“Americans Coming Together” – That is the slogan on a giant screen in the Time Warner Cable Arena at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week. Unfortunately for President Obama, not every Democrat has gotten the message. Yesterday, California Democratic State Party Chairman John Burton compared Paul Ryan to the Nazi’s telling The San Francisco Chronicle, “They lie and they don’t care if people think they lie… Joseph Goebbels – it’s the big lie, you keep repeating it.”
Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt quickly repudiated Burton’s comments, but the damage was already done. After all, the Obama campaign and its Super PAC allies have already called Mitt Romney a liar, a murderer, a felon, and a tax dodger. Was Nazi really that far off?
The reality is that Obama has been possibly the most divisive and partisan president in the history if the United States. And the American people are suffering because of it. Shortly after he was inaugurated, when Congressional Republicans first came to the White House to negotiate a stimulus package, Obama flatly refused to incorporate any of their tax policy ideas into the plan. “I won. So I think on that one, I trump you,” Obama told then-House Minority Whip Eric Cantor.
The results of Obama’s partisan policies speak for themselves: The nation has lost 316,000 net jobs since Obama took office, unemployment is above 8 percent for the 42nd month in a row, and real median household income is down $4,300. Yet asked if Americans are better off now than they were four years, Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter confidently proclaimed, “Absolutely!”
Paul Ryan disagrees. Campaigning in Greenville, N.C., yesterday, Ryan said, “The president can say a lot of things, and he will, but he can’t tell you that you’re better off. Simply put, the Jimmy Carter years look like the good old days compared to where we are right now.”
Ryan is scheduled to appear on all three major networks this morning. We’ll see who’s version of reality more Americans believe.
Democratic National Convention
Michael Barone: Jewish Democrats on the defensive
Byron York: New experience for Obama: GOP attacks and mockery
Tim Carney: The Democratic Convention, brought to you by Subsidy Sucklers and K Street lobbyists
Campaign 2012
Romney: Romney campaign bundlers have told Politico that Romney raised more than $100 million in August. That would be the third straight month Romney passed the century mark.
Obama: In an interview with Colorado’s KKTV, Obama gave himself ‘incomplete’ grade on economic policy.
In Other News
The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Hones Plans for Big Bailout of Egypt: American diplomats are closing in on an agreement to dole out $1 billion in debt relief to Egypt, part of a gilded-charm offensive that Washington hopes will help shore up the country’s economy and prevent its new Islamist leadership from drifting beyond America’s foreign-policy orbit.
The New York Times, Fears Rising, Spaniards Pull Out Their Cash and Get Out of Spain: In July, Spaniards withdrew a record 75 billion euros, or $94 billion, from their banks — an amount equal to 7 percent of the country’s overall economic output — as doubts grew about the durability of Spain’s financial system.
The Washington Post, With military at ‘turning point,’ defense chief Leon Panetta avoids bold moves: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has cut few major weapons programs and steered clear of any bold moves aimed at remaking the military for this new era.
Righty Playbook
Peter Ferrara on Obama’s Accelerating Downward Spiral For America
The Weekly Standard‘s John McCorkmack reports that the Democratic platform calls for tax payer funded abortions.
Jonah Goldberg on the RNC’s new ad “We’ve heard it all before.”
Lefty Playbook
Ryan Lizza on Obama and Clinton’s growing friendship.
Talking Points Memo on The DNC’s Guide To Winning The Jewish Vote.
Think Progress identifies “Four Reasons Everyone Should Thank Unions On Labor Day.”
