News Nuggets 1077

DAYLEE PICTURE: Thunderstorms in the Florida keys.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT CAMPAIGN NUGGET!!
GOP Focus Group: Undecided Voters Assume Romney’s Attacks Are Dishonest from Talking Points Memo
"Barbour’s firm Resurgent Republic conducted focus groups of blue collar voters in Ohio and suburban women in Virginia who supported Obama in 2008 but are now undecided. Both are swing demographics that Romney is working to win over in order to flip each state from blue to red. Their findings? Voters are a lot more willing to believe attacks based around Romney quotes than they are on Obama quotes. ... Given the extreme emphasis Romney has put on attacking Obama based on quotes or snippets of lines, this could spell trouble."
This set of polls tells you SO MUCH about the disadvantages the GOP and rightwingers in general have foisted on the Romney campaign.  After four+ years of hysterical fear-mongering about who Obama is and what he stands for, the GOP and Romney now reap the rewards!  Key groups in the
electorate increasingly just don't believe Republicans anymore when they attack Obama.  The gap between what Republicans have said about Obama and what these voters know and sense about the man has widened so much that now these voters simply factor it in and give the right-wing BS less weight than what Obama or the Democrats say.  Unless Republicans snap themselves out of the hyper-partisan alternative non-reality they now inhabit, Romney will not only lose this election but GOP candidates across the board will find it harder and harder to connect with middle-of-the-road and independent voters.

UP-FRONT CAMPAIGN AD NUGGET!!
See the latest from Obama's advertising shop.  Another GREAT & INSPIRING ad!!

Boy Scouts to Report Pedophiles Missed Previously from CBS News
"The Boy Scouts of America plan to begin bringing suspected abusers to the attention of police departments and sheriff's offices across the country. The abusers are named in the organization's so-called perversion files."

The Blowout Scenario Following a Possible Obama Landslide (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Heading into the debates, an Obama victory on Election Day is looking likely. But what if he doesn’t just win, but wins huge? Michael Tomasky on the consequences of a landslide."

Who's Delusional? (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast
"... when I read or hear Republicans talking about this failed presidency in apocalyptic terms, I feel rather like Mark Lilla. It's not that I disagree. I cannot even begin to see how a conversation can begin. We have different experiences of reality. But that's why, I think, this election is so fascinating. It will, by default, offer us a direct take on the majority's perception of reality."

The Parallel Universe Where Mitt Romney Leads All Polls from Politico 
"To talk with any working Republican political operative these days is to hear the same tale of woe: a grim accounting of the past few weeks, a dash of gallows humor and a measure of hope that President Obama is still beatable. Never in question is that Mitt Romney is trailing — the private surveys these strategists see for their down-ballot clients make that clear. The only question is by how much. But hanging up the phone or clicking out of e-mail is to find a parallel universe on the right."

Why Mitt Romney Is Trapped By His Negative Narrative (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"His weakness in the polls and inability to drive a message keep reinforcing the media refrain that he can’t win. Howard Kurtz on how Romney can’t escape his narrative of failure—and why that could undermine Obama in November."

OUR PUNDIT-OF-THE-DAY!!
Why Obama Abandoned Audacity (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post 
"Typically, campaigns try to make incumbents look bigger than they really are, to overstate the scope of their accomplishments and their policies. Obama’s campaign is trying to make the president look smaller than he is, to underplay their accomplishments and, in particular, the scope of their policies."

Why Obama Is Leading in the Polls (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"Across most of the presidential battleground states, particularly in the Midwest, President Obama’s lead rests on a surprisingly strong performance among blue-collar white women who usually tilt toward the GOP. A National Journal analysis of recent polling results across 11 states considered battlegrounds shows that in most of them, Obama is running considerably better than he is nationally among white women without a college education. Obama’s gains with these so-called “waitress moms” are
especially pronounced in heartland battlegrounds like Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin."

Some people are certainly getting ahead of themselves.  See this item:
This Election Is Already Over - Obama Has Won (Cenk Uygur) from the Huffington Post
"Here's my new favorite fact: whoever is leading two weeks after the last convention has never relinquished the lead in the last 15 presidential elections. It's way past two weeks since the last convention and President Obama doesn't have a small lead, he has a huge lead. ... Does Romney look like he's running the kind of campaign that could pull off the greatest come from behind victory in our lifetimes?"

New Hampshire Retirees Reflect Centrist Swing State’s Split on Election from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"This impromptu focus group in many ways reflects New Hampshire’s nearly 800,000 registered voters — most are educated, older and evenly divided about the presidential race, said Dean Spiliotes, Southern New Hampshire University political science professor."

An Ohio Republican Speaks for the Nation: ‘I’ve Never Seen Such Hate as in the GOP’ (Sarah Jones) from PoliticusUSA
"Wayne Butterfass told the Columbus Dispatch in an email, “All you have to do is look at the Republican platform. I’ve never seen such HATE this year in the Republican Party, national or state.” ... “Contempt for the Republicans is pushing Democrats into the lead, not only in the
presidential race but across Senate and likely many House races as well.”"

Tired Cries of Bias Don’t Help Romney (David Carr) from the New York Times 
"The mainstream media are frequently indicted suspects when the rink tilts against conservative causes. But it seems worth pulling apart that notion, especially in a landscape where ownership of the megaphone is increasingly up for grabs."

NY-SEN: Quietly, Gillibrand Raises Big Money For Female Candidates from BuzzFeed
"With a wide lead in her own re-election, Kirsten Gillibrand is raising money in the homestretch for female Dems like Claire McCaskill. A machine in the making?"

DOWNTON ABBEY NUGGET!!
The Woman who Saved Downton: How America’s Dollar Princesses Married into the Crumbling British Aristocracy from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"An upcoming prequel to Downton Abbey will focus on the character Cora Crawley (played by Elizabeth McGovern), a rich American who goes on to marry the Earl of Grantham."