The US Presidential Elections.

[Captain...]

I've been following the Daily Show since it returned to Comedy Central UK and the Presidential election smear campaigns are ramping up.

There has been a big storm over some comments made by Obama which have seen the Republican campaigns in over drive:

The heavily cut down clip that is causing all the fuss:

Obama is saying that it is being taken out of context, the republican response, still not quite in context as it doesn't have the bit after he said "you didn't build that" where he says the point is that we all had a little help on the way:

John Stewart's take on the whole thing showing that Romney and Obama are saying the same thing:

I'm sure there will be more nonsense to come over the following months, but so far apart from insulting the British Romney seems to be focussing his campaign on a bit of grammatical ambiguity, despite the point of his speech being very clear to those that heard the whole thing.

Would love to hear from the US dwelling foxes on how it is going and how big a thing has made of this, and whether Romney is looking good or not as an opponent.

[MooseBreath]

Yaaaawn.

[fleckneymike]

You can't beat the daily show. So glad it has returned

[Smudge]

Yaaaawn.

Quite!

I doubt most self respecting independent voters would be influenced by any of this tripe from either party, I certainly am not.

[Captain...]

Quite!

I doubt most self respecting independent voters would be influenced by any of this tripe from either party, I certainly am not.

What have you made of it so far, I have heard from American democrat friends of mine that Romney is pretty unelectable, but then they would say that and live in a democrat strongholds.

[21st Century Fox]

Don't forget the subliminal messages inserted into The Dark Knight Rises by the Democrats, so that the American youth associate the word Bane/Bain Captial with evil wrong-doers.

[ADK]

Americans are pretty stupid so i have no idea who they'll vote for.

[Smudge]

What have you made of it so far, I have heard from American democrat friends of mine that Romney is pretty unelectable, but then they would say that and live in a democrat strongholds.

I think if the economy hadn't dropped into a double recession, Obama would be a shoe-in. His foreign policy and in particular the killing of Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda notables has gained him a lot of support in that regard.

He has been working with an uncooperative congress these last two years but the President gets no let off for that. So I'd say given a qualified republican candidate, he'd struggle to hold the Presidency due to the large amount of unemployment, failure of the incentive plan and the health care plan. That in my opinion, should have been a second priority to getting people back to work. He's also hampered with Nancy Pelosi in the House and that willy puller Harry Reid in the Senate, neither one should hold office let alone leadership.

However, he's facing a fairly flawed man in Romney, makes gaffs frequently up to and including the Olympics security system which got huge publicity over here and was quite embarrassing to the American people. He wasn't popular as the Massachusetts governor and doesn't have the women or Latino vote. The other millstone is that he's a Mormon and the religious right will have a problem with that and might abstain rather than vote for him.

In the and this is America, they don't like failure but it's all about the alternative. I would never have thought George Bush would have gotten a second term until John Kerry stepped up to the plate. I think that the real contenders never belly up for second term elections.

[Smudge]

Americans are pretty stupid so i have no idea who they'll vote for.

You're offensive as well as without class eh?

[MooseBreath]

The US didn't have a double dip recession, did they? I thought they had been kicking the can down the road by borrowing to achieve growth since 2008?

[BoneDog]

My money's on Romney for this one.

[Webbo]

Not really bothered. I don't have a vote and it doesn't directly affect me. Both seem pretty poor candidates though.

[Smudge]

Maybe I misspoke but sure sure feels like we double dipped. last year we were seemingly getting out of this mess and now like we are back where we started.

[Hollism]

I'll feel sorry for the American's if Romney wins it. So many of them are convinced that Obama hates America, etc.

[Jon the Hat]

Romney won't win, he is the best of a terrible bunch who ran because no real contenders did. They don't think a Republican will win.

[ADK]

You're offensive as well as without class eh?

I just see America as what would happen if we hadn't had a socialist political party in this country and had allowed right wing politics to dominate.

