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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Why the Period? A DNC week OPEN THREAD

I’ve been puzzled by something that might seem a bit silly for the past few weeks since the Obama campaign unveiled its new slogan

FORWARD.

Why the period?  Isn’t the whole idea of going forward about continuing into the future?  The period, or “full-stop” as it’s called across the pond in a much more descriptive term that resists confusion with anything menstrual, puts a stop to motion.  And it’s not about slogan conventions.  Don’t remember any signs that read

CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN.

Or for that matter

CHANGE. YOU CAN BELIEVE IN.

It’s just weird, and a bit of a buzz kill.  I want us to go FORWARD….  Going FORWARD. gets us nowhere fast.

Good luck to the Obama team this week.  Hope we leap-frog that full-stop right into a second term.  Here in the Eastern hemisphere, I won’t see much in real time.  I’ll watch clips in the morning.  Looking forward. to your responses and analyses.

 


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 108 Comments

108 comments

  1. Chris Blask

    The RNC played to their base, which I believe is all they hoped for.  The DNC should be looking to expand beyond the True Believers whose votes are already counted, or I should certainly hope.

  2. spacemanspiff

    It’s like the style popularized by the comic boy guy on The Simpsons.

    “Worst. (noun). Ever.”

    To me it adds emphasis and makes a stronger point as in:

    We are moving forward PERIOD. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it.

    Forward.

    PERIOD!

    I like it.  

  3. Strummerson

    Impairs credibility.  I’d actually be shocked if FLOTUS’ speech wasn’t a show stopper.  It’s like saying “wow, the Stones show I saw in 1971 was really good.”  (That’s just a figure of speech.  I was a bit young to actually go to shows in 1971.  I was 3.)  BUT, was Julian Castro really that good?  I sure hope so…

  4. rfahey22

    Otherwise, I thought the speeches were very good, especially Michelle Obama’s.  You could feel the positive energy radiating out from the convention, which I can only assume provided a stark contrast to the RNC (like I mentioned in another thread, I just couldn’t watch that thing, although I caught Clint on Youtube afterward).  This could be a real turning point in the election, given the lack of a bounce for Romney.

  8. spacemanspiff

    When Obama ends his second term and we have these 2 ex-POTUS on the sidelines with Hillary running the show (yeah, she’s running in 2016) shit will get real…

  10. virginislandsguy

    Let’s see:

    No RNC bounce

    Behind in most of the battleground states

    The Lyin’ Ryan meme is gaining traction with their VP pick

    Mitt takes the week off, at a time when every hour is precious

    Republican money is leaving Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin

    And from Jed Lewison at GOS:

    4:08 PM PT: Chuck Todd was just talking about how if (if?) President Obama delivers a strong speech tonight, and gets a bit of a bounce off the convention, Mitt Romney really won’t have another opportunity to change the race until October. That’s not exactly breaking news, but it’s nice to know the CW is congealing around what we’ve known for a while: President Obama and Democrats are winning this thing.

    If they follow the CW and soldier on like McCain and Dole, they will surely lose and lose big.

    Time for a major rollout of a rebranding. They go national with a huge ad campaign (think $100M) and then relaunch in the battleground states. Will it work? Nope, but it beats what they are doing now. I’m at a complete loss what form this rebranding might take, but the Marriott people in their campaign may already be choosing the shade of lipstick to put on the pig.

  11. Strummerson

    Bill Clinton’s speech nominated Obama:

    “Politics doesn’t have to be a blood sport”

    John Sununu:

    The Romney strategy will be to “carpet bomb”  the President and Vice President.

    Unnamed Romney campaign official:

    The offensive will be like “daisy cutter” bombs used in Iraq.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic…

    Uh-huh.  And which campaign is angry and divisive?  Sounds desperate to me.

  12. Strummerson

    Obama to republicans: I don’t buy that the cure for a cold is “take two tax cuts, roll back a regulation, and call me in the morning.”

    Republicans to Obama: Yeah, but can you win without balloons?

  13. Strummerson

    …who else?…CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER!!!

    Yes, the man whose surname means ‘cabbage hammer’ in German said of Michelle Obama’s speech “I didn’t believe a word of it” and called Bill Clinton’s speech “a swing and a miss” and “a missed opportunity” and described Obama’s acceptance in which he detailed the moral convictions and economic rationale that under-gird his policies with clear argument and focused passion as “empty.”

