Andrew Sullivan Freaks Over Romney Momentum Again

Andrew Sullivan of Newsweek/Daily Beast, left, and Aaron Tone arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House in Washington for the State Dinner hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Credit: AP

Following his epic freakout after Mitt Romney’s lopsided victory in the first Presidential debate, Andrew Sullivan has arguably become a sort of unofficial bellwether for panic among President Obama’s base. Sullivan has hit seemingly all the high points – despair after the first Presidential debate, terror at the movement of the polls after the debate, elation after the second, and now, more terror at the fact that the polls still seem to favor former Governor Mitt Romney:

There seems increasingly little doubt to me that Romney has the momentum now, and that October 3 was indeed the moment this election completely re-shaped itself. None of the proposals domestically add up (which means much more Republican-driven debt); we will be soon engaged in a protracted war against Iran, regardless of the views of the American public (more debt, untold damage to the global economy, a wave of renewed Jihadism to be met with more bombs and restored torture); millions will soon lose the only decent chance they had for health insurance, and those of us with pre-existing conditions will remain vulnerable to bankrupting ourselves if we ever lose private insurance for a period; but we sure will have more battleships for the long hoped-for neocon Cold War with China. And billionaires sure won’t pay more to help out.

I’ve long argued that attacking Romney wouldn’t be enough. EJ reminds us today of the potential of an Obama second term, as I attempted in my recent cover-story. But implementing Dodd-Frank fully, resolving the Iran conflict peacefully, making universal healthcare work are vital – but not new. Immigration reform matters. What Obama has laid the basis for in cleaner energy and education is also the kind of quiet policy reform that historians will one day note.[...]

Obama is now fighting for his political life. And right now, to my genuine horror, he’s losing to a fraud, a war-monger, a liar and a budget-buster.

Granted, Sullivan may get a much needed pick-me-up tonight, where President Obama is favored to win by the realtime betting market Intrade by a whopping 68 to 32 percent. If Obama performs at anything close to a 68-32 victory in post debate polls, he could well reset the race. However, given the strenuous preparation of Governor Romney since the last debate, a narrower, more ambiguous result is likely. If that happens, another short moment of Sullivan elation could be followed by weeks and weeks of despair.