole different story.

The media likes to pretend Joe Biden is a huge gaffe machine but that is more myth than reality, sure he has had a few gaffes but far more often than not he is very articulate. Ryan is also articulate but he is actually far more prone to gaffes than Biden is, just look at his marathon claims as a prime example of that. If Ryan lies in a way that is easy for Biden to debunk then Biden will tear him apart. Biden is actually somewhat fortunate to be thought of as a gaffe machine because simply by not screwing up big time he will exceed expectations.

[liberal N proud]

2. I think the debates will be hilarious

Romney is taking all week to study for them.

[Mnemosyne]

6. +1000 nt

[Surya Gayatri]

9. Just gettin' an early start! Takes a while to

polish up those talkin' points and half-lies!

[cheezmaka]

22. Me too

I can't wait for both of them. Even Joe Biden and Paul Ryan...

[coalition_unwilling]

3. I'm hoping Obama gets 400 electoral votes and has

coat-tails for both House and Senate.

I know I'm wildly optimistic compared to the professional vote counters out there (highest projected I've seen is about 320 for Obama). But an unforced error or two by Romney could cement a landslide of 1964 proportions into existence. I think the American people are only looking for a good reason to repudiate decisively Romney and his ilk. With any luck, Romney will soon supply that reason.

[Control-Z]

4. The on stage bet will only be $5,000 n/t

[JoePhilly]

5. His sense of entitlement, and his anger about not getting what he wants, will undo him.

Mitt is not used to having anyone seated "above him".

Obama as President will be able to look down on him, and it will drive Mitt crazy.

I think at some point he snaps.

I'm hoping that the Obama campaign has hired a few Psychologists who can find Mitt's mental pressure points using old tapes of him.

And then, lure Mitt into a situation in which he loses it.

[Brigid]

11. If the Obama campaign is not doing that . . .

They should be.

[JoePhilly]

17. I bet they are ... they are pretty smart ... for instance ...

The GOP is screaming that Obama isn't running on his economic record. Fools.

Obama is waiting because if he starts crowing about DOW 13,000, or UE down 2% from a high of 10.2% too early, conditions could change.

So Obama is holding those cards back. The Dems will begin to sprinkle some statements on this ... but I doubt the campaign will hit hard on these points until the last month, when everyone is paying attention.

Also ... Mitt has yet to release his 2012 taxes. He's going to do so in October. He's going to get hit hard again.

I think the Obama team is setting Mitt up for some very hard punches.

[GallopingGhost]

27. I agree totally

The Obama campaign knows exactly how and when to land their punches.

[SDjack]

7. Rmoney likes to fire people. Maybe he will do his campaign staff. nt

[Prophet 451]

8. Do you know what a Gish Gallop is?

It's named after creationist Duane Gish and it's where one side spews so many lies so quickly that the other side struggles to debunk them all, inevitibly allowing some to slip through by sheer volume.

That's what I think Romney will do. His entire campaign, every ad and promise is based on provable lies so I think for teh debates, he's just going to spin as much bullshit as possible in the hopes that Obama won't be able to debunk every last one of them.

[FSogol]

10. Then Obama can say, "Gosh Willard, sounds like you are talking at about 30 lies per hour."

[oldhippydude]

34. i had never heard that term before..

but that has already been my observation... there has been no factual arguments advanced by the Republicans..and Paul Ryan's speech was noted for its "whole cloth" lying..

when there is enough of that, it does tend to overwhelm the opposition.. in fact that what the whole right wing radio network is about... when a lie is repeated often enough it becomes very hard to counter... for instance the "birther" phenomonon..

i am certain that we can nail these GOP creeps in the debates, provided we have moderators that will call the GOP on their lies..to date Chris Mathews has been the only one to hold their feet to the fire on this..

