Obama started strong and Romney flubbed some issues at the start (attacking the older, well-liked moderator on PBS funding when it was unnecessary), but in the end, Romney finished stronger.
I expect the campaign to go more negative on both sides. (We’re becoming like England.) This is going to be a closer race.
All told, it was more interesting than the Grass Valley City Council debate.
One observation: On HD, Obama’s image was much clearer than Romney’s. Was this a conspiracy by the liberal media or something Romney’s campaign requested for whatever reason? Interesting.
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And what was that black spot on Romney’s American flag pin?
Good observation. I guess TV has evolved since Nixon’s Checkers speech.
ROMNEY will loose as the after debate spin shows just how many flat out LIES in almost every segment. The color drained from his face over and over, rather than getting color in his face. Need a DR/PHD to explain that bizarre response,
Presidents most always quote “”loose” the initial debate, initially, because they have no Presidential record while the President must look “Presidential” which as your HD comment reflects.
Let’s see if the postgame shows on all but FOX point out the lies a minute every time WILLARD spoke.
Lies are part of the M.O. It happens in our local races too.
Actually I thought Rocky Anderson was the best candidate tonight. Democracy Now! expanded the debate to Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson as well, hopefully Gary Johnson was invited and declined. Anderson was by far the best candidate tonight.
@Ben, I didn’t watch Rocky Anderson but I do like what he stands for.
Rocky was very polished and able to speak freely on what he truly believes. Not having the pressures of being the rep to the funders and leadership of the major two political parties. I know this is a broken record but it really is the biggest issue we face today.
Romney did seem a bit aggressive and full of outright lies of course. It will play well for those who watched the debate but tomorrow if the fourth estate does their job they will expose the lies.
As perhaps came through in my earlier post, the lies will be exposed–better happen, but the Fourth Estate is mostly owned by Mitt’s Country Club buddies, so we shall see. Their job is not to declare a winner but expose the facts, and the facts are Willard told lie after lie. Obama did have lots of opportunities to call him out on his lies and for the life of me I don’t understand why he did not. No mention of the 47 percent comment, either.
I think “outright lies” is a little strong Ben. It’s called “scewing the numbers” and both candidates were guilty of that last night…nothing new.
Pete,
1) Romney mentioned the $716 billion being cut out of medicare multiple times, savings is not a cut. The statement is aimed at scaring people through the lie that it is equates to less services. 2) His tax cuts would create a $5 trillion revenue shortage over a decade, he denied this over and over again. 3) And the unelected board would be in charge of rationing care.
These were three outright lies that were mentioned more than once.
Ben, let’s not be sooooo hard on Mr. Romney as we’ve all done stupid things in our lifetime as I remember being call “Mr. Smoocher” for trying to kiss Shelly Matthews in the 3rd grade, but I can live with that.
I just find it repugnant that we can’t put a “Bull-Shit-O-Meter” on the stage that would light-up when the lies start flying. The only problem is that we’d probably black-out Denver whenever Romney started talking.
Brad,
I know what you are saying and even I agree with Pete’s statement intellectually.
The thing is we have been conditioned to give lying a pass. I, for one, am sick and tired of being spun at with weasel words/ phrases and being manipulated instead of being informed what the candidate will stand for and do as our representative. In a nut shell Romney/ Ryan want to gut the US infrastructure and social programs while giving the most privileged among us more special treatment.
Ben, I agree about the lying. I for one wish the Bill Clinton has just said “Hey she offered it, it was a crappy day, Hilary was being a crabby bitch, and it made my day better, so yes I did it!”, rather than the pulling your penis into a woman’s mouth isn’t really sex sh-t we kept hearing. We then spent the next 14 months having a President who I did not vote in to deal with that crap, rather than doing the job I voted him in to do!
It seems like politicians take it for granted that they can lie and that nothing will happen.
I’m tired as hell of it!
Here’s primo lie from Romney (amoung the many…)
It’s not true that Obama “doubled” the deficit. He inherited a $1.2 trillion deficit and deficits have remained at or above that level, as Romney said, every year since then. Romney is right, however, that Obama has not kept his promise to cut the deficit in half.
Here’s the budget history in brief: The 2009 fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2008, when George W. Bush was president, and ended Sept. 30, 2009 with Obama as president. By the time Obama took office in January 2009, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had already estimated that the federal government would end fiscal 2009 with a $1.2 trillion deficit because of higher spending and lower revenues.
Obama added to the 2009 deficit, but not by much. We found that Obama was responsible at most for an additional $203 billion. The government ended $1.4 trillion in the red that year. The deficits were about $1.3 trillion each year for the next two years, and this fiscal year just ended with a shortfall of nearly $1.2 trillion.
So, Obama didn’t double the deficits. But the president did pledge to cut them in half by the end of his first term during his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, 2009. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of the president’s latest budget plan doesn’t show the deficit being cut in half until 2014.
I agree with Jeff that this was a Romney victory, however slim. This puts greater pressure on Biden to not put his foot in house mouth during his debate with Ryan, which may actually increase its liklihood.
I’m going back to baseball until the next debate. Go Giants! Go A’s!
PONDER ME THIS……
To ME, WILLARD appeared that he is desperate (which he is) and that he really, really, really, really wants the job so badly that for insurance he did four or five lines of crank/meth in the parking lot before taking the stage?
Did the President come to the big show to tell his story, after a couple of that White House beer on Air Force One, what he has been done, what will be pursued if America gives him the job again? However. “Folks, I can take the job again or leave it, because I really, deep, deep, deep down inside, I could care less if I get the job of President again. Frankly I just don’t give a damn!”
HUH???
Curtis,
Mitt won; Barrack lost. But it’s only a debate.
Jim Lehrer lost the debate, or at least the handle.
Let’s hope our president’s performance last night was just a little “rope a dope”.
It ain’t over yet.
I was hoping that we’d hear more than what I’ve been hearing for the past several months……
If anything I did enjoy the chance to get to hear Romney actually not be trying to side-step some taped comments, but would I vote differently?
Not when I don’t hear the details of a plan, and those seemed to be few and far between.
I would have liked it, and I thought that the Prsident should have asked Mr. Romney “well currently the top is making money hand over fist, and employment has not broken the 8% barrier, so again tell us all how that tricked down work for the middle class?
That could have been the defining moment in this debate as Romney would have stood there looking dopey!
I’m surprised Romney didn’t hand Jim Lehrer a pink slip and tell him to leave right as the debate started.
I sure hope Bill Clinton or Rahm Emanuel, or both, are telling Obama to pull his head out. He isn’t going to win the election by being a punching bag. I thought Democrats had learned their lesson with Michael Dukakis in 1988, but maybe not. I have to wonder if Obama really wants the job.
Would you want it?