Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Robert Reich: Four Reasons Romney Might Still Win: The election's not over yet, and rumors of Romney's demise are premature.

I'm flattered brother Ken. On paper, many Americans (i.e. the informed public,
if I might add) believe that the proverbial buck stops with the man in the White
House. Nevertheless, politicos are very smart--some might say too smart-- in
"reconstructing the discourse" when confronted with political "katakata." This
postulation applies to politicians elsewhere, too.

In any case, in the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson, "Self interest is the
engine of government."

Ike Udogu.


----- Original Message -----
From: Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012 5:34 pm
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Robert Reich: Four Reasons Romney
Might Still Win: The election's not over yet, and rumors of Romney's demise are
premature.
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

> Ken,
>
> You forgot to add that they retire with full lifetime pensions and
> benefitseven if they only served one term.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 2:06 PM, Abdul Karim Bangura
> <theai@earthlink.net>wrote:
> > Ah....my Honorable and Revered Mentor Mwalimu Ike, where does the
> > proverbial buck stop? We Americans believe that the buck stops
> with the man
> > in the White House, period! We also know that when a Republican
> occupies> the White House, the Democrats do the same thing to him
> as they do the the
> > Democrat.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > >From: udoguei@appstate.edu
> > >Sent: Sep 27, 2012 10:35 AM
> > >To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > >Cc: Funmi Tofowomo Okelola **
> > >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Robert Reich: Four
> Reasons> Romney Might Still Win: The election's not over yet, and
> rumors of Romney's
> > demise are premature.
> > >
> > >
> > >These are very important points. However, two issues in my
> judgment that
> > might
> > >make the unemployment data not stick as it probably should are:
> (1) The
> > >acknowledgment by many Americans that the current unemployment
> statistics> was
> > >and is one that some of my conservative friends deliberately
> "engineered"> and
> > >continue to engineer as a way to win this election by default.
> Indeed,> the mayor
> > >of Chicago did a piece in Newsweek a few months ago in which he
> expressed> >bewilderment as to why conservatives should "celebrate"
> the fact that
> > >unemployment was relatively high. But, of course, close watchers of
> > American
> > >politics understand why—even the mayor himself. (2) A second
> possible> reason why
> > >some of us believe that brother Mitt has problems on the job
> issue is his
> > >wealth. Please recall that during the primary elections in the
> Republican> >Party, Mr. Romney chaffed at any mention of his wealth
> and how he came
> > about it.
> > >In truth, he fired back at his critics in the party—accusing
> them of
> > indulging
> > >in what he called the "Politics of Envy." In 2010, this
> entrepreneur made
> > 20
> > >million dollars and in 2011 13 million dollars in a country with
> a high
> > >employment record and in which the average income of hardworking
> Americans> >(including teachers and university professors
> stagnated). So, the party's
> > >deliberate strategy to pin, as it were, the unemployment problem on
> > Democrats
> > >and not Congress has not worked. Moreover, it seems that while
> the poor is
> > >getting poorer, the rich seems to be getting richer in a "bad"
> economy.> >President Clinton articulated this issue superbly at the
> Democratic> Convention.
> > >Even so, it would be unwise for anyone to assume that Obama's
> victory in
> > this
> > >election is a forgone conclusion—in spite of Mitt's many
> political faux
> > pas.
> > >
> > >Ike Udogu
> > >
> > >
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: Funmi Tofowomo Okelola **
> > >Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012 5:36 am
> > >Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Robert Reich: Four Reasons
> Romney> Might
> > >Still Win: The election's not over yet, and rumors of Romney's
> demise are
> > premature.
> > >To: Funmi Tofowomo Okelola **
> > >
> > >> http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/robert-reich-four-reasons-why-
> > >> romney-might-still-win/
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Robert Reich: Four Reasons Romney Might Still Win
> > >> September 21, 2012
> > >> The election's not over yet, and rumors of Romney's demise are
> > >> premature.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> By Robert Reich
> > >> By arrangement with Robert Reich
> > >>
> > >> Can Romney possibly recover? A survey conducted between Sept.
> 12th> >> and
> > >> Sept. 16th by the Pew Research Center—before the "47 percent
