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SUNDAY. APRIL 22.2012
At the starting gate,
its Obama in the lead
By Dick Polman
The Philadelphia Inquirer
TheObama-Romney rumble will last
roughly as long as the baseball season,
and, just as in baseball, you can't tell
the players without a scorecard. So let's
score the opening week of the general
election, with a thumbnail look at their
strengths and weaknesses.
I don't presume to know who will
win, but Rich Galen, the Republican
commentator and strategist, probably
got it right the other day when he said
he'd "probably bet the president.” if
only by a hair. These categories tell that
potential tale.
Obama strengths:
The fairness issue. President Obama
found his mojo last fall when he
morphed into a populist and took aim at
an unfair economic system that com¬
forts the rich at the expense of the aver¬
age Joe. He has the wind at his back; in
a new national poll. 52 percent say that
a system favoring the rich is a bigger
problem than ‘‘overregulation of the free
market," while only 37 percent say the
reverse.
Another recent poll says that 61 per¬
cent want to "reduce the gap between
wealthy and less well-off Americans."
Plus, Obama gets to aim this theme at
an opponent who got rich on investment
income, which IS taxed at a far lower
rate than the average Joe's wage
income.
National security. Only one incum¬
bent Democrat has lost a re-election
race since 1888. That was Jimmy
Carter, in part because of the Iranian
hostage crisis and the burned shell of a
rescue helicopter in the desert Obama
has no such baggage. By repeatedly
w hacking top terrorists, he has kept
America safe So far, anyway.
Likability. Don't kid yourself, this is
always important In 2000, Al Gore was
the guy people didn't want to have a
beer w ith. (His beleaguered staff made
up gag buttons that said, "I’m Al Gore,
and I don’t like you either") By con¬
trast. in a national poll last week.
Obama was deemed "more friendly and
likable" than Romney by a whopping
38 percentage points As a famous poli¬
tician has pointed out, "If people have a
positive response to you. then they are
willing to listen to what you have to
say." That's demonstrably true, even
though the guy who said that was John
Edwards.
Romney strengths:
Anli-Obama fervor. Those who hate
the president have been jonesing to toss
him out since day one. When the chips
are down in late October, Romney may
look a lot better to a lot of the voters
who currently diss him as a whirling
weather vane. Romney himself seems
as passionate as a corporate quarterly
report, but conservative passions could
buoy him at the finish line
The economy. Yes, the numbers have
been slowly and steadily on the uptick
for many months, but most people
aren't feeling it. According to a new
national poll, 76 percent of Americans
believe we re “still in recession." In a
campaign environment, perceptions
matter more than stats. That gives
Romney something to work w ith. On
most issues, Romney trails Obama in
the polls — with one notable exception;
handling the economy.
Obama weaknesses:
The economy. Did I mention the
economy yet? It doesn't mean squat that
the economists decreed the recession
over in June 200d If you were to tell
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the aveiage votei. "Hey. it’s been almost
three years since we suffered a decline
m the gross domestic product in two
successive quarters." the voter might
simply say. "Yeah, well, my kid the col¬
lege grad is driving me nuts living in
my basement, because he still can't find
a job "Obama lias ihc burden ol sur¬
mounting that mood.
White men. He continues to fare very
badly w ith Caucasians ot his ow n gen¬
der. regardless of their education level.
In the polls, Romney is beating him
among college-educated white guys by
13 percentage points, and among non
college white guys by 2 l ) points He has
actually lost considerable ground w ith
the latter since the *08 election a def
ic'it that could especially hurt him in
Rust Belt swing states like Pennsylvania
and Ohio.
Hope and-ch.mge deflation The slo¬
gans of *08 won't work this time. Now
he has a record to defend, plus the chal¬
lenge ol restoking enthusiasm among
those who gave him a comfortable vic¬
tory margin Iasi time namely, the
young first-time voters who can t find
work and the minority voters whom
he'll need to offset his deficits among
whites. (These zero-sum racial calcula¬
tions are regrettable, but nonetheless
real.i
Romney weaknesses:
Good grief, w here to begin?
