Team Obama Plotting Comeback After Debate Debacle

ICYMI, William Jacobson had an essential post yesterday, "Preview of VP Debate."

And here's the spin at the New York Times, "With Biden Up Next to Debate, Obama’s Aides Plot Comeback":

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s campaign is working feverishly to restore its momentum after a lackluster debate performance last week, an effort that began with a conference call 10 minutes before the debate even ended and led to new advertisements, a rewritten stump speech, a carefully timed leak and a reversal of months-old strategy.

Perhaps most important as the president’s team struggles to put his campaign back on track is a renewed effort to win the three remaining debates, starting with Thursday’s face-off between Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Representative Paul D. Ryan. Mr. Biden moved into a Delaware hotel on Sunday for three days of debate camp.

Under the tutelage of David Axelrod, the president’s chief strategist who is personally overseeing the preparations, Mr. Biden will be counseled on how to avoid Mr. Obama’s mistakes and even correct them with a more aggressive prosecution of the Republican ticket. Mr. Axelrod’s involvement highlights the stakes the Obama campaign places on the debate, and Mr. Biden has been reading “Young Guns,” the book co-written by Mr. Ryan, and practicing attack lines that Mr. Obama avoided.

The focus on Mr. Biden comes as the campaign tries to diagnose what went wrong in Denver and what to do about it. Advisers had seen two presidents during practice debates, one who had been listless and passive two nights before and another energetic and aggressive the next night. It turned out the former was the one who showed up in Denver. He kept looking down and was not using the lines they had practiced assailing Mitt Romney, who kept the president on the defensive and presented a forceful case against his re-election.

For Mr. Obama, it was arguably the lowest point in his campaign for a second term. The campaign’s own focus groups and research indicated that he lost. Mr. Obama did not fully realize as he walked off the stage just how badly it had gone, but aides said he resolved to step up his game. “He doesn’t brood — he acts,” Mr. Axelrod said. “Whatever the concerns were about yesterday, he wakes up the next day ready to take it on again.”

Paul Ryan will more than hold his own. Even Sarah Palin did well against Biden in 2008, so Thursday could hold some surprises. That said, Republicans are lowering expectations just in case. Biden's a long-time Washington insider. Personally, I doubt he'll flop like President Clusterf-k.

More at the link.

Vice President Joe Biden: Gaffe-Prone Crazy Uncle Who Should Have Retired Years Ago

"Back in chains" is just the latest in an extremely long list of "Bidenisms."

The old man's walking, talking gaffetastic extravaganza --- and Republicans are looking to get some decent mileage out of that.

At the Seattle Times, "GOP portraying Biden as liability":

With relentless attacks aimed at portraying Vice President Joseph Biden as a gaffe-prone crazy uncle who's hung around the political scene too long, Republicans hope to raise the stature of GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan, who will debate Biden next month.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Republicans have a new rhetorical punching bag: Vice President Joseph Biden.

With relentless attacks on President Obama's running mate, Republicans hope to raise the stature of GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan, who will debate Biden next month, and score points in closely contested states such as Ohio, Florida and New Hampshire.

As Democrats prepare for their convention in Charlotte, N.C., the GOP is casting the 69-year-old former Delaware senator as a gaffe-prone crazy uncle who's hung around the political scene too long.

The strategy tries to undermine the Obama campaign's chief surrogate and liaison to white, working-class voters and seniors, influential groups courted aggressively by both parties. At the same time, Republicans hope that sullying Biden's image will help confirm Ryan, the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman, as a deep thinker destined to take on many of the nation's most pressing challenges.

In an opinion piece published this past week by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson noted that Biden had said the economy felt like "a depression" and he accused the vice president of straying from "the Obama campaign talking points."

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman praised Ryan at last week's Republican convention in Tampa, Fla. "Contrast this to Joe Biden. Vice President Biden has told people out of work to 'just hang in there' — so much for 'hope and change."'

At the GOP convention, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who joined Obama, Biden and House Speaker John Boehner for a round of golf last year, recalled Biden telling him he was a "good golfer. And I played golf with Joe Biden, and I can tell you that is not true, as well as all of other things that he says."

Even unscripted moments have included knocks at Biden.

Actor Clint Eastwood's convention monologue, beside an empty chair, included a swipe at Biden.

"You're crazy, you're absolutely crazy. You're getting as bad as Biden," Eastwood cracked in his made-up conversation with Obama. "Of course we all know Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it."

