The Morning After the Debate

President Obama is sure to lose says George the Steph, the old Clinton hand. The latest Greenberg poll shows Obama losing to both Romney and Perry. The New York Times is preparing an article speculating whether Obama is clinically depressed. Dick Morris says that Obama is not having fun anymore and that he might not run in 2012 because Republicans will have both houses of Congress. Ralph Nader and Cornell West claim they are trying to recruit a challenger in the Democratic primaries to run against Obama. Polls show slightly erosion in support for Obama among his base--whatever that is. HE's DOOMED.

Then we see the old Barack Obama having a blast in Cincinnati urging Boehner and Mitch McConnell to rebuild the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio to Kentucky. He was joined there with Rand Paul, who was booed but President Obama intervened to say,"No, on infrastructure he's with us." Except for his greying hair, this was the man we saw in 2008 bouncing on stage. Maybe, he's bipolar--who knows. But kudos to Rachel Maddow for pointing out that the man who excited people in 2008 was back. And she noted that he didn't stop the boos for Boehner and McConnell and that the Republicans are whining that Obama is campaigning. And as Chris Hayes noted, no one seems to give the American Jobs Act any chance on the Hill but that President Obama is setting up the debate for the 2012 election.

If anyone is demoralized this morning, it's the Republicans after the performance last night. Bill Kristol in the Weekly Standard headlined his piece "Yikes" because conservatives were flooding e-mails complaining about the debate. One young conservative said,"We come across as being too crazzzy." Indeed. Red State, which backed Rick Perry, was disappointed by his performance. The Washington Punditry claimed Romney won the debate and was the only one who looked sort of like a presidential candidate--that's not saying he looked Presidential. Democrats worried that Romney actually looked better in debate than in the past two years. But the teaparty head Judson Phillips is concerned that Romney really doesn't believe anything. The whole affair set off waves of panic among Republicans who are now asking whether anyone else will enter the fray. Almost all the media commented how the bloodthirsty audiences are stealing the show. Last night, none of the candidates lamented the booing of the gay serviceman in Iraq. Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist, said he had never seen someone who is risking his life for the United States being boo'd.

The Romney team is trying now to tighten up the primary schedule to get a few he will win inserted earlier in the schedule such as Michigan and Arizona. The RNC is totally at wits ends about the primary schedule now. The betting line is Romney-Rubio for the general election.

After Iowa, Michelle Bachmann is history so says her old campaign manager. the reason she is out of money. Ron Paul is having a blast and netted $1 million in a moneybomb last night. He's moved up to third in the polling.

David Weigel said that Rick Perry looked like George Foreman at the end of his bout with Mohammed Ali in Zaire, all punched out. Conservatives are now re-assessing their suport for Perry . But it's probably nothing more than Perry not giving a long speech the day of a debate. He was at Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom freakathon where the speakers spoke in front of a backdrop of the American flag, the Florida flag and the flag of the state of Israel. Conservatives were thrilled by Rick Perry's pro-greater Israel stance on the Middle East but disappointed that he failed to mention it last night.

The fact checkers are having a field day today nailing both Perry and Romney for almost anything they said. But it's unlikely to matter. It's not like the Republican primaries are reality-based.

What came across last night was that the policies of the Scott Walkers, Rick Scotts and John Kasichs of the world are now the ideology of the Republican Party. So you are gearing your appeal on the ideas of the governors with the lowest approval ratings in the country. And in foreign policy, all the candidates were illiterate.

If the nominee is Willard "Mitt" Romney, you have a man that is a large Achilles Heel. Conservatives have often complained that Romney doesn't have any core beliefs. Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly has made a hobby from a liberal point of view documenting the different versions of Romney and he has lost count. Romney is a shape-shifter. yesterday he was Middle Class, which he has never been in his life; previous he was the Unemployed, which he has never been, and last night he was just a conservative businessman if you believe a venture capitalist is a real type of businessman in the sense of managing an enterprise. Oh, and he wasn't a politician, only for a short stint as Governor of Massachusetts. Romney has exudes the type of hubris you find among the truly wealthy and that did in John Kerry and Al Gore.

The Obama campaign from Day 1 has believed they will go up against Mitt Romney. I'm not so sure. Some Republican, knowing how controlling the Religious Right is in the party, will have to raise the nature of Romney's Mormon beliefs. If you think Romney is weird now, any discussion of those beliefs will only confirm it. He basically subscribes to a 19th century form of Dianetics. "Do you believe as your religion teaches,Mr. Romney, you can become a God?" This will go over real swell in the Bible Belt. The Southern Baptists have already said they will only vote for a Mormon as a last resort.

So if Willard is the nominee, a few things happen. The Tea Party and the New Republican Base must decide whether their hate for Obama is so overwhelming that they bite their tongue and vote for Romney or will they be demoralized and not mobilize their followers. I think they will be split like the New Left was in its day. I think they will opt to work on local elections. The antipathy to Romney among the Republican base is very, very strong. Romney has a very-well oiled political machine and will have endless pots of money from the corporate donors of the party but generating enthusiasm will be a problem--a much bigger problem for him than Obama trying to ignite his base.

Forget the economy for a moment. Compare Romney on the stump to Barack Obama. Romney can't do retail politics. You can't try to relate your experiences in Detroit to a Ford dealer and brag about how many Cadillacs you own. Whatever doubts people have about Barack Obama, they disappear when he shows up. He has the touch and people go away inspired or at least liking the man. After meeting Romney, you go away scratching your head. Obama still has great reservoirs of good will left, while Romney has none.

If I were still a Republican, I would be as alarmed as the political operatives are this morning.