Simi Valley, CA 2011: Reagan’s Oval Office receives much recollection and praise even a quarter century after its conclusion. Will either Obama or Romney risk electoral failure in order to advance the conversation as Reagan did time and again to the chagrin of his “handlers?”

From Trent Ling:

At this stage of the game, 45 months into President Obama’s term and one month from Election Day, it no longer matters what the President says, does, or is.  Those who love the President will love it or ignore it, whatever it is.  Those who loathe the President hold unswayable votes earmarked in the opposite direction.  And those as yet undecided overwhelmingly watch challenger Mitt Romney, not Obama, because all have seen enough of Obama in order to judge his appeal for re-election.

It now only matters what Romney does, says, and is, and whether enough voters care about it.  Romney, like Obama, has been running for President for the past six years, and has his campaign as well dialed in as he can get it at this point.  Thus, unless Romney decides to mash the gas pedal in the homestretch, the sole remaining moving part of the game will be whether voters care enough anymore.  On that question, the verdict has been long outstanding.

Most pundits and observers believe that Romney surprisingly bludgeoned Obama in their first debate last week.  But in actuality, both did exactly what they usually do.  Obama usually stammers and rambles whenever off prompter.  Romney usually nicely and politely dismembers issues and opponents in debate.  Moderators always grab too much face time and distract audibly with their needless interjections.  So, who did not see all of this coming in the first debate?  Aha, most people have not been paying much attention until now.  That must be it.

Going forward, Obama should piece together and memorize some refrains that, when spoken, will resemble his scripted self in order to stop the bleeding of his reputation as being somewhat articulate.  Such would reduce the visible blood bath stemming from Romney’s polite and nuanced dissections.  For example, if viewers watched just a few plays here and there between mismatched opponents on a field of play, it would not necessarily be obvious in spurts which team was clearly the better.  Likewise, if the President just gives the mere appearance of holding his own, he will also appear as if he were in the game.  For him, that would be enough to stop making Romney look like a comparative superstar.

For his part, Romney should get out into open water, leave the President behind, and challenge voters as to what kind of country they want to have today, tomorrow, and the next day.  Romney remains too soft on the voters themselves to gain their respect.  If Romney were to blast the President and then immediately pivot to a soaring but challenging vision of what separates the United States from any other nation ever, he would likely secure a 54-46 margin of victory with substantial Electoral College clearance on November 6.  Short of that, the election will likely muddle and bog down into a bean counting match decided in and among Colorado, Iowa, and Nevada.

The tide, trend, and returns will depend upon whether Romney merely tries to win (e.g., going tit for tat and looking to eke out a close one), or whether Romney goes bold and becomes Presidential (e.g., making the election a referendum on whether Americans still care about America anymore or not).  Since Obama’s only job is to stop contributing to making Romney look like such a champion, it all comes down to Romney, now that he has a stage and the attention of at least a few people.

At the end of the day, the media will go into their hourly tizzies, and the Obama stage managers will continue to “interpret” the President to the public.  Up to him now, will Romney risk it all by insisting boldly and inspiringly that responsibility for Election 2012 rests with the people?  To spark the Undecideds to inspired action, Romney could unabashedly leave this at their feet after lighting a fire there under and clarifying the ultimate stakes at this undeniable watershed moment in world history.  Such would be a bold and right move, worthy of the Presidency.  Short of that, the scatter-brained voters must choose between two calculatedly cowardly campaigns.

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