More at that top link.

Obama Worried About Reelection

The Wall Street Journal reveals the inside dope on O's reelection prospects, not the kind of pessimistic introspection you normally hear from the Democrats.

See, "A More Worried Obama Battles to Win Second Term":

When President Barack Obama emerged from his car in Charlottesville, Va., to address a crowd of 7,000 mostly college kids Wednesday afternoon, he asked longtime friend Valerie Jarrett: "Why am I having a short day?"

Mr. Obama was unhappy there weren't more events for him to make his case for re-election. "There should be no short days," he said.

As Mr. Obama heads to the Democratic National Convention next week, the biggest change from his campaign four years ago is reflected in that complaint. The president is having to work more relentlessly to stay in the White House than he did to get there in the first place, and he knows it.

Mr. Obama arrives in Charlotte, N.C., with polls tightening and the economy far from recovery. When he accepts his party's nomination Thursday, Americans will see a charismatic figure much as they did four years ago, and one who, polls say, is more well-liked personally than is his GOP foe, Mitt Romney.

They will also see a more worried politician, who publicly insists he will win his re-election while privately he concedes he knows he could lose. His job-approval ratings have struggled to cross the magic 50% line. Advisers say he is keenly aware of the tough environment.

"He knows it's his last election," says Ms. Jarrett, who is one of his senior advisers. "He won't look back and think he could have done more."

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, says the president faces a tougher election because of a shortage of bipartisan achievements, arguing Mr. Obama backed away from big potential budget and tax deals with Republicans. "He was deeply disappointing," Mr. McConnell said in an interview. "He was not the adult you would expect in the White House.…The president's campaign slogan is, 'It's not my fault.'"

Over his first term, Mr. Obama, 51 years old, has fundamentally shifted his view of modern presidential power, say those who know him well. He is now convinced the most essential part of his job, given politically divided Washington, is rallying public opinion to his side.

As a result, if he wins a second term, Mr. Obama plans to remain in campaign mode. "Barack is grayer, but he's wiser from the battles," says Charles Ogletree, a friend and one of Mr. Obama's professors at Harvard. "This time Barack will use the bully pulpit."

The White House declined a request to interview Mr. Obama.

The president views a second term in some ways as a second chance, an opportunity to approach the office differently, according to close aides. He would like to tackle issues such as climate change, immigration, education and filibuster reform.

He has told some aides that a sizable mistake at the start of his administration was his naiveté in thinking he could work with Republicans on weighty issues. "He's not cynical, because he still gets disappointed," one adviser says. "But he won't make that mistake again."

Still, even some people close to the president acknowledge he missed bridge-building opportunities, given his personal style and aversion to the traditional political niceties that can nurture relationships in D.C. circles.

I love that quote from Mitch McConnnell. And on the president's social graces, the White House admits "The One's" an asshole and snob who couldn't care less about building coalitions, even if it takes work and compromise.

Here's more from WSJ:

The president's team is concerned about the lack of enthusiasm, particularly among young voters and Hispanics—both central to Mr. Obama's strategy. Mr. Obama is trying to energize the Democratic base with tough talk about Mr. Romney and the GOP. He recently launched an effort to rally college students in battleground states.

On Wednesday in Charlottesville, after addressing the crowd, mostly students from the University of Virginia, he went online to Reddit.com, a website popular among young people and the tech cognoscenti, and participated in an "Ask Me Anything" question-and-answer session.

"This is a different Barack Obama at this stage," one senior adviser says. "Last time, he thought Hillary Clinton had been his toughest opponent and that the heavy lifting was behind going into the general election." This time, he "understands that—whether Mitt Romney is the greatest candidate or not—the dynamics in this country make victory a harder prospect."

Mr. Obama arrived at the White House in January 2009 with strong Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and a cache of political capital based on his promise to be a consensus-builder. He netted several big legislative achievements, including an economic-stimulus package and overhauls of financial regulations and health care.

But once in the White House, Mr. Obama struggled to find bipartisan consensus on the tough economic issues he inherited, and strained to maintain the connection he established with voters in 2008. He has had his share of legislative and national-security successes but also a host of battles and losses. In his passage of health-care overhaul, victory came after protracted, messy fights that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and closed-door dealings that hurt his standing with voters.

Republicans leveled the field in the 2010 midterm elections by taking a majority in the House and narrowing Democrats' majority in the Senate. It was clear Mr. Obama had lost some of his connection with voters.

