1st Debate

[adrian232]

So, while I don't think anybody "won" tonight's debate, Romney definitely had the most energy and command over the debate from the very beginning and overall did a surprisingly good job despite a lot of good blows delivered from both sides

Comments

[cheetahmaster]

Romney will have a good couple of days, sure. I still don't think the majority of people want him as president, and I don't think he really put forth anything last night to change that perspective.

Should Obama have been more aggressive? Maybe. Reaching too far would have made him seem more vulnerable, and right now the gravitas of the office is working in his favor. And bringing up the 47% attack, for example, would have just given Romney another talking point to pivot on, and not gotten far.

I would have liked to have seen the president push back on some of the debunked numbers and theories Romney kept repeating. Romney stole the 'not entitled to your own facts' line early, which was clever on his part. And Obama did do a good job of pointing out that Romney isn't actually releasing any of the numbers that would back up his plans.

We'll see what people are saying next Tuesday.

[adrian232]

One of the best (worst) lines Romney gave was "for every study you give that says that, I've got 5 that say otherwise". Which can basically be thrown out there for any purpose any time Obama tries to debunk what Romney is saying. This works great in causing complete confusion for the audience on facts and numbers, which would make them fall back to whatever idea simply sounds the best. The problem with using this line is that it's completely fictitious. Romney doesn't care about lying to the audience to win a debate, and that says a lot about his character.

I guess the magic number here is 5 fictional studies are equal to 1 actual study.

[cheetahmaster]

One of the trends I am seeing in the post-debate wrapups is the 'Romney is just not telling the truth.' Which, if it takes hold, could be poisonous, as it feeds into the 'he will say whatever you want to hear to get elected' angle. The dueling studies thing adds into that, even if Romney, again, brought it up first.