President Obama, the nonentity that attempted to moderate the debate and Mitt Romney, the GOP challenger.
DEBATE RECAP
The late New York Mets announcer used to call his post game show after a Mets victory “the happy recap”. I doubt the people in the Obama campaign are saying that tonight. The performance of the President in tonight’s debate revealed what many disaffected Democrats of his own party have been saying about him since he launched his campaign in 2007. And that was that Barack Obama was an empty suit. I’m not willing to go that far but tonight the President seemed oddly differential to his challenger. From the get go I thought Obama seemed too polite and too docile. Of course the President’s challenger Mitt Romney was immensely helped by the ineptitude and uselessness of the moderator Jim Lehrer from PBS. (A side bar in tonight’s debate is going to be a black mark on an otherwise stellar broadcast career of Lehrer). Lehrer had totally lost control of the debate. Romney took full advantage and steamrolled the moderator and the President. There were a few buzz phrases that will be used in the remaining 35 days of this campaign. Obama’s use of “economic patriotism” explaining how more Americans should participate in the success of the economy will be trumpeted. Meanwhile Romney’s use of “trickle down government” will be his linchpin to describe the difference between his economic vision and the President’s. The differences between the two have become clearer but not because of the facts they presented. Rather it is the performances that overshadowed the facts. Romney seemed to be the more aggressive of the two and more confident. In fact Romney scored points by doing the following:
1. He needed what he needed to do in terms of gaining parity with an incumbent President. He seemed like a viable, articulate alternative to the sitting President.
2. Romney seemed to be comfortable in his role of challenging the President. While respectful he did take him on with points of policy.
3. Romney provided a narrative of where he wanted to take the country in a very relaxed but controlled presentation. There was no awkward silly comments. And when he was challenged, even if some of his facts were wrong, he forged on.
4. Romney was not afraid to disagree with the President and landed a big blow when he touted his 35 year business career in saying that he never founds a tax break for outsourcing jobs to a foreign country.
By doing these four things, Romney made himself not only an alternative but almost an equal. In fact, Obama spent more time explaining Romney’s plan than defending and touting his own record. That’s not only giving the challenger credibility, it’s giving him and his ideas legitimacy. The debate was totally out of control by the time the President realized it. I can imagine how he let Romney get away with the following:
1. Letting Romney attack the President on Medicare saying the President cut 718 billion dollars when in fact that money went into the Affordable Care Act to close the drug donut hole. We have called this a bald face lie. Why couldn’t the President?
2. The President did not call Romney out on what specific deductions he would use when putting together his tax plan.
3. The President could have asked Romney specifically how his numbers would add up vs. the way the President’s would. He did not challenge Romney at all and tried to explain what Romney meant. And when he did call Romney out, it was in general terms. I would have felt better if Obama had just asked once, “How are you going to do that?”
4. The President was lame in defending his own record in terms of saving the economy. Nowhere in there was a reference to the stimulus program that saved jobs. Obama should have countered Romney’s assertion that he worked in a bi partisan manner as Governor by pointing out that he had no GOP cooperation from anyone.
Tonight we had an aggressive prepared challenger meeting a reactive President. Romney attacked, Obama reacted. The President, the great orator fumbled while making the lackluster Romney seem like an old time professional pol.
Post debate polls showed the following: CNN said that 67% of the people watching felt Romney won the debate. 25% thought Obama did. In a country that has been divided 50-50 by this election, that is a stunning indictment against the President’s performance. In a CBS poll 56% thought better of Romney after seeing him debate while 13% thought better of Obama.
They say that in life 90% of success is just showing up. That’s pretty much true unless of course you are flying airplanes, operating atomic weaponry, performing surgery or running for President. Last night, just showing up for President Obama didn’t cut it.
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