By January 2011 Mr. Obama's advisers were holding focus groups twice a week, a former senior White House official said, and test-driving phrases and policies aimed at resonating with key voting groups.

Mr. Obama is particularly bothered that Republicans and some business leaders have painted him as antibusiness. He argues privately that he hasn't gotten proper appreciation for his work in pulling businesses, particularly the financial sector, out of the recession's ditch. "They say I don't get it, but I'm the one who saved it," Mr. Obama complained to a close ally after the 2010 midterm vote.

John Engler of the Business Roundtable, and former GOP governor of Michigan, said Mr. Obama's efforts to help business have been offset by some policies that have been harmful, citing parts of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul. He said senior administration officials have made substantial efforts to reach out to business in recent years, including a call to him this week about issues like export control. But, he said, "There's been some disconnect on the follow-through."

To underscore their contention that Mr. Obama doesn't understand the private sector, Republicans have seized on a remark the president made in July, "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." Obama aides say the line has been taken out of context, as it was made after a reference to government investment in infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

The poor boy.

O's upset that people "misunderstood" his anti-business comment "You didn't build that" --- as if that's the first time he's ever dissed business owners and entrepreneurs. He personally pledged to crush the coal industry and he long ago attacked everyday Americans as bitter clingers.

F-k him.

After failing to achieve a sweeping bipartisan debt deal that summer—and then, watching as a smaller compromise struggled through the Republican House—Mr. Obama's new view of his campaign and presidency emerged, aides say: He decided to focus largely on re-election. David Axelrod, a longtime adviser, recalled Mr. Obama phoning him to say, "From here on out, I have to take my case to the American people."

In a sense, Mr. Obama is doubling down on his well-documented distaste for socializing with lawmakers and nurturing personal relationships with Washington insiders. Allies and foes alike say this tendency may have made his road tougher because he never established a rapport with Republican leaders.

Mr. Obama, for instance, rarely opens up his golf foursome to anyone outside his close friends and aides, and hasn't hosted members of Congress at Camp David. Both are tools that previous presidents used to mix business and pleasure. Mr. Obama, in contrast, prefers to spend social time with family and close friends.

His aides say that socializing with Republicans would have made no difference anyway, given their intent on unseating him. During his first year, Mr. Obama held occasional Wednesday-night receptions for members of Congress. "But he stopped those niceties because they didn't make a difference when Republicans' only goal was defeating him," an adviser says.

What total buttfreak asshole.

And don't miss the Los Angeles Times, "Obama faces deep division":

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was the promise that first brought Barack Obama to national attention, and the one that his presidency has most conspicuously been unable to fulfill — the hope of national unity.

"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America," Obama, then a candidate for the U.S. Senate and relatively unknown outside Illinois, declared in his keynote speech to the Democratic convention in 2004.

That speech — and the image it created of a political leader with potential to reach across partisan bounds — formed the springboard that helped Obama make the improbable leap from freshman senator to the Oval Office just four years later. Against the backdrop of deep partisan division during George W. Bush's presidency, many voters saw a potential healer in the young, biracial candidate who had spent limited time as a member of the deeply unpopular Washington political elite.

Today, as he prepares to accept his party's nomination for a second term, 3 1/2 years in office have ground away much of that nonpartisan aura, leaving behind a deeply polarized view of the nation's 44th president.

Many Republicans denounce Obama as a "socialist." They express fears that he seeks to radically transform the country. Polls repeatedly have shown Republican voters expressing pessimism about the country's future and worrying that the U.S. has been set on a path toward decline.

At the same time, despite complaints from the left about issues as diverse as the war in Afghanistan, which he has pursued, and efforts to cap greenhouse gases, which he has not, Obama has retained strong support within his own party.

As measured by Gallup, his job approval during most of his tenure among members of his own party has surpassed that of any Democratic president since John F. Kennedy.

The partisan gap in views of Obama is among the largest in modern history, only exceeded — and then just barely — by the division over Bush.

Republicans have sought to exploit a shift in Obama's public image. His rival, Mitt Romney, seldom lets a speech go by without criticizing Obama as a "divider."

Ironically, however, if Obama wins a second term, a shift toward greater partisanship that began a year ago may well prove the single most important reason why — the key to his recovery from near-collapse last summer.

Obama portrays his failure to bridge the partisan gap as among his biggest frustrations in office.