A lousy candidate Republicans open
ly say so. Here's Galen, whom I hosted
at the University of Pennsylvania: "The
Romney we see now — this is as good
as Romney is ever going to get He's
not going to give a speech and have
people quaking in the aisles or speaking
in tongues" And when he riffs off
script, he says stuff like, “I'm not con¬
cerned about the very poor" and "Ann
drives a couple of Cadillacs," thereby
burnishing his profile as a one percenter
in a time of economic stress. Not to
mention his politically ill timed deci¬
sion to double the si/e of his California
beach mansion, complete with an eleva¬
tor for his cars
The curse of Santorum. Pars l
Romney is finally free of Kick
•Santonim. but the pesky upstart did a
lot of damage He incessantly warned
conservatives that Romney was a closet
moderate w ho can't be misled to trum¬
pet the issues that conservatives hold
dear Result ’ Romney may he saddled
with a serious passion deficit on ihe
Republican right
The curse of Santonim. Part 2.
Thanks to Santorum's theocratic riffs on
women and contraception, and his gen
eral success m pulling Romney eset
rightward. Romney may now he saddled
with serious deficits among swing sol¬
ing independents generally and
among Hispamcs and women, in partic¬
ular, Hispanics. ihc fastest-growing seg
men! of the electorate, arc potentially
pivotal in swing stales like Florida.
Nevada. New Mexico, and Colorado,
but Romney trail. Obama among
Hispanics by 56 point (And that's
from a Fox News poll.) As for women.
Romney has hemorrhaged support since
mid-February pandering to th - right,
he has sowed, among other things, to
"get rid of" federal money for Planned
Parenthood but. hey, women ate only
53 percent of the electorate.
All told. Obama has the good fortune
of facing a beatable opponent whose
weaknesses were ripped open by an
even weaker Republican field. The race
will likely be tight, but the president, in
the end, mas well confirm sshat they
always say in the business world, that
luck is a key ingredient of success.
Dick Polman is a columnist for the
Philadelphia Inquirer. You may email him
dpolman@phillynews com
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Remembering true heroes.
It was an impulse that
caused me to turn into the
Cumming Police Station
on Veterans' Memorial
Boulevard. No. I was not
going to turn myself in.
hut rather to make
another pilgrimage to the
War Memorial
It was not my first time
to examine the scene, nor
was it my first time to
read the plaques, but I
took time reading each
stone and the names on
each of the memorials.
Some had faded in the
weather and were nearly
unreadable, but I still
tried. 1 read the names of
men who gave their lives
for our country and are
now remembered wiih
their names carved in
stone. There were lamily
names I recognized and
1 took time to remember
them and their sacrifices.
The Memorial has
always been clean and
well kept; a sign of the
care and devotion the city
of Cumming has for our
heritage and our veterans.
The artifacts, in bronze,
alop each of the pedestals
depict the remembrances
from the Civil War
through the war in
Vietnam. I paused to
examine the various
^capons, communication
dcsiccs and uniforms that
were significant at a
particular time in history .
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MIDWAY | 5125 Atlanta Hwy | 770-772-4615
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JULIANNE BOLING
Columnist
Each time 1 travel down
the road I glance toward
the memorial, however,
this week there was a
special feeling of pride
for our community. 1 had
attended the special
recognition of 87-year
old Dub Brown, a WWI1
Navy veteran.
Congressman Tom
Graves presented him
with eight different
medals for his service to
our country.
As l watched the
presentation I was
reminded of Tom
Brokaw's book "The
Greatest Generation." His
book followed the men
and women of the World
War II era who sacrificed
lives and those left at
home to care for the
family. They were
continuing to make a
difference in our nation.
They went to war willing
to fight for freedom not
only of Americans, but
for freedoms all over the
world.
The phrases that caught
my attention were from
Dub's daughter Melanie.
I753:
‘These World War 11
veterans just did not talk
about this. They did what
they had to do, they came
home, and they moved
on.” These words ring
true for most of the men
who have served in
combat zones all over the
world. They did their jobs
and some, not all,
returned home.
As we watch and listen •
to the young generation;
when we hear their
protests and see their sit
ins and hear their
complaints about free
educations, 1 hope
somewhere beneath their
actions and opinions are
the foundations of
sacrifice and a
willingness to fight and
die for America’s
freedoms.
The War Memorial is
significant to all of us. It
is a constant reminder of
freedom’s gifts. When we
allow others to diminish
or to eliminate any
freedom then we are no
longer worthy to enjoy *
them. When we fail to
recognize the gifts of
sacrifice and service of ■ **
men and women of our
armed forces then we
tarnish the face of
America. *
4
Cumming resident Julienne
Boling's column appears
each Sunday.