Josh Marshall: Welfare lies my be Working
There seems to be a clear tightening of the presidential race. Whether it will reverse itself or not in a week — as it has numerous times — we don’t know. But I wonder if those phony welfare ads Romney is running in the swing states might not be having a bigger effect than we realize.
They’re apparently pushing them hard, spending lots of money on them. And they wouldn’t be doing that if they didn’t have some numbers showing they were having an effect. Romney Inc. seems relatively content not to have the issue at the forefront in the national conversation. But it’s only the 10 or so swing states that matter.
I wouldn’t have thought they’d drive votes. But I’m looking at the campaign’s actions and what they seem to believe is working for them. The politics of race (not to mention demonstrable falsehood) is strong.
Everybody is talking about Akin. But I wonder if this is where the action — albeit small movements in the numbers — really is.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/08/a_sleeper_issue.php?
= new reply since forum marked as read
I so agree with Josh Marshall, and I so hope someone is paying attention this time and will soon set this thing straight so the people understand what the real story is behind the $715 Billion Obama "raided" from Medicare.
But every time I hear an "explanation" it soon devolves into an unending spiel that defies understanding. They seem to be saying "Yes, I took it, but I took it for your own good."
I nearly fell asleep as I watched the same thing happen on the PBS Newshour this evening. Woman couldn't explain a thing about it that was understandable. The guy they had on "opposite" her had his points down. Bam. Bam. Bam.
And the "reporters" on the network and local news shows, morning, noon, and night, are repeating that Obama took the $715 Billion from Medicare to finance his Obamacare. The say it like it's a fact that everyone understands.
John Spratt was chair of the Congressional Finance Committee (or Budget Committee - I get them confused). He was one of the last of the South Carolina Dem Congressmen.
In 2008 the Repubs ran one ad after another, piling on 500 times a day about how he was going to destroy Social Security, and had already been responsible for big cuts to benefits. Horrible, lying ads. Hateful, lying ads. Unceasing ads. "Call John Spratt and ask him why he hates Social Security" ads.
John ran basically one ad - occasionally. It showed lots of photos of working people of all colors saying he was one of the nice guys in Washington who was there working for working people. And oh, yes, he supported Social Security.
Well, you know how that story ended. I kept waiting for Spratt to hit back, but of course he never did and his loss of votes was very large. At least large enough for the ES&S machines to declare him the loser.
In the current ads I see and the few outtakes I see from his speeches (no cable, no broadband), the president is just not hitting back hard enough on this issue. And there is a tremendous LACK OF CLARITY.
He is not making it clear what he did with Medicare funding. He is NOT knocking down the big lie, and saying he did will not make it so. People are confused, or are making up their minds that he did what Romney is saying. It is working just like it did when they used it against Spratt.
Perhaps that's not the biggest thing going on. I know there is concern about the Swiftboating, and other stuff. And I don't like to disagree with Pro-Sense. 
But this one is big and it has not been clarified yet. People just do not understand that Romney is LYING and Obama is not telling them that he is.
Weasel words like innaccurate and misleading to not get the truth out. He needs to set up Romney's lie and knock it down with words that will get media attention, even if they don't want to give it.
Wat
Edited cause it was 2008, not 2004.
and I know it and all of DU knows it. 
But it ain't getting out like that in the real world.