"I haven't been able to change the atmosphere here in Washington to reflect the decency and common sense of ordinary people — Democrats, Republicans and independents — who I think just want to see their leadership solve problems," he said earlier this summer in an interview with CBS correspondent Charlie Rose. "And, you know, there's enough blame to go around for that.

"I think there is no doubt that I underestimated the degree to which in this town politics trumps problem-solving," Obama added.

Yeah, ain't that rich, coming from the Blamer-in-Chief.

What a dick.

The election is tighter than a witch's nipple, despite all the talk about how Obama leads in the swing states, blah, blah.

More on that here: "Ohio Is Ultimate Battleground State."

Ohio Is Ultimate Battleground State

Today's front-pager at the New York Times positions Ohio as a challenge for Mitt Romney, a hurdle over which all else depends: "In a Tactical Test, Romney Stakes Hopes on Ohio." (At Memeorandum.) The piece cites the latest poll from Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times, for example:

Mr. Romney is running closely with Mr. Obama in most national polls, but the story is different in several states that will decide the race for the necessary 270 electoral votes. Many polls in those states show Mr. Obama holding an advantage over Mr. Romney as the Democrats prepare to open their convention on Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. In a Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll released just over a week ago, Mr. Obama had a six-point advantage over Mr. Romney in Ohio for the second month in a row.

To give a sense of Mr. Romney’s challenge: he could win Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Virginia — all carried by Mr. Obama in 2008 — and still fall short without Ohio and its 18 electoral votes.

Here's the poll, "Ryan Micro-Bump In Florida, Wisconsin, But Not Ohio, Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times Swing State Poll Finds." One thing highlighted there not highlighted by the Times: "Independent voters tip to Romney 48 - 43 percent."

Ouch.

And here's Rasmussen from August 15th: "Election 2012: Ohio President Ohio: Obama 45%, Romney 45%."

Exactly. It's a dead heat.

That said, I don't discount the stakes for the GOP in Ohio, as the Times rightly points out:

No Republican in modern times has reached the White House without carrying Ohio, and the alternatives strike fear into Mr. Romney’s quickly expanding team in the state.

If Romney does take Ohio, expect the left to mount an all-out legal challenge to the results. The hate-bloggers at Booman Tribune have that, the assholes: "Stealing the Election." (Via Memeorandum.)

Paul Ryan Could Pave Romney Path to Victory

At IBD, "Could Paul Ryan Pave Romney's Path to Victory?":

Can a vice presidential candidate be the decisive factor in a presidential race?

Most analysts will tell you that no presidential contest has ever been decided by a vice presidential pick. But Paul Ryan is putting that record to the test.

Since picking Ryan, Mitt Romney's poll numbers have risen, the GOP has unified and Romney has added the dimension of entitlement reform to his campaign.

And the Obama campaign seems worried enough that it put out an Internet ad attacking Ryan almost exclusively.

History weighs against Ryan having a big effect. In 1988 Lloyd Bentsen, vice presidential candidate for Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, destroyed Republican George H.W. Bush's running mate, Dan Quayle, in one of the most lopsided debates ever. Yet Dukakis lost to Bush.

Some delegates still think Ryan's impact will be sizable.

"Ryan is a real, true asset to Romney," said Will Deschamps, a delegate and state chairman of Montana. "Watch how they react between themselves. They seem very comfortable together."

On Aug. 9, the day before Romney announced Ryan as his running mate, the Real Clear Politics average of national polls showed President Obama leading 48.4%-44%. Since then, his lead has shrunk to 46.8%-45.7%.

We can do this.

Continue reading.

Image Credit: The Looking Spoon.

Ellen 'I Love Everybody…Except U Right-Wing Fuckin' Morons' Barkin: Clint Eastwood Wants to Kill President Obama

At Twitchy, "Ellen 'I Love Everybody…Except You Right-Wing Fuckin' Morons' Barkin: Clint Eastwood Wants to Kill President Obama."

Barking Ellen Barkin tweeted:

"Been unable 2 watch any RNC convention "speeches"...but did Clint Eastwood really make the slitting throat motion...meant for our POTUS???"

And then all the progressive douchebags yammer, "He did, he did. Call the Secret Service!"

And there's more: "Ellen Barkin: Is Twitchy defending Clint Eastwood’s ‘death threat’ against Obama?"

"Wow Is Twitchy defending Eastwood gesture..."as he revealed his secret disire to kill the POTUS" ? No violence/death threat there, right?"

Secret desire. Okay.

