Marybeth: Look for debate “bounce” at Walmart deli counter

Anticipation has become analysis as everybody and his Uncle Doofus opines about last night’s presidential debate in Denver.

Without actual polling numbers yet to determine the perceived “bounce” (for Gov. Romney) and “impact” (on Pres. Obama), the day’s news has resorted to predictions of what the next set of polls might reveal.

This is what is known as contemplating one’s navel. But you have to love an industrious media, looking for ways to remain relevant while waiting for something to actually happen.

That Gov. Romeny won the debate in an OFAW* is obvious. What it all means to the presidential race remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: If the pundits want to know the impact of the debate, they ought to head on over to a Super Walmart and chat up the gals waiting in line at the deli counter. Cuz that’s who’s deciding this thing.

How do I know?

I was part of a panel discussion at this summer’s Smart Girl Summit about the faux “war on women.” Our role was to shore up grassroots activists who might be tempted to fall for the Left’s “contraception election” nonsense and instead, remind conservative women that we can’t let ourselves be manipulated into an off-topic debate.

The topic is the economy. And we’re not stupid.

As I wrote in a column after the Smart Girl conference:

Research shows it is so-called “Walmart moms” who are likely to decide this very close and crucial election.

 

I’m not talking about “the people of Walmart” — the uneducated, mullet-sporting, NASCAR fans that the left believes them to be — but the college-educated, married, religious, moderate and conservative women who literally shop at Walmart about once a week.

 

“Walmart moms” don’t like political labels. They don’t really care about partisan politics and they certainly aren’t radical, “repro rights” feminists.

 

Rather, they are the wives and mothers and grandmothers who are holding their families together, mending clothes that don’t really fit, outfitting the kids for school at second-hand stores, recycling last year’s school supplies, and serving meatless meals not because it’s the cool, vegan thing to do, but because the ground beef is not on sale.

Figuring out the response to last night’s debate ought to be pretty easy to do. Those eager-beaver pundits should remind themselves that married moms don’t want to be taken care of by the government, like Obama’s infamous “Julia.”

What they want is a man who comes across as reliable, trustworthy, strong, sincere, and capable, and whose ideas make sense. Common sense. The kind she’s applying at her kitchen table while tackling the job of paying the monthly bills. Last night, that man was Mitt Romney.

Meanwhile, you know that friend’s husband who is really full of himself, and who talks in circles, and acts like he knows everything, and exaggerates how great his promotion is, and thinks his new car makes him look successful, and when talking about his kid’s sports teams, mentions his own athletic prowess as a teenager…and no one can figure out why she married him?

Obama was that guy.

( *Old Fashioned Ass ‘Whoopin)

 

 

04. October 2012 by Marybeth Hicks
Categories: Economy, Obama, Politics, Romney | 1 comment