President Obama may have been in Ohio last night attending a NCAA basketball game with British Prime Minister David Cameron, but his mind was squarely on politics.
Ohio is an important swing state in the general election, so Mr. Obama’s choice to take in a game and a hot dog there with his closest foreign ally was no mere coincidence.
Without a primary challenger, President Obama may appear on the surface to be disengaged from the political process, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, without the burden of a primary challenger, the president has been afforded the rare luxury of appearing presidential and flying above the fray, while Republicans have been down in the trenches pulling each other’s hair out!
The GOP primary race is now in its 3rd official month and suffice it to say, the biggest winner so far appears to be Barack Obama.
Mr. Obama’s smooth sailing so far has not been lost on his political adversaries. As one Romney campaign staffer recently said, “The only person’s odds of winning that are increasing are President Barack Obama’s,” as he attempted to make the point it was time for Gingrich and Santorum to go.
While witnessing their own party members publicly slay each other, several Republican leaders have taken notice that Mr. Obama’s recent poll numbers have quietly grown above 50% for the first time in months — far from the low 40s it was stuck in only last fall. That is not welcoming news for Romney or Santorum or whoever ends up with the nomination.
Republican infighting has dragged down presumed front runner Mitt Romney’s favorability rating among swing voters and forced him to awkwardly pivot to the far right and take stances that don’t necessarily resonate with a broader electorate. But President Obama has enjoyed flying under the radar and appearing as the adult in the room while Republicans sniped and fought over contraception, illegal immigration, the minimum wage and petty parts of each others’ pasts.
Republicans are beginning to publicly admit they are on a crash course toward a brokered convention and a floor fight over the nominee. Which means that whoever limps over the finish line and comes out of the August GOP convention will have just under 3 months to gel with a vice-presidential nominee, raise money, get on message and convince the majority of the country that after all the dysfunction, they are better than the incumbent President of the United States, his near billion dollar war chest and his powerful political machine.
Romney, Santorum and Gingrich have been punching each others lights out, trading wins and inching along for months. And somewhere in the private confines of the White House, the president has been smiling!
Enjoyed reading the entire post DJ. But this sentence right here:"The GOP primary race is now in its 3rd official month and suffice it to say, the biggest winner so far appears to be Barack Obama."….pretty much says it all..!!! Word to the GOP: What does it say when you're so-called "front-runner" is so WEAK he has to pray that Newt Gingrich DOESN"T drop out because then your so-called "front-runner" would be in a REAL dog-fight_possibly even LOSE the nomination_in a head-to-head match-up with RICK SANTORUM?…a man with considerable LESS financial backing, NO establishment support and and darn near NO organization.