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Updated 1:23 p.m. ET - President Barack Obama's re-election team emerged Tuesday to argue that the president is in the proverbial driver's seat heading into the closing two weeks of the campaign.
"We continue to feel very good about our prospects two weeks from tonight," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a conference call recapping last night's third and final debate between the president and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Recommended: Obama renews ridicule of Romney the day after final debate
Messina, along with senior Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod, argued that the president is well-positioned to win a second term thanks to the strength of early voting in states like Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin and stronger turnout the Democratic high command expects from minority and young voters.
Sen. John Kerry joins The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd to talk about the differences between the candidates on foreign policy during the final debate.
But Axelrod also acknowledged that his own words might well be a headfake in the end.
"We know what we know, and they know what they know. I'm confident we're going to win this race," he said. "We'll know who is bluffing and who isn't in two weeks."
Slideshow: On the campaign trail
"Three weeks ago Jim Messina was insisting they were ahead in the battleground states and today he is insisting they aren’t pulling out of any states. That doesn’t sound like ‘Forward’ to me," said the Romney campaign's political director, Rich Beeson, in response.
Both the Romney and Obama campaigns are full of bravado headed into the final 14 days of the campaign, each cherrypicking a handful of polls and statistics to argue they have the upper-hand in the election. More independent polls have shown the presidential contest tightening to a horserace nationally, a development that has played out in many swing states as well.
President Obama voiced his concerns over Governor Romney's foreign policy doctrine at a campaign event in Delray Beach, Fla., saying his opponent is "all over the map."
Even the slightest sign of weakness by Obama or Romney is seized upon by the other. When Paul Begala, an adviser to a pro-Obama super PAC, said yesterday on television that the Obama campaign was all but finished in North Carolina, the Obama campaign tried to dispute his characterization.
"We are tied or ahead in every battleground state, and we're not leaving any state where we're tied or ahead," Messina said Tuesday.
The Obama campaign manager also played up their efforts to encourage Obama supporters who might not be the most consistent voters to cast their ballots early in states where that is available.
"Every single day now is Election Day," Messina said.
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the high command must be high if they think the last 4 years of failure, fraud and waste enable anyone to project strength.
Skunks smell strong...is that the kind of strength you mean, Barry?
Steve- lets see Nevada is now a lean Obama state and NC a Romney state. Obama won NC in 2008 by 1% when his national total was +5%. Big Surprise- dont think so.
Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio all picked lean dem by the best in the busness.
The skunk smell is all Romney- by the way who is Romney playing now- the severally conservative Mitt or the Moderate Romney?
Doesnt it bother you he has No position on any issue. Why vote?
Does it bother you that Obama had no position OR BACKGROUND on any issue before the last election, and has put in 4 solid years of failure?
"Who is Romney"....should have asked who is Obama before the F-tard plowed the country under. Illinois is a "lean Obama state" and the number of murders and the welfare bill show it.
Gallup is no longer an outlier with its Romney 51% - Obama 45%. Today Rasmussen has it as Romney 50% - Obama 45%. Add that the undecideds generally go to the challenger at a 90% rate and we have a landslide in the making.
Before the debates Real Clear Politics had Obama 267 electoral votes and Romney at 181. Today it is Romney 206 and Obama 201 with the toss ups moving into the Romeny camp.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html
Shades of 1980 when Carter dropped like a stone from his big lead before that debate and then crashed and burned. Two incompetent peas in a pod and both suffering the same fate.
Water- too bad we dont elect on the basis of the popular vote!!!!! Michigan and Pa in the toss up column- then why isnt the Romney campaign buying any ad time in PA?
check out "the" polling site- picked Bush in 04, Obama in 08, teaparty in 2010. Considered the best of the best.- 538 blog
The problem with your side is you are too damm selective- if the facts dont match your ideology you just find one that fits
proudamericanveteran--what a pathetic post! Let me mention a few names: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, George Marshall. Have you heard of them? They were part of the Allied High Command during World War II. Have you heard of World War II?
You say you're a proud American veteran. Of whose army?
As well they should project strength. The President and Vice President won 3 of 4 debates because they were stronger on substance and more closely represent the views of the American public.
I have never ever considered Obama a strong president/leader. He's weak and all of our enemies know it.
Jen- then why are we able to get cooperaration from China and Russis vis a vis Iran?
R U Reality based or are you a republiCON. Any deviations from your reality and they are Rhino's or part of the four pillars of deceit.
Jen....so like, you're a moron then....right???
demtothebone
You dems are not very smart are you? According to their beliefs, Iran has almost nothing to lose but maybe everything to gain if they drive the world into war.
