Nor’easter heading our way. If we lose electricity, we can take comfort that the POTUS will be playing basketball.
#Mittmentum in… Bucks County, PA?
Last night I watched on line the Romney rally in Yardley, PA, 15 miles away from here. It was a complete surprise to me: For starters, it was cold (upper 30s/low 40s), hundreds of people in Bucks County were flooded and had no electricity or heat since Sandy struck on Monday, and most importantly, Bucks was Obamaland.
The surprise? Over 30,000 people turned up. Here’s another photo.
PowerLine has a report from an attendee,
The crowd was enormous. The first picture attached was of the line at security. That “line” is about 50 people abreast — off to the left you can see one half of one tent; there were two, side by side, filled edge to edge with metal detectors — and it wasn’t yet 4 PM. Traffic was backed up for miles, literally, on nearby I-95. And people kept coming. And coming. And coming. The crowd was upbeat and feisty — two signs I recall were “No Heat/No Power/and in two days/No Obama,” and “Buck Ofama.”
As of this writing I have heard no official crowd size estimates. I have no relevant training, and unlike, say, Red Rocks, there was no vantage point from which you could see the entire crowd. The rally was in a large field, and the crowd simply sprawled in three directions. My estimate, based on other crowd estimates, is that eventually there were about 25k people there, not counting ones I couldn’t see because they came very late and trailed off in the darkness, and not counting the several thousand who had no tickets and watched from outside the Hurricane fence. The second picture was taken from my vantage point during the Romney presentation — and there were at least as many people behind me as there were in front. And at least equal numbers directly in front of him, and the same off to his left front.
And it was cold. In the upper 30s, which doesn’t sound so bad in the abstract, but it was bitterly cold to people who had been standing in the cold for hours, and especially bitter to folks who had had no heat for almost a week. With a brisk wind to add to the misery. The wait grew longer and longer. And to be blunt, the Marshall Tucker Band had limited success perking up the waiting throng, and the speakers who stood up next — former Governor Tom Ridge, Senator Pat Toomey, and current Governor Tom Corbett — had a little more success, especially Corbett. But Corbett ran out of anecdotes, and the crowd became silent and stolid. After an interval, a pair of Romney videos played, well received, but after they ended, the same stolid silence descended. I was beginning to fear the rally would be a bust. But nobody left; like the next stage of enduring the hurricane and the aftermath, everyone simply waited quietly in the cold.
And then the bus appeared.
And then the cheering started.
Ragged at first, the cheers swelled to a roar as the Romney campaign bus wheeled into the arena. Mitt and Ann Romney emerged, and it was like a wall of sound fell on the crowd. The Romneys strode to the stage, embraced, and after immediate pleasantries, Ann introduced Mitt.
I keep hearing how wooden Romney is on the stump. They must have meant some other Romney. This one was fluid, his voice at turns powerful and emotional. I don’t know how the crowd noise came across on TV, but in person, it was its own physical presence, vibrating everyone with its intensity. Except when Romney grew sober when relating a sad anecdote; then the crowd simply disappeared, for both the speaker and the listener. A rousing crescendo of a conclusion by Romney, capped off by a surprisingly good fireworks display, and the rally was over. It took some people more than three hours to escape the traffic.
Romney didn’t say anything new. But he connected with the crowd on both emotional and intellectual levels. The man oozes resolve and commitment the way steelworkers ooze sweat. He clearly loves America, and radiates that love, in counterpoise to Obama, whose distaste for the nation remains palpable. (You can’t hate half the nation, urge your supporters to take *revenge* on half the nation, and still love the place and the people.) Based on the crowd size and reaction in a county that went solidly for Obama four years ago, based on the confidence of the man, I would say it’s likely Romney will indeed win Pennsylvania — and with it, the presidency. While you’d expect rally attendees to favor the candidate, their enthusiasm was something I did not sense at a McCain rally four years ago — and even after Romney’s rally, even after hours standing without seats in the cold, the attendees I spoke with were still bubbling with enthusiasm.
Over in Ohio, Mitt got 30,000, Obama 2,800.
But fear not, Obama has the coveted Pee Wee Herman endorsement. That ought to count for something.
UPDATE,
Email from a reader: The rally was announced on Friday afternoon.
And, one more thing,
I don’t know if gas stations are back to normal in Bucks, but in adjacent Mercer Co., NJ, they are definitely not. Risking a long wait without assurance of available gas means you have a most motivated voter.
A sign of the apocalypse: The Daily News and Newsday endorse Romney
First hitting Obama on unemployment and the economy, they go on,
First came emergency economic stimulus. Because Obama gave free rein to House and Senate Democrats in deciding how to spend $800 billion, the legislation was heavily designed to satisfy the party’s constituencies and hunger for social programs, and inadequately weighted toward job-multiplier projects like building and repairing bridges and railroads — including subways.
