The Libya answer is akin to locking the barn door after the cow has been stolen, turned into hamburger, and devoured at a malt shop.
Again, President Obama is not answering the question: "Who refused the request for more security?" Instead, going after Gov. Romney.
Obama: "You don't turn national security into a political issue." So where dd all the Obama got Osama bin Laden talk come from--which you heard even from Vice President Joe Biden in his debate with Rep. Paul Ryan.
Boris--you're right that Obama didn't answer the question directly, but Romney's not nailing the response like he could.
Obama is neglecting to mention that he talked much more about the "spontaneous demonstration" than he did about terrorists. Six times in front of the United Nations. Romney is 100 percent right about the administration's response.
Obama's indignation against Romney's saying he played politics on Libya was very strong. Romney's fixation on when Obama first used the word "terror" plays to his base but befuddles most everyone else. The Libya discussion was a missed opportunity for Romney.
Peter Roff---for crying out loud who doesn't advocate for "legal immigration"? But Romney has been anti-Hispanic from the get-go.
Obama's answer on so-called assault weapons is not going to make the pro-gun control crowd very happy. The Democrats have dropped their opposition to guns because it is a political loser.
Peter Fenn--Organized labor, as I recall. They see immigrants, even legal ones, as taking away union jobs.
Isn't this gun question the perfect opening for Romney to bring up 'Fast and Furious'?
MKC--Romney's obviously reading you while he speaks. Impressive.
Governor Romney should not have asked President Obama what he said on Libya-- no upside for President Obama to play into a critique of himself. President Obama's indignation did play well.
The gun question was a draw until Romney brought up 'Operation Fast & Furious,' which lies at Obama's feet. Unfortunately, Candy Crowley intervenes to help Obama by steering the discussion away from 'Fast & Furious.'
Candy Crowley holds someone to the question for the first time--shocker it is Governor Romney. President Obama picks up the mantle and sets the record by claiming Governor Romney said something.
Okay, Candy Crowley is trying to put words in Romney's mouth. Even the replacement refs would have thrown a flag on that one.
Teachers, cops, firefighters...all government workers.
Finally back to the economy. Undecided voters on CNN are positive on Romney's final answer. Going out on a strong note.
Romney wants to bring jobs here, so why does he favor tax breaks to send them overseas and why does he send his money overseas and invest in China with Bain?
Latest number: 46.7 million Americans now on food stamps in the Obama economy.
Peter Fenn--specific examples? What do you mean by "invest in China with Bain"?
I thought the debate was supposed to end at 10:30? Overtime!
The president is not telling the whole story on taxation of U.S. businesses overseas. The problem is that under current law, corporate profits are taxed in the country where they are earned and then once again when the money is brought home to the United States. What Romney wants to do is eliminate the double taxation so that companies will have an incentive to bring the money home rather than keeping it parked overseas.
President prompts Candy Crowley to interrupt Governor Romney and she does. The president will end with a significant advantage in time, it is a real problem.
This is a very good opportunity for Governor Romney and the undecided voter track is way up.
Per CNN--Here is the only reference the president made to the Libya incident being terrorism in his Rose Garden remarks: "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act." He lumped it in with other acts like 9/11 and only called it terrorism in a backhanded way.
Obama won this debate and laid out the stark choice----forward or backwards. The Romney performance was not likable or empathetic. Too much the bully and overbearing.
Obama closes with the 47 percent--well played, leaving Romney without a chance to trot out his canned "I misspoke" reply.
No one threw a knock out punch. Obama was much stronger than he was in Denver, so his base is going to claim more credit than is due. Romney may have taken a few more blows but he was never knocked down. He stayed on his feet the whole time. On foreign policy, Romney was better. On base liberal issues like women's pay and contraceptives, Obama was better. Interesting the way the two candidates both danced around the gun question, proving once again that opposition to the Second Amendment is one of the real third rails in American politics. All told, Romney showed a better understanding of economics but Obama seemed better on politics and the optics of the event--like when he dropped the line about the "47 percent" in his closing statement when Romney had no chance to respond
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The media's post-debate analysis will give the debate to Obama but it probably will not be enough to shift the polls or stop the Romney surge. People are deciding and the later they decide the more likely they are to go with the challenger.
This was a much stronger performance for the president than the first debate. Romney remained polished. No one threw a knockout punch, as Peter Roff notes, but Romney whiffed on the Libya question--a gaffe-by-omission on his part. On substance I thought Obama was stronger in the same way I'm sure Peter R., MKC, and Boris thought Romney was stronger. The first debate aside--it was ahistorical--these events tend not to move the needle much so we'll see how much of a difference this makes.
There was one opportunity for a knock out punch. It was Romney's and he didn't take it. It came during the Libya answer when the president asserted in the Rose Garden that the attack in Benghazi was an act of terror. When Romney challenged him on it he should have said, "Then why did you go on The View, why did you go on Letterman, why did you go to the United Nations and keep referring to it as a spontaneous response to a YouTube video?" If Romney had said that it would have been a near-fatal body blow.
Both sides had good moments and bad moments. Governor Romney laid out an agenda again and again: energy, unemployment, immigration, deficit. President Obama's moment of indignation was presidential, but that's who he is. The format was muddled and needed a bit more structure for both candidates to be more effective. Bottom line--this may stop the bleeding for President Obama, but it will not stop the momentum for Governor Romney.
Media will call this a draw, but all the president had to do was speak up and he met expectations. Romney showed that last time wasn't a fluke, and that he's a viable alternative to Obama, which for many voters, he wasn't a few months ago. The momentum was shifting to Romney going into this debate because people saw that he wasn't the evil villain Obama had made him out to be. I doubt this will change that momentum, because Romney held his own and Obama still hasn't laid out his vision for the next four years.
President Obama is up four minutes over Governor Romney in the time tracker, the Democrat has been ahead in each debate so far, shocker!
In this year’s first presidential debate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was smooth and focused while President Obama lacked both energy and focus. The event shook up the campaign, vaulting Romney into the lead in polls, though the race has tightened to a virtual tie. Tonight the two candidates square off in a town hall setting where Romney tries to continue his excellence while Obama tries to regain his footing. Watch the debate and get instant analysis here from U.S. News's Thomas Jefferson Street bloggers.
