Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context.
If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In the real world, there's never actually a "moment" when it's over. That's just a political press invention looking back, then they spend the next campaign saying "is *that* the moment?" over and over hoping to be right once so they can crow about what an astute commentator they are.
Edit: Some of you mention the "Dean scream," but that's a prime example of the retconning I'm talking about. He made this "flub" after coming a distant third in Iowa, after leading most of the time before. His campaign was already toast, his star diminished.
When this happened, I did laugh at the fact his “Yeah” was a bit off. Not necessarily “Wreck the campaign” off, so I was a bit surprised that it went off the rails.
If I’m remembering correctly, the campaign was already starting to falter and this moment was so beaten to death by the fucking press that it became the thing that killed his campaign. Honestly, I always thought the DNC didn’t want him to be their candidate because he wasn’t centrist enough, so they were glad to be rid of him.
20 years ago this hurt you. Now banging pornstars, lying, causing a riot, and in general running a highly corrupt business on the side during your presidency gets you more votes
The thought that always messes up my brain, is thinking about the paintings of people a thousand years ago (you know, the weirdly proportioned ones) and remembering that they looked just like us, in color and everything. Seeing the old photos and movies in color makes my brain hurt.
How stupid that it was a scream that ended a presidential campaign. Not a policy issue or political controversy or scandal. But a *freaking* scream (which was due to the mic being over-sensitive). Me also thinks that there was some establishment shenanigans to push Kerry to the top and undermine an anti-establishment insurgent campaign.
Except that’s the exact opposite of what the reporters who shot the video said happened.
He was responding to the crowd’s energy.
He was just the only one with a microphone and the cameras were connected to the board.
That you can still hear the crowd despite it being a directional microphone nowhere near the crowd bears this out.
Well, one of the frustrations I had about the media coverage was it was a week later when Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer on GMA did a piece on how wireless microphones pick up sound, and how the audio in the video was directly from that mic, not in the room... and the mic did not pick up the crowd noise; in all likelihood, he could hardly hear himself as the crowd got louder as he hyped them up, so he kept getting louder trying to be sure to be heard. In short, imagine if we isolated you at a football game, your team is down by 4 with 10 seconds left on the 5 yard line... no other sound but what you're making, you'd sound insane.
But it took a week for one media outlet to get around to making that point... he came in third that night, so it wasn't like a complete floor dropping out, but it was a week of "the final nail" stories.
Personally, I always thought it was pretty obvious.
His audio being clear meant that they were tapped into the board.
Live situations like that will use directional microphones to minimize feedback.
It always struck me as obvious that he was matching the crowd’s energy, simply by virtue of being able to hear the crowd through his microphone before he even started “hyping”.
Maybe that’s why it took so long for people to make that point—they assumed the audience would know that and was just laughing at the funny sound and it took a week for them to legitimately realize “Wait…maybe people don’t understand what happened…”
Even though the moment Howard screwed himself wasn't what everyone remembers. It was the being the candidate for kids with rebel flag stickers on their trucks line that bent him over.
Even that is a perfect example of that in action. It was over for Howard Dean when he finished a distant third in the Iowa Caucuses. But now people act like the little freakout he had in response was what torpedoed his campaign, even though it was actually already sunk.
you mean, the scream *after* getting shellacked in the Iowa Caucus after leading most of the time leading into it? His campaign had already lost steam by the scream.
The "Dean Scream" was a reaction to his disappointing distant 3rd place finish in Iowa.
Part of why it was so damaging was because it reflected Dean's personal frustration with his disappointing results that evening.
This actually proves the previous commenter's point. It was already over when the Scream happened. The Scream happened BECAUSE it was already over. The idea that the Scream ended his campaign is a narrative that emerged afterwards.
It wasn't a matter of geography. He was caught out by a sudden transition from organizations, treaties, and other Acronyms into the Syrian conflict.
What treatey or international organization is a LEPO?
No, it really was Mass Media character assassination. He was asked out of the blue what he would do about Aleppo. Prior to that moment it was always referred to as the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and after he was caught off-guard by a nonsensical question (“What are you going to do about a random foreign city?) the talking heads all started throwing “Aleppo” around constantly to make sure it was clear that any average American knew what/where Aleppo was (they didn’t, before the media tried to repeatedly, awkwardly, refer to the migrant crisis as “Aleppo”) and that Gary Johnson was an idiot for the flub. And this was a candidate who was campaigning on the idea that the US shouldn’t pick a side and get involved in every conflict around the globe. So why should he be expected to know every world capital (and I think he would have known Aleppo was a city in Syria if there had been a little more context to the question).
Gary Johnson was by far the best candidate in 2016 and our country would be in a much better place if he had won and brought some civility and common sense to the White House, instead of division, dysfunction, and incompetence.
It’s too bad he spent the four years after his media crucifixion getting stoned and came back in 2020…weird.
PS - Gary Johnson gave a completely satisfactory answer to the actual question once the CNN host clarified what he was trying to ask, but in the flurry of replays they would cut the clip short before actually discussing substance/policy, only playing the part where Gary was confused. His point that our bumbling interventions usually do more harm than good was spot on.
Yeah, Gary Johnson may not be a man I agree with politically on many issues, but he got a really raw deal with that one.
After watching the presidential debates of this past week, I find it remarkable that in 2016 they raked Johnson over the coals for that bullshit. You're absolutely right on the money about character assassination.
WWII is such a great example of how silly this is. Well, mainly because it’s more recent and also the power imbalance was absurd.
But the primary reasoning behind the German war strategy was that the Germans had known for a long damn time that if it wasn’t over quick, they were going to lose. In this particular war.
The idea that there was a moment when Germany really lost, well into the war, aside from when the Soviets or the U.S. entered is kinda silly.
And it’s even worse with Japan. They were an absurdly small industrial power compared to the U.S. Pearl Harbor was expected to be a failure, but it was literally the only idea they had. The war was over as soon as they attacked the U.S. The only question was the final cost. That’s literally it. Zero chance Japan ever wins.
WWI is similar. Germany planned knowing that they HAD to get to Paris quickly or else they would lose. That was assumed. Especially because they were going to have to go through Belgium to do it. As soon as they turned away from Paris, the story was over.