After originally projecting that the program would produce 4 million more jobs than the country now has, along with a 5% jobless rate, Obama pleads that he saved Americans from more dire straits.
Next came Obamacare. While the country bled jobs, the President battled to establish universal health insurance — without first restraining soaring medical bills. Then he pushed one of the largest social programs in U.S. history through a Democratic-controlled Congress without a single Republican vote.
R.I.P. and never to be resurrected — Obama’s promised bipartisanship.
While the legislation has yet to take full effect, the typical family’s health insurance premium has risen and many businesses will experience a hike of $70 per week per employee, further restraining wages or producing part-time jobs that lack coverage.
Next came trillion-dollar deficits. Deep in the hole thanks to former President George W. Bush, Obama helped run up a $5 trillion increase in the national debt.
Newsday:
Editorial: Elect Mitt Romney president of the United States
Had Barack Obama done the job of president with the same passion and vision he displayed in seeking it, he would likely deserve another term. He did not.
Go read both in full.
(h/t Instapundit)
Sir Loin of Beef Axelrod
After Crazy Uncle Joe Biden promised to “give you the whole load today,”
the chief strategist to President Barack Obama descended into Looney Tunes territory:
AXELROD ON OBAMA: PASSION ‘COMING FROM HIS LOINS’
“I’ve never seen him more exhilarated than he is right now. He believes in what he’s doing. He believes in what he’s fighting for,” Axelrod said. “You can see in the speech that he’s delivering that this is coming from his loins.”
Bugs Bunny himself knighted Axelrod
Carlos Eire develops the Medieval theme,
This unexpected Bakhtinian turn in Axelrod’s rhetoric most definitely sinks the Obama campaign into the realm of the Carnivalesque and of the lower bodily functions. This means, of course, that Axelrod has revealed a slippage on the part of the Great One into the medieval and primitive, which can only mean an abandonment of the rational and modern.
Which brings us to some rational and modern Lessons from Experience in Sex and Politics
Compare and contrast,
The post-partisan president the American people were hoping for in 2008:
The alternative:
“Instead, I ask the American people to vote for love of country.”
UPDATE,
OBAMA’S NOVEMBER BLUNDER
One of Barack Obama’s problems is that he is not a very accomplished public speaker. When he veers away from his teleprompter, which you pretty much have to do on the stump, his instincts are poor and he tends to get into trouble. That happened yesterday when Obama said to a crowd that had just booed Mitt Romney, “No, no, no — don’t boo, vote. Vote. Voting is the best revenge.” That was a dumb thing to say on several levels, and it exposed an ugly aspect of Obama’s personality. He really does think that opposing him is somehow dirty pool, and that “revenge” is the appropriate treatment for those who fail to bow to the mighty Barack.
Linked by Pirate’s Cove. Thank you!
The 3rd debate: Bayonets, horses, and boats
Last night was the last presidential debate of 2012. Here’s the full transcript, and the full video,
Heritage Experts Analyze Final Presidential Debate, and they discuss
- Cutting the Defense Budget
- The Navy and Number of Ships Needed
- Defense Readiness Is Key to America’s Role in the World
- Jobs on the Home Front
- Federal Pay for Education Employees Won’t Create Jobs
- The U.S. Place in the World
My two cents:
- Obama doesn’t understand the difference between Chapter 11 bankruptcy and total liquidation; Romney does.
- Romney is the one who’s aware of opportunities in Latin America,
Number two, we’re going to increase our trade. Trade grows about 12 percent year. It doubles about every — every five or so years. We can do better than that, particularly in Latin America. The opportunities for us in Latin America we have just not taken advantage of fully. As a matter of fact, Latin America’s economy is almost as big as the economy of China. We’re all focused on China. Latin America is a huge opportunity for us — time zone, language opportunities.
Obama let that one fly right by, as his administration blissfully ignores our hemisphere.
- No one brought up the European Union (Greece, yes).
- Iran’s hyperinflation situation was not mentioned; it may, however, prove to be a critical factor on the regime’s viability. Iran was the country most mentioned during the debate.
- Obama demanded sequestration as part of the budget deal. Oh yeah.
- Obama came across as “snarky, condescending, peevish, & small.”
Obama landed a punch on himself,
Which brings us to the title of this post, Bayonets, horses, and boats. First, the boats:
Contrary to the president’s assertion, the creation of aircraft carriers and submarines did not mean that we needed fewer ships. Quite the contrary. Aircraft carriers need just as many if not more supporting vessels than the obsolete battleships that no are no longer under commission. So do subs. The decline in naval strength compromises America’s ability to project power abroad. That is particularly true in places like the Persian Gulf, where President Obama is trying to sound as tough with Iran as Romney.
