Had it been an NBA game he might be investigated. But this is presidential politics and for whatever reasons – maybe good ones – Barack Obama didn’t even try to win last night’s debate.
Headlines such as “Liberals Livid at Obama Performance” won’t hurt him among swing voters. And it won’t hurt Democrats to lure GOP donors into thinking Romney has a chance at a moment when they were threatening to shift funds to House and Senate races.
It has been humorous to watch Romney’s delusional tribe dance rituals around the campfire, simply because the cavalry took a nap. And agitated liberals really ought to calm down. Obama has never been a heavy lifter in debates, but still managed to get elected.
Whenever analyzing Obama, always know he takes the long view of most situations, rightly or wrongly. And he knows history doesn’t really care who wins or loses debates. Their instant outcomes seldom affect the ultimate verdict on Election Day. I remember when we thought George W. Bush was going down because he flubbed the debates against John Kerry.
Perhaps Obama simply didn’t bring his best game because he hasn’t got one. I doubt it. No, I think he threw this debate on purpose. It’s worth remembering that those who’ve played basketball against him say he usually fools around in the beginning, but closes strong in the finish.
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125 Responses to Obama Throws a Game
Now on The Trail
Woo hoo…did Rmoney look like Donald Trump or what??
If Rmoney won -- it was only based on the appearance of aggressiveness during the debate. Certainly Rmoney’s factless drivel didn’t have enough substance to carry the day. So apparently what Americans want in a debater in the person who is “Often wrong but never in doubt.”
The post debate “fact checking” shows Rmoney lied 90% of the time…possibly more.
Do you really want the finger on the bomb to be Rmoney’s — a guy who can’t shut-up and is feckless
Hey BW
I watched with six people — all very left of center…(in fact so far left — a new center was required)
And some of them are not big Obamarama supporters. But everyone thought the debate sucked. Obama waited for Lehrer to get control and Rmoney just waded in..And no one called out Romney on being mostly a liar
I thought the people at CNN were going to break out the champagne — six more weeks of being able to call it a horse race……even though there is no evidence it’s close at all.
Good Morning,
Step two in the October Crash. Next the VP’s…!
KGC. Fact check your fact checks. Or you need to watch something besides MSN (oBama)C Both stretched it and Obama was called out on CNN on the major issues as FALSE.
Craig you are correct this is only one debate but the key change now will be the MSM will have to begin (including your friend George S on ABC) to not give softball pitches to Obama.
Obama finally meets the real world.
I call facts not in evidence Ping
I watched CNN and they called out Rmoney on everything
We’ve already had a president who is aggressively stupid and we are still paying the price for that ..Rmoney is not as stupid as Shrub but he is a shape shifter and not a single word out of his mouth last night is reliable
American values — pay football players bonuses to injure other players and applaud a candidate whose only redeeming moment in a campaign was to lie like a rug during a televised debate and spew out lines he had written on his cuff how Republican of you
CNN chose to call Obama a liar over the jobs numbers but he did not lie. CNN in the tank for Rmoney because they have so much invested in their holagraphic election coverage --even if Rmoney had been terrible they would have declared him the winner
enjoy your moment at the freak show ping — it won’t make any difference because it is still the same f--ked up polices that got us into trouble and now Rmoney is lying about what he would do
Woo hoo for the several thousand people who showed up to chat with Craig last night! Craig- sorry about the tech problems but congrats on the visitors.
Y’all come back again- Craig is the cream of the crop -- you can count on him for a perspective free of predictable party memes, sincerely welcoming and generous with his time here.
abcnews.go.com/…/fact-checking-the-presidential-debate-in-denver/
There are independent fact checkers out there and most suggest that Romney is a big liar
Game not over. Romney did really well and it does keep him in the game until the next debate. The Obama campaign desperately wants to maintain advantage in the likability category which helps him with his gender advantage. It has nothing to do with anything else. Obama can let the liberal media on cable tv get mad, mean and aggressive. The only problem is that you don’t want to dampen enthusiasm on the democratic side, but I suspect there is still time and the President will get more aggressive as election day draws closer.
