This election has gotten a whole lot closer in recent weeks, and for good reason. Although Romney has exceeded expectations and carved out a nice image for himself, it wasn't without help. Obama has significantly assisted Romney in this regard.

The Obama campaign in 2008 was masterfully run. The message was simple and positive, and it seemed genuine. Voters responded well to that. Four years later, we have a much different candidate in Obama. We have a candidate that has instead of avoiding the fray, embraced it. We have smirks at debates. We have indecisive responses to challenges. We have a different guy from four years ago. We have a candidate that has resorted to using phrases like "Romnesia." What happened to this guy?

The messaging coming from the Obama campaign has gotten downright awful. It's not in the campaign's best interest to go negative. Just this Thursday, the Obama offical facebook page shared a photo of "Mitt Romney's Conservative Dream Team" which highlighted statements by Paul Ryan and two other Republicans dealing with rape. This is not a good strategy. Going negative drives people away from the process and away from the polls.

Fewer people voting means better chances for Romney to win the election. One of the reasons for Obama's decisive victory in 2008 was the record number of people who came out to the polls. People that had never voted before came out and voted because of the positive message of hope coming from the Obama campaign. Now, those same people are being turned away by the negativity. This is playing right into Mitt Romney's hands.

The debate performances were a chance for Obama to return to the feel-good candidate of old. Instead, there were a lot of smirks and overall dismissive demeanor. Despite the fact that Obama probably won two out of the three debates, the more important aspect of his behavior was the way he acted when Rommney was speaking than his actual responses - which were generally well thought out, as per Obama's usual.

There's still time to get back to the glory days.

We need more of candidate Obama. The guy we saw back in 2008. We need a firm defense of his record, coupled with a vision for the next four years. Obama needs to keep the conversation about him. Let's talk about what Obama has done and will do. Not about how Romney has "Romnesia." We all know he's a flip-flopper. That's not inspiring anyone to go to the polls. We need the feel good guy from four years ago. Bring back the inspiration.

It's all about those positive vibes. That's what wins.

 

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