Ellen Barkin's a gasbag. What a progressive gay-enabling loser.

PREVIOUSLY: "Ryan Killed It, Romney Rocked It, and Clint Eastwood Hammered the Living Shit Out of Barack Hussein."

Ryan Killed It, Romney Rocked It, and Clint Eastwood Hammered the Living Shit Out of Barack Hussein

I commented previously on this, "Clint Eastwood's Throat-Slashing Speech to the Republican National Convention." And Mitt here and Paul Ryan here.

But seriously. Have people lost their minds?

Eastwood pulled off an extremely interesting impromptu speech performance that certainly packed enough punch to elicit a very insecure response from the president. According to reports, Clint's speech was indeed improvised --- he asked for a chair to be placed on stage at the last minute. That is the complete opposite of widespread political expectations. These conventions are buttoned-down, totally managed with 100 percent scripted presidential endorsements. Eastwood caught people off guard, and the crowd was roaring. Oh sure, no doubt many a Republican strategist winced as the 82-year-old actor drew a finger across his throat to signal that Barack's days are numbered. But again, seriously. We now have the Los Angeles Times suggesting that 12 minutes on that stage in Tampa tarnished an entire film career? Yes we do: "Did Clint Eastwood tarnish his film legacy?" Well, for crying out loud. Only the ensconced media elite would mount such a relentless attack. I mean, an icon of Hollywood not down with the approved Hollywood narrative? Heaven forbid. And the political pundits? They're calling it a "disaster," what else? They're clueless Beltway bitches, mostly at MSNBC, represented below by Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams, wound up tighter than Roseanne Barr in a shrunken bikini:

So let's be honest: The Republican National Convention rocked. Both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney raised the roof. The roster of speakers was so diverse and dynamic that MSNBC literally censored parts of the proceedings lest the American people get a glimpse of what true diversity looks like. And the message after three days was upbeat and genuinely progressive --- conservatives are looking ahead to restoring our country and reviving the American dream. "We can do this," in the words of the veep nominee.

Robert Stacy McCain has more, "How Awesome Was Clint Eastwood?" And from Bridget Johnson, at PJ Media, "Eastwood Turns in a Performance to Remember at RNC."

Paul Ryan Interview With Wolf Blitzer on CNN

That was one hella speech last night, and the radical left has popped a collective vessel.

Memeorandum has all the controversy.

And ICYMI, at The Other McCain, "When It Comes to ‘Brazen Lies,’ Nobody Excels Joan Walsh":

By now, you’re familiar with the pattern for Republican National Convention coverage: Democrats choose their themes, issue their talking points and their media henchpersons then repeat the partisan spin as if it were a matter of indisputable fact.

It was decided in advance that a major theme of media coverage would be “Republicans Are Racists,” and the liberal lapdogs in the press obligingly parroted the message. Chris Matthews declared it, and MSNBC contorted their coverage to conform to the Democrat talking points. (In case you didn’t realize it, “Chicago” is now a racist dog-whistle code — the “C-bomb,” as they call it at MSNBC.)

In advance of Paul Ryan’s speech — as demonstrated by the fundraising e-mail from DNC executive director Patrick Gaspard decrying “false attack after false attack” — it was decided to call Ryan a liar. This was the pre-determined theme, and when the DNC issued its message memo, their obliging stooges in the press corps repeated the contents without bothering to verify the facts for themselves.

Democrat drum majorette Joan Walsh rushed to the head of the parade to accuse Ryan of “brazen lies,” and the Washington Post ‘s Glenn Kessler took dictation from David Axelrod...

Continue reading.

Paul Ryan Speech to the Republican National Convention

I loved it.

Ryan is handsome and articulate. He hammered Obama personally and politically, and made stark contrasts between the GOP ticket and the moral bankruptcy of the Obama administration's nearly four years in office. The Wall Street Journal reports, "Ryan Pledges GOP Rebirth":

TAMPA, Fla.—Rep. Paul Ryan took the national political stage Wednesday as the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate, giving a televised speech that laid out one of the GOP's sharpest cases yet against a second term for President Barack Obama, and for Republicans as the party of small government.

Mr. Ryan's address to the Republican convention was his introduction to a national audience only now beginning to take his measure as one of the GOP's leading figures and the partner of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

He blended notes of partisan rancor with personal touches, such as a nod to his taste for rock bands AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, as he tried to build a case that Mr. Obama had hindered the economy and piled on debt.