The Obama campaign is very smart and this is subtle and nuanced: The tv advertising showing Romney as a flip flopper are coming. His tax cut, the voucher-care, will come back to haunt him. Remember, the Obama campaign is running the President Bush playbook, page by page from 2004.
Not sure if Obama took a dive. Maybe. It serves him better to let Rmoney show his cards, not let Mittens look like an underdog & for Obama to finish strong in future debates.
It turns out that it is Romney/Ryan, after all & not the reverse. I hope Biden gives Ryan a schoolin’ because Ryan does not need to be a breath away from the OO any more than the ex-half-gov of AK.
Romney did show his cards proudly, and that’s a problem for him. Deregulation leads to poor working conditions and low wages, and that leads to a continually depressed economy.
Turning back the clock on regulations to those of the middle of the last century is not good for the enviroment, employment or education. It’s just good for the short-sighted 1% in his world.
“@BigBirdRomney -- Romney 2012. Soft on Wall Street…..Tough on Sesame Street.”
Does that mean they are planning to steal Ohio
So, I was right last night when I said that most people have already made up their minds about who they are gonna vote for and the debates aren’t going to change anybody’s mind?
The worst part of last night -- Chris Christie gets bragging rights. ugh
Had a flashback of the first SNL after the writers’ strike ended four years ago. Faux-Hillary answered a debate question & Faux-bama copied her answers because he wasn’t giving a teleprompter-supported speech.
Maybe he took a dive, but maybe all of the coddling he received from the media the last time is now biting him in his presidential backside.
Neither Obama nor Romney like being questioned/put on the spot. Romney just hid it better. Of the two, Romney is the better liar.
Yeah, it would have been nice to make Chris Christie eat his words, but he enjoys eating, so I’d call that a draw.
I think Political Wire got it exactly right.
It won’t change the minds of the extremes on either side. They are terrified that their candidate won’t win, so they will vote. Folks in the middle who are undecided??? And then there are the folks who think it doesn’t matter who wins, because the power will remain in the hands of the powerful.
crackers -- Maybe it’s better for Obama’s surrogates to push back. Even better, to let Mitt push back against himself through contradictory statements.
Someone argued that people needed to watch the debates to become an informed voter. I just figure that watching the debate isn’t gonna change most people’s minds. Maybe a few, but not the people who already have their mind made up.
Top Story: Mitt Romney Wants the Presidency and Fought for It in the Debate
by Taylor Marsh
“On Social Security, I suspect we have a similar position.” – Barack Obama
Certainly Rmoney is on the record now
“@BigBirdRomney — Romney 2012. Soft on Wall Street…..Tough on Sesame Street.”
blue, this would go nicely with cartoons and snl skits depicting a salivating bullyboy stomping on innocent muppets. maybe recalling the drubbing he gave the guy in high school.
kgc, yeah, but which one, which side of that record? he’s cooking the books. master shell game…. under which nut is the real romney?
patd
exactly -- he made statements in the debate and he can’t walk them back (well he can) if he does it will be damaging.
russell, interesting to see a debate poll breakdown by gender.
picking on lehrer, ignoring the rules, blustering and talking over others remind some of us ladies of past experiences with macho wannabees.
So what were the viewer numbers? was interest up or way down?
Jack
Craig:
Thanks for NOT repeating the conventional wisdom that the parade of pundits at CNN and MSNBC were putting out this AM: that Romney has “turned everything around.”
As you argue, very persuasively, one debate does not decide anything.
question: can campaigns use snippets from debates? if so, a colage of mitt variations and prevarications from last night would be entertaining.
xr’s suggestion of “undecided” as background music is spot on.
Looks like I called it. Romney came out aggressive. I expected him to be even more confrontational but he went for the forceful but nice. Obama was in full prevent defense mode.
