October 13, 2012
WHEN A TICKET IS STILL PLAYING TO ITS BASE IN THE GENERAL...:
The Edge of Panic (Rick Wilson, Oct 12, 2012, Ricochet)
Last night's performance by Biden - capering, giggling, near-maniacal opera buffa - was targeted in one place: a dispirited, demoralized Democratic base on the edge of panic.Paul Ryan was businesslike, steady, and on-point. He hit solid doubles all night, and that's all he needed to do. If he'd been as amped and manic as Biden, it would have been a political and imaging disaster.Biden aimed to throw the Obama base a lifeline. He fed the Kos Kidz desperate need to see some fight, but at the cost of his remaining (and mostly notional) dignity. If you want a gibbering, snorting, mumbling clown with a rictus-grin locked on his mug a heartbeat away from controlling America's nuclear arsenal, Joe Biden's your guy.Ryan aimed to meet the standard of gravitas and presence, to demonstrate to the fabled female/suburban/swing/moderate voters that he's not a scary granny-killing Terminator sent from the future to throw seniors into the snowbank. He had to demonstrate steadiness, stature and knowledge. Done and done.
...the election is already lost. At that point you're just trying to salvage seats downticket.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 13, 2012 2:05 PM
Tweet