Joltin Joe

Joe has jolted Dems out of their torpor.  But the anxiety remains and it has a real basis.

It is convenient to blame the rise of Romney in the polls to President Obama's first debate performance, but while that's probably been a big factor, the even more depressing possibility is that Romney's mendacity is becoming effective.

That's the real nightmare here: that voters are believing Romney's lies.  Joe Biden called the Romneyryans on it last night, which has cheered Dems and while GOPers go on about the Biden affect, the Biden effect may be to highlight the lies.

There's been pushback today on Romneyryan's fuzzy math.  A prominent GOPer economist admits that the Romney tax cut numbers just don't add up.  An analyst goes one by one through the "six studies" Ryan said support their plan, to show that none of them does.

But this is the dull fear we feel, scarred by years when GOPers got away with systematic lies that damaged the future, killed and maimed people, etc.  With a Romneyryan victory we're headed for a dire future, something out of Soylent Green crossed with Hunger Games and A Handmaid's Tale.

So we're happy that Joe Biden called out the lies.  President Obama is doing so on the stump, and we can look forward to him doing so in Tuesday's debate. But if and until the poll numbers start to turn back, some of us aren't going to be sleeping very well.  We've been through this nightmare before.

But Joe Biden did something else last night that hasn't gotten a lot of attention yet: he went away the GOPer Congress for obstructing progress towards accelerating the recovery and providing jobs as well as much needed infrastructure and public servant (police, fire, teachers) support.

That's an October move that could be resonant.  Another is the Supreme Court.  Joe hit this one too and it must be repeated often: Roe v. Wade plus a host of other issues are in the balance, depending on who gets to appoint the Justices in the next four years.