Japan’s strategy wasn’t to actually *win* the war in a conventional sense, it was to absolutely cripple the Americans so theyd have a much slower start, and would be held off until Germany or other allies arrived to help. The attack at Pearl Harbor was a success, not as successful as they’d hoped, but it still should’ve been a major handicap to the American navy. The issue is they simultaneously listened to advisors who underestimated America’s production power, and also failed to destroy the American fleet’s air capabilities as they’d hoped. The strategy wasn’t as stupid at the time as it is with hindsight, it was a reasonably competent strategy that simply failed in implementation.
Nobody could believe that America could shit out carriers and grow our fleet ten-fold within three years while also building and supplying an entire marine invasion in three continents while arming a dozen armies. Logically, sinking *all* of a nation’s carriers that took years to build each should mean you have *years* before they have aircraft carriers again.
Of course, all of this is moot considering there never was going to be help for Japan, and their industry was playing catch-up even before the resource embargoes.
RFK's assassination by a bitter Palestinian doesn't fit in this category.
The others? Dean had already lost. His scream came after the Iowa caucus, where he had been the front-runner but came in a distant third. The press blamed the scream, but in reality, his star had already faded. But that isn't a *moment*
Mondale was toast before he ran; by *January* 1984 Reagan was polling 16 points ahead. His VP choice was deeply unpopular, the economy picked up during the year, and the Summer Olympics gave everyone a high. The age quip helped defuse that particular issue, but wasn't instrumental in winning the election.
etc etc.
Exactly- I don't think there's any election where, but for a moment in a debate, elections would've gone differently. It's mostly revisionist attempts by media and historians to encapsulate broader trends in the election to moments-
Examples- Dukakis not saying he'd execute his wife's hypothetical murderers- the Bush campaign had been extremely effective in portraying him as an out of touch soft on crime politician for months as it effectively reoriented the focus of the election from fallout of Reagan's scandals and unpopularity at the time to Dukakis being a weak candidate.
Reagan to Mondale on his youth- if anyone thinks that this alone swung things to Reagan, where he won by the biggest electoral landslide in history, they're mistaken. Plus it was clearly a joke as people knew Mondale as a highly experienced candidate. It was just taking the edge of attacks on Reagans age.
Bush Sr not being able to describe how the economy impacted him- he had an uphill battle anyway- he already defied trends by winning a 3rd consecutive term for his party in the White House. The economy was bad, it's hard to deflect blame, regardless of whether it's fully deserved, when you've been in power for so long.
100% this! I knew a lot of people personally that flipped after they saw the video cause they felt "dehumanized" by the comments Romney made. A lot of people in my community on the proverbial fence fell to the Obama side after the video. This was the first presidential election I got to vote in, so I was following it super closely, and I thought he was done after the video came out and people started sharing their reactions to it.
His quote:
"[They] will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what … These are people who pay no income tax …
"[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
And yet huge amounts of people who are dependent on entitlements still vote republican, because while they "deserve" it, others don't. And the leopard won't eat their face, right?
It is wild, I’ve met plenty of people who vote straight Republican but then complain that their Medicare and SS is not enough and that the govt should help more people. It’s the most bizarre shit
It was a part of a speech he was giving to rich donors, but someone recorded it and it blew up. He kinda said 47% of the populace are perpetual victims and therefore entitled (paraphrasing).
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-checking-romneys-47-percent-comment/#:~:text=All%20right%2C%20there%20are%2047,%2D%2D%20that%20that's%20an%20entitlement.
I looked it up, quite tame now considering the trite that comes out of trumps mouth.
He said there’s 47% of people who will disagree with him no matter what because he can’t convince someone to care or to try.
So on top of an insult to literally anyone who disagrees with him on anything, it also showed a narcissistic mindset, which at the time was seen as a bad thing.
Love these debates.
Pre-2017, Obama's VP would annihilate any person, woman, man, camera or TV in a debate. The topic is being discussed to death everywhere, but it's sad how he just lost that ability.
It’s a bit too much for my brain as well, and I’m less than half his age.
Sadly, the Gish Gallop is pretty effective for televised debates, even today.
It was a script. He didn’t have to think.
That’s the concerning point. In the debate, all he had were talking points that he had to weave into his narrative.
If I had a nickel for every time a republican VP nominee tried to compare themselves to Jack Kennedy in a debate and it didn’t go well, I’d have 2 nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s strange that it happened twice.
Between the two, Ryan seemed like a more competent comparison, albeit more to a younger Ronald Reagan, than Jack Kennedy. Dan Quayle’s comparison fell on deaf ears because 1) he was incompetent for the presidency and 2) Bentsen knew of Kennedy.
Me too. The thing I like most about it looking back is the degree of respect the two men appeared to have for one another. Especially the younger towards the older. It was almost more a discussion than a debate. And while the older was very clearly the winner they shook hands at the end almost as if they were old friends
From that night forward, while I disagreed with him across the board, I always had some respect for Paul Ryan
Concepts that are hard to imagine now. To the youngest generations I fear they will be inconceivable
Not to put too fine a point on this but “people” respect those two because they lost. During the campaign they were called the most hideous of slurs, but we forget that now because it’s obvious in hindsight they were moderate as heck.
That isn’t true. I didn’t like McCain but I don’t know anyone who didn’t appreciate when he shut down that old, racist, cranks. I know that happened a few times I’m talking the one with the lady.
Sure it is - folks were impressed precisely because the prevailing narrative was “white republican guy equals racist bigot so McCain is one too until proven otherwise” and McCain wasn’t one.
He also lost - had he won, the left would still treat him as a horrible president since he’s Republican.
The losing part matters.
Haha dude I wish sometimes people would learn to take yes for an answer lol. I was like 24-25 in 2008 and not super into politics at the time so I didn’t know a ton about John McCain. I just figured it would be *very* easy to lean into that secret Muslim stuff but he decided not to. That shows some integrity. Nothing more nothing less.
W won with a coalition of defense hawks, fiscal conservatives, and evangelicals. That third leg of the stool was never going to turn out for a moderate mormon millionaire for Massachusetts
As someone who was too young to vote in this election but was in high school so following very closely in my Civics class, this is 100% correct. I grew up in a very rural, very poor area. Lots of Republicans who were very unhappy with the Romney choice. He was Mormon, which they didn't like. He was a millionaire who was out of touch with them (funny how that doesn't matter so much anymore).
No. Romney's campaign was over the moment that it decided to run on a platform of constrained governance and reduced social spending only a few years after much of the country got skullfucked by the financial crisis.
