What if Romney provides all kinds of details and does a great job during the debates?

[Avalux]

I was thinking about this scenario....he comes out and refuses to debate Obama and instead lays out his economic and foreign policy plans in detail and actually seems to have his shit together. Is it even conceivable he's been waiting for the debates to do this since he hasn't provided anything of substance thus far?

I know its highly unlikely but I like to think of all the possibilities. Especially after Romney stated Obama will "say things that aren't true" during the debate and Romney won't address them, will instead talk about what he wants to do. Would this sway undecideds?

[joeybee12]

2. What if pigs could fly...

I ask, because that's more likely.

[Avalux]

5. Thanks - I think I just need some reasurrance.

That's why I ask you guys.

[joeybee12]

43. My main reason why this won't happen is the sociopath Rmoney

thinks he's so great, he's already convinced himself he will win the debates.

[ReasonableToo]

47. They are counting on their side not watching debates

Just like the 3rd Gore v. Bush debate. Polling showed that Gore won among those who watched the debate and Bush won among those who did not watch the debate. I still don't know why they polled people who did not watch the debate but it does reveal that biased media coverage (and/or ignorance) is powerful.

Romney already saying Pres. Obama will just lie during debate so they will probably encourage their sheep to NOT watch. Then the propaganda machine will spin just like they did after DNC.

[appleannie1]

3. Please don't hold your breath while you wait.

[Kalidurga]

4. Not even a plausible scenario...

Twit Romney has been all over the place and back. He can't take a hard question without getting prickly to say the least. He has no center to go to. He has no morality and he has demonstrated this time and time again. Romney isn't going to debate the clowns he debated when he was in the Republican debates. He is debating someone that actually knows what he is talking about. Romney is going to need to wear a couple pairs of Magic Depends for the debates.

[Avalux]

8. I agree - in reality, we may see a temper tantrum.

One thing is for sure; his contempt for Obama will show, and I doubt he'll be able to remain calm when Obama schools him.

[Ikonoklast]

17. Romney grew up in and spent his formative years in a church

that taught him that Black people are inferior as a matter of religious doctrine.

Hard to shake that early-life religious indoctrination.

[Avalux]

19. That upbringing does make one wonder about his demeanor towards Obama.

Romney has always been in charge; he likes to fire people. On that stage with Obama, he won't be in charge, Obama is the President and will make that clear. Might be a huge mindfuck for Romney and he may lose it.

[Ikonoklast]

31. When you are raised to believe that there are Der Untermensch, thinking that they will

react in a predictably cowardly and craven manner but instead end up kicking your stupid ass all over the map from the gates of Stalingrad back into your own backyard, it's a really bad way to find out you aren't all that superior, after all.

The learning curve as to just how wrong you were in underestimating the competency of your opponent ends up trending toward the vertical.

Mitt doesn't actually strike me as being all that smart; being lucky in life takes no real intelligence.

[Gman]

6. An asteroid could also hit the earth before the debates

if you want to cover all the possibilities. Both scenarios are just as likely.

[Aerows]

42. Asteroid hitting the Earth is more likely

in my humble opinion, than Mitt Romney winning a debate against Barack Obama. It's like saying that an unstoppable force would be quelled by an incredibly movable and destructible object.

[fugop]

7. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Wait. Ok, so ... what if Romney provides details and ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry, but I just can't see it.

[smaug]

24. He'll smirk

And trot out the 'job creators' line.... and that destroying our industrial base and robbing pension plans is good for the economy - and the middle class is $250,000....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself. To quote Bugs, "What a maroon." - Which what RMoney finds himself when trying to talk to Americans.

[ProSense]

9. Whatever Mitt says

he will have said the exact opposite at some point. They don't call him Mutiple Choice Mitt for nothing.

[ohheckyeah]

10. I think that's about as likely

as me farting rainbows and pink fairies.

[spanone]

11. what, and say nothing for the next hour and fifty-nine minutes?

[Avalux]

12. Good one!

I think he'll spend the remaining hour and fifty-nine minute smirking and trying to come up with spontaneous and clever one-liners that fail miserably.

[thelordofhell]

13. This is what's going to happen

Shitt Onmey isn't going to answer a single question directly. He's going to clumsily attack President Obama with outrageous lies and the "liberal" media will call him a tough cookie and say that President Obama was on defense throughout the debate.

[Avalux]

15. That is yet another scenario....

although I think he'd overplay it and come across as awkward and bumbling. That sort of strategy takes a level of skill Romney doesn't have.

[Life Long Dem]

14. Aliens could invade us and take over the earth before that happens.

[still_one]

16. He doesn't have to be clear or detailed, they plan to win by suppressing the vote

[drm604]

18. What if I fly out of my own butt?

That's about as likely.

[Tom Rinaldo]

20. He can't provide lots of details AND do a great job

The details are toxic to his campaign when known, that's his problem. That leaves him with lying or evading details as his options.Evasion hasn't worked. Obama has to be prepared to nail him on lies. But even if Obama doesn't nail Romney on every lie, much of the media is on to his game by now - and lies will backfire.

[mazzarro]

21. Will the details include his tax reports as well?

Eh - eh, will it also include his off-shore accounts in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland?

[Orangepeel]

22. Paul Krugman had a blog post related to this

It makes sense to me:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/no-details-forthcoming/

Hmm. So even on the right, people are complaining that Romney isn’t providing enough details about his plans. And I’ve spoken to journalists who are sure that Romney will be forced to say more before Election Day.