Next up VP food fight.
Jack
Romney talked about how he wanted to put America back to work, and create jobs for Americans, and then said his 1st day in office his priority was firing people, starting with Jim Lehrer. How logic like that equates to “winning” is beyond me, but perception is reality, I suppose.
Jim Lehrer isn’t even a government employee, for crying out loud, and PBS isn’t a government agency. Romney couldn’t “end” it if he wanted to.
As far as Romney’s “is this program worth borrowing money from China” litmus test, such an argument ignores how the Treasury securities market works, and even if if it didn’t, Romney couldn’t waltz into D.C. on January 21st (or whenever) and tell everyone in town that they’re fired, that’s not how it works. Holy Jeez.
That I have to make these points and Obama didn’t doesn’t speak well of the President’s performance, I will concede that much.
I thought Obama was up on his basketball, doesn’t he know flopping is against the rules?
To quote Kobe Bryant, “Shameless flopping, that’s a chump move.”
Jack
As dust settles main takeaway from last night — Big Bird gets a boost
Heck of a job, Jimmie (Lehrer)!
Maybe Obama was pissed about the wedding anniversary…awkward personal moment for all. I believe Obama is lazy and his team wanted Rmoney to show his true conservative colors. The PAC commercials and ads will vindicate Obama. Rmoney made some pretty bad faces…I watched on c-span without pundits and the screen was split screen of both candidates. No long shots of the stage. Rmoney was licking his chops.
Jim Lehrer looked so old on the last shots of him. Deer in the headlight look. The only thing Rmoney did not mention was the birth certificate. I am sure had there been an opening…
My surmise is, the President was greatly preoccupied for the past two days by Syria and our NATO ally, Turkey, and what will be our ultimate treaty obligation in support of Turkey, while neutralizing action from Russia and Iran. So, take that Romney.
I don’t know Flatus, when Osama was being killed…the Prez did a lot of public appearances at the same time and was dynamic.
He should have started off singing some Al Green to Michele…
For an hour and a half Romney lied. The fact checkers have fingers worn to the bone this morning. The president didn’t call him on it and Lehrer didn’t follow up or even try to control. The next debate the word “LIE” has to enter the debate so the Romneys can return to one of their many homes and ski doo the rest of their useless lives.
Craig, I agree wholeheartedly with you.
Not one mention or dig on Bain Capital, the 47%, the tax returns?? That could only be by design and done with premeditation. His aloof approach was carefully calculated (whether it works out well for him remains to be seen). What a hustler.
Welcome Erik
I like how you think.
Politifact -- Fact checking the debate
Have some definite quibbles with Politifact trying to be a little too equivalent, but at least most of the information is here or linked.
Re: chinese debt.
It is a bit like the JP Morgan quote “If you owe the bank $100 and can’t pay it back that is your problem, If you owe the bank $100 million and can’t pay it back it is the banks problem”
“He should have started off singing some Al Green to Michele…”--BW
Oh, you’ve got that right!
What did everyone think of the very quiet audience format?
I missed the rabid republican noise in the audience.
When I watched the Warren/Brown debate, David Gregory (whom I dislike) did a good job of controlling the debate. You are correct that a journalist doesn’t do a great job of moderating a debate, Craig. Lehrer did a good job of controlling the audience, not the candidates.
There’s something very suspicious about Obama not grabbing, with both hands around the neck, the endless gifts of Romney’s tax-return-problem and his 47% comment.
Maybe Biden gets the fun of the 47% comment. Seeing Ryan trying to defend/explain that would be kinda’ hilarious.
So it’s a long game, with the first one thrown for fact-checkable etch-a-sketch material. I can imagine a string of “compare and contrast the different Romney’s” TV ad spots coming out of last night.
Greetings, Erik!
