Obama v. Romney Debate Thread, Part III

[San Juan Sun]

Thank you cuf. After all the bulla from the pundits it's a wonderful thing to come here and get the straight honest objective take.

On behalf of us, you're welcome. Please visit more often.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Thinking back on this debate, it may end up being Rmoney's most genius moment. He let Obama act like an attack dog and counterpunched effectively, he moved to the middle, and kept Obama from painting him has some kind of crazy. Dropping the Benghazi arguement was interesting.

"Horses and bayonets" should end up being the go to line coming out of this, which isn't good for Obama.

The insta polls are saying that Romney came across as more likable. What's interesting is the debates achieved where the convention failed --Romney's much more likable now.

[FMCoug]

CNN: Who are you more likely to vote for: 24% Obama 25% Romney 50%undecided

How the hell can you be undecided at this point. What are they going to do, flip a coin in a couple of weeks?

[TexTechCoug]

The bayonet argument is going to bite Obama in the ass, it was condescending, sarcastic, and wrong. Fact checkers from CNN and ABC have already pointed out that the Marines and Army still train with and use bayonets. It was a mean-spirited zinger.

So was "The 1980's called and wants its foreign policy back." Again, he sounded like an 8th grader.

On C-SPAN2 one of the post debate analysts said Obama effectively diminished himself with those type of petty and mean-spirited attacks.

[Portland Ute]

How the hell can you be undecided at this point. What are they going to do, flip a coin in a couple of weeks?

I agree. I don't buy the any substantial number of people that will actually cast a vote are really undecided.

I could see people waiting for this debate to finalize their decision.

Or maybe they are waiting for the jobs report on Friday.

I don't know.

[Portland Ute]

So, it doesn't seem that CNN is going to Fact Check the entire automobile bailout point.

I wonder why.

[Portland Ute]

Intrade: Obama down 5% today in Ohio

http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/co...tractId=745813

[CardiacCoug]

Intrade: Obama down 5% today in Ohio

http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/co...tractId=745813

Intrade has Nevada 80% to Obama?

Seems awfully high. Looking at that electoral map makes it look like it really will all come down to Ohio:

http://www.intrade.com/v4/misc/electoral-map/

[CardiacCoug]

I think Obama was sharp and did great, probably he "won" the debate on points or whatever.

But it seems like Romney can't be hurt and can only help himself in these debates -- the guy knows his stuff and is presidential. The more people see Romney the more they like him and view him as a viable alternative to Obama. I wouldn't be surprised to see Romney tick up another point or two nationally and in swing states after tonight.

[Pelado]

The bayonet argument is going to bite Obama in the ass, it was condescending, sarcastic, and wrong. Fact checkers from CNN and ABC have already pointed out that the Marines and Army still train with and use bayonets. It was a mean-spirited zinger.

So was "The 1980's called and wants its foreign policy back." Again, he sounded like an 8th grader.

On C-SPAN2 one of the post debate analysts said Obama effectively diminished himself with those type of petty and mean-spirited attacks.

Not only that. Obama, in saying we don't need ships, named two different types of ships that we use now - aircraft carriers and submarines. Great dig, Mr. President.

[venkman]

Not only that. Obama, in saying we don't need ships, named two different types of ships that we use now - aircraft carriers and submarines. Great dig, Mr. President.

My hunch is there hasn't been a Commander in Chief who knew less about the military than this man.

Navy Corpse-man. I rest my case.

[Pelado]

So, it doesn't seem that CNN is going to Fact Check the entire automobile bailout point.

I wonder why.

That screamed out to me for a fact check - Obama interrupting to assert what Romney had previously said, Romney blatantly telling him he was wrong.

[myboynoah]

ABC's Rick Klein: Mitt Romney Keeps Command Amid Attacks – and Looks to Future

In a debate about who should be commander-in-chief, Mitt Romney was just as much in command as the man in the job now.

President Obama came into the debate with a record to boast of, and he used it to play offense. He poked and prodded Romney, even tried to bayonet him at one point, and sought to lecture his opponent on what it’s like actually to be president.

The president accomplished what he needed to, particularly by taking the role of the aggressor that his base has wanted so desperately this debate season.

But Romney also had a strong debate, in pursuing different goals than the president. He sought to come across as reasonable rather than confrontational — a candidate comfortable with the campaign’s trajectory.

“Attacking me is not talking about an agenda,” Romney said at one point.

-----------------------

Both candidates seemed more intent on redoing the first debate, on domestic policy — Romney surely because he was strong then, Obama because he wasn’t.

There’s no going back, though, to a point where a single debate could change the trajectory of a campaign. Nothing happened tonight to change the race’s direction — and Romney walks away strong after playing on Obama’s turf, competing for his job.

[Indy Coug]

Let me help all of you: InTrade is an effing joke.

[All-American]

A part of me finds Romney's performance very curious. There were absolutely punches which he could have landed, and he didn't. Given how often he has thrown some of them before, it's easy to believe that holding back was a deliberate choice. He did not play to win the debate.

I can think of a few possible reasons behind this sort of a strategy. Some of them are offense-oriented; he wanted to portray himself as a centrist, conciliatory person able to recognize and embrace the good ideas on the other side of the isle, while Obama's one-point agenda is to do whatever he has to to take down Mitt Romney. Others are defense-oriented; he is nursing an apparent small lead in the polls, with momentum going his way, and wanted to come out of the least significant of the debates having done as little as possible to damage that image.

My opinion is that he probably gave too much ground in agreeing with Obama's record. It won't take much for the DNC to put together an ad with Mitt Romney practically endorsing Obama. That said, if the point of tonight was to depict himself as "good enough" to govern on foreign policy issues, he probably did it. I would have liked Death Star Mitt, myself, and time will tell if the strategy was the correct one, but maybe he knows something I don't.