First Debate

[Ruteger]

Romney destroyed Hussein. Hussein is an empty suit. Hussein without his teleprompters, was clueless and lost. A pathetic example of affirmative action.

[RealCool Daddio]

Romney destroyed Hussein. Hussein is an empty suit. Hussein without his teleprompters, was clueless and lost. A pathetic example of affirmative action.

Gee, posting this before the debate is even half over.  Guess you couldn't be bothered to even watch it before making your quasi bigoted comments, huh?

[Eddie Coyle]

Gee, posting this before the debate is even half over.  Guess you couldn't be bothered to even watch it before making you quasi bigoted comments, huh?

     Obama just edged him out for admission into Harvard Law, so the bitterness could be justified in this instance

[Ruteger]

Don't care if Hussein is Black or White. I still HATE is political beliefs.

Gee, posting this before the debate is even half over.  Guess you couldn't be bothered to even watch it before making you quasi bigoted comments, huh?

[RealCool Daddio]

Don't care if Hussein is Black or White. I still HATE is political beliefs.

If you don't care, why bring up affirmative action? Answer: because you are an odious bigot.

[eddie dean]

why does Romney look like he is constipated? what is that stupid smirk all about? I think he was told to look friendly and smile. not really working for him

[Thomas Firepickle]

why does Romney look like he is constipated? what is that stupid smirk all about? I think he was told to look friendly and smile. not really working for him

No silly the TelePrompTer told him to look friendly and smiley

[RealCool Daddio]

Now that the debate is, ahem, ACTUALLY OVER, any unbiased (or biased but at least thoughtful) assessments?  I have found the Republican campaign to date to be blunder prone, and overly reliant on anti-Obama sentiment, but I think Romney probably gets the win tonight.  Be interesting to see if he closes the gap in the polls the next few days.

[b_dubb]

I thought they both did well. At times Romney looked a little desperate to counter. He (Romney) hasn't explained how shutting down some loopholes compensates for a 7 billion dollar tax break/military funding

[Blinko]

Romney certainly looked alot better than I thought he would , and judging from the post debate analysis thus far so do many others.

This will ultimately be the major theme going into the next debate . Romney now has the momentum and Obama is on the defensive.

Why this is has less to do with substance and more to do with appearance and poise. Things that don't matter.

Who won on substance , on real policies? Was there a clear winner there? I didn't see one.

Long ago Marshall Mcluhan gave this summary below on the  Ford , Carter debate. What Mcluhan says here still holds true.

Hold the audience on the image , doesnt matter what you say.

Marshall McLuhan on the TODAY Show

[eddie dean]

Now that the debate is, ahem, ACTUALLY OVER, any unbiased (or biased but at least thoughtful) assessments?  I have found the Republican campaign to date to be blunder prone, and overly reliant on anti-Obama sentiment, but I think Romney probably gets the win tonight.  Be interesting to see if he closes the gap in the polls the next few days.

I think Romney gets the win in this first debate, but not by much. Obama needs to find that fire and passion he had 4 years ago. The somewhat passive stance the pres displayed is not going to help him much. He needs to challenge Romney more on his lack of details in his proposed policies.

[John Smith]

Romney was the clear winner, it wasn't even close. People won't remember or care that he doesn't give specifics. O, by virtue of the current economic conditions of the country, started out behind and rarely laid a glove on Romney.

[RealCool Daddio]

I thought they both did well. At times Romney looked a little desperate to counter. He (Romney) hasn't explained how shutting down some loopholes compensates for a 7 billion dollar tax break/military funding

No doubt, Romney was light on detail - and has been since the campaign started.  But Obama looked weary to me, like he would rather be anywhere but Denver.


http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=9WWHdBuOC6Q&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9WWHdBuOC6Q

[Pragmier]

Romney won imho. Obama seemed afraid to look him directly in the eye and appeared to want the moderator to change the subject more than once.

[Eddie Coyle]

 
              Obama and Biden are both having an "off" week...but I can't see it changing much, the "undecided" vote is mythology. This thing is over. As bad as Obama was tonight( worst I've seen him since becoming a candidate) it still wasn't as huge a blunder as Romney's 47% fumble on his goal line.

[The General]

Here is the view from the General's armchair...

Style: Obama looked cooler, as always, but Romney seemed confident and sincere for a change, and he somehow worked in a Big Bird reference, which was surprising.  Neither one broke a sweat, which I don't understand.  If I were up there, they'd need a mop afterwards.  Jim Lehrer looked like a bloated corpse, as usual.  A friend of mine said that Lehrer was throwing hanging softballs to Obama.  I think that's a great new nickname for Lehrer, "Hanging Softballs." 

Substance: Obama made the same point 4 times in the first 10 minutes.  It made him look ill prepared.  Romney talked details but not that much more than Obama did.  Obama does have a difficult job on his hands of selling the last four years as a success, which really made Romney's job easy.

Winner: Romney.  He held it together and for some reason, Obama didn't bring his full game. 

Loser:  America.

The unfortunate truth:  This was all a lot of dancing around on the head of a pin about medicare vouchers and tax loopholes.  We are facing a staggering economic crisis, looming inflation, a currency meltdown, an irresponsible Federal Reserve, and perhaps the very collapse of our entire society.  Medicare is about 5,435 down on the list of problems we have in this country.  How refreshing would it have been to have Ron Paul in between these two clowns? 

This whole election is sketchier than the Mexican space program.

[PB the Deplorable]

...  Obama didn't bring his full game. 

His full game is to run out the clock. 

