Who won the debate?

[DaveG]

Obama acted like he really did not want to be there, I acted like I really did not want to watch.

 

[DPI]

I wouldn't want her mad at me. She looks like she could go all "messin' with sasquatch" on you!

She is not entitled to this kind of shame! She's worked to hard to get where she's at! Worst anniversary ever.

 

[RKM]

Obama's comment the day before that getting ready for the debate was a real "drag". The supposed leader of our country whining about having to bone up on his failures and his inability were evident last night.

 

[Stephen Cue]

Here's a great Op-ed, written by a conservative no less:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/millman/the-first-presidential-debate-a-choice-or-an-echo/

- The American Conservative - http://www.theamericanconservative.com -

The First Presidential Debate: A Choice or an Echo? Posted By Noah Millman On October 3, 2012 @ 11:15 pm In | 26 Comments

I tried to live-blog this thing, but just didn’t have the energy. So here is my strongest impression of the debate overall: Mitt Romney wants the audience to believe that he and Barack Obama disagree profoundly on fundamental philosophy, but disagree only very marginally about policy.

Over and over again, Mitt Romney would attack the President on general principles, then the President would say, in so many words, “well, the implications of that view are” and start listing policy implications, and Romney would retort: no, I don’t believe any of that, in fact that stuff you say I oppose is stuff I agree with, and that stuff you say I support is stuff I absolutely will not do.

On the budget, Romney praised Bowles-Simpson, which called for a substantial net increase in revenue, suggesting his own plan was a variation on that theme, and denied he would cut spending in any specific area that Obama highlighted as a possibility that he might cut – the only spending he talked about was spending he promised to increase: increases on defense, restoring cuts to Medicare, etc.

On health care, he repeatedly talked up his reform in Massachusetts, and when asked how it was distinguished from Obamacare, said it was a state-level plan that was enacted on a bi-partisan basis – an entirely process-related answer. Any time Obama talked about anything popular in Obamacare – like the way it handles pre-existing conditions – Romney said, effectively: don’t worry, I’ve got that covered in my plan as well.

On Wall Street regulation, Romney was at pains to reassure that he believed in regulation, and that there were plenty of sensible things in Dodd-Frank, and the one line that he called out as being a problem was the “too big to fail” designation (without explaining what that was, or how it was related to the regulation as a whole, or how he’d deal with the actual problem of too-big-to-fail).

On education, Romney was eager to say that Secretary Duncan had good ideas that he agreed with and would build on, and that he would not roll back the Federal role (but would use Federal leverage to promote school choice).

Even on taxes, the clearest point of contrast, Romney denied he intended to reduce the tax burden on the wealthy, denied he would increase taxes on the middle class, and denied he would increase the deficit. His tax cut was reduced to a “goal” of reducing rates and broadening the base, which would come out of a process that would involve both parties.

And on it went in that vein.

The President was plainly frustrated by this approach, and his frustration showed. If, as they say, you watched it without sound – or, even better, if you didn’t speak English, so you could hear the sound but couldn’t understand the words – I have to believe Romney won by a mile.

But if you didn’t watch the debate, and read the transcript, what you’d see is the following. When Romney attacked, Obama generally had a policy response – some more persuasive than others, but the response was generally policy-related. When Obama attacked, Romney would generally deny that he took the position that was being attacked.

Romney’s palpable zest for the debate made him look like a guy ready to take charge, and the President’s demeanor suggested some willingness to let him do so. But his refusal to stand his ground on anything – and the marked contrast with the President in that regard – made him sound like a snake-oil salesman.

I guess it’s clear how the combination played for me. How it played for a low-information voter, I don’t know.

 

[dlbleak]

obama has surrounded himself with czars and staff to basically do his job for him. is it possible that he knows literally nothing without the info in front of him? the subjects of jobs, economy,budget, etc are totally new to him. i think that when the social subjects come up that he is a more passionate about like immigration, racism,gay marriage and such, that he will come out of his sheepish mode.

 

[TerryMiller]

Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch the whole debate, and I'm not sure I could have taken Obummer for an hour and a half anyway. However, here is my take from what I've gleaned from the news since last night.

Obama had his head handed back to him in his scrotum. As such, there is now "blood in the water" and the American voters are the sharks. In a short time, even though he has been "sequestered" from making public appearances, Joe Biden is destined to have his head handed back as well, which will just add more "chum" to the waters.

Romney went into this first debate with the idea that the news media (Lehrer) would NOT control the ebb and flow of the debate. He went in and took control himself and showed himself to be aggressive enough to hamper Lehrer's attempts to "help" the President. Lehrer even went so far as to provide some answers to Obama, who immediately used those answers.

So, in addition to the "chum" from Obama and Biden, I think we can also add at least some "red meat" from the media as well. If Romney goes into the other debates with as much aggressiveness as he did last night, the fat lady has sung.

Oh, while "someone" on here has stated that he could have out-debated Romney, let me add this. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE, but I know a h*ll of a lot more than Obama and Biden combined about economics and what it takes to make this country work and grow. While Romney might not be the absolute BEST there is, he is a far cry better than Obama in economics, morals, and I'd dare say, foreign policy. With the stories of not having enough security in Libya, the Obama administration has effectively put a lot of people in danger.

 

[Shadowrider]

Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch the whole debate, and I'm not sure I could have taken Obummer for an hour and a half anyway. However, here is my take from what I've gleaned from the news since last night.

Obama had his head handed back to him in his scrotum. As such, there is now "blood in the water" and the American voters are the sharks. In a short time, even though he has been "sequestered" from making public appearances, Joe Biden is destined to have his head handed back as well, which will just add more "chum" to the waters.

Romney went into this first debate with the idea that the news media (Lehrer) would NOT control the ebb and flow of the debate. He went in and took control himself and showed himself to be aggressive enough to hamper Lehrer's attempts to "help" the President. Lehrer even went so far as to provide some answers to Obama, who immediately used those answers.

So, in addition to the "chum" from Obama and Biden, I think we can also add at least some "red meat" from the media as well. If Romney goes into the other debates with as much aggressiveness as he did last night, the fat lady has sung.

Oh, while "someone" on here has stated that he could have out-debated Romney, let me add this. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE, but I know a h*ll of a lot more than Obama and Biden combined about economics and what it takes to make this country work and grow. While Romney might not be the absolute BEST there is, he is a far cry better than Obama in economics, morals, and I'd dare say, foreign policy. With the stories of not having enough security in Libya, the Obama administration has effectively put a lot of people in danger.

Actually they both chided Leher. Obama was especially sharp with him for interrupting him once. I swear I saw Leher's eyes roll back in his head once.

 

[flatwins]

obama and his team didn't lay down folks, they are smart and have something up they're sleeve. just wait....

I was thinking the same thing this morning. I figure in about 2 weeks someone will "come forward" with some sort of deep, dark secret about Romney that will derail his chances. Of course it will be 102% fabricated lies but the damage will be done.

 

[justanotherpatriot]

obama and his team didn't lay down folks, they are smart and have something up they're sleeve. just wait....

Ha Ha! Maybe, Maybe not. Looked to me like he just bent over!

 

[yukonjack]

Obama's spin now is that Romney lied during the debate. That's the point of a debate. If your opponent lies then you call them out on it. Obama is just too stupid to do that. Without a teleprompter and a speech writer he's just ignorant. But then again so are the vast majority of his supporters. Oh, I know, lets just borrow more money from China so we can keep Big Bird and Elmo on PBS during prime time.

It's beginning to look like the Democrats are still offering up Bert & Ernie as their presidential candidates. Grrrreat.....