> > >> victim"
> > >> video came to light—showed Obama ahead of Romney 51 percent to 43
> > >> percent among likely voters.
> > >>
> > >> That's the biggest margin in the September survey prior to a
> > >> presidential election since Bill Clinton led Bob Dole, 50 percent
> > >> to
> > >> 38 percent in 1996.
> > >>
> > >> And, remember, this recent poll was done before America watched
> > >> Romney
> > >> belittle almost half the nation.
> > >>
> > >> With gas prices rising, corporate profits shrinking, most of
> Europe> >> in
> > >> recession, Japan still a basket case, and the Chinese economy
> > >> slowing,
> > >> the upcoming job reports are unlikely to be stellar.
> > >>
> > >> For the last several days I've been deluged with calls from my
> > >> inside-
> > >> the-beltway friends telling me "Romney's dead."
> > >>
> > >> Hold it. Rumors of Romney's demise are premature for at least
> four> >> reasons:
> > >>
> > >> 1. Between now and Election Day come two jobs reports from the
> > >> Bureau
> > >> of Labor Statistics–October 5th and November 2nd. If they're
> as bad
> > >> as
> > >> the last report, showing only 96,000 jobs added in August
> (125,000> >> are
> > >> needed just to keep up with population growth) and the lowest
> > >> percentage of employed adults since 1981, Romney's claim the
> > >> economy
> > >> is off track becomes more credible, and Obama's that it's on the
> > >> mend
> > >> harder to defend.
> > >>
> > >> With gas prices rising, corporate profits shrinking, most of
> Europe> >> in
> > >> recession, Japan still a basket case, and the Chinese economy
> > >> slowing,
> > >> the upcoming job reports are unlikely to be stellar.
> > >>
> > >> 2. Also between now and Election Day are three presidential
> > >> debates,
> > >> starting October 3rd. It's commonly thought Obama will win them
> > >> handily but that expectation may be very wrong–and could work
> > >> against
> > >> him. Yes, Romney is an automaton—but when the dials are set
> > >> properly
> > >> he can give a good imitation of a human engaged in sharp
> debate. He
> > >>
> > >> did well in the Republican primary debates.
> > >>
> > >> Obama, by contrast, can come off slow and ponderous. Recall
> how he
> > >> stuttered and stumbled during the 2008 Democratic primary
> debates.> >> And
> > >> he hasn't been in a real-live debate for four years; Romney
> > >> recently
> > >> emerged from almost a year of them.
> > >>
> > >> 3. During the next seven final weeks of the campaign, the anti-
> > >> Obama
> > >> forces will be spending a gigantic amount of money. Not just the
> > >> Romney campaign and Romney's super PACs, but other super PACS
> > >> aligned
> > >> with Romney, billionaires spending their own fortunes, and non-
> > >> profit
> > >> "social welfare" organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, Karl
> > >> Rove's "Crossroads," and various Koch-brothers political
> fronts–all> >>
> > >> will dump hundreds of millions on TV and radio spots, much of it
> > >> spreading lies and distortions. Some of this money will be
> devoted> >> to
> > >> get-out-the-vote drives—to phone banks and door-to-door
> canvassing> >> to
> > >> identify favorable voters, and vans to bring them to the polling
> > >> stations.
> > >>
> > >> It's an easy bet they'll far outspend Obama and his allies. I've
> > >> heard
> > >> two-to-one. The race is still close enough that a comparative
> > >> handful
> > >> of voters in swing states can make the difference–which means
> gobs> >> of
> > >> money used to motivate voters to polling stations can be
> critical.> >>
> > >> 4. As they've displayed before, the Republican Party will do
> > >> whatever
> > >> it can to win—even if it means disenfranchising certain
> voters. To
> > >> date, 11 states have enacted voter identification laws, all
> > >> designed
> > >> by Republican legislatures and governors to dampen Democratic
> turnout.> >>
> > >> The GOP is also encouraging what can only be termed "voter
> > >> vigilante"
> > >> groups to "monitor polling stations to prevent fraud"–which means
> > >> intimidating minorities who have every right to vote. We can't
> know> >> at
> > >> this point how successful these efforts may be but it's a
> dangerous> >>
> > >> wildcard. And what about those Diebold voting machines?
> > >>
> > >> So don't for a moment believe "Romney's dead," and don't be
> > >> complacent. The hard work lies ahead, in the next seven weeks.
> > >>
> > >> And even if Obama is reelected, more hard work begins after
> > >> Inauguration Day–when we must push him to be tougher on the
> > >> Republicans than he was in his first term, and do what the nation
> > >> needs.
> > >> Funmi Tofowomo
> > >>
> > >> --The art of living and impermanence.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> --
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>
>
> ---Mohandas Gandhi
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