Welcome Erik. Yep, also his team calculating that his higher likability rating not worth risking by going attack dog. Leave that to Biden. Not sure they’re correct but that’s their thinking.
Zvy…welcome…where do you live in Australia?
More on the Fact Checking Front
The son and heir is commenting in his own special fashion “After De Bate”
Welcome to any and all newcomers to the Trail. Ignore the fish heads and peanut shells … some of the big gatherings can get a bit raucous.
Craig, Do we still have the old image of the party people anywhere or did it get lost in all the moves?
Mrs. P & I both watched the debate (me pretty much the whole damn thing and her about 1/2 of it). We both had about the same reaction -- for about half (I’m being generous here) of Rmoney’s statements we both were commenting on them being nothing but lies. For Obama, we both wondered why the hell he didn’t jump on the 47% comment, blast him for his voodoo math, and press him on how in the hell he would broaden the tax base, drop tax rates and deductions and somehow make the plan revenue neutral. I don’t understand why Obama didn’t call Rmoney out on the MA health care model when Rmoney said they didn’t raise taxes to fund it -- that is true because the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT funded 60 fricking percent of the costs of the MA plan. In the end, we both agreed that Rmoney won the debate, but both also agreed that the opinion of smart undecided voters who have been following the campaigns won’t be changed much by it -- now as to the other 97% of undecided voters, who knows? I just keep reminding myself that Kerry won the debates in ’04.
Sorry but it looks foolish to try to shoehorn a silver lining out of that mess last night.
Obama was clearly routed. What’s more, it wasn’t because of a moderator or a grand plan. Obama does not have the knowledge base Romney has, and is a weaker man.
You can ascribe all kinds of nonsense to make yourself feel better but you witnessed a competent and aggressive man rip a weak, teleprompter dependent diva to shreds last night.
Don’t embarrass yourselves by trying to find another set of facts to describe that massacre.
Joe, it was a loss for Obama. He performed poorly in a format he doesn’t usually perform well in and lost the debate as a result. Beyond that, your analysis of the two candidates is full of crap.
Rmoney based a debate performance on lies and optics -- if debate performance is based on optics alone, then Rmoney’s aggression won the night. But if there has to be some truth behind statements made as if they are fact, then competent is not the word to use.
On the other hand, Obama’s debate performance was incompetent. He took the lies without challenge for the most part and he did not provide the optics necessary to look like a winning debater. So he lost that one.
Welcome, Joe. What are you smoking in that pipe?
The last laugh is the best and not matter how you spin the debate Mittens is a loser…no one changed their mind as a result of the debate.
It’s easy to have facts (sic) when you are making them up as you go along. Mittens has NO facts only lies or imagined facts…I understand why people might get confused since this is a very Republican practice
Welcome Joe Boston, happy to see your point of view on site. Our resident conservative Ping Pong could use some allies. Don’t let what will likely be a slew of counter attacks here keep you from participating.
My take: Your comments are almost verbatim what I remember being said about first Bush-Kerry debate, a stumbling uninformed president routed. The trick for Romney is leveraging his obvious win to a different result on Election Day.
Now there is an American value to applaud the person who cheated to win
If anything, I still do not understand the ‘undecided voter?’
Are they just pandering for the attention? Clueless…need more study on the candidate’s web sites?
Nothing is going to change my mind. How could it? The republican platform has not changed. Any undecided just has to read OR is it a job opportunity to them? Remain ignorant and you can be on tv.
Al Gore should be president and John Kerry won Ohio
The only value Republicans care about is how well you cheat --
Last night Obama showed he knows how to play a good poker game. He wore a poker face all night. Romney was like an out-of-control child playing his hand, cards-up. Obama studied his cards, the turned up the lowest one. That’s the way it’s done! Two more rounds coming up. What? Obama should have turned up his whole hand last night just b/c people want a show?
Daniel Patrick Moynihan would be embarrassed to be a Republican
In retrospect…Obama should have selected Bill Clinton to sub for him last night and he and Mrs. Obama should have had that anniversary celebration.
