For most of 2012, President Obama has been running in the Democratic primary. I know that seems odd, given that he’s essentially running unopposed. But that's not what I'm talking about.

Has Barack Obama's Democratic party given up on winning the votes of the white working class? Thomas Edsall, the longtime Washington Post reporter now with the Huffington Post, thinks so.

Barack Obama is obviously scrambling in his attempt to win re-election. He has proclaimed himself the underdog and has given up his pretense of being a pragmatic centrist compromiser in favor of harsh class warfare rhetoric. But it's worth taking note of what he has squandered.

Why should Romney attack Perry directly when the Democrats, the liberal media and Michele Bachmann will do it for him? Romney's strategists note that Perry will have to survive five debates in six weeks--ample opportunity for Bachmann to "rip his eyes out" (as she did to Tim Pawlenty) or for Perry to blow himself up.

Earlier this month, the left-wing magazine the Nation highlighted Joe Therrien as a symbol of the Occupy Wall Street movement. A New York City public school drama teacher, Therrien was frustrated with the shortcomings of the school system. So he quit his job and "set off to the University of Connecticut to get an MFA in his passion — puppetry."

The Democratic party has been purging itself of most of their moderates, to their own dismay.

In 2008, the "politics of hope" campaign trained volunteers to testify about how they "came to Obama" the way one talks of "coming to Jesus." Now they ask supporters to help build a digital enemies list. Which they'll do, of course. But not because they love him.

Young voter turnout this year was down two-thirds in New Jersey and three-quarters in Virginia, which has scary implications for both Democratic and Republican political strategists.