"After four years of getting the runaround, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Gov. Mitt Romney," Mr. Ryan told the crowd gathered at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Mr. Ryan's selection heralds the emergence of a new generation of Republican leaders willing to reshape the main pillars of a social safety net that has been in place since the 1960s.

The 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman is the architect of far-reaching legislation to cut federal spending and to overhaul entitlement programs, including a proposal to transform Medicare from open-ended health coverage for seniors into a system in which future beneficiaries buy private insurance, or buy into the traditional Medicare program, with premiums subsidized by the government.

Democrats call it a voucher system that will shift health-care costs to seniors. Mr. Ryan and his allies say the plan will save Medicare from insolvency.

Mr. Ryan didn't shy from his Medicare plan Wednesday. "Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it,'' he said, an effort to blunt Democratic attacks that his plan would undermine Medicare and shift costs to future retirees. "A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom's generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours."

The congressman then blamed Mr. Obama for failing to curb the deficit, wasting stimulus money to revive the U.S. economy during his first year in office and passing a new health-care law that should "have no place in a free country."

Mr. Ryan said the president has shirked responsibility for the sluggish recovery. "College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life," he said.

More at that top link.

Plus, from Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Ryan’s Star Turn Shows GOP Ready to Rumble on Medicare."

And see The Other McCain, "COMPLETE TEXT: PAUL RYAN’S SPEECH TO THE GOP CONVENTION."

BONUS: At The Lonely Conservative, "What Are the GOP ‘Pros’ Who Panned the Ryan Pick Saying Now?"

'The Other McCain' in Tampa Bay

He's down there, with reports: "Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Fear, Loathing and Deficient Hygiene," and "Monday GOP Convention Schedule Postponed Due to Anticipated BlogBash Hangovers and Approaching Hurricane …"

Oh My! New CNN Poll Shows Romney Topping Obama 48-to-45 Among Likely Independent Voters!

Shoot, this is getting to be "Oh My!" Friday.

Here's this from CNN, "CNN Poll: Obama 49%-Romney 47% among likely voters." And the survey sampled likely voters:

With three days to go until the start of the Republican convention, President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney remain deadlocked in the race for the White House, according to a new national survey.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Friday also indicates Romney's favorable rating among those likely to vote in the presidential election is in the same ballpark as the president's, and the survey also points to a slightly higher level of enthusiasm for Republicans than Democrats.

According to the poll, 49% of likely voters say they're backing Obama, with 47% supporting Romney. The two point margin is within the survey's sampling error, meaning the race is a statistical tie....

In the horserace, 48% of likely voters who are independents say they support Romney, with 45% backing Obama. The gender gap and generational divides seen in polling so far this cycle continue, with the president holding a 54%-42% lead among female likely votes and Romney holding a 53%-43% lead among male likely voters. Obama has a 55%-43% advantage among those under 50, with Romney holding a 50%-45% margin among likely voters 50 and older.

More at the link.

In recent polling, some analysts have stressed how Romney needed to close the likability gap. He's done that now, but then analysts --- Ronald Brownstein this afternoon, in this case --- said that Romney needed to appeal to suburban women voters, with the implication that today's "birther" joke was simply preaching to the choir. The joke was meant for the media, not the conservative base. Romney was looking to throw a monkey wrench into the Democrat-Media-Complex meme-machine before the RNC kicks off over the weekend. In any event, Romney's on the tall side of the margin of error with those independents, and the convention might help draw a few more over to the GOP --- even a few women, come to think of it. Wait until they hear Mrs. Romney speak. She's a knockout.

And AoSHQ has some queries and conjectures, "CNN Poll of Likely Voters: Obama's Ahead (Huh?) 49-47 (MoE); But Romney's Favorables at 50%":

John King said that Romney "stepped on" this good news with his Birth Certificate joke.

I wonder if Romney didn't do that on purpose. Since our unserious, unprofessional, unintelligent, partisan press is determined to talk about distractions (given that all substance favors Romney), why not give them a distraction of your own choosing?

If the choice is between Rape!!! and Birth Certificate, isn't it better to talk about Obama's Birth Certificate? Neither is what Romney wants to talk about, but the press is determined to only report on irrelevancies; so give them one that doesn't much hurt you.

Anyway, the poll. It's a deadlock, the 2% lead statistically meaningless. Romney leads independents 48-45 (which itself is statistically meaningless).

Keep reading.