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Agreed...Little Ricky Lazio style error

If anybody here remembers the 2000 senatorial debate in NY State. Lazio completely entered Hillary Clinton's space and shoved a paper in her face. He looked for all the world like an abusive husband straight out of an episode of COPS. Now, Hillary was going to win anyway, but that encroachment made it a non-contest, and ended Lazio's political career. I see Mittens making a similar error, mistaking offensiveness for toughguyness.

[GoCubsGo]

19. Only one problem with that.

There are still too many people in this country that would think that sort of behavior to be okay. The teabaggers and other racists would love to see something like that. If the Hillary-Lazio episode had occurred in a very red state, instead of very blue New York, it may have had a different outcome. No doubt, there are lots of people down here, south of the Mason-Dixon line, who consider Lazio to be a big hero for that rude tantrum, solely because she's a Democrat, and she's arch enemy, Hillary Clinton, wife of arch-arch-enemy, Bill Clinton. If Romney pulled something like that on President Obama, Democrat and black man, they'd slap Romney/Ryan stickers on the back of their vehicles faster than you can shake a stick, kiss his ass, and worship the ground he walks on.

[TlalocW]

13. Mittens will probably try a repeat

Where he'll demand that certain topics are verboten during the debate like he was trying to get Obama to agree to earlier concerning campaign ads.

TlalocW

[HooptieWagon]

14. He'll just lie.

And the media won't do their job and call him on them.

[DavidL]

15. MY bet: Romney will just out and out lie!

He's very practiced at it, ever since 1994.

So he has no problem doing it, and knows more than half of America will want to believe him, for one reason or another.

About half of Americans either:

Don't like Latino's
Don't trust black folks
Don't want to give gay and lesbian folks equal privilege that they have.

Romney will target them, and those who are not employed and angry about it.

Romney will figure people will vote for him for one or more of those reasons.

We have to carry the Electoral College in the states we can win, even if more than half of Americans find some reason to hate Obama.

[bluemarkers]

29. yes he will

but Obama will call him on it.

Plus the haters will never change their vote, so I don't think the Dems are even worrying about them. We are focused on the sliver of undecided.... How anyone can be undecided I don't know.

[demwing]

16. It's impossible for Romney to out-swag Obama, even on a good day

Which is a thing that in this race, Romney has not yet had. It's over, unless Obama fucks it up on his own, and the chances of that are too damn slim to measure.

[Panasonic]

20. Obama's more than happy to let Rmoney put his foot on the mouth. Rinse. Repeat.

Nothing needed to be added.

Obama will be cool and collected, and ready to kick some GOP ass.

[Brigid]

23. I think it may have been Sun Tzu who said . . .

"When your enemy is making a mistake, don't interfere."

Can't you just picture Obama standing there, calm and smiling, while Romney stumbles all over the place?

[Panasonic]

31. This Sun Tzu is very wise...

but I'm still trying to figure out what Art of Motorcycles are all about.... I remember seeing "Sun Tzu and the Art of Motorcycles" as a required reading in high school.

[Panasonic]

18. He'll fuck up the first 10 minutes of his debate

and seal the deal. Then we can just focus on the downticket to ensure a massive House takeover along with securing our Senate.

[Cosmocat]

24. Yeah

I think Romney will be Romney, stiff and unnatural. He will lie and spew republican talking points.

It will be interesting.

He could tighten up even more, man to man, with a bigger figure than him.

I tend to think that the media will continue with the horse race mindset.

We are seeing it with the conventions.

The R convention was a trainwreck in general, gaffe and lie fest, and they covered up an insurgency by the Paul faction.

But, the coverage was neutral, and did not probe into how bad it was.

The D convention, you have andrea Mitchell spewing a dozen different contrived bad news for dems scenarios.

I think they will go with the "Obama is good in a speech, but not speaking extemporaneously" crape doing into it, and whatever the actual context of the debates score it even with a positive frame of Romney.

They made Kerry/Gore wins into Bush wins ...