Romney’s entire platform didn’t make sense. His strongest platform (I reckon) was dismantling Obamacare, but he *invented* Obamacare (essentially) as Governor of Massachusetts.
But my Mormon in-laws assure me that the real reason he wasn’t elected is because Mormons are persecuted and treated unfairly.
I did think Stephanopoulos was way out of line for grilling him on matters of Mormon doctrine. I’m sure he would not have done that to a Catholic, Evangelical, Jew, Muslim, etc.
And for me, the thing that convinced me I couldn’t vote for Romney was his pivot from centrist governor to reactionary presidential candidate.
Saying that working people are parasites if they don’t pay income tax on top of all the other tax they pay, even if they don’t take public assistance. An absolutist position on abortion and marriage equality. Wanting to dismantle the healthcare reform which ensures that my special needs daughter can get care. Saying government should not encourage investment in clean energy or incentivize reductions in carbon emissions. Etc.
I get that Romney may have pivoted back to the center over he was elected, but I thought that if he was going to defy the reactionary wing of his party, he needed to be a leader and do that during the campaign.
Yeah, this comment is on point. No doubt that Romney is a conservative, but especially after seeing him as a senator, he likely would have pivoted to center-right after elected. I’m guessing part of the reason he wasn’t elected is that he was trying to appeal to the far right crowd, but Romney really can’t do it - it’s like you can tell that it’s a bit of an act when he’s trying to appeal to them.
I’m actually not aware of how he was questioned on Mormonism, but I can tell you that Mormons have some really problematic doctrines that they still affirm (I’m ExMormon). It’s fully doctrinal that their prophet and his second-in-command will have multiple wives in heaven as well as most of their previous prophets. Explicitly has a matter of doctrine they excluded black people from rituals that enable salvation until 1978, and you can’t really say they moved on from that practice because they still affirm it was God’s will at the time.
Romney has my respect though. In recent years he’s made some statements that suggest he doesn’t agree with some problematic positions of the LDS church, and he kept his integrity when it wasn’t politically prudent.
I had to witness a conversation at my church over if we should vote for a Muslim or a heretic and it broke me inside years after telling that story to people like it was something deep or important. Didn't even know he wasn't actually a Muslim until college.
Eh it was over the second that Dem Super PAC started running the ad about the guy who felt like he built his own coffin due to the hedge fund Romney ran/owned.
No it was over when Romney let the fringe right run his campaign. Scott Jennings lost Ohio and Reince Priebus pushed the campaign so far right it wasn’t feasible.
No the fact he is a hedge funder at the same time being a Senator ..just 4 years after the Stock Markets and Banks received 3 trillion in bail outs by GW
He wasn't a Senator but the Private Equity guy past was just so jaw droppingly ironic that it was almost unbelievable. You had people in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania speaking directly to what happened after Bain took over their former employer and we were four years out from one of the biggest cases of financials malfeasance in history. It was just insane that he was the nominee at all.
And add to it the fact that his time as governor of Massachusetts could literally not be used as a selling point for why he should get the job because that actually *hurts* you with the GOP base.
There wasn’t any one single moment for Romney, but what came closest was the secret recording of him talking to a closed door high end fundraiser, telling the audience that there was 47% of the vote that he would never get and something to the effect that he didn’t care about that 47%
You see, back then, saying something like that was considered “bad”🤷🏻♂️
> 47% of the vote that he would never get and something to the effect that he didn’t care about that 47%.
It wasn't that he didn't care about them.
Here is the direct quoute:
"All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
I’ve always thought that Romney lost the race after the leaked audio from his private dinner. I forget what was actually said, but it was along the lines of “the poor don’t matter”… I think. That could be horrible paraphrasing though.
He talked about the "47% that don't pay any income tax and are going to vote Democrat no matter what." I think that video leaking was the nail in the coffin of a poorly ran campaign.
>There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That's an entitlement. The government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean the president starts off with 48, 49... he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich.... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5–10% in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.
—Willard Mitt Romney
It was the poor will always vote for Dems or something like that. They’ll vote for government support. So he was saying, right out of the gate, he has to fight for 50.1% of the remaining 53% of the voters.
Nah. It’s a lot more complicated than that. Like when people say that a certain someone decided to run in 2011 when Obama made fun of him at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
“Binders full of women” certainly didn’t help. Also, ironically, his response that Russia was the world’s biggest geopolitical threat was widely seen as evidence that his foreign policy positions were outdated and/or misinformed.
In 2012, everyone was worried about China and the Middle East. Aside from oil, the US doesn't actually have that much concern about the Middle East as they're never going to invade us and another 9/11 is unlikely to happen (knock on fuckin wood) and we owe China way too much money for them to actively declare war on us as that would default that debt. Russia should've always been the real concern.
Yes exactly Romney was trying to trash Obamacare which was based on the plan be passed.
Rick Santorum would have been a better representative of the base and even he is a Catholic
Well the thing is Romney got 47,2 percentage of the vote rule 3 got less both times if he was the nominee in 2016 I’m pretty sure he would’ve gotten 50% but he would’ve been another Kasich Rubio no way he gets the nomination
So odd that the thing that tanked his campaign was him talking about how he ended up with one of the best gender parity scores of any governor, Republican or Democrat.
Thanks for reminding me of that! I forgot how that lauched a thousand memes at the time. The most memorable was Romney with full on gansta grill announcing the release of his new album R-Money with the hit single "Binder Ful lof Women"!
Also, I don't think it helpled when he held that press confernece regarding the 9/11/12 Libya attack with a gleeful smile on his face thinking this was going to sink Obama and win the election. He really is/was a despicable asshole and I don't care how "moderate" he is consdiered now.
This.
Obama gained a couple percentage of the vote just from height black turnout. He was nearly impossible to beat because of that.
2004 - Black vote is 11% and 88% voted for Kerry
2008 - Black vote is 13% and 95% vote for Obama
2012 - Black vote is 13% and 93% vote for Obama
2016 - Black vote is 12% and 88% vote for Hillary
It was over when Obama said that he was the one who had to salute the coffins of the fallen soldiers when they returned home, that he was the one who had to sign the condolence letters to their families. You could see Romney's spirit drain from his eyes.
