Obama Campaign & Bad News: Crump or Triumph?

Tues. May 22, 2012:

Ecnomist Paul Krugman (above)




Obama campaign pessimists will find plenty to worry about so far this week.
But will they crump?  Or will they triumph?
Read 'em & Weep, or read 'em & Overcome?

First, here is the Overcome:

1.  Clever Republican ad-makers have hired actors & actresses to portray a family suffering under Obama policies, and the NYT says it could be dangerously effective.
But even these Republican ad-makers acknowledge the following:
"Middle-of-the-road voters who said they thought the country was on the wrong track were unmoved when they heard arguments that the president lacks integrity.  And they did not buy assertions that he is a rabid partisan with a radical liberal agenda that is wrecking America."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/us/politics/new-crossroads-gps-ad-takes-a-soft-shot-at-obama.html

2.  Paul Krugman really nails JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon, who minimized his superbank's recent $2 billion [and counting] mistake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/opinion/dimons-deja-vu-debacle.html


Now, the Weep part:

A.  David Brooks, "How Change Happens," lambasts Obama for attack ads vs. Bain Capital:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/opinion/brooks-how-change-happens.html

B.  Democratic ally Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, called the Obama campaign's focus on Bain Capital a "nauseating" part of negative campaigning on both sides.  Republicans pounced, and started an "I Stand with Cory" petition, even though Booker reversed himself on Twitter and in a video.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/us/politics/obama-defends-attacks-on-romneys-record-at-bain.html

C.  Republican super PACs are quickly catching up -- and may surpass -- Obama's edge in fund-raising.  And if the guy/gal with the most money wins, Romney may be your new president.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/us/politics/romney-narrows-obama-fund-raising-edge.html

D.  Jeffrey Toobin's New Yorker piece criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts's partisan manipulations in the 2010 Citizens United decision gets challenged in the conservative National Review.  In the interest of equal time, here is the first half of the NR's contrary view:
http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/300027/jeffrey-toobin-s-money-unlimited-part-1-ed-whelan
For more than equal time, you can consult part 2 on your own.

E.  Believe it or not, TransCanada sends a letter to the NYT denying an editorial spelling out multiple risks of the company's proposed Keystone XL project aiming to bisect the USA from North Dakota to Texas.  "Safety is our No. 1 priority," says TransCanada.  [However:  It does not explicitly challenge a single claim of the editorial.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/opinion/keystone-safety-measures.html