No matter who you support, you have to conclude Mitt has run a bad campaign

[Cali Coug]

His experience as a businessman was never thrust out there like it should have been. That experience would go a long ways in New Hampshire. He shies away from those discussions, mentioning that experience only tangentially. He focuses primarily on being governor. He rarely mentions the Olympics.

Mitt has tons of leadership experience in the private sector. I don't know why you wouldn't point that out in a situation like this. McCain tonight even jabbed at Mitt, saying that Mitt's experience was all for profit, whereas McCain's was all for patriotism. Mitt let it go. He should have snapped back that McCain's service was honorable, but that McCain shouldn't denigrate work in the private sector. He could have then pointed out all of the virtues Republicans love and scored huge points on his business background. Nobody in the audience thinks making money is a bad thing. How could Mitt not point out his huge success right then?

He has gone with the "if you look in the dictionary, you will see..." argument way too many times. Hint: 1 time is too many times. Twice is abysmal.

He never sounded convincing on his policy changes. He needed to use more personal stories to help.

There are so many areas where his campaign has done a terrible job. It may be too late for him to fix, if he loses NH. I think he wins NH, but it will be tight.

[DJRoss]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

His experience as a businessman was never thrust out there like it should have been. That experience would go a long ways in New Hampshire. He shies away from those discussions, mentioning that experience only tangentially. He focuses primarily on being governor. He rarely mentions the Olympics.

Mitt has tons of leadership experience in the private sector. I don't know why you wouldn't point that out in a situation like this. McCain tonight even jabbed at Mitt, saying that Mitt's experience was all for profit, whereas McCain's was all for patriotism. Mitt let it go. He should have snapped back that McCain's service was honorable, but that McCain shouldn't denigrate work in the private sector. He could have then pointed out all of the virtues Republicans love and scored huge points on his business background. Nobody in the audience thinks making money is a bad thing. How could Mitt not point out his huge success right then?

He has gone with the "if you look in the dictionary, you will see..." argument way too many times. Hint: 1 time is too many times. Twice is abysmal.

He never sounded convincing on his policy changes. He needed to use more personal stories to help.

There are so many areas where his campaign has done a terrible job. It may be too late for him to fix, if he loses NH. I think he wins NH, but it will be tight.

Well tonight Romney Hit a home run according to Luntz focus groups. They just wrapped up the GOP debate, and he brought in 30 independent voters of which 3 were going to vote for Romney prior to the debate. After the debate only one of the 30 were NOT going to vote for Romney.

He mended allot of problems that you brought up tonight. Is it enough to squeeze into the number one slot in New Hampshire. Maybe. It will be very close. I do believe that he kept his run very much alive even if he comes in second due to just how tight it will be.

Huckabee got as my sons would say "pwnd" and it showed. For some reason Thompson got the "did worst" in the debate amongst the focus voters. I really don't get that since I thought Thompson has carried himself well in these last two debates. I think a Romney Thompson ticket would be a power play for the GOP. McCain did control himself though there were a couple of occasions that he looked like he wanted to cold cock Romney who he was sitting next to. Had he done it I would have laughed, of course it would have ended his campaign.

[hyrum]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

His experience as a businessman was never thrust out there like it should have been. That experience would go a long ways in New Hampshire. He shies away from those discussions, mentioning that experience only tangentially. He focuses primarily on being governor. He rarely mentions the Olympics.

Mitt has tons of leadership experience in the private sector. I don't know why you wouldn't point that out in a situation like this. McCain tonight even jabbed at Mitt, saying that Mitt's experience was all for profit, whereas McCain's was all for patriotism. Mitt let it go. He should have snapped back that McCain's service was honorable, but that McCain shouldn't denigrate work in the private sector. He could have then pointed out all of the virtues Republicans love and scored huge points on his business background. Nobody in the audience thinks making money is a bad thing. How could Mitt not point out his huge success right then?

He has gone with the "if you look in the dictionary, you will see..." argument way too many times. Hint: 1 time is too many times. Twice is abysmal.

He never sounded convincing on his policy changes. He needed to use more personal stories to help.

