Romney mentions mopologists in debate

[_Bob Loblaw]

One other thing: What the hell are the Democrats thinking when they put out as their post-debate spokespeople David Axelrod and Stephanie Cutter? The Republicans had Rob Portman and Marco Rubio, and the contrast between the two camps was stark: defensive and "testy" on the Democrat's side, and calm and positive on the Rep's side.

I don't think this debate fundamentally changes the race but the idea that Romney's campaign is dead in the water was premature at best.

[_Ceeboo]

Hey Night

Who won?

Without question, Romney dominated Obama in this debate!

Peace,
Ceeboo

[_Bond James Bond]

I'm of the mind that a Romney electoral victory will be hilarious. When he cuts taxes for the rich and eliminates mortgage interest and charitable deductions for the middle class, guts Medicaid, and makes Medicare a voucher program for people in their early 50s and younger I'll simply LMAFO and tell those who voted for Romney to STFU.

[_why me]

Yeah, he was calling his sons liars. The consensus seems to be gelling that Romney won the debate. But I predict that in the coming days the focus will shift to his promise to kill Big Bird. When the Daily Show and SNL get a hold of it, that will be what people remember about this debate.

Yea, such is the mentality of americans. Not to bright and not to sharp if this will come to pass.

Romney kicked butt.

[_why me]

That was truly a debacle. I honestly can't remember a presidential debate that was won so convincingly (although I have only been watching them since 1992). Romney was in a deep hole and I don't know if that was enough to get him out, but it certainly has changed the media narrative today.

If Romney was in a deep hole he was put there by the mainstream media. I saw no truth in the mainstream media about Romney. The dwelling on the 47 percent remark that he made in June or May for a few weeks was a sign that the media was running after anything they could get.

[_Equality]

Yeah, he was calling his sons liars. The consensus seems to be gelling that Romney won the debate. But I predict that in the coming days the focus will shift to his promise to kill Big Bird. When the Daily Show and SNL get a hold of it, that will be what people remember about this debate.

Yea, such is the mentality of americans. Not to bright and not to sharp if this will come to pass.

Romney kicked butt.

[_Bob Loblaw]

Probably, but seriously, the debate was a debacle for Obama. Fortunately for him, he is said to be one of the most competitive personalities on the planet, so I am sure he will not go into the next debate as unprepared and seemingly unmotivated.

At lunch my wife mentioned the Big Bird thing. We contribute to PBS and NPR, but she said she agreed with Romney that PBS is not crucial enough to borrow money to fund. This is a big change, as she's been a big Obama supporter. She'll probably still vote for the president, but Romney got her thinking, which is to me astounding.

[_Equality]

Probably, but seriously, the debate was a debacle for Obama. Fortunately for him, he is said to be one of the most competitive personalities on the planet, so I am sure he will not go into the next debate as unprepared and seemingly unmotivated.

At lunch my wife mentioned the Big Bird thing. We contribute to PBS and NPR, but she said she agreed with Romney that PBS is not crucial enough to borrow money to fund. This is a big change, as she's been a big Obama supporter. She'll probably still vote for the president, but Romney got her thinking, which is to me astounding.

The idea that $5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in unneeded additional defense spending can be paid for by ceasing to fund public television is ludicrous. But my point is not on whether PBS funding is a good idea or not. My point is that the talking heads on cable TV are important the night of the debate and the next day, but that the immediate reactions people have tend to change in the days and weeks after a debate. The one thing that might stand out in the public imagination about this debate weeks, months, or even years from now may not be what the pundit class was talking about last night; instead, it might just be the Big Bird meme. For such a dominating performance by Romney and such a mediocre one by Obama, there really were not a lot of great sound bites. And not much substantively that Romney offered that will last in the minds of the voting public. It was like cotton candy in that regard. For that reason, the Big Bird thing may catch on and become the "shorthand" reference for this debate.

If Romney, as expected, gets a bump in the polls, I wonder if the conservatives will see it as part of a vast conspiracy by the pollsters to lure the GOP base into a false sense of security.

Back to the original topic: why does Romney think his sons are practiced liars? Did he teach them that or did they learn it at church?

[_Ludd]

I really hadn't planned on watching the debate, but during a commericial on whatever I was watching at the time, I turned to the debate not too long after it started and ended up watching the whole thing.

I have to say that, first of all, Romney came across as very competent and knowledgeable. Very prepared. Very quick on his feet. Very impressive in every way. I was surprised. I've had this idea in my mind that he is actually kind of a bumbler. He seemed anything but that last night. I thought he completely dominated the debate.

SEcond observation: Obama seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but on a stage doing a debate. He also seemed totally intimidated by Romney. Wouldn't look him in the eye. Stumbled, stuttered, couldn't find the words to say. It was embarrassing for him, I thought. He was totally pathetic. Romney looked and sounded like a leader.

I've watched quite a few political debates in my life. I've tried to be informed voter. Last night's debate showed the biggest difference I've ever seen between the winner and the loser. Usually both sides can point to their favorite and make a case that he did well in comparison to the other guy. But not last night. Even the people who LOVE Obama on MSNBC were appalled at how badly their guy did. Usually they can spin things to their favor no matter what happens. But not after last night's debate. It was that bad for Obama and that much of a rout by Romney. Wow! I didn't expect this at all. It will be interesting to see how much the polls in the important swing states are affected by what happened. I think it's quite possible that Romney could have tipped the whole election in his favor on the basis of how badly he clobbered Obama last night.

[_Bob Loblaw]

The idea that $5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in unneeded additional defense spending can be paid for by ceasing to fund public television is ludicrous. But my point is not on whether PBS funding is a good idea or not. My point is that the talking heads on cable TV are important the night of the debate and the next day, but that the immediate reactions people have tend to change in the days and weeks after a debate. The one thing that might stand out in the public imagination about this debate weeks, months, or even years from now may not be what the pundit class was talking about last night; instead, it might just be the Big Bird meme. For such a dominating performance by Romney and such a mediocre one by Obama, there really were not a lot of great sound bites. And not much substantively that Romney offered that will last in the minds of the voting public. It was like cotton candy in that regard. For that reason, the Big Bird thing may catch on and become the "shorthand" reference for this debate.

If Romney, as expected gets a bump in the polls, I wonder if the conservatives will see it as part of a vast conspiracy by the pollsters to lure the GOP base into a false sense of security.

Back to the original topic: why does Romney think his sons are practiced liars? Did he teach them that or did they learn it at church?

I didn't say I bought what Romney was selling. Obviously, the numbers don't add up. You can't cut that much in taxes without even bigger cuts in spending. That said, the last few months the Obama campaign has successfully painted Romney as an out-of-touch, greedy, and likely evil plutocrat. I think they may have overplayed their hand because he did all the right things in the debate to reassure people that he doesn't eat babies for lunch and want to throw the elderly into a pit of dobermans.

The immediate reaction was that Obama got creamed on style, "likeabilty" (I hate that word), and even substance, though obviously there was a lot of subterfuge if you were paying attention. Our electorate tends to vote two things: their pocketbook, and whether the candidate is a decent enough person for the job. Romney did a lot to remind people how bad things are (workforce participation is worse than it has been in many years) and to convince them that he's not Montgomery Burns.

I expect the Obama campaign to recover from this, but it was a terrible night for him.

As for the OP, I think we all learned how to lie in church, to ourselves as well as to others. I did. Pahoran clearly did.