World war will damage the economies of Chaina and Russia severely as well as that of the US. It is their own self interest they are looking at when they cooperate with sanctions against Iran.
why would Iran want to drive the world into war? They gain what? Are you referring to some religious context?
Demtothebone- When people like Chavez wanna give Obama a fist-bump then there's a problem. Your username says it all.
Jen- I realize with people on your side having a debate is a waste of time as you dont know history nor economics nor civics.
doesnt it bother you to believe in a system that predicted the dollar would be worthless two years ago or no one wouldd buy our debt or last year hyperinflation is HERE NOW?
wanna buy some property I have for sale- how gullible are you people?
Obama should just concede now so this country can start to heal again.
Ann is already measuring for curtains in the white house to replace the olive green one's (muslim brotherhood colors) Obama put up.
dmallet- the kkk hood is becoming more apparent the closer we get to election day.
Your side represents what american exceptionalism AINT
dmallett...You'll be able to crawl back into your white racist hole in a couple weeks moron!! hahahaha
demtothebone
The KKK was founded by a democrat.
how many decades ago so it proves what? There was a time when the RepubliCON party was pro american
Keep hammering away Mr. President!!!
Obama - Biden... 2012
Liberals in total denial, Obama is gone but then, isn't that typical of liberals living in denial of reality?
I'm not a liberal, but....we'll see if the President is "gone" in a couple weeks. Won't we?
He has this old white non-partisan man's vote!
dmaillet- your kkk hood is starting to show
i'm Jin nee wawa the chairman for the Asians for America Forever Associations.
our 4 million memebers have officially endorsed president Obama .
we'll will cast our votes to make these so call -tight race - untight !!!!!
Well, Romney's own campaign advisor said that if the "seriously conservative" Mitt didn't get any traction in the campaign, they'll "shake the etch-a-sketch" and come back as a new candidate. The problem I'm having is what shake are we on now 3?, 4? 5?
Mitt Romney, the man with no convictions, he's the Silly Putty candidate, twist him, squeeze him, stretch him, he'll take any shape you want him to and as an added bonus, stick him to a picture of an issue and he'll be a perfect reflection of it, then you can distort it any way you want.
In 1994 his nickname was Mr Multiple Choice
he is like the used car salesman- smile and tell em what they want to hear. Isnt that why he is like 25 points down in Mass.
Those who know him best......
All politics are local. People need to go back to Civics 101 and get a refresher on the electoral college. That's exactly why national polls mean nothing. For those educational challenged, it's winner take all by state. And, the states which have the largest population have more electoral votes.
And the only time democrats have a problem with the electoral college is when it doesn't work in their favor.
Rick- meaning what- confuson and meaningless facts are norm for your side but the electoral college is moving BLUE not red.
Nevada just moved from toss up to lean Obama. Wisconsin still lean Obama. As long as Ohio holds the Party is OVER. We still have NH, Ia, FL., Co., and VA.
wanna make a bet Romney doesnt sweep them all and even if he did- still short
Right now the electoral college is slightly in Romney's favor. You have to remember that the MSNBC electoral college map has not changed since last spring.
Nevada is now a lean dem state. Wisconsin and Iowa are holding. Why would Ohio be an outlieer? Count Ohio in the D column and the election is over.
still got a chance at VA and NH and CO just for the icing on the cake.
That is giving your side Fl which is not necessarily TRUE. The one with flop sweat last night was Romney. Its the reason for the Romnesia- because if he is who he said he was for the last two years KNOWS he cant win.
Why else have no positions?
PS- why no mention of Benghasi last night by Mittens?
Obama didn't know during the debate that bayonets are standard issue for today's marines. The commander-in-chief knows nothing about the US Military. The empty chair is ruling the country.
Jaime- what do you understand?
Today with the advent of real time intelligence due to satallites and linkups our pilots are 900% more effective in hitting key targets then just 15 years ago.
That was the point. R U a grad of Beck U also?
Dem, Romney has NOTHING! That's why he said nothing. Now he's the "Me, too!" candidate! Thanks for posting. Obama/Biden 2012
David-
two more weeks and the anti american right wing zealots crawl back into the hole
Obama/Biden
Dem, I'm fervently praying that what you said comes to pass! Obama/Biden 2012
David- there are more registered dems then repugs. That's the reason for the voter suppression. Get out and vote and its in the bag
It's the economy stupid. Obama will lose.
the economy is getting stronger. Going back to tax cuts and fairy dust being sprinkled around no longer works.
why do you think the RepubliCON party turned into the Obstructionist Party? Because they had to do all they could to make the economy weak or they are done for decades- just as in 1932.
