Smile When You Say That

The biggest worry Mitt Romney’s strategists had about last night’s debate was that Romney would so how come across as “unfriendly” or remote.  There’s a simple solution to such a problem:  smile.

And did he ever.  Mitt Romney was every inch the presidential figure:  poised, confident, courteous, incredibly polite, and friendly.  If he didn’t smile every second, he smiled every second that it was appropriate to do so.  Obama, on the other hand, only smiled about three times.  Obama’s smile is admittedly flashier, but we didn’t see much of it.

Smiling is everything when you’re trying to win over an audience.  That’s what I used to tell the freshmen insurance agents I was photographing them for their first photos.  Smile.  Smile.  Smile!!  Don’t frown at the camera!  You don’t want to scare your future customers off.  I used to tell agents’ team members the same thing at town fair events, where the agent would set up a tent.  I’d push their prettiest team members out front and tell them to smile and not be afraid to greet the people.

But of course there’s more to a debate than appearance, although it’s about 90 percent of the factor.  As Glenn Beck pointed out, Romney addressed Obama directly more often than Obama addressed Romney.  Obama made numerous mistakes, beginning with the scowling and shaking of his head.  He also ran far over his time and completely defied the moderators warning that he was out of time.  Obama didn’t care; what he had to say was important!

I’ve seen Democrat candidates defy the time limits in other debates.  But they weren’t on national television and they weren’t the President of the United States.  When the President of the United States starts setting aside the rules, deciding that he’s above them, you’ve got a problem.  Romney, on the other hand, was very correct and proper.  When Lehrer told him he was out of time, he acknowledged the reality, accepted it, and stepped back from the microphone.

Romney would not play the fool, however.  He wouldn’t allow Obama to get away with telling a lie, such as his alleged proposal for cutting taxes on the wealthy.  Lehrer didn’t want to allow him to respond because it was out of turn, but Romney explained that he just couldn’t permit a lie to stand on the record.

He was also the epitome of organization.  Obama’s allegations to the contrary, Romney detailed his plan in precise order.  He told us exactly what he wanted to do, or enough of it for a two-minute segment of a presidential debate.

My personal favorite moment of the night was when Lehrer began debating Romney on Obama’s behalf, leaving Obama standing there as a spectator.  Such a scene illustrates the entire problem with Obama’s presidency – and Democrat strategy in general:  he allowed one of his cheerleaders to do battle for him.  A strong leader stands his own ground.

Obama declared himself the champion of the Middle Class, as did Romney.  But just what is Obama’s definition of the Middle Class?  The richest man in America is Bill Gates, at $66 billion.  The poverty level in 2010 for a family of four was $22,314.  That’s a big gap.  Where is the middle?  The middle point between those two would be someone making $33 million a year.

However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income (that’s accounting for all incomes) is about $50,000 – and it’s been falling since Obama took office.   A media HHI would account for incomes in the inner ring suburbs.  The median HHI in Bloomingdale is higher - $83,956; Butler, $79,197, Pompton Lakes, $88,352.  If you told residents of these towns that, by Obama’s class warfare standards, they were “rich” as in Bill Gates rich, they’d laugh at you.  There are wealthier towns yet, such as Oakland ($111,390) and Ringwood ($109,139), to say nothing of the ultra-wealthy towns farther east in Bergen County.

Who does Obama think he’s kidding?  The fact is, he hates the suburbs.  He’s declared war on the suburbs through Building One America and its satellite organizations.  His minions have been traveling up and down the state, including David Rusk himself, convincing towns that it’s in their best interests to merge.  He’s been advocating regional utility authorities that would certainly save towns money but would give a bureaucratic government body the right to dictate where you can live.  There’s another catch to the regional sewer pipe dream:  affordable housing. 

In order to refurbish or build new sewers for a new development, at least ten percent of a district’s (no more small towns) housing would have to be devoted to low-income families.  They will be provided with federal Section 8 vouchers, giving them the right to live anywhere.  Such a move would have a devastating effect on political demographics, essentially turning America into a one-party country (well, George Washington didn’t believe in parties anyway) and giving the poor the right to vote themselves money out of the taxpayers’ pockets.

So much for Obama’s credibility with the Middle Class.  Our economy is in shambles, premeditated shambles, as Romney had the courage to point out, and he’s the Turnaround Guy to get the job done and put us on a straight fiscal path.  Romney is the right guy at the right time for America, and he proved it in last night’s debate.

Romney cleaned Obama’s clock on domestic policy, which one would have thought would be Obama’s strong suit.  The debate on foreign policy should be extremely interesting (Romney tossed in a little dig about Libya last night just for good measure – did you see Obama’s face?).  The next debate is between the Vice Presidential candidates.  It should be a howler.

Just the other day, Biden was thundering on about all the people on government assistance and how something had to be done about it.  That’s okay, Joe; you’ve done enough.  With any luck, he’ll bring his own shovel to the Vice Presidential debate.

Excellent job, Mr. Romney!  Keep up the good work!