Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All

Monday, August 13, 2012

Romney's Chances With America's Wang Flaccid

The headline for this morning's Miami Herald: "Ryan could be a drag on Romney in Florida: Paul Ryan’s plans to retool Medicare pose challenges in Florida, as does his one-time opposition to the Cuban embargo, a stance anathema to many Cuban Americans." It seems hard to believe that they didn't think this through (but considering the endless gaffes in Romney's tour abroad, it is less hard to believe than it should be that they didn't think this through), but there are intense worries across the GOP that Paul Ryan and his Medicare voucherization plan could hurt the GOP's Presidential ticket in Florida and other states with large senior demographics. First Read has crunched the numbers and noticed that there is one way for Romney to get to 270 electoral votes if he fails to win battleground state Florida, where the polls have been close even before Ryan joined Romney's sinking ship: "If Obama were to win Florida, Romney would need to win CO, IA, NV, NH, NC VA, and WI. In other words, he'd have to run the table." I like this narrative not so much because it shows just how very many pathways to a narrow victory are available to President Obama, but because an inevitable loser stink on Romney would likely demoralize many of his potential voters and set the stage for a landslide with the coattails to retain the Senate and regain the House (and assuming Harry Reid is in earnest when he says he's changed his mind on filibuster reform in the face of historically unprecedented irresponsible obstructionism from the GOP) and hence provide an actually working Congress to enact the mandate the President has won from the American people to solve our shared economic and ecological problems this time around.

No comments: