It's always talked about but rarely examined, Republican reaction to a crisis and monumental disappointment versus Democratic reaction to the same. The difference was never on such wide-eyed display as in the past 2-3 weeks following the first two debates between the presidential contenders.
According to numerous polls, most people have decided that Mitt Romney won the first debate and President Obama came out on top in the second debate; but looking at the Democratic reaction to President Obama's first debate and Republican reaction to Mitt Romney's second debate is like looking at yourself in a fun house mirror. You look at yourself pre-mirror and you think you look tall, thin and beautiful until you step in front of the funhouse mirror and it tells you that you're short, fat and your nose is big.
When President Obama whiffed on the first debate (and let's be honest, it definitely was not his best showing) Liberals and Democrats (especially in the media) proceeded immediately to the nearest cliff and jumped off without so much as a net or a last cigarette. They screamed and yelled and lit their hair on fire! Watching post-debate analysis on MSNBC was like watching a rerun of Roseanne when one of her kids has done something really stupid and the only thing she feels she can do is scream at them until "she" feels better... not the kid, but her. The funny thing is that until the post-debate television commentary, I was reading the live blogs on several liberal leaning websites and none of them portrayed Obama as doing as badly as was described in the post-debate analysis. Some were commenting that Obama had some strong moments; some noted that he seemed to come alive at the end and some even called it a tie. But boy howdy, when the debate was over and the doors flung open... church was OUT! I honestly thought Ed Schultz and Chris Matthews were going to have a stroke! They ranted and raved and called Obama everything but a child of God. Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast wanted to put Obama in a basket and leave him on the doorstep of his creepiest neighbor. It seemed that all it took for Liberal America to fall out of love with Barack Obama was a bad debate. Hell, if Republicans only knew that they would have scheduled a debate for Obama in 2009.
In contrast, following the second debate (which most people think Mitt Romney lost) Republicans were downright defiant in their belief that Mitt Romney had lost the debate and even more assured that Obama was classless and ineffectual. They talked up Romney's weak points and talked down Obama's strong points. Wait a minute, talk up your candidate's weak points and talk down their opponent's strong points, oh wow, what a concept! Liberals are you taking notice? This is what you do when your candidate has a bad night. If you have hemorrhoids, you don't kick your own self in the butt, you claim the other person is the one with hemorrhoids and kick their's. Romney had a bad night and conservatives lit into Obama, Obama had a bad night and liberals lit into... Obama!
Now typically I would say that it's not the media's job to root for any one candidate over another, but since most in the media have thrown that baby out with the bath water a long time ago, why stop now? Even though most people claim that they cannot stand the media, it is still true that most people rely on the traditional media to get their news, especially political news.
The funny thing is that I purposely didn't even watch the first debate so I received most of my "opinions" on the debate from the media and I believe that this is probably true for a lot of people. Just like many people (as has been proven) have no idea whatsoever what socialist and communist mean but they believe that Obama is one because that's what their "heroes" in the media call him, I would bet my bottom dollar that many people who didn't even watch that first debate formed their opinion of the candidates' performances, and thus of the candidates, after hearing what the media said about it. Now you knew Obama would probably get drop-kicked post-debate by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity but seeing him get face-planted by MSNBC, Ed Schultz and Chris Matthews had to throw a lot of people, including myself, into a confused frenzy. As much as poor Al Sharpton tried to defend Obama, he was shouted down at every point by the members of the so-called "liberal" media... imagine that!
How do I know this works? Because I too was extremely angry at Obama, not for losing the debate (which you will recall that most in media said he probably would anyway) but for appearing to not even care or try...and since I didn't even see the debate, I formed that opinion listening to three days and nights of the liberal media ranting and raving about how Obama was useless and should be taken out and flogged!
What changed my mind on dumping President Obama was the fact that while Obama did not do his best in the first debate (which is an understatement... I have since watched the whole debate), the fact remains that the policies of these two men are still the same. One debate, however good or bad, does not change their views on taxes, wars, the economy, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, healthcare, abortion, the Middle East, energy, climate change, the 1 percent, the 47 percent, foreign affairs or the Supreme Court! They are still the same men post-debate as they were pre-debate and anyone who decides on who they will vote for, not on issues or policies, but how someone performs in one 90 minute debate has bigger problems than they realize.
So for the Republicans and the Conservative media, GOOD JOB! You've done well grasshopper! One thing I have ALWAYS respected about Conservatives is that for good, bad or in-between, they will stick with their candidates like crazy glue and regardless of what they may say behind closed doors, out in public they are unified and they proved it in the past three weeks and I think the polls have rewarded them substantially! For Democrats and the liberal media, as usual they have proven once again that they are their own worst enemy. Things get bad and they immediately wet their pants, announce themselves defeated and light fire to the nearest Democratic politician! If these two parties were candy, Republicans would be the Jawbreakers, hard on the outside and even harder on the inside. Liberals would be the jelly beans, kind of hard on the outside but all jelly on the inside. Bite down hard on a Jawbreaker and you'll lose some teeth, bite down hard on a jelly bean and you'll reveal what's inside... all gush!
My point? Conservatives, in the unity department, you're fine! I'm actually jealous of your constant display of oneness. In fact, if it wasn't for a lot of what you stand for, I'd happily be a Republican! You guys ROCK! Liberals, you need to get a grip!!! How do you expect for someone to stand up for you when you're always waiting for the first sign of trouble to throw them under the nearest bus? Your unity is overwhelming... until the first sign of disappointment, then you're ready to scram on the first Pan-Am!
OK, Obama sucked in the first debate but remember, regardless of who you're voting for, the issues and the policies are what matters most, not who can do the 90 minute "you lie" marathon with the straightest face. Truth, integrity and trust is what really matters here and unless that is our first and foremost concern, then this country is in deeper trouble than any of us realize!
Respectfully,
Dee Evans