The Sun's not yellow it's chicken

Romney should have hired JTEM | Debate Redux

I have to wonder:  Does Romney believe his own hype?

See, Romney was Governor of Massachusetts.  He was elected in 2002, leveraging some winning debate performances into a come-from-behind victory.  But…

Romney’s victory wasn’t quite the lesson my description might make it seem.  His Democratic opponent had the lead, yes, but that’s exactly why she was so conservative in her debate performances — She was protecting her lead, playing it safe, trying real hard not to say anything that might blow it!

Put another way:  Romney didn’t do good, his opponent did poorly.

Romney’s opponent had a very different debate strategy than he did.  Romney had to shine, he had to take chances, be outspoken because he was behind, while his opponent held back as much as she could trying not to get in the way of her own poll numbers.  She over did it, she underperformed, she even looked stupid at times with trying to be pleasant and cheerful as Mitt rambled incessantly, contradicting himself at every turn.

REMEMBER:  Mitt Romney was staunchly PRO CHOICE at that time (meaning, for the length of the debates), promising to keep his word and protect a women’s right to choose. Again, only during those debates.

NOTE:  Romney’s debate performance was actually pretty bad.  He’s a fast talker, coming across like a used car salesman not a diplomat — and like a used car salesman he appears to be one of those people who will say ANYTHING to get you to buy.

Secondly, Romney had an enormous money advantage.  There was no contest.  Romney could spend, Spend, SPEND after the debates, capitalize on the debates, his opponent’s poor performance, while his opponent couldn’t (or at least didn’t) hit him for all of his mistakes and inconsistencies. She didn’t have the money.

Finally, although Romney did turns things around, he did it with slightly less than 50% of the vote, and that was with third-party candidates siphoning votes away from the Democrat. 

For example, Romney’s Democratic opponent was a woman.  You’d think the “Womens Vote” would be hers by right.  But, all three third-party candidates were women.

So the lesson from Romney’s 2002 Governor’s debates is not that Romney is a great debater, it’s that if your opponent performs poorly and doesn’t have the money to capitalize on all your inconsistencies and lies,  and the ballot is flooded with people who are guaranteed to steal more votes from her than you, you can luck out and win a real squeaker of a victory.

    …Romney seems to think he is a gifted orator and powerful debater.  The man is delusional.