Romney Supporters Heckle Axelrod - See Suits, Signs - image from nationaljournal.com
On the other hand -
More hecklers, They do not appear to be Romney Supporters per se, rather disgruntled Mass. citizens - who will likely vote for Romney - not shown in videos - image: weaselzippers.com
President Obama’s Senior Advisor (White House and Campaign), David Axelrod, paid a visit to Boston to stump for Obama’s reelection. The Premise was to point out Obama’s opponent, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s failings. However he was met with pro-Romney (according to the press reports) protesters. The headline from Politico sums it up: ”Axelrod Assails Mitt Battles Hecklers”. Apparently, the premise that Mr. Axelrod is hanging onto is the polls coming out of Massachusetts showing Obama with a wide lead over the former Governor Mitt Romney, as if that is bell weather for the Obama campaign. The problem lays in the fact that polls in Massachusetts can’t be trusted until the results are in. For example, a poll commissioned by the Boston Globe performed by the University of New Hampshire days before the special election of January 19th, 2009 for the vacant Mass. senate seat, had Democrat Martha Coakley up 15 points over Republican Scott Brown. The outcome was somewhat different.
Some facts about Massachusetts and past presidential polling: When Jimmy Carter was running against Ronald Reagan, it was anticipated that Carter would easily win Massachusetts, as well as the rest of the nation based on early polling (Washington Post). The fact that Reagan actually won Massachusetts (twice) which is touted as “Safe Democrat” in every election, was due to the high number of “unenrolleds” in the “Bluest State”. Massachusetts' electorate is 50% plus Unaffiliated or unenrolled voters. Therefore, for Mr. Axelrod to count on a poll, any poll, at this stage of the game as proof that Obama will sweep the Bay State, apparently shows his lack of expertise in the area of historical trends in polling. In addition, the fact that, especially in Massachusetts and neighboring states, University polls tend to be somewhat inaccurate in certain races (refer to Coakley) may not be the best bet. (Unless one is on a team of uncertainty - then use what you have on hand and punt.)
That said Axelrod may be correct about Massachusetts - if one were to use trends in job approval rankings as a statistic on election probability (combined with polls), it is quite possible that Obama would take Massachusetts over Romney – along with 9 other states where his approval rating is hanging onto 50%, the other 40 states, however, are most likely in jeopardy. Therefore, to win 10 states alone, one cannot win the Presidency.
The main point - regardless of polls and or statistics at this point, it is still far too early to rely on either, one must look to mid-October polling – the polls now are purely indicative of what may occur, rather than predictive of an outcome.
Of course being on the stump, and being heckled to boot, might have given Axelrod the “heebie-jeebies” as he most likely anticipated a larger crowd of Obama supporters in what is supposed to be a friendly state. As he stumbles through his speech, drowned out by "Romney supporters", he appears particularly uncomfortable. It is also assumed the hecklers were all Romney supporters, rather than a mixture of anti-Obama protesters. (Tea Anyone?) – the chant “Where are the Jobs” is not necessarily a “Romney Chant” – however from the angel of the video one cannot clearly see the “crowd” - rather a few in the front holding Romney signs. By the sound alone, one can well imagine there were more than a handful of Romney Supporters making such a din – the din, that as one can see below, rattled the Advisor in Chief.
What is clearly unusual about this particular instance in the minds of those on the left is the fact that – they were heckled, instead of doing the heckling! – This election one might find, in the end, will not be about political party affiliation as much as it will be about a choice between the lesser of two “evils” – those independents will be the deciding factor, even in the 10 states where Obama still holds onto a 50% job approval rating – Axelrod may find himself in similar situations as he moves about the country – he may find it more comfortable, going forward, to stump in Chicago.
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