{"id":25409,"date":"2012-10-08T15:00:35","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T21:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?p=25409"},"modified":"2012-10-08T12:35:27","modified_gmt":"2012-10-08T18:35:27","slug":"is-victory-within-reach-for-romney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0<\/em>headlined<\/a> the results of a recent Rasmussen poll<\/a>, which found Romney had a 49% lead over Obama\u2019s 47% standing.<\/p>\n

It should be noted, as Fox\u00a0News<\/em>\u00a0does, that the poll was conducted prior to the debate. It should also be noted, though, that\u00a0Fox<\/em>\u2018s headline \u2014 \u201cRasmussen Poll: Romney ahead 49-47 percent in first, full poll-debate survey\u201d \u2014 will easily mislead viewers who don\u2019t bother to read all the way to the bottom of the article to find out the poll was actually taken beforehand.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, and whatever the importance of the poll, Albert R. Hunt, the Washington editor of\u00a0Bloomberg News<\/em>, cast doubt<\/a> upon the importance of Romney\u2019s relative victory in the first presidential debate. Some are comparing Romney to Ronald Reagan and Obama to Jimmy Carter. Hunt warns this comparison is problematic and unpromising:<\/p>\n

While Romney gets to hit the reset button after President\u00a0Barack Obama\u2019s desultory display, he\u2019d better not count on the 1980 analogy.\u00a0Ronald Reagan\u2019s victory over\u00a0Jimmy Carter\u00a0wasn\u2019t inevitable; it was earned, with some help from outsiders. The environment was far less hospitable for the incumbent president in 1980 than it is today.<\/p>\n

Looking at the three major elements of any presidential contest \u2014 the candidate and campaign, the conditions, and the electorate \u2014 underscores the Republican\u2019s challenge in replicating the Reagan victory this year.<\/p>\n

Obama is a better candidate than Carter. Romney is no Reagan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

President Carter\u2019s loss of the 1980 election to President Reagan is frequently explained by the negative reaction against what\u2019s known as Carter\u2019s \u201ccrisis of confidence<\/a>\u201d speech. Reagan flatly rejected Carter\u2019s warning against materialism-driven self-interest, claiming instead that \u201c\u2018less\u2019 is not enough<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n

While Republicans today still proclaim a prosperity gospel of sorts, their emphasis on austerity and debt reduction does not allow for Romney and Ryan to make the same sweeping claims Reagan made that won him the presidency and restored many Americans\u2019 faith and belief in their country.<\/p>\n

Americans believe in prosperity still, but they also pushed into a realism which admits prosperity is never endless, that less may not be enough but will have to be enough for a time. In this regard, Chris Christie\u2019s RNC keynote speech<\/a> resembles Carter\u2019s call for reigning in profligacy far more than Reagan\u2019s dream of prosperity unbound.<\/p>\n

Such a message is a hard sell, and Romney will have a very hard time selling this to Americans in a convincing manner. (To be fair, this is a hard sell for anyone, not just Romney.) The next month will reveal whether Romney managed to make the sale.<\/p>\n

Also see \u201cCivil Discussion: Romney\u2019s Great Debate\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the results of a recent Rasmussen poll, which found Romney had a 49% lead over Obama\u2019s 47% standing. It should be noted, as Fox\u00a0News\u00a0does, that the poll was conducted prior to the debate. It should also be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1226,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1484,15],"tags":[823],"class_list":["post-25409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ofthemoment","category-politics","tag-mitt-romney"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Victory Within Reach for Romney?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ and Pop Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-08T21:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-08T18:35:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"C. Ryan Knight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"C. Ryan Knight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/\",\"name\":\"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-08T21:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-08T18:35:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/182e0d8fa6085948c87b513e45f018d1\"},\"description\":\"By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/\",\"name\":\"Christ and Pop Culture\",\"description\":\"Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/182e0d8fa6085948c87b513e45f018d1\",\"name\":\"C. Ryan Knight\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff9e0590a74ca84e9dbf40a14762f139?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff9e0590a74ca84e9dbf40a14762f139?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"C. Ryan Knight\"},\"description\":\"C. Ryan Knight teaches English at Randolph Community College in Asheboro, NC, and he lives with his wife outside Greensboro, NC. Email: knight.cr@gmail.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/author\/rknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?","description":"By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?","og_description":"By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/","og_site_name":"Christ and Pop Culture","article_published_time":"2012-10-08T21:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-10-08T18:35:27+00:00","author":"C. Ryan Knight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"C. Ryan Knight","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/","name":"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-08T21:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-08T18:35:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/182e0d8fa6085948c87b513e45f018d1"},"description":"By many accounts, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney outperformed incumbent President Barack Obama last Wednesday, October 3.\u00a0Fox News\u00a0headlined the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2012\/10\/is-victory-within-reach-for-romney\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Victory Within Reach for Romney?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/","name":"Christ and Pop Culture","description":"Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/182e0d8fa6085948c87b513e45f018d1","name":"C. Ryan Knight","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff9e0590a74ca84e9dbf40a14762f139?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff9e0590a74ca84e9dbf40a14762f139?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"C. Ryan Knight"},"description":"C. Ryan Knight teaches English at Randolph Community College in Asheboro, NC, and he lives with his wife outside Greensboro, NC. Email: knight.cr@gmail.com","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/author\/rknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}