More from the son: Political Death
Flash polls of undecided voters. I challenge the validity of the polls and the selection of the participants. (ok I can promote just as good a conspiracy theory as any red state looney)
This was entirely a set-up to keep the Rmoney campaign alive — the only interest the benefits from this is the broadcast advertising industry…people selling time are the same people who brought us the flash polls telling us who won.
Yeah that’s the ticket..these are the facts I’m picking
Welcome Julia. Worth noting that next presidential debate Oct. 16 is a town hall, only questions from audience. Perhaps Obama camp figured on holding fire for that format.
Hey Julia!
Hey, Jamie…is the grim reaper registered to vote? He’s dead! More examples of republican voter fraud.
I’ve been looking at various progressive political sites on the web and the consensus seems to be: Obama did a lousy job last night.
There is no consensus on whether it matters.
Some commentators say, as Craig did, that this is only the first of four debates and Obama likes to finish strong.
But many are are disgusted by Obama’s performance, and see it as true reflection of his own lack of passionate commitment to progessive ideas in general.
KGC, I got into this with Champ last night. Yes, flash polls are dicey but margins this huge hard to explain away, no matter how inexact the methodology. Josh Marshall at TPM tried to take apart CNN’s 67-25 Romney win but ultimately concluded: “CNN provided us with the internals of the poll, and the demographics of the poll respondents are very much line with normal standards for randomized sampling”
It’s clear, for what it matters (and maybe not much), most viewers thought Romney won. Media isn’t making it up. They told pollsters that as soon as debate ended, before any chance of being influenced by commentary.
The overreaching could be in the commentary that because Mitt won debate it’s a whole new race. That is overblown, and, I’ll agree with you, driven in part by media zeal for a horse race.
Joe Boston… Welcome..
How many middle of the roads does it take to handle this liberal crowd?
Does not matter !!
Welcome and join the discussion. I have enjoyed the banter for years and call many here friends -- even if we disagree.
Glad to have you join the middle of the road group..
Craig I would not call Ping a conservative…
Craig, KGC… You all have lived in a sheltered world for the last 4 years. Everyone has given Obama a pass at a minimum, many have promoted him despite calling themselves Journalist.
What happened last night was maybe the first time in Mr Obama’s life that he had to face the real world and no one was there to give him a pass or a softball question.
It is the first time he has accountability for the last 3+ years. It is performance review time -- which he has never had to face. The fact is he has not done the job and we as a Nation are in trouble with a Capital D for Debt. He has great ideas but so does my teenage daughter.
The October Crash will continue. Biden can throw the bombs but Ryan will also have a strong showing.
Nash, going back to the early primary days of 2008 I have never understood why libs/progressives thought Obama would champion their beliefs. Was a most amazing case of delusional mass projecton. He never gave them any specifics to justify those expectations. And yet they still expect it from him. Just plain silly.
Ping says:
Yes, labels are so inexact. How would you describe yourself? I call myself a progressive redneck.
Ping Pong
You should not try to hide your conservative light
you haven’t been in the middle of the road in a long time if ever…perhaps though the problem is you stayed in a Republican party that has moved their middle
PIng -- I disagree with you. I think we will see an opposite performance in VP debate from what we saw last night. Biden will take Ryan behind a woodshed. Or, as I paraphrase Ignoble exChamp’s joke, perhaps we will see Biden run up to Ryan and kick him in the nuts while he yells out that he is behind seniors.
Ok Craig….people thought Rmoney won Ibelieve you ..except the CBS poll said 46% said Romney 28% Obama and the rest a tie…so the spin is more important
as we all known (Dean Scream) With those numbers -- one could say a majority of people either thought it was a tie or favored Obama
I was just following the money
welcome aboard to erik, joe and julia.
we not only need new blood, we need new victims for that likely “slew of counter attacks” great poohbah mentioned. actually he meant “stew”
as in stewing in our own juicy resentments .
