Raynard Jackson: “A Voter’s Guide for the Debates”

With the upcoming presidential election only a month away, I thought I would share some thoughts on how to interpret a lot of the things going on with this election.

I have received many calls from people asking about all the polls that show President Obama leading Mitt Romney. I am not a big believer in polls, but I do think it is safe to conclude that Obama is ahead by some measure – one can argue with the spread, but not with the fact that Obama has a lead.

My rule of thumb when it comes to polls is, if you are trying to explain why and how a poll is flawed, then you are admitting you are behind in the race. The past two weeks the Republicans have been all over the media talking about how all the polls are skewed towards Obama, trying to explain the methodology behind polling, and how previous Republicans were in similar positions to Romney.

To my good Republican friends, stop while you are behind. No one believes your spin and Romney has run the worst presidential campaign in history. If Romney and his campaign had spent as much time laying out a clear vision for his election as he has trying to explain away the polls, then maybe he would be ahead.

The second thing to look for with this election is the debates, the first of which was held Wednesday. Debates cannot help you, they can only hurt you. The problem with the Romney campaign isn’t that enough people have not heard him speak. The problem is people have heard him speak and they don’t like what he is saying.

On paper, Romney should have demolished Obama by now. Obama has been very inept in his handling of the economy and this election is well suited for someone with Romney’s background. But Democrats decided to “Swift Boat” Romney. They have been masterful in taking Romney’s strength—his business experience—and turning it into a huge liability.

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