[Captain...]

I think if the economy hadn't dropped into a double recession, Obama would be a shoe-in. His foreign policy and in particular the killing of Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda notables has gained him a lot of support in that regard.

He has been working with an uncooperative congress these last two years but the President gets no let off for that. So I'd say given a qualified republican candidate, he'd struggle to hold the Presidency due to the large amount of unemployment, failure of the incentive plan and the health care plan. That in my opinion, should have been a second priority to getting people back to work. He's also hampered with Nancy Pelosi in the House and that willy puller Harry Reid in the Senate, neither one should hold office let alone leadership.

However, he's facing a fairly flawed man in Romney, makes gaffs frequently up to and including the Olympics security system which got huge publicity over here and was quite embarrassing to the American people. He wasn't popular as the Massachusetts governor and doesn't have the women or Latino vote. The other millstone is that he's a Mormon and the religious right will have a problem with that and might abstain rather than vote for him.

In the and this is America, they don't like failure but it's all about the alternative. I would never have thought George Bush would have gotten a second term until John Kerry stepped up to the plate. I think that the real contenders never belly up for second term elections.

Thanks that seems to be the general consensus, but most of my information comes from the biased liberal media.

[Smudge]

I just see America as what would happen if we hadn't had a socialist political party in this country and had allowed right wing politics to dominate.

What you said is that American's are pretty stupid. What does that have to the party political set up in the UK? Some on here would goad you into making a tit of yourself, I won't do that. Just don't have a silly pop at Americans or any other nation without thinking through how it comes over.

[Jordan]

I don't know, I think I'm still on the fence on this one...

My money's on Romney for this one.

If you offered me even odds, I'd take you on in a second.

[Jaspa]

Romney really doesnt look like a President, and image is the real major factor in American politics anyway

Were also still a while away from the actual votes, so alot could still happen in that time that could be decisive

Either way, all of the major decisions and policies will be the same, you are simply being raped by the same gimp, in a different mask

[21st Century Fox]

It'll certainly be interesting to see how Romney's tax returns saga plays out.

[Jordan]

This is gonna be a long post, so be warned. But in addition to policy debates, I love the strategy and tactics of presidential elections, and I'll get into some of numbers talk, too.

There are still 99 days to go before the Election Day, and even though it is a close race and a lot can happen between now and November 6, a lot still needs to happen for Mitt Romney to topple Barack Obama. Even with a lot of uncertainty in the world--with volatile global markets, the Euro crisis, and a dangerous geopolitical climate--it's too hard to predict an "October surprise."

Obama's approval ratings aren't sky-high and Americans are pretty much split on whether or not they view his hitherto presidency as successful.

Mitt Romney has run an unspectacular campaign so far and I'm not convinced that Americans view him as truly "presidential." At this point, I think Romney has kept this race competitive because:

1) Americans are still largely unsatisfied with our tepid recovery from the "great recession." Unemployment remains very high and the housing market is still in shambles. Personally, I think President Obama did very well considering how bad things were when he came into office and I think our recovery would have been more robust had Congress not scaled back the American Recovery and Re-investment act (the "stimulus.")

2) Americans dislike the Affordable Health Care Act even though they really do like a lot of its provisions. Americans tend to really hate the "individual mandate"--recently upheld by the Supreme Court. I'll save my commentary on that for another time.

3) Mitt Romney is backed by an extremely wealthy group of billionaire corporate donors--particularly Sheldon Adelson--who have more clout since the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision that removed a lot of restrictions on corporate donations to political campaigns. In 2008, President Obama raked in lots of small donations from an inspired electorate, but "Citizens United" changes the game.

4) It is certainly in the media's interest to keep the race close. Stopping short of conspiracy theories, I'll concede that a story about a close poll or a "gotcha!" moment when a candidate makes a gaffe are far more interesting stories to voters than polls that show the race widening or wonky discussions on policy.

