d@n

doublejack:

“The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting style commonly associated with Muhammad Ali in his 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against George Foreman. 

In competitive situations other than boxing, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, attempting thereby to become the eventual victor. 

The rope-a-dope is performed by a boxer assuming a protected stance (in Ali’s classic pose, lying against the ropes; by leaning against the ropes, much of the punch’s energy is absorbed by the ropes’ elasticity rather than the boxer’s body) while allowing his opponent to hit him, providing only enough counter-attack to avoid the referee thinking the boxer is no longer able to continue and thus ending the match via technical knockout. The plan is to cause the opponent to “punch himself out” and make mistakes which the boxer can then exploit in a counter-attack.”

Reading the uniformity of the media response, taking into account the predictability of Romney’s approach and considering Obama’s political history, I’m absolutely convinced Obama’s performance tonight was strategic. I predict Obama will be considered the obvious winner once we see all the debates together.