All I can say is…Craig, from your typing fingertips to the conscience of whatever deity might be out there and concerned with the future of this country/world/planet….
on diane r show this a.m. it was pointed out that the past incumbant prezes have not fared well in their 1st debate. one reason proffered was after 3 yrs of hails to the cc and surrounded by yesmen or awestruckees it’s hard to adjust to someone disagreeing with them face to face so publically.
another good point they made about the 47% absence was why risk messing the issue up since it’s so well covered by the ads currently playing to boffo reviews. the prez knew mitty would be prepared with a well-paid for one liner which would take the spotlight.
speaking of prepared (or unprepared for that matter) zingers, last night seemed boringly zingerless.
Hello Julia, Joe!
Mittens had attempted zingers -- “you’re entitled to your house and plane (WTF) but not your own facts”…stolen and delivered awkwardly
How come they didn’t ask the alleged undecideds who they were going to vote for…
the guy who won the high school debate or the one who will make their life better…
A majority of undecideds did NOT decide to vote for Rmoney
ping, perhaps it’s with the same poetic license that you use calling the prez a liberal and a socialist. eyes of the beholder and all that rot.
Ping, I certainly think you’re a fiscal conservative. Nothing wrong with that.
In a broader perspective, I think you are too kind a human being to align yourself on a formal basis with the republican members of Congress except on those occasions when you believe they are doing what is best for our Country.
Flatus
You are a guiding light
There is no doubt in my mind that Obama did not win the debate and Rmoney did. If that were the criteria by which presidents were elected I would be very concerned (and Hillary would probably be president). Over the next few days we’ll see how the tracking polls respond to the debate and the monthly jobs numbers that will come out tomorrow. Until then, the Rmoney camp will be dancing around the campfire and swilling champagne and the Obama camp will be continuing on, doing what has worked to raise their numbers for the past month. The next debate (pres, not vp) should be a better format for Obama, allowing his loosy goosy style to come out, and will test Willard’s newly found empathy.
Hi Erik, Joe, and Julie !
The pong is ripe and right. There is nothing conservative about him. He is a fanatic republican, who opposes spending government money on anyone but the pong. He defines spending on the pong as “infrastructure”.
Well, if that was an example of Obama’s poker skills, somebody loan me a little money so I can get in the game. when you have the cards that Obama had last night you bet them strong, You may not have them next round. Yet Obama let Romney bluff him time after time.
Jack
I can’t wait to hear willard channeling rumsfeld on foreign & military policy:
“Pay no attention to what the generals tell you. They don’t know anything.”
Last nights debate put Romney back in the race. He was on the verge of getting blown out, now not so much. But it is still a long up hill climb for him to win.
Jack
As I wrote a few months ago, I was hoping that the President would call his opponent willard. Then, as in one of his previous oralpedic moments, romney would reply, “My firstname is Mitt.”
The president could then quip, “Is that so? Show us your birth certificate.”
It didn’t happen. Sigh.
Recently I made a comment about my sadly departed chow mix dog called Red. Red was a very conservative dog, she hated change of any sort. I said this on the family facebook page. A cousin who is a religious fundy replied that he knew many conservatives that believed in change.
I told him, Conservatives that believe in change aren’t real conservatives, they are just misguided liberals.
Bush senior was conservative but RR not so much.
Ping is just another misguided liberal.
Jack
I haven’t heard anyone declare Obama the winner.
I’m glad I didn’t tune in for more than 4 minutes. Maybe it was only 1 minute but felt like 20.
“Ping is just another misguided liberal.” -- Jack
@ 4:43pm
Okay. He is also a fanatic republican.
xrep
I think that goes with being a modern day Republican. Richard Luger may have been the last conservative Republican and they kicked him out.
woohooo Obamarama in Madison, Wisconsin very enthusiastic crowd
I like the Obama references to Rmoney — which Rmoney showed up?