5) The Republican base is far more inspired in 2008 than they were in 2012, and despite a massive get-out-the-vote effort by the Democrats in 2008, there may be a little Obama fatigue this year. Mitt Romney has never endeared himself to the "Tea Party" faction and spent nearly the entire campaign pleading with them that he really was "severely conservative," but plenty of them see Obama as a bogeyman and are willing to swallow their pride and vote Romney.

6) There is still room in the polling for Romney to get a little bounce when he announces his running mate, especially if it's a favorable choice and not a Sarah Palin-like disaster. His VP choice will definitely be more carefully vetted than McCain's.

But I still think it's much more likely Obama will win re-election. The game is played under different rules here. Say what you will about the Electoral College system, but it certainly makes for an exciting campaign if the race is close, with particular attention paid towards "battleground states." The gap between Obama and Romney looks every bit like it will be closer than it was between Obama and McCain in the 2008 election, but they would have to change a lot more to put Romney over the top.

Let's just say, based on carefully-scrutinized numbers from recent polls and good scientific models to predict the election, that Obama underperforms a little on Election Day compared to what they're showing. I'll give Indiana and North Carolina--two states that Obama took to the surprise of a few pollsters--to Romney, along with the Nebraska-2 Electoral Vote. I'll drop Obama's numbers by a bit and flip Florida--where Romney has been polling very well lately--and Virginia--which Obama took by 6 points in 2008, but is geniunely a toss-up today--from blue to red. Romney's best chance at a real steal is in New Hampshire, which has a libertarian streak and where Romney is quite popular, so I'll be generous and give him the Granite State's four EVs. Hell, go have Colorado too, Mitt.

Reading that paragraph might not seem like great news for Obama--and indeed, it makes this race very, very close. But I cannot see any of the other states flipping from their 2008 results, and if that's so, Obama would still win, 277-261.

(I have Obama at least winning Colorado and New Hampshire and doing no worse than 291, perhaps add Virginia and make it 303).

Everybody agrees that Ohio, with its 18 electoral votes, is the ultimate battleground state this year. However, despite a poor economy in the state and massive campaign spending there, polling numbers just don't look good as they should for Romney, and this could be a huge problem for him. Pennsylvania is still within reach for Romney, but even with possible changes in voter identification law that could disenfranchise more Democratic voters than Republicans, I don't think Romney is close enough to win that and the Keynote State's demographics are trending Democratic.

Romney absolutely has to cut into voting blocs where he can make great gains compared to McCain, and he's just not doing it. Romney is doing a terrible job amongst women. He's also doing terribly among Latinos. Young people vote Democratic. And, frankly, I can't see much he will do to turn those numbers around.

Obama also has a hell of a ground game. Florida is still a toss-up and he's still making a big play at North Carolina, too.

[Smudge]

I don't know, I think I'm still on the fence on this one...

If you offered me even odds, I'd take you on in a second.

I'm squarely in the rose garden right now.

[Fox in the North]

you are simply being raped by the same gimp, in a different mask

How I feel about politics and elections in general ^^^^

[MPH]

This is gonna be a long post, so be warned. But in addition to policy debates, I love the strategy and tactics of presidential elections, and I'll get into some of numbers talk, too.

There are still 99 days to go before the Election Day, and even though it is a close race and a lot can happen between now and November 6, a lot still needs to happen for Mitt Romney to topple Barack Obama. Even with a lot of uncertainty in the world--with volatile global markets, the Euro crisis, and a dangerous geopolitical climate--it's too hard to predict an "October surprise."

Obama's approval ratings aren't sky-high and Americans are pretty much split on whether or not they view his hitherto presidency as successful.

Mitt Romney has run an unspectacular campaign so far and I'm not convinced that Americans view him as truly "presidential." At this point, I think Romney has kept this race competitive because:

1) Americans are still largely unsatisfied with our tepid recovery from the "great recession." Unemployment remains very high and the housing market is still in shambles. Personally, I think President Obama did very well considering how bad things were when he came into office and I think our recovery would have been more robust had Congress not scaled back the American Recovery and Re-investment act (the "stimulus.")