Isnt that why there have been 180+ filibusters?
Except the DJIA took a major hit today.
"This game's in the refrigerator! The door's closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O is jiggling...."
Mitt tell us your plan! 5 trillion in tax cuts and 2 trillion for defense isn't a plan, its a disaster...
Show us the MATH!!
It's better than Obammy's math. 6,000,000,000,000 = nothing
Left, it's that NEW math! Problem is...it doesn't add up! Obama/Biden 2012
What happened at "3:00 a.m. when the phone RANG when there was trouble in Libya?? Obama left ... He was nowhere in sight.. He let our OWN DIE!!!! President Obama is the reason for the deaths of these people... HILARY CLINTON WARNED US ABOUT THAT!!!!! SHE SAID THAT HE WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING... she was right!!!!!.. Vote for ROMNEY... No more excuses.... No More apologizing... Time to get AMERICA BACK TO WORK.. Let's get the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. back to the USA... TIME TO VOTE ..... ROMNEY !!!
Esmie- didnt it strike you as odd that after the debacle for Romney in the second debate he never mentioned Benghazie?
Wasnt it Romney that within 12 hours of the disaster was the one turning it into a politiclal issue?
Actually he did mention Benghazi.
Wow, After more than a week of Romney and Ryan heavily criticizing the Presidents foreign policy to try and make him look bad, Mitt spent most of the debate parroting Obama's answers; including almost his entire Syria response! Is that the only way he can sound presidential! What a chameleon and opportunist! Obama should have said after Romney on Syria----I'm glad you're agreeing with everything that I just said! What again was your criticism?
Romney continued to repeat a lot of what Obama was saying regarding Foreign Policy and just 'trying' to sound more eloquent---very little authenticity in Romney. What a fraud!
The President also called Romney on taking credit for an educational program began 10 yrs before he was governor in Massachusetts, as Mitt continued to try and steer the debate to the economy and Mitt didn't bat an eye and kept right on playing up like the program that enjoyed success while he was governor was his idea to begin with, unbelievable!
Romney showed 'a little' integrity, finally acknowledging the President, agreeing with the Iran response Obama gave before he essentially repeated it!
Obama was right noting that Romney was saying he would do what Obama's been saying and doing in Foreign Policy all along, only louder and expect a different result---like that's going to make a difference? In my view, Romney's louder is nothing more than a hucksters stale, hot air, LOL!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
Okay, We can afford Romney and Ryan (Poor, poor Ryan, he's probably a nice guy, just really bad politics and very, very green behind the ears on FP even as a six term House member---But with that much naivete about Obama's carrier vs bayonet analogy, regarding our present day capability vs our 1916 fleet's, seems none too bright!) a little, very little sympathy on this one.
The President 'might have' used a slightly better analogy (fixed-bayonets?) but it was obviously clear to any thinking person.
Just one of our Nimitz class super-carrier strike groups---of which the US currently has eleven (11), with it's compliment of support ships and lethal air wing could probably devastate the entire 1916 US Navy from 300 miles away in a 24 hour period without so much as a single casualty!
A quote from a very funny and apropos article that was written in the ‘conservative’ Forbes magazine ‘two weeks ago’ regarding Romney’s plans for the Navy, titled: I am the Ruler of the Queen’s Navy, Says Mitt Romney
“Admiral Romney needs a time-out on the poop deck“
Michael Peck - Forbes Magazine 10-11-12
LOLOLOL!!!!!
Resa,
We have dealt with decline for 12 years, Obama has not changed a d(*n thing. Al I have heard from him is his cocky "Under My Command" attitude. The bottom line is his command has done absolutely NOTHING to return America to the status of years past.
Being a small business owner that has lost nearly everything under this administration I feel compelled to make a change; especially since our current leader suggests us small business owners had nothing to do with our creating the business in the first place.
Unfortunately for me and many other Americans there are more people that would rather have a government that has an entitlement mentality, than not. One thing Obama is good at is catering to people that have NO business being part of ANY election!
If your re-elected Obama, I hope and pray you grow a pair and do what the heck needs to be done to turn our country around! Stop trying to get votes and do your f*(^&&*ing job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If liberals are correct about Obama and he gets re elected all the liberals will be laughing at us conservatives
If conservatives are correct about Obama and he gets elected, no one will be laughing..
The party on the right, is about to come to the end!!! No longer will they hold America, and her citizens hostage! With this election, great things will happen, why? Because the Pres. will have a congress to work with. A congress made up of Democrats, and a hand full of righties. No more @!$%# rethug teabaggers! YEAH!!!
O & JOE THE ONLY WAY TO GO!!!!