John King just wet h imself on television
‘ohboy ohboy ohboy we have a horse race!”
only in your world of fantasy politics — the overnight polls--not flash polls show zero movement for Rmoney
hey John King you need to read 538 blog --the flash polls asking who won the debate don’t have anything to with actual changes in polls--sorry no horse race John King --go back to your game of fantasy politics and odd holograms
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/10/04/gore_blames_the_altitude.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PoliticalWire+%28Political+Wire%29
I do not agree with the former Vice-President at all over this. The president performed exactly, as I imagined except that he lied about being liberal.
Regarding National Journal Article, as I implied in the last line, Obama has disappointed me in his entire four year term. I understand that he cannot do things on Congress but, the crap he can do in his Executive decisions and his cabinet’s very questionable policies (Pipeline, Justice Department’s Hands Tied on just about every important issue connected to the Economy and Torture). These very important issues especially the Justice Department are not supposed to be politically motivated, but he has decided to choose incorrectly in his decisions. So I would most definitely not call myself disappointed in his debate performance. It is par for the course with this man. I still find it surprising that people actually believe he is some sort of liberal. But then again maybe people do not know what that term means.
Hey Erik, Joe and Julia.
So glad you gave us your thoughts, please stick around,
Zvyozdochka, you too. Love Australia.
Continuing on the National Journal Article…Since when is the Log Cabin Republican, Andrew Sullivan, a liberal?
sorry that was REALLY bugging me…
Very good comments. I think the President did a good job as far as the facts go. I have had a problem with the President not being a fighter from day one! Oh, he can challenge and piss off his base or those of us who voted for him but he just can’t seem to stand up to Republicans? Oh and he didn’t have a problem with fighting Hillary a real Democrat? I also agree with many here, Romney told so many outright lies, ha one would think he never supported the Ryan budget plan????
Jace,
You were so correct about the difference in perception of the debate listening on the radio vs watching live. I was driving for half of it listening on XM then watched the last half. The first half i thought it was a tie, ah but when i watched the last half,immediately i changed my mind, Romney cleaned the Presidents clock..
Ron Reagan asked on HardBall why Obama didn’t challenge Romany last night during the debate like he did today in a campaign speech. The answer is simple! During the debate Obama had no teleprompter and he had to think. During the campaign speech Obama was reading a prepared speech on a teleprompter, no thinking required.
This is Japanese animation, funny..
KC, I haven’t seen any overnight polls that were horserace polls -- all the ones I saw were just measuring reaction to the debate. Got a link or two? I did go to 538 and saw their projections.
Jason,
Oh god, me too! Can’t stand Sullivan..
What Do Progressives Do About Obama on Social Security?
by Taylor Marsh
In 2008 people complained about the lack of substance and the gotcha questions in the debates and then there was a debate in Iowa conducted by newspaper that did discuss issues in a civilized way and everyone pronounced it a snoozefest.
People like the sucker punch the sneak attack, the win at any cost attitude and a lot of blood and car wrecks
Tweety thinks Obama is out of touch because he doesn’t watch cable news — the most absurd statement of the whole event.
Pogo
I checked the Real Politics site and Gallup Tracking has Obama up 1 point Also 538 blog has an analysis of why who wins the debate never matters oops my bad Gallup daily Tracking is one day back
Rmoney is winning is all the states that have crazy governors
Someone on Twitter said they went to 15 different stores today and all of them were sold out of Big Bird plush toys.
Obamarama — saved by big bird. Everyone else was making jokes about big bird but I heard one reporter say why big bird and pbs were important and Blitzer said well Nickelodeon could pick it up and the reporter said the people getting the best use of PBS/Big Bird can’t afford cable and Blitzer said well maybe one the networks — which is exactly what Mttens said — Let Big Bird eat corn flakes if he wants to stay on tv
He said that in an earlier speech. Mittens has made Big Bird a target because he cannot fight back.
