23 October 2012

From Big Bird to binders to bayonets

Our guy thrashed their guy, again.  Romney returned to his strategy from the first debate, morphing into "moderate Mitt", a persona utterly at odds with his record -- but this time Obama called him on it, and overall the Republican was clearly out of his depth.  In snap polls, CNN/ORC gave Obama the victory by 48%-to-40%, PPP by 53%-to-42% (in swing states), CBS by a crushing 53%-to-23%.

It's too bad the debate focused so much on the Middle East, a region of which most Americans know little and would probably prefer to know even less.  How many caught this geographical howler:

I mean, does he really not know that Iran includes the whole north side of the Persian (!) Gulf?

Russia, China, Europe, and Latin America got little mention.  It would have been interesting to see Romney flounder through a discussion of the EU, many of whose economies are being devastated by the same kind of austerity policies the Republicans advocate for our own country.

Andrew Sullivan live-blogged the debate and has a round-up of pundit reactions.  See blogger commentary from Liberal Values, Juan Cole, Booman Tribune, The Reaction, Politicus USA, Bob Cesca, and Taegan Goddard (for right-wing views, see Hot Air, David Frum, and Race42012).  And, yes, horses and bayonets is the top zinger of the debate.

6 Comments:

Blogger Ahab said...

Have you been watching Fox News? They keep going on and on about how "presidential" Romney was in contrast to Obama, as well as how Obama supposedly focused on personal attacks. Little discussion took place among the Fox voices about the content of the debate itself. Right-wing media at its finest ... ugh!

23 October, 2012 06:34  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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23 October, 2012 07:24  
Blogger commoncents said...

We have what is probably Mitt Romney's best ad so far... "Apology Tour":

http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com/2012/10/best-romney-ad-yet-apology-tour.html

23 October, 2012 16:08  
Anonymous S.W. Anderson said...

Rachel Maddow pointed out a stunning fact. Immediate-reaction polls after the first debate, in which Obama was decried by left and right for a lame showing, had the president trailing Romney 20 points, as to which one won. Last night, the first polls showed Obama with a 30-point lead over Romney, as to who won. (IIRC, she said one the poll questioned the same people.)

Yet, as bad a drubbing as Obama took after the first debate, comparatively little was being made about how lopsided last night's poll numbers were in his favor, and many on the right were hailing Romney for sounding presidential and holding his own.

Huh?

23 October, 2012 16:58  
Blogger Shaw Kenawe said...

Mitt Romney endorsed President Obama in the last debate!

23 October, 2012 17:19  
Blogger Grung_e_Gene said...

Discussing the economic follies of the EU as they engage in Austerity or more accurately a Return to Feudalism is not something Romney would ever talk about in the open. That's for closed doors where Romney and the other Lords of Creation determine the fates of their servants.

24 October, 2012 06:24  

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