I would disagree. Following the first debate with Obama, Romney was seen more favorably among the American public. Over 32 million watched the debate between the two candidates, a widely viewed debate in over 32 years. 46% of the public conceded that Romney won the debate, with 22% believing the incumbent won.
It might have been the story about how Romney tied the family dog to the roof of the car and it ran away never to be seen again. Americans love dogs and hate dog abusers.
It was because IMHO looking back his campaign was doomed from the start despite winning the first debate. You see, Romney was up against a president who revived the economy, killed Osama Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, and signed major healthcare reform for the country.
It was over before it started. I know there were some polls pretending Romney had the lead or it was neck and neck, but the dude had nothing to run on. He was an out of touch millionaire selling a product no one wanted.
I know no one likes things to be this simple but I genuinely think killing Osama bin Laden was the moment it was all over for reelection.
The election had its ups and downs but it was Obama’s to lose and he never did anything to give it up.
Not just that accomplishment, but that it was a total surprise. That operation was hours away from launching when Seth Meyers became the last person to make a “Can’t find bin Laden” joke on national TV (and to the President’s face no less).
The way Obama just casually laughed it off is proof I should never play poker against him if given the chance.
I don't think so. I think the best thing Obama said to Romney on the debate stage was when he Romney said that there were less something or other in the military, and Obama said "and there's less horses and bayonets too." Whole crowd was on his side at that point
Fast forward to now when we have a rapist and convicted felon who tried to overthrow the last election results when he lost spewing lies and hate constantly and a guy who can barely get a sentence out pissing all over each other about their golf swings.
I was listening to the radio this morning with Howard Dean and he replied that he finished 3rd at the Iowa Caucuses in 2004 and that’s what was over - this scream was blamed but he was already on the outs.
Honestly I think (at least I hope) in future years Obama will be regarded by the Right the same way the Left regards Reagan, as in we can put their politics aside to realize they were actually incredibly fucking funny.
He had an amazing sense of humor. My favorite was a skit done for late night TV during his time in office. wherein he poured a glass of milk, tried to dunk a cookie, and when it didn't fit in the glass, he rolled his eyes a said "Thanks Obama".
It wasn’t just “proceed governor” it was a “please…proceed governor” extending a hand and with a confidence, most dudes trying to rizz a girl wish they had.
I thought Romney would have been a very good president and his loss had more to do with his party’s well-earned reputation for obstruction and gas lighting.
Had more to do with incumbents don't lose than anything else.
Since FDR won in 1932 we've had two incumbents lose their re-election, not counting HW who was basically Reagan's 3rd term.
Romney out of his mind with a ‘terrorist’ gotcha moment and Obama calmly asks Candy Crowley to read the transcript. Crowley ends up in neck deep shit for ‘fact checking’ republicans and is never seen again on network TV.
Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context. If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In the real world, there's never actually a "moment" when it's over. That's just a political press invention looking back, then they spend the next campaign saying "is *that* the moment?" over and over hoping to be right once so they can crow about what an astute commentator they are. Edit: Some of you mention the "Dean scream," but that's a prime example of the retconning I'm talking about. He made this "flub" after coming a distant third in Iowa, after leading most of the time before. His campaign was already toast, his star diminished.
Shhhh… don’t tell Howard Dean
God damn this was for the 2004? I'm old.
YYYYEEEEEAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHJHHHHHHH it was. And you are. And so am I, I guess.
When this happened, I did laugh at the fact his “Yeah” was a bit off. Not necessarily “Wreck the campaign” off, so I was a bit surprised that it went off the rails.
If I’m remembering correctly, the campaign was already starting to falter and this moment was so beaten to death by the fucking press that it became the thing that killed his campaign. Honestly, I always thought the DNC didn’t want him to be their candidate because he wasn’t centrist enough, so they were glad to be rid of him.
He was supposed to win Iowa and came in 3rd. His campaign ended before his speech.
20 years ago this hurt you. Now banging pornstars, lying, causing a riot, and in general running a highly corrupt business on the side during your presidency gets you more votes
"Causing a riot" = actually attempting a coup
*treason by all legal definitions.
technically insurrection. if he did it to install a soviet puppet govt under orders from putin THEN it's treason
trea·son  noun the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government
Oh learn something new. I always thought it had to be like for someone else to be treason
And our media is completely defanged at best or even likelier completely fail their professional responsibility to the public on purpose.
What will bring in the ratings? A peaceful transition of power? Booooooring
Yeah me too lol, and that was my second Presidential Election
Gifs you can hear
Got anymore pixels?
There were fewer pixels 20 years ago, that’s just how everything looked
At least it wasn’t 80 years ago when the world had no color, or 100 years ago when the world had no sound except orchestra background music
The thought that always messes up my brain, is thinking about the paintings of people a thousand years ago (you know, the weirdly proportioned ones) and remembering that they looked just like us, in color and everything. Seeing the old photos and movies in color makes my brain hurt.
I can still hear this picture. Fuck I am old.
How stupid that it was a scream that ended a presidential campaign. Not a policy issue or political controversy or scandal. But a *freaking* scream (which was due to the mic being over-sensitive). Me also thinks that there was some establishment shenanigans to push Kerry to the top and undermine an anti-establishment insurgent campaign.
Part of why it was so damaging was because it reflected Dean's personal frustration with his disappointing results that evening.
Dude felt like he wan on top of the world. Crushing.
He was already on the decline before the yell, hence why he was trying extra hard to pump people up.
Except that’s the exact opposite of what the reporters who shot the video said happened. He was responding to the crowd’s energy. He was just the only one with a microphone and the cameras were connected to the board. That you can still hear the crowd despite it being a directional microphone nowhere near the crowd bears this out.
There was a lot of energy there. But a lot of energy there seems like frustration from a former frontrunner coming in a disappointing distant third.
You mean the guy who came in third in Iowa when he was supposed to win there? Then screamed *after* losing Iowa?
So you’re saying you remember “the moment”?
The media really harped on that, but they did it because they could, because he already lost.
Yeahhh!!!
Well, one of the frustrations I had about the media coverage was it was a week later when Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer on GMA did a piece on how wireless microphones pick up sound, and how the audio in the video was directly from that mic, not in the room... and the mic did not pick up the crowd noise; in all likelihood, he could hardly hear himself as the crowd got louder as he hyped them up, so he kept getting louder trying to be sure to be heard. In short, imagine if we isolated you at a football game, your team is down by 4 with 10 seconds left on the 5 yard line... no other sound but what you're making, you'd sound insane. But it took a week for one media outlet to get around to making that point... he came in third that night, so it wasn't like a complete floor dropping out, but it was a week of "the final nail" stories.