Oh, and the poll found that 83 percent thought that abortion should be legal in the case of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother --- which is another way of saying there's a massive pro-life majority out there willing to make exceptions. Meanwhile, the Democrats dropped the "rare" standard from their party's previous doctrine of "safe, legal, and rare." The pro-infanticide progressives simply don't give a f-ck about the lives of unborn children:

The DNC platform supports all abortion and does not contain any language opposing partial-birth abortion, nor does it distinguish that practice from first-trimester abortion. It is the official position of the Democratic Party to not only be able to shove the scissors into the skulls of newborns and suck out their brains — they don't even pretend to harbor the expectation that the practice be "rare."

Baby-killing progressives --- the party of President Infanticide. It's like a f-king holocaust with these ghouls.

More at Memeorandum.

Oh My! Mitt Romney Revives 'Birther' Controversy — 'No One's Ever Asked to See My Birth Certificate' (VIDEO)

I personally wasn't expecting this, but since Team Obama's campaigning for reelection on the dirtiest platform in American history, it makes perfect sense. Indeed, joking about O's birth certificate is a brilliant burst of spontaneity on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Progressives can get all bent out of shape that Mitt dared even question --- even jokingly --- Barack Hussein's eligibility for the Oval Office. Meanwhile, O's media lapdogs will eat it up, looking to smear the GOP ticket as extremists and "birthers," which nicely takes the focus off the left's abortion obsession. The trick, however, is not to let "birtherism" really take hold again. The convention starts Monday. Get the focus on the economy.

In any case, see William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "Barack Obama again jokes about his birth certificate, outrage ensues …. oh, wait":

Oooooh, Mitt Romney made a joke about his own birth certificate, and the MSM and nutroots go wild!

More at that link, and also at Memeorandum. And at Twitchy, "Romney: ‘No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate’; Update: Team Obama feigns outrage" (at Memeorandum).

I'm gonna check around for some of that nutroots outrage and see if I can come up with some knee-slappers. Check back.

Paul Ryan, Fundraising Powerhouse

I didn't know this about Ryan, and it says more about scaling the heights inside the Congress than anything else. Although the major corporate backing for the GOP ticket is a huge plus.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Paul Ryan runs well-oiled fundraising machine":

WASHINGTON — Rep. Paul D. Ryan has cultivated his "affable wonk" persona into an effective moneymaker, winning over CEOs and K Street lobbyists to build a fundraising machine that has boosted his standing on Capitol Hill and helped make him one of the GOP's most influential figures.

In 2002, the Wisconsin congressman established a so-called leadership PAC, a fund that allows him to raise money to give to other lawmakers, but the fund did little until 2006, when he began his rapid rise in the House Republican hierarchy. That year, Ryan's PAC distributed $322,000 to Republicans, a 607% increase in giving from the cycle before, according to the nonpartisan campaign finance group Center for Responsive Politics.

After the 2006 election, Ryan, who is now the GOP vice presidential candidate, became the top Republican on the House Budget Committee.

"Part of what you do when you're a member of Congress who has ambitions and wants to become committee chair is you start raising money and you start giving money to your colleagues," said Steve Northrup, a Republican healthcare lobbyist who has hosted several Ryan fundraisers.

"You can't divorce that from his personality and his smarts," Northrup added.

The high-profile post and the exposure it has brought has helped Ryan raise even more, which, in turn, has allowed him to cement ties to his congressional allies. In this election cycle, he has brought in $8.5 million to his campaign account and political action committee combined. Of that, Ryan still has more than $6 million in the bank, a notably high reserve compared with his congressional colleagues.

The PAC so far has given more than $539,000 to Republican candidates and lawmakers, a figure that ranks among the top 10 leadership PACs in contributions to federal candidates, alongside prolific congressional fundraisers Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

"Even the most idealistic members of Congress realize that the way to power is to raise money and to spread it around to your colleagues," said David Donnelly, executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund, a campaign finance reform group. Ryan "certainly learned that early on."

Ryan has become one of the most requested fundraising surrogates for House Republicans. And he has invested in a multimillion-dollar direct mail campaign that has bolstered his name recognition and given his finance network a national scope.

RTWT.

VIDEO CREDIT: The Other McCain, "Paul Ryan in Roanoke, Virginia: ‘This is President Obama’s Imaginary Recovery’."

Tropical Storm Isaac Heads Toward Florida Ahead of GOP Convention

That'd be a freak of nature --- or an act of God --- if the storm hit Tampa just in time for the convention. A cancellation is possible, astonishingly.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Republican Convention Threatened by Storm."