Mittens what a bully
And Romney’s going to close down Congress in order to get rid of c-span.
And the people who would hurt most are children in poorer homes without books or educated parents in small towns where lack of federal support of local channels would cause them to close down.
Big Bird already supports himself and the other critters of sesame street, but educational programs without mind warping commercials are only available for non cable children on PBS stations.
Tweety had a meltdown but he was partially right. I don’t believe that the President has anyone he trusts or believes who regularly can communicate progressive positions and solutions. He wouldn’t need to follow them all, but he should have them solidly in his brain bank to call upon when pushed to challenge the position of someone else.
The easiest way to win a debate is to believe what you are saying so that you don’t have to think about it before talking.
President Obama may not be a great debater, but he did let Romney have his way last night with little challenge, true. On October 16 you’ll see a different President Obama. Like a sandbagging pool player, or a baseball hitter who intentionally looks bad on a pitch in order to be served up that pitch when it counts later on in the game and hitting it 500 feet, I believe Obama will come out swinging in 12 days. Last night’s “debate” was a throwaway. For one thing, interest will be keen next time they debate.
Craig is right about Obama. I remember when Obama was elected, Craig said this was a victory for Old Washington, not a new sheriff coming to town or anything of the sort. That has proved to be true alright. And remember when we here on The Trail were blogging with joy in 2006 when Congress turned? The Democrats were now going to stop funding the war in Iraq! We had won! And what happened? The Democrats continued funding the war, even after lie upon lie regarding US involvement and cause-for-war were exposed. Senator Hillary Clinton(D-NY) sat on a nice chair in a garden in Baghdad’s Green Zone and stated how important it was to continue the mission in Iraq. Then the campaign kicked in and Obama made promises…remember how he was going to close Guantanamo Prison in 100 days or whatever? He instead ordered the whole complex reinforced and “improved”. And sort-of like Richard Nixon’s air war over Vietnam 40 years ago, Obama has an air force of drones wreaking havoc all over The Region, killing anything even a little bit suspicious. Obama may mean status quo, but Romney means an attack on all we have left if we are old or are not very wealthy.
Very well said, Dex.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=162336288
WiskyJack -
Thanks for making me so mad I could spit nails , I broke down and did some real world reporting . It seems Lloyd’s of London
was releasing a report …….
http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20121004/BUSINESS04/710049974
My reporting on what we’ve learned from Lloyd’s of London :
The Thailand Flood Bill -
http://coloradobob1.newsvine.com/_news/2012/10/05/14231038-the-thailand-flood-bill?threadId=3582639&commentId=70726082#c70726082
The cost of this flood was 1,800% of all the insurance paid in whole country for entire year. GPD to GPD it was Katrina X 25.
I bring this all up, because this is when the floods got to Bangkok one year ago.
It’ll be better next time, Barry O.
35 years ago, the hypothesis predicted “extreme precipitation events” as a result of man made climate change.
It’s like boiling water to make steam from cold water. There’s a lag between the heat , and the when we steam gets going.
Everyone who knows this stuff is stunned by speed, I’m not .
The natural feed backs 35 years ago were poorly understood , we are watching them all around us now.
And no one will say word about it before Nov. 6th.
Talk about the Blue Whale in the room.
KC, neither Gallup nor Rasmussen, the only two tracking polls RCP reports, have released anything that includes responses through 10/4 -- the day after the debate unless their 10/3 data were collected late Wednesday. I expect that we’ll see something show up there today that will include 10/4 polling.
What HAS changed is RCP’s EC map. It now shows Obama at 269 and Rmoney at 181 (with 7 states -- 88 votes -- as toss ups) This represents an additional 22 votes in Obama’s column and 10 less from Rmoney’s in the past 2 weeks. Obama leads in 5 of those 7 toss up states.
Things may not be as bleak for Obama as the media likes to make out.
NEW THREAD