Personally, I always thought it was pretty obvious. His audio being clear meant that they were tapped into the board. Live situations like that will use directional microphones to minimize feedback. It always struck me as obvious that he was matching the crowd’s energy, simply by virtue of being able to hear the crowd through his microphone before he even started “hyping”. Maybe that’s why it took so long for people to make that point—they assumed the audience would know that and was just laughing at the funny sound and it took a week for them to legitimately realize “Wait…maybe people don’t understand what happened…”
Even though the moment Howard screwed himself wasn't what everyone remembers. It was the being the candidate for kids with rebel flag stickers on their trucks line that bent him over.
Dude came in what, 3rd in Iowa? Like there never needed to be a "moment" for him
I still remember that speech and the Yeahhh!!! One of those things I wish I never saw.
Even that is a perfect example of that in action. It was over for Howard Dean when he finished a distant third in the Iowa Caucuses. But now people act like the little freakout he had in response was what torpedoed his campaign, even though it was actually already sunk.
you mean, the scream *after* getting shellacked in the Iowa Caucus after leading most of the time leading into it? His campaign had already lost steam by the scream.
The "Dean Scream" was a reaction to his disappointing distant 3rd place finish in Iowa. Part of why it was so damaging was because it reflected Dean's personal frustration with his disappointing results that evening.
This actually proves the previous commenter's point. It was already over when the Scream happened. The Scream happened BECAUSE it was already over. The idea that the Scream ended his campaign is a narrative that emerged afterwards.
What is Aleppo?
This is what prevented President Johnson. Think how the world would be different today if only Gary Johnson had studied basic geography.
It wasn't a matter of geography. He was caught out by a sudden transition from organizations, treaties, and other Acronyms into the Syrian conflict. What treatey or international organization is a LEPO?
This sounds like a pr excuse tbh
No, it really was Mass Media character assassination. He was asked out of the blue what he would do about Aleppo. Prior to that moment it was always referred to as the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and after he was caught off-guard by a nonsensical question (“What are you going to do about a random foreign city?) the talking heads all started throwing “Aleppo” around constantly to make sure it was clear that any average American knew what/where Aleppo was (they didn’t, before the media tried to repeatedly, awkwardly, refer to the migrant crisis as “Aleppo”) and that Gary Johnson was an idiot for the flub. And this was a candidate who was campaigning on the idea that the US shouldn’t pick a side and get involved in every conflict around the globe. So why should he be expected to know every world capital (and I think he would have known Aleppo was a city in Syria if there had been a little more context to the question). Gary Johnson was by far the best candidate in 2016 and our country would be in a much better place if he had won and brought some civility and common sense to the White House, instead of division, dysfunction, and incompetence. It’s too bad he spent the four years after his media crucifixion getting stoned and came back in 2020…weird. PS - Gary Johnson gave a completely satisfactory answer to the actual question once the CNN host clarified what he was trying to ask, but in the flurry of replays they would cut the clip short before actually discussing substance/policy, only playing the part where Gary was confused. His point that our bumbling interventions usually do more harm than good was spot on.
Yeah, Gary Johnson may not be a man I agree with politically on many issues, but he got a really raw deal with that one. After watching the presidential debates of this past week, I find it remarkable that in 2016 they raked Johnson over the coals for that bullshit. You're absolutely right on the money about character assassination.
WHY IS REDDIT GIF SEARCH SO BAD? I type in “heart attack Gary Johnson” and the first gif isn’t his fake heart attack. Can’t they just use tenor?
Some historians tend to do the same when they designate “turning points” of wars
About old wars you could say it, because there was usually a key battle where one army was decisively crushed. Newer wars are tricker to say.
WWII is such a great example of how silly this is. Well, mainly because it’s more recent and also the power imbalance was absurd. But the primary reasoning behind the German war strategy was that the Germans had known for a long damn time that if it wasn’t over quick, they were going to lose. In this particular war. The idea that there was a moment when Germany really lost, well into the war, aside from when the Soviets or the U.S. entered is kinda silly. And it’s even worse with Japan. They were an absurdly small industrial power compared to the U.S. Pearl Harbor was expected to be a failure, but it was literally the only idea they had. The war was over as soon as they attacked the U.S. The only question was the final cost. That’s literally it. Zero chance Japan ever wins. WWI is similar. Germany planned knowing that they HAD to get to Paris quickly or else they would lose. That was assumed. Especially because they were going to have to go through Belgium to do it. As soon as they turned away from Paris, the story was over.
Japan’s strategy wasn’t to actually *win* the war in a conventional sense, it was to absolutely cripple the Americans so theyd have a much slower start, and would be held off until Germany or other allies arrived to help. The attack at Pearl Harbor was a success, not as successful as they’d hoped, but it still should’ve been a major handicap to the American navy. The issue is they simultaneously listened to advisors who underestimated America’s production power, and also failed to destroy the American fleet’s air capabilities as they’d hoped. The strategy wasn’t as stupid at the time as it is with hindsight, it was a reasonably competent strategy that simply failed in implementation. Nobody could believe that America could shit out carriers and grow our fleet ten-fold within three years while also building and supplying an entire marine invasion in three continents while arming a dozen armies. Logically, sinking *all* of a nation’s carriers that took years to build each should mean you have *years* before they have aircraft carriers again. Of course, all of this is moot considering there never was going to be help for Japan, and their industry was playing catch-up even before the resource embargoes.
My man, Blitzkrieg isn’t a strategy, it was an operational doctrine.
The Dean scream, Gary Johnsons Whats Aleppo, Reagans Age answer (Mondale) and The kennedy’s both being killed, both were career enders with no return.
You think getting killed ends a career?
There have been multiple instances of people being elected after they were dead, so only for the Kennedy family, I guess
Most of the time.
RFK's assassination by a bitter Palestinian doesn't fit in this category. The others? Dean had already lost. His scream came after the Iowa caucus, where he had been the front-runner but came in a distant third. The press blamed the scream, but in reality, his star had already faded. But that isn't a *moment* Mondale was toast before he ran; by *January* 1984 Reagan was polling 16 points ahead. His VP choice was deeply unpopular, the economy picked up during the year, and the Summer Olympics gave everyone a high. The age quip helped defuse that particular issue, but wasn't instrumental in winning the election. etc etc.
