Said mistermix at Balloon Juice:
Romney and his advisors are all used to a media environment of puffball questions and solemn nods over the stupidest of talking points. His opposition in the primaries was almost entirely people who were auditioning for a contract with Roger Ailes. When you marinate in an environment where reactionary rhetoric has no consequences, you’re going to think that the right thing to do when an Ambassador may have been killed is to make up lies in an effort to blame Obama hours before the bodies have even been identified. When you are used to a world of unquestioning icon veneration and hero worship, you expect that Clint Eastwood can do magic without a prepared speech. And if you live in a world driven by sloganeering, you can become convinced that a campaign can be run on completely non-specific “plans”, and you think that making up the details as you go along is a not only practical, but is actually a good idea.
If you need any more evidence that MSNBC or the Daily Kos or whatever other liberal demon Fox believes controls the Democratic Party isn’t really in charge, look no further than the Obama campaign. They aren’t acting like a bunch of hothouse flowers, wilting the first time the real world intrudes on their sunny, warm fantasy world. They’ve been living in a 5 year shitstorm, and that’s part of the reason why they don’t fuck up on a regular basis.
Said Chris Hayes of MSNBC:
In the song “Ten Crack Commandments,” Biggie Smalls offered a set of rules for drug dealers who wanted to avoid the perils of the trade and one of them was a piece of old advice:”Never get high on your own supply.” Same goes for political strategists: never confuse your own talking points for the truth, don’t start believing that everyone out there in the voting booths are seeing the world the way you do. The GOP has, I think lost sight of this simple wisdom. They’re smoking what they’re dealing. It’s a big part of why those polls numbers look the way they do… and good a reminder of the dysfunction and incompetence that happen when the people in charge only listen to themselves.
Make no mistake – it may sound like they are in the middle of the road, but they are still turning right.