2) Americans dislike the Affordable Health Care Act even though they really do like a lot of its provisions. Americans tend to really hate the "individual mandate"--recently upheld by the Supreme Court. I'll save my commentary on that for another time.

3) Mitt Romney is backed by an extremely wealthy group of billionaire corporate donors--particularly Sheldon Adelson--who have more clout since the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision that removed a lot of restrictions on corporate donations to political campaigns. In 2008, President Obama raked in lots of small donations from an inspired electorate, but "Citizens United" changes the game.

4) It is certainly in the media's interest to keep the race close. Stopping short of conspiracy theories, I'll concede that a story about a close poll or a "gotcha!" moment when a candidate makes a gaffe are far more interesting stories to voters than polls that show the race widening or wonky discussions on policy.

5) The Republican base is far more inspired in 2008 than they were in 2012, and despite a massive get-out-the-vote effort by the Democrats in 2008, there may be a little Obama fatigue this year. Mitt Romney has never endeared himself to the "Tea Party" faction and spent nearly the entire campaign pleading with them that he really was "severely conservative," but plenty of them see Obama as a bogeyman and are willing to swallow their pride and vote Romney.

6) There is still room in the polling for Romney to get a little bounce when he announces his running mate, especially if it's a favorable choice and not a Sarah Palin-like disaster. His VP choice will definitely be more carefully vetted than McCain's.

But I still think it's much more likely Obama will win re-election. The game is played under different rules here. Say what you will about the Electoral College system, but it certainly makes for an exciting campaign if the race is close, with particular attention paid towards "battleground states." The gap between Obama and Romney looks every bit like it will be closer than it was between Obama and McCain in the 2008 election, but they would have to change a lot more to put Romney over the top.

Let's just say, based on carefully-scrutinized numbers from recent polls and good scientific models to predict the election, that Obama underperforms a little on Election Day compared to what they're showing. I'll give Indiana and North Carolina--two states that Obama took to the surprise of a few pollsters--to Romney, along with the Nebraska-2 Electoral Vote. I'll drop Obama's numbers by a bit and flip Florida--where Romney has been polling very well lately--and Virginia--which Obama took by 6 points in 2008, but is geniunely a toss-up today--from blue to red. Romney's best chance at a real steal is in New Hampshire, which has a libertarian streak and where Romney is quite popular, so I'll be generous and give him the Granite State's four EVs. Hell, go have Colorado too, Mitt.

Reading that paragraph might not seem like great news for Obama--and indeed, it makes this race very, very close. But I cannot see any of the other states flipping from their 2008 results, and if that's so, Obama would still win, 277-261.

(I have Obama at least winning Colorado and New Hampshire and doing no worse than 291, perhaps add Virginia and make it 303).

Everybody agrees that Ohio, with its 18 electoral votes, is the ultimate battleground state this year. However, despite a poor economy in the state and massive campaign spending there, polling numbers just don't look good as they should for Romney, and this could be a huge problem for him. Pennsylvania is still within reach for Romney, but even with possible changes in voter identification law that could disenfranchise more Democratic voters than Republicans, I don't think Romney is close enough to win that and the Keynote State's demographics are trending Democratic.

Romney absolutely has to cut into voting blocs where he can make great gains compared to McCain, and he's just not doing it. Romney is doing a terrible job amongst women. He's also doing terribly among Latinos. Young people vote Democratic. And, frankly, I can't see much he will do to turn those numbers around.

Obama also has a hell of a ground game. Florida is still a toss-up and he's still making a big play at North Carolina, too.

Every person i have met so far here in North Carolina absolutely regrets voting for Obama. I Live 40 minutes from Charlotte International airport Every local ( county. state, ect) election this year has been won by republicans. So far....