[flamingdem]

25. Well he should certain stop using that KKK slogan!

Keep America American... what a fool

[ejbr]

26. I don't know...

I think he'll make a stupid mistake because that's how he rolls.

[cilla4progress]

30. Don't underestimate him!

[gateley]

32. Maybe he'll call in sick.

[global1]

33. This Thread May Be Helping Rmoney.....

because we here at DU are helping the Repugs lower the bar for him. Best we can do is let President Obama be himself and stop talking about the debates until they happen.

[demwing]

37. What fucking fun is that?

Come into a chat room and don't chat?

No offense to DU, but I think you overestimate our ability to affect anything except each other's patience

[Summer Hathaway]

38. Just an observation, but

Romney is used to speaking - he is not used to listening, and certainly not used to responding directly to what has just been said. Obama is a master at listening first, and crafting his response accordingly.

Mitt is accustomed to making statements - which go unquestioned and unchallenged. He is not used to actual back-and-forth dialogue where he has to defend what he has said, or produce facts to support it.

He will try to stick to parroting talking points, which he is now undoubtedly learning by rote. Once he is challenged on his facts, asked to clarify something, or forced to expand on the topic at hand, he will totally lose his footing - and will be thrown off his game entirely as a result.

I soooooooooo can't wait for the debates.

[GallopingGhost]

39. And he'll stand by what he says

whatever it is.

[Summer Hathaway]

40. ...

[Sunlei]

41. Romney will fail the debate, it doesn't matter for his voters unless he has a breakdown or quits.

I trust President Obama will mop the floor with Mr. Romney. It's Romney's' VP who has the close connection to the"dangerous for Americas' middle class future" Republicans. Joe Biden has worked with him for years, hope he showcases those connections to Koch, Rove and Cheney.

Democrats just have to turn out and vote in historic numbers.Use early voting to it's full advantage.

High turnout is what Republicans have planned for, try to grab the couple percent extra votes that make the difference in a lot of districts. They have spent a lot of $$ and time to oppress what they could and increase their turn out, lock in the early votes. The voting machines demonstrated ability to be hacked and flip votes are a problem. Americans should have a way to check their vote after election and report trouble.

Americans need to show these new Republicans with their vote, - money, propaganda, and obstruction won't buy them respect, love or votes.

[Grammy23]

42. To Show How Out of Step Romney is....

Look at the optics of yesterday. We hear he is off the trail so he can go practice for the debates (and he probably does need to do that.) Then what do we see on the news out of New Hampshire?? Romney at the helm of a very expensive boat, clearly NOT practicing for the debates.

This man is used to doing what he wants, when he wants. His ego knows no bounds.

I think he wasted time yesterday at his own peril. If he thinks the voters will automatically be cheering for him on debate night, he should think again. We are going to be looking for real answers, not vague platitudes and slogans. We might even be thinking that TRUTH and HONESTY are virtues, not something you use at your convenience and discard when they are not. If he thinks that giving no details about what he has in store for us is a sound political strategy, he might want to rethink that position. Early in a campaign you might get away with that, but now that September is here, the election is only a few weeks away (and early voting is starting VERY soon in some states), he might want to put some meat on the bones of what he intends to do and promote as president.

If he does not do that, then those of us planning to vote might wonder what is he hiding?? IF he can't tell us straight out, in detail, where he intends to direct this country, we have every right to reject him as our leader. How on earth can anyone possibly compare his plan with what Obama has done and plans to in a second term without some details of his ideas?

And one can't help but think that maybe he doesn't tell us the DETAILS because he knows if we understand them, we will not vote for him.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

43. That's why he needs all this time to prepare. It takes merely a second to tell the truth.

It takes an eternity to lie and cover up the lies told with other lies.

That's what they're preparing for while Mitt is "resting."

What would the Corporate Media be saying about the president he is and his family took their boat out on the late and jet skii'ed while the economy is going to hell? They would never let the Obamas get away with the shit that they are letting Mitt Romney get away with.