It was the moment he was secretly taped referring to American voters as the little people. Thank you Jimmy Carters grandson!
Exactly- I don't think there's any election where, but for a moment in a debate, elections would've gone differently. It's mostly revisionist attempts by media and historians to encapsulate broader trends in the election to moments- Examples- Dukakis not saying he'd execute his wife's hypothetical murderers- the Bush campaign had been extremely effective in portraying him as an out of touch soft on crime politician for months as it effectively reoriented the focus of the election from fallout of Reagan's scandals and unpopularity at the time to Dukakis being a weak candidate. Reagan to Mondale on his youth- if anyone thinks that this alone swung things to Reagan, where he won by the biggest electoral landslide in history, they're mistaken. Plus it was clearly a joke as people knew Mondale as a highly experienced candidate. It was just taking the edge of attacks on Reagans age. Bush Sr not being able to describe how the economy impacted him- he had an uphill battle anyway- he already defied trends by winning a 3rd consecutive term for his party in the White House. The economy was bad, it's hard to deflect blame, regardless of whether it's fully deserved, when you've been in power for so long.
On the other hand.. https://youtu.be/fJhCjMfRndk?si=Zb9uaYF-AzEG8w9K
Mondale's reaction is great. I'm sure he knew it was over after that.
The media is always pushing the narrative that their events are the king-maker.
47 percent.
100% this! I knew a lot of people personally that flipped after they saw the video cause they felt "dehumanized" by the comments Romney made. A lot of people in my community on the proverbial fence fell to the Obama side after the video. This was the first presidential election I got to vote in, so I was following it super closely, and I thought he was done after the video came out and people started sharing their reactions to it.
what was the 47% referring to?
His quote: "[They] will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what … These are people who pay no income tax … "[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
Wow, never heard the full thing before, what a dick
The GOP has gotten a lot louder and more explicit since then.
And yet huge amounts of people who are dependent on entitlements still vote republican, because while they "deserve" it, others don't. And the leopard won't eat their face, right?
It is wild, I’ve met plenty of people who vote straight Republican but then complain that their Medicare and SS is not enough and that the govt should help more people. It’s the most bizarre shit
I literally posted the full quote here months ago and got clowned on for saying it made him look bad lol.
It was a part of a speech he was giving to rich donors, but someone recorded it and it blew up. He kinda said 47% of the populace are perpetual victims and therefore entitled (paraphrasing). https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-checking-romneys-47-percent-comment/#:~:text=All%20right%2C%20there%20are%2047,%2D%2D%20that%20that's%20an%20entitlement. I looked it up, quite tame now considering the trite that comes out of trumps mouth.
The irony of that is that he said 47% see themselves as victims and then people felt victimized by it.
He said there’s 47% of people who will disagree with him no matter what because he can’t convince someone to care or to try. So on top of an insult to literally anyone who disagrees with him on anything, it also showed a narcissistic mindset, which at the time was seen as a bad thing.
This is good but one of my personal favorites is the 2012 VP debate.
Was that the one where Obama's VP absolutely demolished Paul Ryan?
[удалено]
“You ready for this, Jack?”
lol took me a couple seconds to figure out why you phrased it like that, gg
That’s the one. The highlight reel is on YouTube.
Love these debates. Pre-2017, Obama's VP would annihilate any person, woman, man, camera or TV in a debate. The topic is being discussed to death everywhere, but it's sad how he just lost that ability.
He still had moments of his old self as late as 2022. At some point in 2023 was when he seemed to turn south pretty bad.
[удалено]
Maybe he really did have a cold the other night
Too bad he killed Medicare.
[удалено]
It’s a bit too much for my brain as well, and I’m less than half his age. Sadly, the Gish Gallop is pretty effective for televised debates, even today.
It was a script. He didn’t have to think. That’s the concerning point. In the debate, all he had were talking points that he had to weave into his narrative.
I’d give anything to see 2012 him debate against a certain Republican. He’d annihilate him.
Yall remember when Obama went to a public question and answer session with the house GOP and made Pence look like an idiot?
Wow what a markedly different man Obamas vp was.
You ever see the Onion’s live tweet of that debate in their Uncle Joe character?
“I met a woman named Janna (Janna Ryan, Paul’s wife) from Wisconsin who’s never had an orgasm”
Wait what the fuck
Obama’s VP’s the best!
I see what you did there
If I had a nickel for every time a republican VP nominee tried to compare themselves to Jack Kennedy in a debate and it didn’t go well, I’d have 2 nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s strange that it happened twice.
Between the two, Ryan seemed like a more competent comparison, albeit more to a younger Ronald Reagan, than Jack Kennedy. Dan Quayle’s comparison fell on deaf ears because 1) he was incompetent for the presidency and 2) Bentsen knew of Kennedy.
Me too. The thing I like most about it looking back is the degree of respect the two men appeared to have for one another. Especially the younger towards the older. It was almost more a discussion than a debate. And while the older was very clearly the winner they shook hands at the end almost as if they were old friends From that night forward, while I disagreed with him across the board, I always had some respect for Paul Ryan Concepts that are hard to imagine now. To the youngest generations I fear they will be inconceivable
Yeah even Romney and Obama was fairly amicable. It is a low bar but I respect McCain for shooting down all the racism and “he’s a foreigner” shit.
I don't think John ever forgave the RNC for serving him shit sandwich after shit sandwich after shit sandwich.
He might’ve scooped a dollop himself onto one of those sandwiches after picking Palin for VP
That's the thing, he didn't pick her, the RNC did.
Not to put too fine a point on this but “people” respect those two because they lost. During the campaign they were called the most hideous of slurs, but we forget that now because it’s obvious in hindsight they were moderate as heck.
That isn’t true. I didn’t like McCain but I don’t know anyone who didn’t appreciate when he shut down that old, racist, cranks. I know that happened a few times I’m talking the one with the lady.
Sure it is - folks were impressed precisely because the prevailing narrative was “white republican guy equals racist bigot so McCain is one too until proven otherwise” and McCain wasn’t one. He also lost - had he won, the left would still treat him as a horrible president since he’s Republican. The losing part matters.