    This is a man you could take into a gelateria in Rome (I’m thinking of one in particular a stone’s throw from the Pantheon) only to have him declare that “Italian ice cream sucks.”

  15. Shaun Appleby

    Which don’t make me want to guzzle anti-freeze:


    There has been a shocking transformation in the American political landscape.

    As Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times tweeted Thursday night: “A striking difference between conventions: Military service, patriotism are center stage at Democratic convention and nearly absent at GOP.”

    Virtually overnight, the Democrats have become the party of strength and loyalty to country. This is a huge role reversal.

    Roger Simon – President Obama tops Mitt Romney Politico 7 Sep 12

    Hmmm…  He’s right, you know.  Guess the New Confederacy will have to have to come up with a flag of their own, looks like we’re keeping ours.

  16. Shaun Appleby

    Battles are won in the minds of one’s opponents I suppose it is instructive to consider the realities facing the Romney people; no appreciable benefit from the Ryan appointment or their convention, which came off second best to Charlotte by a wide margin.  No ad buys for Michigan, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin; even though they could shovel money out of a Brinks truck if they had one decent, central theme of their campaign which they could confidently promote.  Obama and the Big Dog slated for a campaign through Florida amplifying the strong messages of their convention into the policy-free vacuum left by your own core strategy.  

    Battles lost; women, Bain.  Ground conceded: foreign policy and national security.  Landmines to be avoided; your candidate’s tax returns, Medicare, Medicaid, your own tax reform and abortion platform, your VP nominee’s exuberant and unreliable braggadocio, his entire budget not to mention intemperate public positions hurled from any number of outspoken, restless “allies” among the Right-wing sideshow freaks.

    Time for debate prep, lads.

  17. fogiv

    obama way up in approval and all ‘types’ of favorability; also showing what appears to be just the beginning of a decent DNC bounce (the RNC bounced romney minus 1).  the r/r ticket may have already seen their high water mark.  it seems undecideds are a tiny sliver of the pie this cycle, so i can’t foresee big movements from here out.  the trajectory is set (has been for a long time imo).  the debates are advantage obama/biden already (hiring fact-checkers alone will bring national unemployment below 7%).

  18. Strummerson

    Seems premature to me, but note the clear defeatism in Ross Douthat’s piece this morning.  The second paragraph is wishful thinking on his part.  As always, conservatives root against America when it suits them.

    Barack Obama is still beloved by his supporters and regarded sympathetically by many swing voters. His Republican rival is a flawed candidate running an overcautious campaign. The memories of the Bush presidency’s failures are still fresh enough to make even a stumbling Democratic administration seem as if it might be the lesser of two evils.

    But a re-elected Obama will be a permanently diminished Obama, with no magic left in his public persona and no mandate save to stay the current economic course. He may win the necessary electoral votes in November, but come February he will already essentially be a lame duck.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09…

  20. Shaun Appleby

    They can’t even put either candidate on Sunday talk shows anymore:


    O’DONNELL: Right. A trillion dollars in defense spending, and you voted for it!

    RYAN: No, Norah. I voted for the Budget Control Act.

    O’DONNELL: That included defense spending!

    RYAN: Norah, you’re mistaken.

    Zack Beauchamp – Ryan: I Didn’t Vote For The Defense Cuts I Voted For Think Progress 9 Sep 12

    Uh…  No she isn’t.  You’re parsing thin air, Paul, even your candidate agrees on the same day, different show:


    MITT ROMNEY: Well, I want to maintain defense spending at the current level of the GDP. I don’t want to keep bringing it down as the president’s doing. This sequestration idea of the White House, which is cutting our defense, I think is an extraordinary miscalculation in the wrong direction.

    DAVID GREGORY: Republican leaders agreed to that deal to the extend the debt ceiling.

    MITT ROMNEY: And that’s a big mistake. I thought it was a mistake on the part of the White House to propose it. I think it was a mistake for Republicans to go along with it.

    Judd Legum – Romney Rips Paul Ryan: Calls Running Mate’s Vote For Defense Cuts ‘A Big Mistake’ Think Progress 9 Sep 12

    These guys can’t even play softball.  Thanks Bill, arithmetic is the new black among Beltway pundits.

  22. HappyinVT

    but the speech I remember most is Emanual Cleaver’s …

    He was on early Wednesday (I believe) and he killed it!  Hope On!

  23. creamer

    The position they are in with woman and hispanics is almost entirely self inflicted. After Obama rolls them 2014 might be a great purge.

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