Megyn Kelly Panel Criticizes Many ‘Self-Inflicted Wounds’ Of ‘Flat-Footed’ Obama Campaign
Fox News Channel host Megyn Kelly hosted a panel debate on Thursday analyzing the mistakes and missteps of the Obama reelection campaign. Ed Rogers, a former advisor to President George W. Bush, and Michael Meehan, former campaign advisor to Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 presidential run, weighed in on the perceived deficiencies of the Obama reelection effort.
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Kelly opened the panel by outlining a number of perceived mistakes by the Obama campaign, including taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden, Vice President Joe Biden announcing his support for gay marriage ahead of a planned announcement in the summer and their response to mediocre jobs numbers.
Rogers told Kelly that he thought the Obama campaign would have a 15 point lead, but instead he is approximately tied with Romney and “the Obama campaign appears to be sort of flat-footed.”
He said that Obama’s lackluster poll number should not be extrapolated on and no conclusions about the election should be drawn from today, but the Obama campaign has, in his opinion, been too driven by events.
“I wouldn’t’ trade places with Obama if I were Romney either,” said Rogers.
Meehan echoed Rogers point for the most part, saying that the nation is so politically divided that both parties start with a floor of support in the mid-40 percent range. “[Sen. John] McCain is the floor,” said Meehan. “You’re going to get 45 when you start.”
“The President’s team is well tested, I’m not worried about that,” Meehan continued. “There are factors in American politics today that are beyond the President’s campaign’s control, and that’s what I find to be a bigger concern as you look over the next six months.”
Kelly asked Rogers why Obama’s 2012 team does not appear to have the acumen that Obama’s 2008 team had and, for example, launched a reelection campaign from a half-empty arena. Kelly invoked former Bush political advisor Karl Rove’s impression of the Obama campaign’s rollout, calling this and other moves “self-inflicted wounds.”
“Obama was an unknown, romantic figure four years ago,” said. “Now, what has he got to show for it?” Rogers said that Obama’s first presidential term has been several legislative missteps that compound the headwinds he faces from a sluggish economic recovery.
“They’ve got to have more energy, fewer mistakes and be more aggressive with Mitt Romney or else they’re heading into a period where Romney’s support is going to solidify and he’s going to looking stronger by the day,” said Rogers.
Meehan said that, as a Kerry campaign advisor, the polls in the spring of 2004 showed that his candidate was on a path to defeat Bush in the elections and the state of the race today is likely not reflective of the race in the fall. He cited polls form swing states, like Virginia, that show a solid lead for Obama and said that if his lead persists he will win reelection easily.
Rogers responded that the South will fall back into the Republican column in the fall, regardless of what the polls say.
Watch the segment below via Fox News Channel:
