In his NYT Blog yesterday, Paul Krugman noted the clear electoral college lead that President Obama has in the polls and asks:
Why? Jonathan Cohn singles out the auto bailout, and rightly so. I’d add, however, that the killing of Osama bin Laden mattered too. Foreign policy hasn’t been a big issue in this election, but that in itself is a big gain for Democrats compared with the usual taunt that they’re weak on terrorism or whatever; notice how hard Romney has tried to restart the usual meme, with negative success.
And what the auto rescue and the bin Laden strike have in common is that they were both very courageous decisions — decisions that could easily have gone wrong, that faced lots of second-guessing. You can criticize Obama for many things (and I have, and will in future), but he showed true grit when it mattered, and now seems likely to reap the reward.
Emphasis mine.
True grit is what we want in a President, that ability to make a gutsy call and the willingness to stand by it. Try as hard as I can, I just can't see this quality in Mitt Romney. Truman had it. So did JFK and LBJ. And I think we will see more in the next four years. Starting with Sandy.
From the White House Blog:
President Barack Obama receives an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane Sandy at the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, right, and Richard Serino, FEMA Deputy Administrator, are seated next to the President. October 28, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
As Hurricane Sandy continues to bear down on the East Coast, federal teams are working with state and local officials to prepare for days of severe weather in communities stretching from North Carolina to Maine. Forecasts from the National Hurricane Center suggest that a huge area of the United States could be affected by high winds, heavy rains, storm surge, and snow – all of which could produce widespread power outages.
Today, President Obama traveled to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get briefed on those preparations. He met with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino, and the FEMA regional directors. Dr. Rick Knabb, the director fo the National Hurricane Center, joined the meeting by video conference.
“At this stage, everybody is confident that the staging process, the prepositioning of resources, commodities, equipment that are going to be needed to respond to this storm are in place,” the President said. “But as Craig [Fugate] has emphasized, this hasn't hit landfall yet, so we don't yet know where it's going to hit, where we're going to see the biggest impacts. And that's exactly why it's so important for us to respond big and respond fast as local information starts coming in.”
President Barack Obama talks to employees in the command center at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., after receiving an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane Sandy. October 28, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
UPDATE from the Comments by
JoanMar:
From Today's Campaign Schedule, which is published on the Front Page every morning by Susan Gardner:
Hurricane Sandy is playing havoc with campaigning schedules; Beau Biden originally was scheduled to appear with Jill Biden in North Carolina today but cancelled because he was needed in his home state of Delaware, and Mitt Romney originally was scheduled to hit the stump alone in Virginia but instead is teaming up with Paul Ryan for Ohio appearances.
Check locally with up-to-date information if you play on attending any events.
Jill Biden — Huntersville and Asheville, NC, and Duncansville, PA
OFA field office (Huntersville)
1 PM EDT
OFA field office (Asheville)
AFSCME Union Labor Building (Duncansville)
7 PM EDT
If you wish, you can find the Romney/Ryan schedule by following the link shown above.
There was something very gutsy about this commercial from Obama For America:
And something very gritty in this one:
Early voting is now in full swing in many states, starting in NV, as shown in this Obama For America Video:
And in Florida as well:
For more good news out of Florida, see joelgp's recommended diary, Florida: Obama Blasting Romney in First Day of Early Voting!!
Link to Transcripts and Documents.