No he won’t. He might lose for lack of detail, but no detail will be provided, for a very simple reason: his proposals don’t add up. He literally can’t do what he says he would do, namely cut tax rates on the rich without raising the tax burden on the middle class or making the deficit surge; nor can he propose spending cuts as large as he claims without cutting deeply into programs people depend on.

Another way of saying this, of course, is that his alleged budget plan is actually a fraud.

[Avalux]

23. Thanks for posting this. Krugman is a wise man. n/t

[EC]

25. No.

He doesn't give any details because he knows no one will like what he'd do and will not vote for him. Rmoney basically said it himself when he said he had to get to 50.1% of the vote and if he said what he'd do he wouldn't.

And when you look back in history, he will cut taxes and spend more money without paying for any of it.

[valerief]

26. I hope his earplug falls out and we see a lump in his back.

No fear of Rmoney doing well. He's dumb as a stump.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. It just won't happen. Mittens is in a bubble of his own making

in which he thinks he has it nailed down. I truly believe he has convinced himself that he has no obligation to explain much of anything because he is entitled to the presidency and therefore shouldn't have to answer questions asked by the little people.

[JaneyVee]

28. Obama will just use his secret weapon to counter: Arithmetic.

I'm sure Obama is completely ready to debunk his entire BS platform.

[Spazito]

29. Not only won't he provide details, he can't...

Just as he said he will not provide his tax return because that will give "More things to pick through, more things for their opposition research... ", the same applies to details about anything else Romney has said. Details means fact checking which results in him being shown to either be a liar, incapable of simple arithmetic or, most likely, both, imo.

[DearAbby]

30. What if Romney just released his Tax Returns

maybe people will forget about those pesky debates?

[Warren Stupidity]

32. id love it if he provided just two details.

1. his tax returns from 2001-2010.
2. the exact 'loopholes' he intends to close to offset the astoundingly huge tax cut for billionaires he is proposing.

[nanabugg]

33. All Obama has to do is a question he isn't prepared to answer. nt

[K8-EEE]

34. There is literally nothing specific he can say without contradicting himself

He's boxed himself into a corner on virtually every singe issue.....this is why he HAS to do the Vague-y Mc.Vague schtick unfortunately everyone is on to it....if it weren't for racism he wouldn't even be a tiny bit close.

[arcane1]

51. Exactly. Too much detail and he'll contradict himself every 5 minutes

Though that would be a pleasure to see

[SoapBox]

35. I think that the danger of something like that is...

well, maybe possible.

I would imagine that the Prez O team is considering all angles of Mittens...stupid, smart, angry, calm...blah, blah, blah. I have yet to see Mittens where he is not all "twitchy".

AND, remember, they just applied to have Queen Anne, on stage, next to him, DURING the debates!!!!!!! What's up with that shit?!?

Until, the polls are closed and a winner is declared (President Obama, that is), NO Dem, Lib, Progressive can take let up for one SECOND.

Focus...Focus...Focus!

[MFM008]

36. no, really?

Who remembers the GOP debates with Flipper fuming, turning red and yelling for Anderson Cooper because someone was talking over him....I expect O will be subtle and try and bring out the best in Rmoney.

[L0oniX]

37. What if zombie dogs start attacking Mitwit?

[M_M]

38. Huh?

You make no sense. Please check your title against your text.

[whistler162]

39. Okay everyone be very quiet and make no loud noises...

we obviously have a sleeptyper and like sleepwalkers they shouldn't be woken suddenly!

[Shankapotomus]

40. LOL...Are you high?

The odds are better that Romney will start to feel ill, barf all over the podium on national television and have to be removed from the stage all hunched over.

[mythology]

41. If that happens, make sure you have plenty of rock salt on hand

Then get started sprinkling it on the ground where hell froze over.

The reason that Romney hasn't offered specifics is that he can't. If he talks about specifics those can be fact checked. He won't say which tax deductions would be eliminated because he'd have to admit that his plan would only increase the deficit or he'd have to eliminate popular tax deductions. Thus he refuses to state which deductions would be eliminated and just says that some will.

[GeorgeGist]

44. Yes.

[GeorgeGist]

45. What if Romney endorses Obama?

I know its highly unlikely but I like to think of all the possibilities. Would this sway Republicans?

[malaise]

46. Impossible

[renie408]

48. Look, I guess it could happen, but the man cannot speak in complete sentences in public

I really think Obama is going to be OK.

[yurbud]

49. he would receive no votes whatsoever.

Republicans would be offended by his intellect, and everybody else would understand what he wanted to do so clearly that they would be horrified.

The handful of rich people and those who think they are going to win the lottery and get rich who still vote for him will be statistically insignificant.

That's only if he does what you said in your hypothetical of course.

If he stays vague and lays on the platitudes, he'll get 40% of the vote. All the GOP voter restrictions and chicanery on vote counting will put him within in a few points of winning, but his real unpopularity will make it too dangerous to try to steal the election.

[madokie]

50. And if a frog had longer legs he wouldn't bump his butt

It ain't gonna' happen, robme doesn't have in it in him to debate the President no matter how skewed the questions might be. IMO

[Retrograde]

52. I'm still not voting for him

Simply on the basis of his foreign policy advisers, a bunch of warmed-over GWB chickenhawks.

Is there really anybody left who's undecided about the presidential election? And are they really likely to watch the debates?