Election of 2012

                    The first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney seems to be having an effect on voters.  The debate was the first opportunity for Romney to speak directly with the American people and showed all of us that Romney is not the evil person that Democrats and the main stream media have been portraying.  Obviously, many Americans liked the Romney they saw and heard!

As I write this, the overall percentages have Romney at 49 percent and Obama at 45 percent.  Gallup Poll gave Romney a 5-point bounce to Romney from the debate.  Pew Poll said there has been an 18-point shift among women since the debate.  Battleground Poll said that Romney "massacred" Obama among independents by 16 points, 51-35.   This is all good news for conservatives, but there are also other things that are affecting the change in polls.

                    Jim Geraghty wrote an opinion piece for the New York Daily News to explain that the Obama campaign is falling apart because its foundations "are not nearly as strong as they once seemed."  This article is very interesting and well worth your time to read it.  Please bear in mind that there are reports that the Obama campaign is being changed.

                    Geraghty wrote, "A presidential reelection campaign needs three key elements:  a defense of the incumbent's record, a successful effort to define the opposition and a compelling vision of a second term.  President Obama may well celebrate a second term in Chicago next month, but the conventional wisdom underestimates the difficulty he faces, as his campaign has distinct problems with all three elements.  His defense of his record is exceptionally weak, his effort to define Mitt Romney is nearly exhausted, and his vision for the next four years - perhaps the most important - has been largely missing from his effort this year."

                    In addition, two University of Colorado professors updated their election forecasting model; their model continues to project that Mitt Romney will win the 2012 presidential election.  Their updated analysis says that "Romney is projected to receive 330 of the total 538 Electoral College votes" while "President Barack Obama is expected to receive 208 votes - down five votes from their initial prediction - and short of the 270 needed to win."

                    Political science professors Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder and Michael Berry of CU-Denver based their new forecast on "more recent economic data" but their model did not change.

                    Bickers said, "We continue to show that the economic conditions favor Romney even though many polls show the president in the lead.  Other published models point to the same result, but they looked at the national popular vote, while we stress state-level economic data."

                    Much can happen before the election next month.  Look at the recent election in Venezuela:  The re-election President Hugo Chavez to a new term of office was not a good sign.  Even though Chavez is suffering from cancer he will now have six more years to advance his socialist revolution in Venezuela and consolidate state control over the economy of his nation.

                    Hopefully, Mitt Romney will do well in the next two debates and continue to impress American voters with his conservative principles and plans as well as his squeaky-clean character.  Barack Obama can only continue to tell lies and hide his real intentions.  I hope that American voters are wiser than those in Venezuela and elect a new President of the United States!