The real Obama is the one sounding like Rev Wright on that tape talk radio has been playing all day - his game is still to hide who he is.

[Juan]

I think Romney won simply because, unlike Dole and McCain, he was assertive.  And, unlike Bush, he can actually talk.  He looked prepared, whereas Obama didn't at times.

The 47% drone from the left is interesting.  I haven't heard it mentioned by anyone who is not already in the 47% who won't vote for Romney anyway.

That said, we are in a mess and I don't trust either of these clowns to save us.  I bought a big Ford van and I'm outfitting it for stealth camping.  I'm pretty sure it will be my home before long.

[Juan]

Hahahahha - Matt Welch tweeted: That wasn't a debate so much as Mitt Romney just took Obama for a cross country drive strapped to the roof of his car.

[Pragmier]

How refreshing would it have been to have Ron Paul in between these two clowns? 

Very.

[b_dubb]

Mitt keeps saying "create jobs jobs jobs jobs" but never explains how. Reminds me of the underpants gnomes on South Park

[MV/Liberace!]

He (Romney) hasn't explained how shutting down some loopholes compensates for a 7 billion dollar tax break/military funding

and neither candidate has explained how taxing this group or that group at a higher rate will close a national debt exceeding 16 TRILLION dollars.  even having this discussion in the context of who gets taxed and how much seems laughable to me.  it's not even a relevant conversation.

[analog kid]

Romney obviously won, but it's easier if you're willing to say absolutely anything at any time. He basically created entirely new positions on everything, while being typically vague about the details.

"Virtually every time Mr. Romney spoke, he misrepresented the platform on which he and Paul Ryan are actually running." (biased article but is right on Romney's dishonesty)

[coaster]

Because of the debate, Twitter reported a "peak of 17,000 tweets per second about Big Bird". per second...Christ, get lives people.

[John Smith]

Romney obviously won, but it's easier if you're willing to say absolutely anything at any time. He basically created entirely new positions on everything, while being typically vague about the details.

"Virtually every time Mr. Romney spoke, he misrepresented the platform on which he and Paul Ryan are actually running." (biased article but is right on Romney's dishonesty)

Yep, his making shyt up as he went along was a secondary storyline.

[RealCool Daddio]

Because of the debate, Twitter reported a "peak of 17,000 tweets per second about Big Bird". per second...Christ, get lives people.

Actually, I saw a pretty funny one from Big Bird to Romney - "Sesame Street today is brought to you by the letters F and U."

[Ruteger]

Guess I was right. Why is it bigoted to use Barack Hussein Obama's middle-name? That is his legal name, correct? Please, feel free to use Willard Mitt Romney's middle-name anytime you desire. I promise not to get offended.

Gee, posting this before the debate is even half over.  Guess you couldn't be bothered to even watch it before making your quasi bigoted comments, huh?

[RealCool Daddio]

Guess I was right. Why is it bigoted to use Barack Hussein Obama's middle-name? That is his legal name, correct? Please, feel free to use Willard Mitt Romney's middle-name anytime you desire. I promise not to get offended.

Dude, you didn't even watch the debate. You didn't even now when it started or ended. And it's the affirmative action comment COMBINED with the implied anti-Arab sentiment that makes you a bigot.


By the way, you are also one who does not make good on promises.  You owe me your house/hovel.  I'm sure it has a nice view of Auschwitz.

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

blah, blah, blah.... i just call him junior. seems to have worked for several that preceded number 44. if we had better choices things might be different, but the "stock" has been very thin. politics have always been what they are in one way or another. selection by combat might be a nice change.... no... wait... we already did that one. both here and the world over for one person or system.
i recall when i was a little kid, there was this old grandfatherly like man that would often walk the sidewalks in the neighborhood. from time to time when i would be out in the yard messin around he would stop and sit at a city bench nearby. sometimes i would even go up and say hello and he would say a few words and pat me on the head. the patting on the head being required since i was a redheaded little lad and it always happened that way.
i remember asking my mother about the fellow. she told me it was president Truman. to this day in some political circles, Truman is held in high regard or considered a villain. political rivalry.... it always happens that way. 

[Blinko]

Dude, you didn't even watch the debate. You didn't even now when it started or ended. And it's the affirmative action comment COMBINED with the implied anti-Arab sentiment that makes you a bigot.


By the way, you are also one who does not make good on promises.  You owe me your house/hovel.  I'm sure it has a nice view of Auschwitz.

do any of you actually believe you are a member of a race , or a culture. I find the idea silly , but people obviously cling to it.

You see there is apparently this group that you belong to and with that supposed membership come benefits and others who are not part of it are apparently a threat to your membership status and benefits for many reasons.

They want to enter your special club uninvited and unjustly take advantage of these things you think you enjoy as member

OR

They want to start their own club on your turf and when that club takes over suddenly you wont be a member of the cool club anymore.

The whole thing is absurd.

Neither of you arguing the racial, cultural counterpoints belong to anything. You are both ultimately on your own , all you have is your own mind and its contents.

When you portray yourself as some agent of these nebulous groups you serve only to disempower yourselves while taking on the inevitable burden of the flaws associated with these groups.

I am a so and so < insert group name here > and as such the argumentative counterpoint is already prepared just apply it to me and I will reciprocate.

are you an individual or not?

Is this just a means of sparing yourself the trouble of any intellectual heavy lifting? So you just absorb the narrative that you believe applies you to and go about defending it.

All ridiculous and counter-productive.

There are real issues at hand arent there? how about abandoning isms and just applying your intellect to the discussion.