who won the presidential debate?

[Trivers]

What say yea?

[Direckshun]

Some quick thoughts:

1. I don't know if it was the new, deadly developments in Turkey/Syria, or his 20th anniversary, but Obama clearly looked underprepared and like he'd be somewhere else. He actually looked bored.

2. Romney scored all the hits tonight, both for him and against him. I thought this was the most moderate he's appeared (more on that in a moment) and you could finally see him as a human being instead of the robotic corporate drone we're used to seeing. Very prepared tonight, bravo all around for his performance. (Competing against the moderator has always been unpopular, however, and he did it like eight or nine times.)

3. To pull this off, he had to shake the Etch n Sketch. This was Moderate Massachussetts Governor Romney, the Romney I've been wanting to see for like four years, not the Romney that's been campaigning for those past four years. His rhetoric and positions, foggy as they were, were pure rightwing. 47% won't take responsibility for their lives, any collectivist rhetoric is a joke, Arizona is a model for the country, endorsing Paul Ryan's plan. But his debate performance, including the bizarre "trickle down" jab and his loving embrace of regulations, was a totally different Romney. Very strange to see.

4. I watched the debate at a huge debate party (~500 people) with mixed allegiances between Obama, Romney, and even a few Gary Johnson supporters. Obama earned more laughs but Romney had quite a few. I think Obama remains more likeable. Aside from healthcare, Romney earned plenty of applause -- but healthcare the crowd was behind Obama in near-totality. The very common opinion was that Romney was crisper and better last night.

5. Some big punches on both candidates were not landed tonight. Romney had his chance with Obamacare but for the most part kept detailing the parts of it he agreed with. Bain and the 47% comments were not discussed. So there are some big hits that the next debate can invite.

6. Sad that there were almost no words for the poor tonight. Spent almost their entire time on the middle class.

7. Edit: Hooray for this new debate format. Seriously. Much, much better to have them actively interact and speak on time-allotted subjects than to have them speak in 30-second bits. This does have greater demands on the moderator, however, and Lehrer was obviously not up to the task. Plenty of others will be. Stick with it, please.

[oldandslow]

Romney killed him. Period. Went beyond confirmation bias, he really did look much more "presdidential."

[jd1020]

Romney did better in last nights debate by lying about his stance and throwing the same shit in Obama's face that he himself serves.

Sorriest part of that whole debate was the moderator... what a joke.

[BigCatDaddy]

Obama received an ass waxing that even made Romeo Crennel cringe.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by patteeu

If you account for the mistaken answers by teedubya and banyon (who both said Romney won in their comments), there may be a larger percentage of ChiefsPlanet members who thought Romney won this thing than there are who are fans of the NFL's KC Chiefs or who think Matt Cassel isn't an elite QB.

Once the middle of the roaders like suzzer and cosmo vote Obama will have a few more tallies.

[jd1020]

Romney was debating. Obama was campaigning. Obama's is playing not to lose when 1 swift kick to the nuts would have ended Romney's hopes of becoming the President last night.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Romney was debating. Obama was campaigning. Obama's is playing not to lose when 1 swift kick to the nuts would have ended Romney's hopes of becoming the President last night.

You sound like you have some sour grapes or something.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

I actually like Biden, not his politics but his candor.. he be fun to drink with.

He loves the locals


Even cleans his Trans Am shirtless in front of the White house

[HonestChieffan]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Romney was debating. Obama was campaigning. Obama's is playing not to lose when 1 swift kick to the nuts would have ended Romney's hopes of becoming the President last night.

Interesting take. Obama was on the talking points and seemed to be flustered when Romney was in such command of the figures and facts. Every time Obama talked he was rambling, giving those global feel nice lines that we see in speeches. But even then the were disconnected, almost random at times. He never really made a solid point.

Romney was able to take everything Obama did say and make a real point that gutted whatever it was Obama seemed to be trying to get to.

What will really hurt Obama is that the Romney the Obama campaign has attempted to create is not at all what the people saw. This could cost Obama dearly. If they continue to run ads that paint the Romney they wanted, they lose all credibility. And after being taken to school on economics and Romneys plan, Obama cannot realistically continue to basically lie.

