The Right Opinion
That's Why They Hold the Elections
There is much gnashing of Punticratical teeth in Your Nation's Capital over how NBC is presenting the events that they paid about $1.1 billion to present.
I've tried the iPad apps but I can't make any sense of them, so I am reduced to flipping through the channels (who knew Bravo was an NBC network?) to catch Field Hockey, or Boxing on one of the cable nets, or the omnipresent Beach Volleyball on the broadcast mother ship.
I would rather there were more action and less back-stories, but at 65 years old, I am WAY out of "the demo" NBC and its sponsors are looking for, so I recognize I don't have a vote.
All day, every day, contestants in the Twitter Olympics race against each other to report the results of events as they occur live or, as we like to say nowadays, "in real time" (even though we don't say "nowadays" nowadays, by golly). I have no problem knowing in advance who came in second in Handball and how the Women's Gymnastics team did.
I am one of those people who only watches an event when the USA does well.
I don't need to spend an hour watching John McEnroe interview all the American swimmers' high school girlfriends only to find out the favorite got water up his nose on the start and finished 13th.
I got a call from David Corn of the dreaded Mother Jones magazine. I know how much this is going to irritate you, but I like David. I don't agree with him on almost anything, but he's smart and funny and I like him.
Corn and I have been going back and forth about the overseas trip of Governor Mitt Romney since before the trip. He called to ask if I thought it was a win, a loss or a draw.
I said, because I am honest, that it was maybe a half point into the minus column but only because the campaign had lost control of the message from the very beginning when Romney told the truth about the potential dangers of not being in full control of security at an Olympics.
"After that," I said, "the press corps was looking for any and every opportunity to make a big deal about anything the could consider to be a 'gaffe.'"
I said that it wouldn't surprise me to find that a Jewish scribe had been assigned as pool reporter to see if Romney knew the difference between a Matzo Ball and a piece of Gefilte Fish.
A Lutheran reporter wouldn't have known, either.
I said during the extended primary campaign that the conventional wisdom that it was helping Romney to become a better candidate was wrong. He had been running for nearly six years and this was as good a candidate as he was ever going to be.
You might remember that in spite of his not being the best candidate in the history of candidates, Romney -- and his campaign team -- beat Gingrich, Santorum, Perry, Cain, Bachmann and everyone else who thought they might have had a shot at the nomination.
I had read earlier in the day a piece by Politico's Dylan Byers who had determined that:
"In one week abroad, Mitt Romney has managed to enrage both the Brits and the Palestinians. Now add to that roster his own press corps."
I Tweeted "For the GOP base, 2 out of 3 is a rousing success." If Romney was good enough to enrage the U.S press corps and the Palestinians on one trip, he could start measuring for drapes in the Oval.
David Corn made the point that Romney just couldn't relate to people. I said that if this was a contest between who was best liked, we could go home right now. But if it was -- as I believe it is -- a contest between who can best fix the economy, Obama is in trouble.
Then I reminded David about Hubert Humphrey, who was known as the "Happy Warrior." He was upbeat. Happy. Positive. Related well to everyday Americans.
And ... he lost.
To Richard Nixon.
Nixon was arguably the most socially incompetent Presidential candidate, President, and maybe the most socially incompetent human being in my lifetime.
The problem for Barack Obama is he is likeable, but incompetent. The problem for Romney is he is competent, but not terribly likable. That's why they hold the elections.
On the Secret Decoder Ring today: Links to Hubert Humphrey's 1968 campaign and to the Politico piece about Romney's overseas trip. Also a License Plate Mullfoto and an amusing Catchy Caption of the Day.
Copyright ©2012 Barrington Worldwide, LLC | Mullings.com
6 Comments
BNgranny in MO
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 11:16 AM
You've got it wrong, Rich. Obama is not incompetent -- he's doing exactly what he said he would -- "transform" the US and in record time. As far as likeable? Exactly what definition of likeable do these pollsters use? I personally don't find treasonous conniving liars, cheats, thieves, thugs, bullies, backstabbers, two-faced (or more) b@$tards likeable. But that's just me.
