Byron York
The Washington Examiner
9/3/2012
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Why did the Obama campaign fumble the “are Americans better off than four years ago” question?
Why has President Obama been unable to put the “you didn’t build that” charge to rest?
And why has the campaign struggled to come up with a coherent response to the Republican convention? (Calling it a pack of lies doesn’t count.)
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, as Democrats begin their convention here in Charlotte, the Obama campaign is not hitting on all cylinders. The question is why a campaign that was so successful in 2008 is sputtering today.
Here’s a theory: Barack Obama has never in his life run against a sharp, determined and aggressive Republican opponent. Facing Mitt Romney, who is all three, is a new experience for the president…
…Obama sometimes waxes nostalgic for the good old days of perfunctory GOP opposition. “The last time we ran, we had a Republican candidate who — I had some profound disagreements with him, but he acknowledged the need for immigration reform, and acknowledged the need for campaign finance reform, acknowledged the need for policies that would do something about climate change,” Obama said at a June fundraiser in Chicago.”Now, what we’ve got is not just a nominee but a Congress and a Republican Party that have a fundamentally different vision about where we need to go as a country.”…
The complete article at The Washington Examiner.