Obama tried to stake out the middle class as his playground and Romney took that and ran with it. He showed not only an understanding of the issues with those in the middle, he had a real grasp of why jobs are not there and how to get them back.

What Obama did successfully do was reiterate his philosophy that big government is the answer to every issue across the board.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

1. I don't know if it was the new, deadly developments in Turkey/Syria, or his 20th anniversary, but Obama clearly looked underprepared and like he'd be somewhere else. He actually looked bored.

I think it was more that he has no real plan other than to tax and spend us to death.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

But his debate performance, including the bizarre "trickle down" jab and his loving embrace of regulations, was a totally different Romney. Very strange to see.

The "trickle down government" line was brilliant and a perfect characterization of Obama's vision of big government taking care of all our problems.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I think it was more that he has no real plan other than to tax and spend us to death.

Seems reasonable.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Some quick thoughts:

1. I don't know if it was the new, deadly developments in Turkey/Syria, or his 20th anniversary, but Obama clearly looked underprepared and like he'd be somewhere else. He actually looked bored.

Or perhaps it was the fact that he was too arrogant to take or be bothered by criticism in his practice sessions and/or too undisciplined to practice enough to know his stuff to the point of it being second nature.

Originally Posted by Direckshun

2. Romney scored all the hits tonight, both for him and against him. I thought this was the most moderate he's appeared (more on that in a moment) and you could finally see him as a human being instead of the robotic corporate drone we're used to seeing. Very prepared tonight, bravo all around for his performance. (Competing against the moderator has always been unpopular, however, and he did it like eight or nine times.)

You can't sit back passively and let misrepresentations of your positions go just because the moderator would like to move on to another topic. Obama dominated the time of possession in this debate so he really has no room to complain about Romney insisting on the opportunity to say a few more words here and there.

Originally Posted by Direckshun

3. To pull this off, he had to shake the Etch n Sketch. This was Moderate Massachussetts Governor Romney, the Romney I've been wanting to see for like four years, not the Romney that's been campaigning for those past four years. His rhetoric and positions, foggy as they were, were pure rightwing. 47% won't take responsibility for their lives, any collectivist rhetoric is a joke, Arizona is a model for the country, endorsing Paul Ryan's plan. But his debate performance, including the bizarre "trickle down" jab and his loving embrace of regulations, was a totally different Romney. Very strange to see.

Not strange at all, and not inconsistent with his overall campaign. If you were under the impression that Romney or conservatives are against all regulations, you've been dealing with a cartoon version of your opposition instead of the real thing all along.

Originally Posted by Direckshun

4. I watched the debate at a huge debate party (~500 people) with mixed allegiances between Obama, Romney, and even a few Gary Johnson supporters. Obama earned more laughs but Romney had quite a few. I think Obama remains more likeable. Aside from healthcare, Romney earned plenty of applause -- but healthcare the crowd was behind Obama in near-totality. The very common opinion was that Romney was crisper and better last night.

A 500 person debate watch party? What kind of dorky freak are you?

Originally Posted by Direckshun

7. Edit: Hooray for this new debate format. Seriously. Much, much better to have them actively interact and speak on time-allotted subjects than to have them speak in 30-second bits. This does have greater demands on the moderator, however, and Lehrer was obviously not up to the task. Plenty of others will be. Stick with it, please.

Agree wholeheartedly on the format. Disagree about Lehrer.

[Predarat]

'bama done got his ass kicked.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

The "trickle down government" line was brilliant and a perfect characterization of Obama's vision of big government taking care of all our problems.

I don't agree, I thought it was a weird line of attack. Specifically because trickle down economics is a big, big part of modern conservativism.

I don't know, having a nice zingy catchphrase makes for a good soundbite I suppose, but I just don't think phrases like that help him like his specific attacks on Obama do. I think at this point people want specifics, not taglines.

That's one reason I really liked this debate format, I felt this was one of the more substantive debates we've had.