Watching "Meet the Press" last night, I couldn't help but notice two interesting phenomena about the state of the race.
1. How sanguine two high-profile media Democrats seemed to be about the prospect of a Romney win.
Although the transcript doesn't convey his demeanor, Tom Browkaw talked about how major business leaders want Romney to win and that they'd be willing to consider paying higher taxes if they were assured the money wouldn't just be wasted (and I think he's right about that). He didn't seem perturbed or agitated at all about the prospect of a Romney win -- it was almost like he had privately concluded Obama just couldn't do the job. That's worrisome for Obama if Brokaw's state of mind reflects that of others in the MSM, given how much he depends on the press to save his bacon.
Stephen Colbert is second Democrat whose demeanor was noteworthy. Yes, he's a satirist, but when he's really committed to a candidate, he's hardly even-handed. Yet read what he had to say:
I think there is a possibility that Obama would be, say, more aggressive-- a more aggressive reformer or changer in the-- in the second act of his presidency, and I don’t really know how-- I also don’t know how Mitt Romney would govern. He might govern as a technocrat. . ..
if [Romney] does [win], I hope he’s a good president. And-- and if-- if Obama wins, I hope he keeps some of the promises he didn’t keep the first time.
Wow. Doesn't sound like Stephen Colbert is incredibly opposed to a Mitt Romney victory, either. Given how "in the tank" just about everyone (not a hard-core Republican) was for Obama in '08, this is a remarkable sea change.
2. The quality of their surrogates.
Apparently, no one with a reputation to maintain wants to come on and defend the President's record. Mitt Romney has a current governor -- Bob McDonnell -- on his behalf, and a political consultant who has a reputation to maintain for the sake of his business. Barack Obama has the mayor of Atlanta -- a position where it would be almost impossible to lose to a Republican no matter what you said -- and a (far-left) Current TV talking head, who gave an over-excited performance at the DNC.
Where are the Democrat governors or senators seeking to brand themselves as Obamaites? Where are the self-branded foreign policy "grown ups" (people like John Kerry, or back in the day, Joe Lieberman) to reassure America about the administration's Benghazi performance?
All this seems revealing, to me, of an incumbent campaign that has some major difficulties.
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