At Cold Harbor- I was killed

I swore I was not going to bring politics into my blog.  My following blog is not an endorsement. Democrats will hate it, republicans will agree with my take.  However, read carefully what I say and understand that Im not making an endorsement, just an observation.  I will go back to a non political blog.

Im going to delete any comments-FYI.


Tonight's Civil War analogy is Cold Harbor (look it up, most probably never heard of it).  Romney had to come off as someone who could be president and not screw up.  A foreign policy debate ALWAYS favors an incumbent, so the goals were very different.  CNN poll that 63% said Obama could be the CiC.  60% said Romney could.  That is virtual tie and is a big win for Romney.  Romney reinforced this tonight in a rather convincing way.  In fact, on the two major debate argument points Obama was wrong.  1) being the agreement with Iraq (VP bet his VP on getting the SOFA- which they ended up not getting) 2) Being the auto bailout- Obama was wrong on that as well.   Not to mention horses and bayonets are still used today (horse statue ) in the military.  Obama went very, very small tonight, while Romney went big.  Obama slashed and attacked, and as a result, gained some debate points for that.  His base will probably thump their chests over it.  However, he also came across pretty negative to the undecided.  Obama came across almost as the challenger and the person who is trailing, where Mitt came across as the leader, the incumbent.  This is coming from focus groups on different channels, not just my thoughts.  Romney was also smart to place himself as close to Obama as possible, so that Obama couldn't paint him as another Bush.  This will only help gain more votes for Romney for those who were afraid he would get us into another war.  But in the end, people care about the economy most.  While Obama might have won on points (it was close- Romney closed very strong), Romney did everything he had to do. CNN says it was 48-40 for Obama but that all thought Mitt did better than expected.   Romney probably closed the gaps on the specific issues where Obama leads (like foreign policy) by being knowledgeable and competent to be President, and he will continue to outpace Obama on the most important issue, the economy.  Obama was focused on winning this debate, but he has sort of lost sight of winning the war.

Another pole (PPP- a democrat poll) post debate:

More/Less likely to vote
Obama 32/more 48/Less
Romney 47/more 35 Less

CNN Post Debate Poll
24% more likely to vote for Obama
25% more likely to vote for Romney

Cold Harbor was the last major Confederate victory of the war.  US Grant considered it his greatest mistake and disaster.  When you take a step back, this battle was a pyrrhic victory for the South.  In the end we all know who won the war.  This is still very possible (probable) in the US election.  However, a month ago the Romney camp was left for dead.  He now goes into the final few weeks as the leader, tied, or within margin of error, on all significant polls, in almost all the major swing states.  This is very significant because undecideds  traditionally break from the incumbent by a 2-1 margin on election day.  People who like Obama, really like Obama.  He still (despite what some polls say) I think has a very good chance at winning because people like him.  However, what a great debate/campaign this has been.  Mitt has proven to be a much better candidate than most people...even Republicans, gave him credit for.