Returning from my breather, the reality set in. It's Romney vs Obama and no amount of my Santorum scenarios, Palin panics, Gingrich giggles or Paul swoons can now disguise the fact. The dread I feel is partly knowing that Romney is not even excruciating enough to be amusing. We cling to Seamus as tightly as he clung to his car roof penthouse. Even the Togg, Tagg and Tigg sons, or whatever bland all-American name is affixed to each, cannot compete with Alaskan wonder of Tripp and Trig and Levi. And on top of this, a very boring man is nonetheless prepared to tell outrageous lies, repeat them proudly, and intensify the polarization of the country even further. So we have another red-blue war, led on one side by a total cynic.
And so the promise of Obama – an end to this pattern – was delusional, not so much because he didn't try or have the ability, but because the other side immediately decided that this epochal moment for the country, the first black president, was not a time to compromise and resolve some deep long-standing issues, specifically on taxation and spending. What might have been an integrating, reforming moment evaporated with zero Republican House votes on a desperately needed stimulus in the worst recession since the 1930s.
And so my heart sinks as I see Obama drifting to the left, offering the silly Buffett Rule instead of serious tax reform, and Romney tacks to the W-Cheney right, promising tax cuts, defense increases and drastic debt reduction, without providing any clue as to how this can be afforded.
So we are left with Hilary Rosen versus Ann Romney, on which MoDo has the best summary.
Heave. Retch. Repeat.
The Dish 