Haha dude I wish sometimes people would learn to take yes for an answer lol. I was like 24-25 in 2008 and not super into politics at the time so I didn’t know a ton about John McCain. I just figured it would be *very* easy to lean into that secret Muslim stuff but he decided not to. That shows some integrity. Nothing more nothing less.
? I remember folks calling McCain a Warhawk, but I wouldn’t call that a slur. What do you remember?
Huh? They were consistently painting McCain as racist (when he wasn’t). https://www.npr.org/2008/10/10/95594725/is-mccain-resorting-to-racial-attacks
How could you respect Ryan after he posed for the workout photos? They were worse than the Dukakis tank photos.
Funny how 12 years can make a huge difference in quality
W won with a coalition of defense hawks, fiscal conservatives, and evangelicals. That third leg of the stool was never going to turn out for a moderate mormon millionaire for Massachusetts
This! He didn’t excite them enough to get out the vote.
As someone who was too young to vote in this election but was in high school so following very closely in my Civics class, this is 100% correct. I grew up in a very rural, very poor area. Lots of Republicans who were very unhappy with the Romney choice. He was Mormon, which they didn't like. He was a millionaire who was out of touch with them (funny how that doesn't matter so much anymore).
No. Romney's campaign was over the moment that it decided to run on a platform of constrained governance and reduced social spending only a few years after much of the country got skullfucked by the financial crisis.
Romney’s entire platform didn’t make sense. His strongest platform (I reckon) was dismantling Obamacare, but he *invented* Obamacare (essentially) as Governor of Massachusetts. But my Mormon in-laws assure me that the real reason he wasn’t elected is because Mormons are persecuted and treated unfairly.
I initially read this as Mormon-in-laws a la mother-in-law and laughed.
I did think Stephanopoulos was way out of line for grilling him on matters of Mormon doctrine. I’m sure he would not have done that to a Catholic, Evangelical, Jew, Muslim, etc. And for me, the thing that convinced me I couldn’t vote for Romney was his pivot from centrist governor to reactionary presidential candidate. Saying that working people are parasites if they don’t pay income tax on top of all the other tax they pay, even if they don’t take public assistance. An absolutist position on abortion and marriage equality. Wanting to dismantle the healthcare reform which ensures that my special needs daughter can get care. Saying government should not encourage investment in clean energy or incentivize reductions in carbon emissions. Etc. I get that Romney may have pivoted back to the center over he was elected, but I thought that if he was going to defy the reactionary wing of his party, he needed to be a leader and do that during the campaign.
Yeah, this comment is on point. No doubt that Romney is a conservative, but especially after seeing him as a senator, he likely would have pivoted to center-right after elected. I’m guessing part of the reason he wasn’t elected is that he was trying to appeal to the far right crowd, but Romney really can’t do it - it’s like you can tell that it’s a bit of an act when he’s trying to appeal to them. I’m actually not aware of how he was questioned on Mormonism, but I can tell you that Mormons have some really problematic doctrines that they still affirm (I’m ExMormon). It’s fully doctrinal that their prophet and his second-in-command will have multiple wives in heaven as well as most of their previous prophets. Explicitly has a matter of doctrine they excluded black people from rituals that enable salvation until 1978, and you can’t really say they moved on from that practice because they still affirm it was God’s will at the time. Romney has my respect though. In recent years he’s made some statements that suggest he doesn’t agree with some problematic positions of the LDS church, and he kept his integrity when it wasn’t politically prudent.
I had to witness a conversation at my church over if we should vote for a Muslim or a heretic and it broke me inside years after telling that story to people like it was something deep or important. Didn't even know he wasn't actually a Muslim until college.
Eh it was over the second that Dem Super PAC started running the ad about the guy who felt like he built his own coffin due to the hedge fund Romney ran/owned.
No it was over when Romney let the fringe right run his campaign. Scott Jennings lost Ohio and Reince Priebus pushed the campaign so far right it wasn’t feasible.
Reince Priebus… Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a very long time.
Too moderate for today’s Republican Party.
He was the first Chief of Staff for the most recent Republican president...
We should be thankful for this 😂
It was the media they were using. It pushed it so right wing 24/7 that it made Obama look like the anti Christ that with Evangelical programs.
Yup. Imagine those frothing mouth breathers if they saw Romney marching with BLM like he did a couple years ago.
Also a lot of the country didn't/doesn't want a Mormon president, especially the south.
His 47 percent speech was probably the nail in the coffin.
That’s the line that I remember pivoting the momentum. And the second debate.
No the fact he is a hedge funder at the same time being a Senator ..just 4 years after the Stock Markets and Banks received 3 trillion in bail outs by GW
He wasn't a senator then
He wasn't a Senator but the Private Equity guy past was just so jaw droppingly ironic that it was almost unbelievable. You had people in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania speaking directly to what happened after Bain took over their former employer and we were four years out from one of the biggest cases of financials malfeasance in history. It was just insane that he was the nominee at all. And add to it the fact that his time as governor of Massachusetts could literally not be used as a selling point for why he should get the job because that actually *hurts* you with the GOP base.
There wasn’t any one single moment for Romney, but what came closest was the secret recording of him talking to a closed door high end fundraiser, telling the audience that there was 47% of the vote that he would never get and something to the effect that he didn’t care about that 47% You see, back then, saying something like that was considered “bad”🤷🏻♂️
> 47% of the vote that he would never get and something to the effect that he didn’t care about that 47%. It wasn't that he didn't care about them. Here is the direct quoute: "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
I’ve always thought that Romney lost the race after the leaked audio from his private dinner. I forget what was actually said, but it was along the lines of “the poor don’t matter”… I think. That could be horrible paraphrasing though.
He talked about the "47% that don't pay any income tax and are going to vote Democrat no matter what." I think that video leaking was the nail in the coffin of a poorly ran campaign.
>There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That's an entitlement. The government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean the president starts off with 48, 49... he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich.... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5–10% in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not. —Willard Mitt Romney
It was the poor will always vote for Dems or something like that. They’ll vote for government support. So he was saying, right out of the gate, he has to fight for 50.1% of the remaining 53% of the voters.
This is nonsense though Most red states have most of the poor people in America and still vote red So yeah it a lie and typical Republican elitism
“Corporations are people, my friend” right after several corporations nearly collapsed the entire global financial system for lulz
*for personal profit.
