So, why DIDN'T Romney's teen gaybashing incident destroy his chances?

[Ken Burch]

I know his party didn't mind, but shouldn't that have wiped out ANY support he had among "the independents"?

Are there a lot of people out there who actually WANT us to have a sadistic bully as president?

[Freddie]

1. Check the color of the President's skin

That's all.

[Dkc05]

2. America is a country of bigots.

A very insensitive group. And that group will be in Tampa next week.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. Yes, thank for highlighting this again

this really disturbs me about Romney. He has an evil streak.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Bush was reelected, that should tell you something.

Sick minded people roam this country and they vote.

[freshwest]

10. +1

[coalition_unwilling]

13. Sorry to get all pedantic on you, but Bush was not

'reelected,' as he was never elected in 2000 but, rather, installed by the Supreme Court stopping duly cast ballots from being counted. Some on DU also argue that Bush was not elected in 2004 either, an issue upon which I remain agnostic.

[AndyTiedye]

5. The GOP is the Party of Bullies

[longship]

6. He wasn't nominated by independents.

He was nominated by a bunch of gay hating bullies, which, if you haven't been paying attention, seem to form a major plurality of our populous.

They like him all the more for it.

[Ken Burch]

8. I know he wasn't nominated by independents...I'm talking about the poll ratings

It just seems to be he should be doing a lot worse than he is among non-Republiban voters after that.

[longship]

11. Okay. I see you.

But these are still early polls. Most countries campaign only a few weeks. The USA is fucked up with these perpetual campaigns. It really hurts us all.

But these polls are also all over the map, figuratively and literally. We just don't have enough data yet. And the polling, as reported here and elsewhere, has been wretched.

I think patience will pay off here. The last week has been devastating for Romney, but I somehow think that these things take time to seep into the body politic. At least the extent to which the Dems keep that fruit ripe, so to speak.

I am waiting for both conventions to convene. Then, we will have a great idea of what this is about. I don't see a very strong winning strategy for the Republicans. On the other hand, Democrats could sweep things, or screw the pooch.

This is an election which is the Democrats to win or lose. If Mitt wins, it is not a Republican stolen election, or that the country is Republican. It will be because Obama and his team blew a huge rhetorical and political advantage.

With what I have seen, I just don't see that happening. I may be wrong, so I will stay tuned here to try to falsify my opinions.

But, damn! This is scary.

[kestrel91316]

7. Because gaybashing is a virtue to fascists.

[dballance]

9. GLBT Media Success is our own worst enemy

My two cents, which would be left in a cup at the mini-mart, are that as GLBT people we've been too successful in getting into mainstream life and media. I believe most people are so used to seeing gay people in TV and media now that they don't even think about the human rights issues that still need to be resolved. They believe they are resolved.

TV sitcoms and some dramas regularly write in GLBT characters who just happen to be gay now - they are not the flamboyant Uncle Arthur from Bewitched any longer. So I think we have, rightly, faded into the soup of the atmosphere. We're just another Joe now amongst the crowd.

Being just another Joe means you get the same bullying as any other Joe without regard to something like sexual orientation. Therefore, I think many people just don't put it together that it was still the '60s and it was a hate crime. I think they believe it was just one ignorant Joe bullying another Joe. Life is easier that way if you boil it down to such simple thoughts.

[rainy]

12. The answer is that it wasn't widely reported

No media picked it up and ran it 24/7 like they would have if a dem was involved.

[area51]

14. I think it's the same reason as to why gays don't have equal rights in this country. n/t

[Prophet 451]

15. Multiple choice

A) It wasn't widely reported and not for very long.
B) There are a fair number of Americans who don't mind gaybashing.
C) The public has a very, very short memory.
D) The president is a black guy.
E) Nearly four years of 24/7/365 smears of Obama.

Take your pick.

[jimlup]

16. Most don't really pay attention to the news

The average Joe watches sports and doesn't even know about this. It will be important to point out particularly in the final weeks of the campaign as the nations attention turns to the issue of who to support.

[davidn3600]

17. Probably because it was so long ago

Americans don't seem to pay a whole lot of attention to what politicians did in their youth.

[sofa king]

18. Oh, it did.

Fewer than ten percent of all voters claim to be undecided, before the conventions, in the midst of a hailstorm of negative advertising and media bias. Those undecideds also pool up unusually thick in states that are already safe for President Obama, like California, and states that are already safe for Romney, like Texas. They are not nearly as thick where Romney needs them, like in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Also not counted among this year's crop of undecided are those with strong feelings for LGBT rights, female reproductive rights, care for the elderly and veterans, religious and ethnic minority rights, immigration, fiscally sound government, excellent education, and so on. There are very few American voters that Republicans have not attempted to harm directly in the past two years, and most of them remember it.

Republicans can depend only on the stupid ones now--see the flaw in that plan?

Keep in mind that pollsters and press both have an incentive to keep the race artificially close (until about a month out, when pollsters have to pad their records with accurate predictions so that they'll be hired next time). So come October there will be a massive and very quick shift toward what I think is going to be better than a 60-40 split.

Add to that the fact that the "likely voter" polls we'll see coming out next month will fail to take into account the monetary incentive for Republicans and independents to not vote at all, thanks to the tax-cut petard by which Congressional Republicans have hoisted themselves.

The few remaining undecideds will break in favor of the monetary incentive. Republicans will break in favor of paying themselves by staying home.

And everyone targeted by a Republican is already checking over their registration paperwork, just to make sure. I know I am. I hope all of you are, too, because this is our year.