Even more foolish is the president’s attempt to portray contemporary naval vessels with cavalry horses. That says more about his own lack of understanding of the military than Romney’s. It also may cost him some votes in a state that he still hopes to win: Virginia, home of the largest U.S. Naval base in the country and hotbed of support for a stronger military.
Submarines are boats, not ships,
Today, though only DSRV’s and ROV’s require a support vessel for operations, independent submarines are still referred to as boats not only due to the historical term, but the fact that they still require support from a Submarine Tender while in homeport for repairs and maintenance the crew cannot perform.
And, finally, the bayonets,
The Al Smith debate
At the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner last night,
Mitt:
Obama:
Note to the CNn reporters: The men were not wearing tuxes, they wore white tie.
UPDATE,
Photo of the night,
Linked by Bits Blog. Thanks!
Crowley: Romney was right, after all
Matthew Sheffield has the transcript,
CANDY CROWLEY: Well, you know, I heard the president speak at the time. I, sort of, reread a lot of stuff about Libya because I knew we’d probably get a Libya question so I kind of wanted to be up on it. So I knew that the president had, had, said, you know, these acts of terror won’t stand or, whatever the whole quote was.
And I think actually, you know because, right after that I did turn around and say, but you’re totally correct that they spent two weeks telling us this was about a tape and that that there was a, you know, this riot outside the Benghazi consulate which there wasn’t.
So he was right in the main, I just think he picked the wrong word. And I, you know, they’re going to parse and we all know about what the definition of is is, but, I, uh, you know, in the end, I think John [King]’s probably right. I think this has a lot more to with jobs and the debt crisis and all of that kind of stuff.
I just think that probably it was one of those moments and I could even feel that here, you know, when you say something you’re not expecting. It’s just that was the natural thing coming out of me going, ‘Actually he did, you know, call it an act of terror.’ Uh, when, you know, half the crowd clapped for that and the other half clapped for ‘But they kept telling us this was a tape, this was caused by a tape’ so, you know, in the main, the thrust of what Governor Romney was saying, which is why I went back and said that, um, but I just think he picked the wrong kind of way to go about talking about it if that makes sense.
You know, I just think that I’m sort of blinded by her brilliance at, um, shilling for Obama,
However, to quote Victor Davis Hanson, “Nemesis struck when, in the middle of her clumsy attempts to offer a lifeline to a stumbling Obama on Libya, she had a deer-in-the-headlights look and an exasperated stutter, almost as if to say, “Why am I giving myself away?””
She also allowed Obama four minutes more than Romney.
Heritage’s panel of expertsanalyzed the debate. For instance,
Are Oil Companies Sitting on Leases?
Are oil companies sitting on leases? The short answer is no. President Obama made this statement tonight, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar routinely makes this statement. But as Kathleen Sgamma, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, recently testified:
By looking at the statistics over time, it is evident that industry has become much more efficient over the last several decades. While we used to hold 80,000 leases and produce on 24% in 1988, we now hold just 49,000 leases and produce on 46%. Secretary Salazar’s statements that this shows industry is intentionally leaving leases idle is tired rhetoric that fails to take into account the huge obstacles the federal government places in the way of oil and natural gas producers, and the fact that not every lease has recoverable oil and gas.
Just because oil companies aren’t drilling, this does not mean that no activity is occurring on that land. Environmental review, permitting, seismic research, and exploration may be occurring. But even that fails to address the real problem: The environmental review and leasing process takes entirely too long.
Rather than implementing an efficient leasing process, the Department of the Interior added three unnecessary and duplicative administrative regulations to the leasing process in 2010. Oil companies are not sitting on leases; they are simply not being issued by the DOI, or the DOI is making it more difficult to actually obtain the leases.
Go read the whole thing.
UPDATE,
Ace has the flaming skull,
Crowley On September 30th: Administration Took Weeks To Admit Benghazi Might Be A Terrorist Attack. Transcript at the link.
CROWLEY INTERRUPTS ROMNEY 28 TIMES, OBAMA JUST 9
The New Yorker. Yes, the New Yorker.
H/t Dan Riehl, and now, a Memeorandum meme.
An empty Obama chair on the cover of The New Yorker smells like … victory.
UPDATE,
DaTechGuy:
Your reaction and the New Yorker Cover have become ample proof that the emperor not only has no clothes, but even those in the court are now willing to say it.
And THAT is a game changer.
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