DU Debate Reaction

When you really believe in the majority of a politician's policies, when you know that they are going to be better for this country than the other politician, when you just really like someone over the alternative, it really sucks to see them lose a debate. Obama is my candidate, always has been. I firmly believe his interests align with a much broader swath of Americans than the interests of Romney. But Romney won the debate last night. Pretty solidly too. 

It's been written about Obama that he is not very confrontational. It's not that Obama doesn't lash out and call someone out, but it's that he takes so long to do so. So when Romney presented himself as a candidate vested in all of our interests, a candidate who says he is going to balance the budget by reducing taxes by 10% and cutting government spending, and as a candidate who believes in a fair tax system, Obama was slow to react or didn't react at all. This hurt Obama. He was probably caught off-guard by Romney's shifting positions and blatant lies too. Obama looked down a lot. He scribbled on his notepad. He didn't maintain eye contact with Romney. He had a hint of a smile at all the wrong times. He didn't interrupt. He was polite at a time he should have been confrontational with Romney. He was silent, when he should have asked why Romney pays a lower tax rate than those people cleaning the White House? He should have mentioned his Jobs Act that could have created more jobs for Americans. He should have pressed Romney on his government spending cuts. What are you going to cut, Romney? I mean, besides getting rid of PBS and Sesame Street, what else are you going to cut? He should have asked Romney why another massive tax cut is the right policy when government revenues from taxes are at a 50-year low?

Obama just wasn't on his game last night. And since the majority of Americans aren't going to FACT CHECK this debate, it will be taken at face value, which equals a win for Romney. If the election were held tomorrow, there's no doubt in my mind that Obama would win. His poor performance last night hasn't and will not cost him the election. It would take two more equally poor performances from Obama to do that. I guarantee that Obama is going to come out swinging in the next debate. Well, he has too. But I think he will because he is a fighter. When pushed to the edge he can reach that level of bluntness bordering on rude that is sometimes necessary to control a debate. I am much more interested in the other two debates now, but I sure wish Obama had won the debate at DU. 

And one last thing, the real loser of the debate last night was Jim Lehrer. What an awful moderator! He didn't keep either man on topic. He let Obama talk four minutes longer than Romney. He was owned by Romney, who just kept rolling over Lehrer's attempts at moving the debate onward. He seemed ancient, off his game, and outmatched. And he'll lose his job if Romney becomes president. Well, at the very least, he needs to lose his job of moderating presidential debates.