There are so many areas where his campaign has done a terrible job. It may be too late for him to fix, if he loses NH. I think he wins NH, but it will be tight.

Also:
"I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message but I don't know what it said."
I guess he never learned about Sarbanes-Oxley from his corporate experience.

[MikeWaters]

sorry, I disagree with you.

I think your instincts tend to be wrong, based on what I've read.

Running an investment company does not impress the avg. American. "You used money to make money, you did complicated transactions, and you had no defineable product other than making more money."

Remember DJRoss bragging about how Mitt went to Harvard, and how he was so smart, top of his class, etc.?

To some degree, it would be just as effective if Mitt went on that MTV show (still going?) cribz and showed off how many plasma TVs he has in his house.

[DJRoss]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

sorry, I disagree with you.

I think your instincts tend to be wrong, based on what I've read.

Running an investment company does not impress the avg. American. "You used money to make money, you did complicated transactions, and you had no defineable product other than making more money."

Remember DJRoss bragging about how Mitt went to Harvard, and how he was so smart, top of his class, etc.?

To some degree, it would be just as effective if Mitt went on that MTV show (still going?) cribz and showed off how many plasma TVs he has in his house.

LOL I don't remember ever bragging about Mitt's Harvard education. Maybe you mixed me up with some other Romneybot on this board.

[TripletDaddy]

He was at his most convincing and inspiring tonight when he focused on his economic experience and how that would translate into shrinking the government, working with China, and creating jobs.

None of the other candidates have a resume that comes anywhere near Mitt's when it comes to economic issues that require business acumen. May be too little too late.

[MikeWaters]

The problem with Thompson is that he is too good a man to be president. I think he honestly views it as a necessary evil, or service to humanity, rather than self-aggrandizement. He comes across more like a professor offering commentary, than a man who has thought long and hard about taking over the reigns of this country. In other words, he doesn't communicate in tone and mannerism, that he has convinced *himself*.

Damn, I am smart. I should get paid money for my opinion.

[hyrum]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

sorry, I disagree with you.

I think your instincts tend to be wrong, based on what I've read.

Running an investment company does not impress the avg. American. "You used money to make money, you did complicated transactions, and you had no defineable product other than making more money."

I agree, isn't Bain a venture capital investment business? Those people are mostly good at managing risk and making sure that every deal they do is structured so they get the max benefit if it goes well. If they don't see the risk/reward in their favor they go on to the next prospect. For the most part the people with the new ideas and creativity are at their mercy for financing the large-scale production and marketing of the products/services. I think a lot of people who've had to deal with them (admittedly a very small part of the population) look at them as vultures.

I'm not sure if that experience carries over well to an arena where you cannot walk away from one deal to pursue another, you have to tackle all problems.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by hyrum

I agree, isn't Bain a venture capital investment business? Those people are mostly good at managing risk and making sure that every deal they do is structured so they get the max benefit if it goes well. If they don't see the risk/reward in their favor they go on to the next prospect. For the most part the people with the new ideas and creativity are at their mercy for financing the large-scale production and marketing of the products/services. I think a lot of people who've had to deal with them (admittedly a very small part of the population) look at them as vultures.

I'm not sure if that experience carries over well to an arena where you cannot walk away from one deal to pursue another, you have to tackle all problems.

The problem with it is that it cannot be explained in one sentence. There are no widgets there.

Should Rudy be bragging about being a security consultant?

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

sorry, I disagree with you.

I think your instincts tend to be wrong, based on what I've read.

Running an investment company does not impress the avg. American. "You used money to make money, you did complicated transactions, and you had no defineable product other than making more money."

Remember DJRoss bragging about how Mitt went to Harvard, and how he was so smart, top of his class, etc.?

To some degree, it would be just as effective if Mitt went on that MTV show (still going?) cribz and showed off how many plasma TVs he has in his house.

He isn't trying to impress the average American. He is trying to impress the average primary voter, particularly those in New Hampshire who are very economics minded.

Starting up a business that becomes a gigantic money maker is impressive, particularly for the crowd he is wooing. And those people know what a venture capital firm is.