There's any number of reasons why we think President Obama is gonna win reelection. However, at the top of the list is the lessons learned in 2004. Heading in to that election, there was intense opposition to George W. Bush. Many on the left felt that the 2000 election had been stolen. W had done very little to win anyone over. The economny was tanking. His administration had so many scandals, it's hard to keep track. Seriously...here's just a few oldies but goodies: No WMDs...Nigerian Yellowcake anyone?, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, outing Valarie Plame, Cheney's Super Secret Energy Task Force, Indian Jack Abramoff, Halliburton's No-bid 5-yr $7 billion contract, Ground Zero Air hazards, etc, etc...
Anyway, the point is, the left was excited and motivated to beat this guy. So what happened? John Kerry, that's what. Kerry, quite simply, could not sell it. We remain convinced that Kerry was chosen because of his military record, with the conventional thining being: they can't attack us for being weak on national defense, for running on ending the wars if our candidate is a war hero. Give Karl Rove & Co. credit. They recognized this was Kerry's strength and they absolutely killed him with it. Kerry failed miserably to confront the Swift Boat nonsense right away and he paid for it. Once his military record was made a liability (which is actually quite incredible, looking back in hindsight & given that Kerry actually was the kind of "hero" W always pays homage to), Kerry was seen as simply an aloof, rich guy. Say what you will about George W., but despite the fact that he is a rich white dude who has never really had to work for anything, he always came across as "authentic." (We use that phrase in quotes b/c we quite frankly think W has spent a lifetime pretending to be a tough, country-boy for reasons we're sure a shrink would just love to explain stem from W's well-documented Daddy issues).
And thus, we arrive at one Willard Mitt Romney. To paraphrase fictional President Andrew Sheppard, Mitt Romney's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Mitt's problem is that he can't sell it. And that ladies and gents is Romney's problem. Mitt's a fake. A phony. A philosophical whore willing to do or say anything to get your support. He is what he is: a CONSULTANT. That's right...no matter what your problem is, or better yet...it doesn't matter even that you have a problem, Mitt is ready and willing to explain to you how there is something wrong and how he can make it better. He is a professional bullshitter. And while he made a fortune dazzling CEOs and Boards of Directors with slick pitches and buzzwords like "Growth-Share Matrix," it's precisely the type of snakeoil smoke and mirrors that make "Real Americans" suspect. This is a specifically cantankerous problem for Willard, as his is supposed to BE the party of "Real Americans."
Which brings us to the point of our post. The picture above is of President Obama being interviewed by one of our favorite writers, The Sportsguy: Bill Simmons. You can find links to the interview transcript and podcast here. But to truly understand the point we're making, you should watch the videos. The Right can make all the claims about the President being an Ivy-league elitest, or Muslim-Socialist they want. But if they're being honest, they can't deny that the guy is genuine in a way that Romney can never pull off. Obama is comfortable in his own skin and it shows. Compare any video of Romney trying to connect with regular folks versus the video below of President Obama talking about the NBA and his crossover.
Or Compare Romney's tortured "singing" of America the Beautiful to the President's in any of the videos below.
And my favorite, then-Sen. Obama schooling the young brothers on Dionne Warwick:
The point is, 2004 showed us America will take the "real" guy over the fugazi. Go ahead and prepare for the second term, haters.
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