I really don't think so; But if I'm wrong and Romney wins, then education reform has to officially be america biggest priority.

and what about the unemployment rate? It's below 8 for once. So that was supposed to help the President, not Rmoney.

They are STILL hyping the crap out of it a week later, and in addition, have trotted out all the crazy GOPers like Guiliani and Trump to bash Obama as being a "follower" (weak on foreign policy) and saying the unemployment rate is a lie.

It's a constant, unending drone of bullshit.

Past elections have never hinged on one debate performance.

. The media basically dismissed him from the campaign by using one altered video of Dean talking loudly. They seem to be doing the same thing now. They (the media) have plugged the plug on the campaign. Whether they will succeed in kicking Obama out remains to be seen.

I have little to no confidence in American's ability to fight off heavy media propaganda.

My hope is that Obama is a 'known' - he's been president for 4 years so the media propoganda may not be as effective. Dean was an unknown at the time. It's nothing short of character assassination.

and most people like him and his approval ratings have now broken the 50% threshold. 4 years of anti-Obama Fox News Tea Party propaganda have not succeeded in destroying him. I'm trying not to worry too much. Last Wednesday's debate- according to the meme promoted by the MSM- was a disaster for President Obama and that Romney made a HUGH comeback but I don't think that Romney is "growing" on most people- and I can't imagine that he ever will.

obvious advantages of having a Dem in the White House but, because it would bolster my
confidence in the American People's ability to think logically.

after he had been painted as a dangerous simpleton by Carter's campaign, which Reagan richly supported by a many gaffes throughout the campaign.

And the most ironic thing is that many people thought that Carter won the debate-- me included. Listen to the commentary right afterwards and it seems that many thought it at worst a draw for Carter.

Watch for yourself:

It's why the heat has to be turned up.

With Carter, the economy was so bad that any acceptable candidate could beat him, but Democrats did an effective job of making sure that people didn't view Reagan as acceptable. We didn't "want his finger on the button" (etc). All Reagan had to do was appear credible/reasonable and the race was over. It's where the "Reagan Democrats" came from. They didn't like Carter, but they were too scared of Reagan... until that debate.

IMO, the key to this final month has little to do with pumping up the President. It's making sure that Democrats who are disillusioned with the President don't get anywhere close to thinking that "I can live with Romney".

And this time, the economy has undergone a much more serious hit than in the late 70's. The degree of recovery that has been achieved is actually remarkable. President Obama needs to take more credit for fixing things and promising that things will be better still.

The economy was still getting worse back then. We can debate whether we're recovering fast enough or whether the President responded in the best way to this decline, but things are clearly getting better.

That is all.

I've always believed that we would probably end up with an outcome somewhere between 2004 and 2008 for President Obama. Playing around with 270towin.com, as long as President Obama wins the midwest (i.e. Ohio, Wisconsin) and New Mexico (which is solidly in his camp), he could lose every other "battleground state" (Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada etc.) and still win 271-263. IMHO he will do a little better than that but this just illustrates what a difficult path Romney has to 270 votes.

It sure seemed to sink Jimmy Carter.

But there are three more debates and a month of campaigning still to come.

and how close in proximity to the election were they? I think we'll ultimately be o.k. given how strong President Obama's campaign had been coming into the debate- as long as the other debates are better (which they probably will be IMHO)

And it was just before the election (Oct 28th). The polls had closed somewhat, but Gallup still had Carter leading (by 3 IIRC). Then it was all down hill from there.

Oh... I suppose there were two if you want to be technical. But Carter didn't participate in the first one (in mid Sept).

I think we'll ultimately be o.k. given how strong President Obama's campaign had been coming into the debate- as long as the other debates are better (which they probably will be IMHO)

I agree. At least... I sure hope so.

Most polls had Reagan leading.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170230/another-great-gop-myth-no-polls-did-not-show-carter-beating-reagan-1980