Carol in Canada
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 1:23 PM
In this coming election it's a question of whether you want charisma or competency. Four years ago you voted for charisma and got a king-sized ego with a switchblade smile and a forked tongue. Vote the same way again and you'll get more of the same...but exponentially this time. Vote for the guy without a lot of personality, but who isn't afraid to tell it like it is, and there's a good chance of having someone leading the US with a degree of competence to get the job done right and effectively. Here is Canada we elected someone like Romney about 6 years ago...and Canada, under the leadership of concervative Stephen Harper is now one of the few countries not experiencing the dire straits of the rest of the western world. Just sayin'...
billy396 in ohio
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM
That's one absolutely beautiful analogy, Cathy. Most of the completely disconnected, ignorant people who still support the unrepentant thug Oblunder simply don't realize the facts in front of their faces. They suck off of the government teat without a thought, refuse to be responsible human beings, and in general try to back up any lie that the lefties can make up. If there are ANY rational, intelligent people who still support this treasonous, lying Chicago thug, all they need to do is to look at the facts. Read his 2 books, do a little research before they support a 'man' who is absolutely unqualified to run anything other than some scam, such as a job "community organizing". How in the world Oblunder and Co. have the nerve to call for Romney's records is unbelievable. If he didn't have the cover of a media machine that's bought and paid for, acting like cheerleaders rather than journalists, Obama would never steer anyone towards a comparison of "records". Obama has stopped any and all access to ANY records of his past, other than the blatantly obvious, amateur forged document that they claimed was an actual government record of his birth. How about Romney responding with questions regarding Obama's use of a Social Security Number from Connecticut, a state where he has never lived or worked? That, in and of itself, is a felony under federal law. Not to mention asking what exactly Obama was doing with an unknown person in Pakistan in 1980, or in a stolen car as a teenager, or buying and using, at the very least, Cocaine and marijuana "whenever I could afford it". How about some documents that prove that Oblunder actually was a student at Occidental, or Columbia, or even Harvard? How about a release of the identity of the person who paid his way through Harvard (a VERY expensive proposition). The American people most certainly deserve to know these answers, if only to know who this man owes. Conflicts of interest like who his clients were when he claimed to work as an attorney in Chicago are very important little tidbits of information when you're choosing a man with what he has proven to be almost unlimited power. He has very obviously proven that he has ZERO respect for his office, our Constitution, and his oath of office. That one fact is enough to start the impeachment process.
OKBecky in Tulsa, OK
Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 12:44 AM
"Most of the completely disconnected, ignorant people who still support the unrepentant thug Oblunder simply don't realize the facts in front of their faces. They suck off of the government teat without a thought, refuse to be responsible human beings...." I know a LOT of people who are intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate, kind, educated, and even economically successful who agree with what Obama is doing and want more of the same. It's in how we interpret the facts, or even what facts we choose to credit. I don't want Obama re-elected, and I didn't want him elected in the first place, but let's not dehumanize people we disagree with, okay? They're people, real people, and while some are voting for their own self-interest at the expense of others', it nevertheless is destructive to our own goals and ideals to reduce political opponents to object of hatred or contempt. After all: "Thou Shalt Not Kill" has it's roots in "thou shalt not be angry with they brother."
tod -the tool guy in bklyn ny
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 6:14 PM
R.G. Love the women's gymnastics team! Love Mitt Romney's wisdom, business success, and experience! Romney is a balanced beam for us(a)!
OKBecky in Tulsa, OK
Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Rich, I don't think your weariness with back stories and excessive commentary by NBC folks is a generational thing. Many of my college peers (we're now in our early 30s) are frustrated beyond description by the back stories and the lack of real coverage of all athletes, rather than a few American ones. So much of this is not athletics, but showmanship, and it's very, very tiresome. We know there are athletes from all around the world, but NBC covers this like it's "the U.S. vs. the World" and who even needs to see the other athletes? It's not like they're important or anything..... And anyway, who even watches the Olympics for the actual sport? It's all about the advertisers and the glurge and the insincere jingoism and the Wheaties commercials. At least, that's how the coverage comes across now, and has come across for at least 16 years.