RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

phdave wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:Jean Schmidt, one of the worst members of Congress of either party (questioned Murtha's patriotism on the House floor), loses in the GOP primary tonight. Neat.

She was frightening.

The guy who beat her might be nicer, but he's probably crazier. From what I understand, he thinks we should be in Iraq on a permanent basis.

Oh and Joe the Plumber won the GOP primary in Ohio's 9th congressional district. WTF is wrong with Ohio?

I think it's pretty neat that Joe the Plumber is running.

Better than how Virginia Democrats generally treat uncompetitive districts, which is not running anyone.

Werthless wrote:

dajafi wrote:In the modern media age--since FDR, let's say--by my count, the less skilled politician has won the presidency maybe twice: 1968 and 1976, and both of those are debatable. Anyone care to assert that Romney is a more skilled politician than Obama?

Hard to argue with this when we tend to base a person's political skill on how he does in elections.

Yeah I was trying to think of a way to respond to this yesterday, but that's as good of an answer as any.

The first example I thought of was 1988. I have a hard time imagining George H. W. Bush being a more skilled politician than anyone. Dukakis was a stiff also, but was he really any worse than the first Bush?

If Obama doesn't win reelection, I think there will a pretty good retrospective case to be made that McCain is a more skilled politician - at least appealing to the general electorate - than Obama. Obama won election to the Senate beating Alan Keyes, and won pretty comfortably over McCain, but circumstances could not have been more favorable to him. This is the first time Obama has really had a chance of losing to a Republican in his entire political career. Over the course of his time in politics, McCain has shown an awful lot of talent at appealing to a diverse set of people, in Arizona and nationally.

jerseyhoya wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

phdave wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:Jean Schmidt, one of the worst members of Congress of either party (questioned Murtha's patriotism on the House floor), loses in the GOP primary tonight. Neat.

She was frightening.

The guy who beat her might be nicer, but he's probably crazier. From what I understand, he thinks we should be in Iraq on a permanent basis.

Oh and Joe the Plumber won the GOP primary in Ohio's 9th congressional district. WTF is wrong with Ohio?

I think it's pretty neat that Joe the Plumber is running.

Better than how Virginia Democrats generally treat uncompetitive districts, which is not running anyone.

Krystal Ball was my favorite Dem candidate for a VA house race that she had no chance of winning. She was several years behind me at UVa. I guess if you have a name like that, you're at least a memorable candidate.

jerseyhoya wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

phdave wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:Jean Schmidt, one of the worst members of Congress of either party (questioned Murtha's patriotism on the House floor), loses in the GOP primary tonight. Neat.

She was frightening.

The guy who beat her might be nicer, but he's probably crazier. From what I understand, he thinks we should be in Iraq on a permanent basis.

Oh and Joe the Plumber won the GOP primary in Ohio's 9th congressional district. WTF is wrong with Ohio?

I think it's pretty neat that Joe the Plumber is running.

Better than how Virginia Democrats generally treat uncompetitive districts, which is not running anyone.

That hasn't been the case in recent years, but regardless you're essentially saying that the Mets are better than the Astros.

Only one last year, but 11 over the course of the last redistricting cycle. That's turrible.

You could replace "skilled" politician with "charismatic" and dajafi's point still holds.

what's so neat about joe the plumber, that he's not a plumber, or his name isn't joe

It's neat because he's a republican.

Obama lost 12 counties and only got 57% of the vote in Oklahoma's Democratic primary last night. But, Romney can't beat him...

The Dude wrote:what's so neat about joe the plumber, that he's not a plumber, or his name isn't joe

It's a seat where the Democrat could be charged with murder before election day and still have a shot at winning, and I don't imagine there are many locally elected Republicans who could have run. I think it's good for safe members of Congress to get challenges that get some press attention and require at least a little effort, which someone who has a bit of notoriety like Joe the Plumber can provide.

Polar Bear Phan wrote:Obama lost 12 counties and only got 57% of the vote in Oklahoma's Democratic primary last night. But, Romney can't beat him...

Did the turnout break 100 people?

Citing the Democratic primary in Oklahoma of all places as evidence of anything on the national level is hilarious. This is coming from someone who thinks this election is a toss up too.

Werthless wrote:

dajafi wrote:In the modern media age--since FDR, let's say--by my count, the less skilled politician has won the presidency maybe twice: 1968 and 1976, and both of those are debatable. Anyone care to assert that Romney is a more skilled politician than Obama?

Hard to argue with this when we tend to base a person's political skill on how he does in elections.

It's not true in the primaries, though: both parties frequently nominate less charismatic guys who are more ideologically acceptable, or better organized, or better resourced. At the highest level, where everyone can hit a fastball, I think political skill matters more.

Think about it as persuasion. If both parties start at a floor of 45 percent and are roughly equal in terms of resources, turnout operation etc--big ifs, I grant--is Obama or Romney more likely to sway a majority of those up for grabs?

dajafi wrote:Think about it as persuasion. If both parties start at a floor of 45 percent and are roughly equal in terms of resources, turnout operation etc--big ifs, I grant--is Obama or Romney more likely to sway a majority of those up for grabs?

I know that in that situation I would want foremost to understand how each candidate felt about the correct height of trees

The Nightman Cometh wrote:Citing the Democratic primary in Oklahoma of all places as evidence of anything on the national level is hilarious. This is coming from someone who thinks this election is a toss up too.

While Obama's unappeal amongst left-leaning rural Oklahoma voters might not matter in November, if it carries over to New Mexico or Iowa or possibly Colorado (enough metro Denver voters that it probably doesn't matter) that could be important. He's the one trying to win an election where everyone knows him and half the country disapproves of him.

Much like any presidential election with an incumbent ever.

if obama loses in november i'll walk back to pittsburgh.

Bucky wrote:if obama loses in november i'll walk back to pittsburgh.

I'm sorry, the correct answer was Canada. Canada.

Being willing to go to Pittsburgh shows much more dedication than just to Canada.

The Nightman Cometh wrote:Being willing to go to Pittsburgh shows much more dedication than just to Canada.

dedication to my observations is all. I don't really give a hoot who wins, so long as they extend the tax holiday.