Romney Says He’s Winning — It’s a Bluff

[kpete]

Today at 11:07 AM 229Comments
Romney Says He’s Winning — It’s a Bluff
By Jonathan Chait

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/romney-says-hes-winning-its-a-bluff.html


In recent days, the vibe emanating from Mitt Romney’s campaign has grown downright giddy. Despite a lack of any evident positive momentum over the last week — indeed, in the face of a slight decline from its post-Denver high — the Romney camp is suddenly bursting with talk that it will not only win but win handily. (“We’re going to win,” said one of the former Massachusetts governor’s closest advisers. “Seriously, 305 electoral votes.”)

This is a bluff. Romney is carefully attempting to project an atmosphere of momentum, in the hopes of winning positive media coverage and, thus, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Over the last week, Romney’s campaign has orchestrated a series of high-profile gambits in order to feed its momentum narrative. Last week, for instance, Romney’s campaign blared out the news that it was pulling resources out of North Carolina. The battleground was shifting! Romney on the offensive! On closer inspection, it turned out that Romney was shifting exactly one staffer. It is true that Romney leads in North Carolina, and it is probably his most favorable battleground state. But the decision to have a staffer move out of state, with a marching band and sound trucks in tow to spread the news far and wide, signals a deliberate strategy to create a narrative.

.........................

Karl Rove employed exactly this strategy in 2000. As we now know, the race was excruciatingly close, and Al Gore won the national vote by half a percentage point. But at the time, Bush projected a jaunty air of confidence. Rove publicly predicted Bush would win 320 electoral votes. Bush even spent the final days stumping in California, supposedly because he was so sure of victory he wanted an icing-on-the-cake win in a deep blue state. Campaign reporters generally fell for Bush’s spin, portraying him as riding the winds of momentum and likewise presenting Al Gore as desperate.

MORE:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/romney-says-hes-winning-its-a-bluff.html


now, back to the garden, kp

[putitinD]

1. I'm shocked, he has always been so truthful. LOL

[spanone]

2. the charlie sheen of politics

[Buddaman]

3. Whining or Winning....

Maybe a type-o

[repiblikensouse]

4. Romney has said a lot of things in the past few months. 99 per cent of them were lies. nt