Barns for Obama

++I always like the painted barns for Obama in rural America. The Obama campaign's "Barns for Obama" video is a nice break from the slash and burn ads we see all the time. The video is targeted to Ohio's rural population. At the end, the video lists the achievements of the Obama Administration for the agricultural community, the numbers of farm loans approved and the expansion of the internet in rural America. When I wrote about the stimulus package, I highlighted the commitment to high-speed internet for rural communities. I likened it to FDR's Rural Administration which brought electricity to non-urban America. The Republicans tried to knock it out at least twice but it survived. Have a look.

++I have received mountains of trash talking e-mails from Republicans reviving old accusations about Obama, Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod, and proclaiming the auto bailout a failure because unions weren't busted. A little stunned by the flop of the RNC, the new attackers are claiming that the Obama campaign has trouble getting attendance at the Charlotte Convention and are busing people in. The RNC is setting up a counter strategy for the Convention. The New Right gang are going to have rallies with empty chairs--like the Romney campaign needs to be reminded of their great howler. Paul Ryan is making the rounds claiming that Barack Obama is a worse president than Jimmy Carter. The insistence on the Carter analogy that started at the beginning of Obama's campaign continues to gall. As  I written often this is another age and it is apples to oranges. Ryan doesn't get--or maybe he does--that he is playing the Race Card, a pretty empty one in the 21st Century.

++There may or may not be a bounce. Nate Silver is flummoxed. He thinks he found one of 2-3 points for Romney. Sam Wang promised us today a bounce but he doesn't seem to find any. But he does say to check in tomorrow.

++Gallup says the response to the RNC was the worse since they have been polling and that Romney's speech was a dud.

++A Hackers website claims that President Obama scored heavy during the RNC by his use of the social media.

++Betty White, an Obama supporter, said that "I may be off my rocker. But I don't talk to it."

++As of today, which should be Romney's high point,if Obama lost Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Virginia, he would still win.The Romney people are acting like they are throwing in the towel on Ohio. You can't have your surrogate Ohio's own Rob Portman say,"We can win without Ohio but it would be easier with it." No you can not win without Ohio.

++Everybody is talking about what Obama must say or not say or what Republican talking point he must refute. I'm glad they don't work on the Obama campaign. He is building up to his speech slowly by surely. He campaigned today in Ohio speaking before autoworkers. If you missed it, he spoke before massive crowds in Iowa and Colorado. These crowds bring back the aura of 2008. Crowds as far as the eye can see.

++Bain employees will talk at the DNC so they might say something different than the owner of Staples, who fears "lactation chambers."