'This is Our Defining Moment ... This is Our Generation's Time...'

California's no swing state, which is a bummer: I doubt I'll get a chance to see a #RomneyRyan2012 campaign rally.

Paul Ryan is a spectacular candidate, and Team Romney has the progressives shakin' and quakin' so hard, it's almost unreal.

See Glenn Reynolds, "DOUBLE STANDARDS: Post-racial progressives count white faces at The Villages; President campaigns in ‘affluent’ 97%-white Windham, NH. 97% white? That’s almost as white as Obama’s Chicago Campaign headquarters. Too bad these folks can’t achieve the diversity of a Tea Party Rally."

VIDEO HAT TIP: Theo Spark.

Paul Ryan Has Ear of Washington's Conservative Establishment

Well, you would think so.

At the New York Times, "Conservative Elite in Capital Pay Heed to Ryan as Thinker":

WASHINGTON — With the debate over the federal deficit roiling last year, David Smick, a financial market consultant, held a dinner for a bipartisan group of connected budget thinkers at his expansive home here.

At the table were members of the city’s conservative policy elite, including Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard.

But that evening, none drew more attention than a relatively new member of that best-of class: Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and now Mitt Romney’s running mate, who spoke passionately about the threat posed by the national debt and the radical actions needed to rein it in.

“I thought, ‘This is the one guy in Washington paying attention,’ ” said Niall Ferguson, the Harvard economic historian and commentator, who spent some of the rest of that evening, along with Mr. Kristol, trying to persuade Mr. Ryan to run for president.

Much has been written about Mr. Ryan’s intellectual influences: canonical conservative thinkers like Friedrich von Hayek, the Austrian economist, and Ayn Rand, the novelist and philosopher. Mr. Ryan’s enthusiasm for them dates at least to his days as a precocious undergraduate at Miami University in Ohio.

But since first coming to Washington in the early 1990s, Mr. Ryan has been closely tied to an intellectual world more concerned with the political agenda of low taxes, light regulations and small government than philosophical ruminations on work and freedom.

And since his emergence as the key Congressional Republican on the budget issue, Mr. Ryan has become a particular favorite of — and powerful influence on — the intellectuals, economists, writers and policy makers who are at the heart of Washington’s conservative establishment.

Mr. Ryan “is the good think-tanker-as-politician,” said Stuart Butler, the director of the Center for Policy Innovation at the Heritage Foundation, a right-of-center research institution. “When I’m having a discussion with Ryan, I’m talking to someone who knows the material as well as, if not better than, I do.”

More on that top link.

And following-up on yesterday, TMZ has this, "Paul Ryan - THE TOPLESS PHOTO."

RELATED: The deranged progs have been trying to smear Ryan as a slavish Ayn Rand follower, but the Objectivist Standard, a major outlet for Objectivist philosophy, issued a major corrective, "Paul Ryan Rejects Ayn Rand’s Ideas—In Word and Deed."

So much for the "reality-based" idiots.

Paul Ryan 'Is the Embodiment of the Machine That Our Music Has Been Raging Against...'

Well, if they say so.

See the New York Times, "Rage Against the Machine Isn’t Returning Ryan’s Love."

Bill Whittle's Afterburner: 'The Democrats Are Terrified' of Paul Ryan

A cutting --- and cutting-edge --- analysis, with humor.

Paul Ryan Shirtless!

Forget about the non-existent #RomneyRyan war on women. This guy is hot. Even Gayle King at 'CBS This Morning' noted Ryan's great shape during her interview with Mitt the other day.

And at PolicyMic, "Paul Ryan Shirtless: How the Romney VP Pick Became a Ryan Gosling Viral Sensation."

IMAGE CREDIT: Stoaty Weasel.

Ryan Pick Shifts Focus From Economy to Ideology

I noted this point earlier, and I'm thrilled about it.

At the New York Times, "Choice of Paul Ryan Shifts the Focus From Economy to Ideology."

However, I wouldn't put too fine a point on it. You can't lose focus of the economy in this economy. Obama is the emperor with no clothes. He can run, he can demonize his opponents, but he can't hide. The campaign's ideological focus sharpens differences on the economy. The Times implies Ryan's a liability, of course. Only the election will tell. But we know conservatives are energized and Team O's shaking in its boots. The Dems are walking a living nightmare.