Presidential Debate 2012: Part 1 - Disaster and Deception
Thursday, October 04, 2012
An estimated 40 million people watched last night's Presidential Debate, the first of three to be held during this election cycle. If you are in the Romney camp, more than likely you were sipping champagne, bumping chests and doing whatever men do when they realize a major victory. On the other hand, the Obama camp is likely experiencing a WTH moment.
As much as I admire and support the President, I must admit he was not at his best last night. He didn't seem to be in the moment and it was no where near his best performance. On the other hand, Gov. Romney came out the gate with guns blazing. It seemed as though he dominated the time during the debate but reporters say President Obama actually used more than Gov. Romney. Doing what he had to do to get his campaign back on track, Romney remained in attack mode throughout the evening. If viewers were really watching and listening, Gov. Romney wasn't just aggressive, he was a bully. He had his way with moderator Jim Lehrer; it was unbelievable. Romney also made statements that were categorically untrue. President Obama checked him a few times but it was obvious from the comments on Twitter and Facebook that the President's answers did not connect with the masses. I do believe he connected with people who follow politics but that's not most people.
President Obama is a smart guy so I'm still trying to wrap my head around his strategy of "not" taking advantage of opportunities to exploit Romney's flip-flopping; illogical logic; fuzzy math; erroneous claims; jobs outsourcing; disdain for the 47% and lack of transparency regardng his taxes just to name a few issues. Some of my fellow political junkies assert last night was a part of Obama's master plan, that he was somehow baiting Romney so he can use his responses against him later. Yeah, right.
Meanwhile it spite of what was likely Gov. Romney's best debate showing, the main objective for he and President Obama was to appeal to uncommitted voters. It's uncertain which was the more successful candidate.
What has proven to be the most memorable comment of the evening was Romney's attack on Big Bird. That was not a smart move on his part. He will find out just how many voters were raised on Big Bird or their children were. The Muppets backlash has already begun. Romney will try to clean up that statement. Too late.
I was going to mention the pathetic moderating job of Jim Lehrer but I won't. He has been skewered enough. Last night was an anomaly based on previous debates he's moderated. A number of important issues were not mentioned at all. Lehrer appeared to moderate Pres. Obama and allow Gov. Romney to do whatever he wanted. Sad. Just sad.
The next Presidential Debate is schedule for October 16 and the vice presidential candidates square off next week on October 11. Pay attention, America. Save Big Bird!
Not so sunny day on Sesame Street. Big Bird fired by Mitt Romney. |