DiscussMormonism.com

10.31 pm. Look: you know how much I love the guy, and you know how much of a high information viewer I am, and I can see the logic of some of Obama's meandering, weak, professorial arguments. But this was a disaster for the president for the key people he needs to reach, and his effete, wonkish lectures may have jolted a lot of independents into giving Romney a second look.

Obama looked tired, even bored; he kept looking down; he had no crisp statements of passion or argument; he wasn't there. He was entirely defensive, which may have been the strategy. But it was the wrong strategy. At the wrong moment.

The person with authority on that stage was Romney - offered it by one of the lamest moderators ever, and seized with relish. This was Romney the salesman. And my gut tells me he sold a few voters on a change tonight. It's beyond depressing. But it's true.

There are two more debates left. I have experienced many times the feeling that Obama just isn't in it, that he's on the ropes and not fighting back, and then he pulls it out. He got a little better over time tonight. But he pulled every punch. Maybe the next two will undo some of the damage. But I have to say I think it was extensive.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/10/live-blogging-the-first-presidential-debate-2012.html

See also:
http://nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/liberals-livid-with-obama-s-debate-performance-20121004
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/10/03/chris_matthews_freaks_out_at_obama_after_debate_romney_was_winning.html
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/incumbent-debate-curse-barack-obama-falls-to-mitt-romney-20121003

Even Big Bird took a hit today:



But if the libs really love him that much, they'll donate from their own pockets rather than steal from others. That would be true charity.

On MSNBC, talk show host Chris Matthews asked incredulously, “Where was Obama tonight?” He suggested that the president take some cues from the liberal voices on the cable channel. “There’s a hot debate going on in this country. Do you know where it’s being held? Here on this network is where we’re having the debate. We have our knives out. We go after the people and the facts. What was he doing tonight? He went in there disarmed.” Obama failed to put any points on the board by not bringing up Romney’s controversial “47 percent” remark or his work at Bain Capital, Matthews complained, while Romney “did it just right,” keeping a direct gaze on Obama as he spoke, ignoring moderator Jim Lehrer’s mild-mannered attempts to cut him off and treating he president like “prey.” Matthews said, “What was Romney doing? He was winning.”

Comedian Bill Maher, who takes regular hard jabs at conservatives on his television show and who gave $1 million to a super PAC supporting Obama’s reelection, tweeted, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Obama looks like he DOES need a teleprompter” -- a reference to Obama’s critics who say he relies too heavily on teleprompters.

Even some of the Democratic party’s best spin-meisters threw in the towel on this one. Jim Manley, a former longtime aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, tweeted, “What can I say? Romney lives to fight another day.” And this was the best Manley could muster in the way of positive news: Romney, he said, “did a masterful job of running away from his record, like doing a marathon in 2.5 hour type running. But he is still destined to fail.”

Democratic strategist and lobbyist Hilary Rosen also did not bother to try to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear of a night. She tweeted, “I guess tonight comes down to the fact-checkers because it was obvious Romney will say anything to get elected.”

Obama senior advisor David Plouffe tried to rally the troops with a chirpy, “We are very happy with the president’s performance.” Stu Rothenberg, one of the country’s leading election and campaign analysts, tweeted in reply, “Oh brother.”