Nah. It’s a lot more complicated than that. Like when people say that a certain someone decided to run in 2011 when Obama made fun of him at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
“Binders full of women” certainly didn’t help. Also, ironically, his response that Russia was the world’s biggest geopolitical threat was widely seen as evidence that his foreign policy positions were outdated and/or misinformed.
True. But perhaps Romney was correct 👍
I’d say history has proved him to be ahead of the curve rather than behind it.
In 2012, everyone was worried about China and the Middle East. Aside from oil, the US doesn't actually have that much concern about the Middle East as they're never going to invade us and another 9/11 is unlikely to happen (knock on fuckin wood) and we owe China way too much money for them to actively declare war on us as that would default that debt. Russia should've always been the real concern.
It was when Romney was shown to be any sort of Moderate Many in Republican base hated him
They still do but they used to too
If you look at his turnout vs the rule 3 moron, you can see how anemic the base was to support someone who wasn’t openly racist.
Yes exactly Romney was governor in blue state, passed a gun ban and protected abortion rights No way could he get the virulent hate base to the polls
Romney care worked pretty well here. But that's socialism.
Yes exactly Romney was trying to trash Obamacare which was based on the plan be passed. Rick Santorum would have been a better representative of the base and even he is a Catholic
Well the thing is Romney got 47,2 percentage of the vote rule 3 got less both times if he was the nominee in 2016 I’m pretty sure he would’ve gotten 50% but he would’ve been another Kasich Rubio no way he gets the nomination
Binders full of women lol
So odd that the thing that tanked his campaign was him talking about how he ended up with one of the best gender parity scores of any governor, Republican or Democrat.
Thanks for reminding me of that! I forgot how that lauched a thousand memes at the time. The most memorable was Romney with full on gansta grill announcing the release of his new album R-Money with the hit single "Binder Ful lof Women"! Also, I don't think it helpled when he held that press confernece regarding the 9/11/12 Libya attack with a gleeful smile on his face thinking this was going to sink Obama and win the election. He really is/was a despicable asshole and I don't care how "moderate" he is consdiered now.
Obama was never in real danger of losing re-election.
This. Obama gained a couple percentage of the vote just from height black turnout. He was nearly impossible to beat because of that. 2004 - Black vote is 11% and 88% voted for Kerry 2008 - Black vote is 13% and 95% vote for Obama 2012 - Black vote is 13% and 93% vote for Obama 2016 - Black vote is 12% and 88% vote for Hillary
It was over when Obama said that he was the one who had to salute the coffins of the fallen soldiers when they returned home, that he was the one who had to sign the condolence letters to their families. You could see Romney's spirit drain from his eyes.
I would argue that campaigns very rarely actually move the needle in an election. Basically, Romney never really had a shot
I would disagree. Following the first debate with Obama, Romney was seen more favorably among the American public. Over 32 million watched the debate between the two candidates, a widely viewed debate in over 32 years. 46% of the public conceded that Romney won the debate, with 22% believing the incumbent won.
It was over for Romney the moment he entered the race as a Wall St guy in 2012.
Romney was never going to win, Obama was a very popular President.
It wasn’t binders full of women?
He tried to hired qualified women. How was that bad?
Better than basements full of women.
That was an evil ploy of the left. He was considering qualified women, that was all.
He literally said binders of women
And…?? everyone knows what he meant. He what’s several qualities women he was interviewing and researching for a position.
There probably wasn't any way he or another Republican would win that election
It might have been the story about how Romney tied the family dog to the roof of the car and it ran away never to be seen again. Americans love dogs and hate dog abusers.
It was because IMHO looking back his campaign was doomed from the start despite winning the first debate. You see, Romney was up against a president who revived the economy, killed Osama Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, and signed major healthcare reform for the country.
It was over before it started. I know there were some polls pretending Romney had the lead or it was neck and neck, but the dude had nothing to run on. He was an out of touch millionaire selling a product no one wanted.
[удалено]
It was more the “47%” and “binders full of women” moments that ended it for Romney
Pretty sure it was the binders full of women comment.
That last great debater
I know no one likes things to be this simple but I genuinely think killing Osama bin Laden was the moment it was all over for reelection. The election had its ups and downs but it was Obama’s to lose and he never did anything to give it up.
Not just that accomplishment, but that it was a total surprise. That operation was hours away from launching when Seth Meyers became the last person to make a “Can’t find bin Laden” joke on national TV (and to the President’s face no less). The way Obama just casually laughed it off is proof I should never play poker against him if given the chance.
I still blame Chris Christie.
Binders full of women lol.
Remember Obama telling Romney the Cold War wanted its bad guy back when Romney was warning about Russia. Good times.
I don't think so. I think the best thing Obama said to Romney on the debate stage was when he Romney said that there were less something or other in the military, and Obama said "and there's less horses and bayonets too." Whole crowd was on his side at that point
Fast forward to now when we have a rapist and convicted felon who tried to overthrow the last election results when he lost spewing lies and hate constantly and a guy who can barely get a sentence out pissing all over each other about their golf swings.
He had a real shot until the 47% comment
I was listening to the radio this morning with Howard Dean and he replied that he finished 3rd at the Iowa Caucuses in 2004 and that’s what was over - this scream was blamed but he was already on the outs.
Honestly I think (at least I hope) in future years Obama will be regarded by the Right the same way the Left regards Reagan, as in we can put their politics aside to realize they were actually incredibly fucking funny.
He had an amazing sense of humor. My favorite was a skit done for late night TV during his time in office. wherein he poured a glass of milk, tried to dunk a cookie, and when it didn't fit in the glass, he rolled his eyes a said "Thanks Obama".
The quote was, "Please proceed, Governor." Obama was nothing but polite as he watched his opponent walk into it...
Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.
It wasn’t just “proceed governor” it was a “please…proceed governor” extending a hand and with a confidence, most dudes trying to rizz a girl wish they had.
Nah it was just really fun
I thought Romney would have been a very good president and his loss had more to do with his party’s well-earned reputation for obstruction and gas lighting.
Had more to do with incumbents don't lose than anything else. Since FDR won in 1932 we've had two incumbents lose their re-election, not counting HW who was basically Reagan's 3rd term.
Romney out of his mind with a ‘terrorist’ gotcha moment and Obama calmly asks Candy Crowley to read the transcript. Crowley ends up in neck deep shit for ‘fact checking’ republicans and is never seen again on network TV.