First Presidential Debate

Professor S · 10-04-2012, 11:19 AM

Thoughts?

Teuthida · 10-04-2012, 11:38 AM

I felt bad for Jim Lehrer.

thatmariolover · 10-04-2012, 01:09 PM

Obama was a pushover and Romney was a Liar. Both of them were bad about following the time constraints, and were frequently rude in interrupting the moderator, Jim Lehrer. It didn't help that Lehrer did an extremely poor job of keeping them on topic and should have had a button to cut the microphones when they went over.

Obama still found time to dissemble about Polly Prettypants from Petunia Pavilion who had a pretty pink baby and COULDN'T GET HEALTHCARE. Or Molly Middleclass from Mud Mountain, who couldn't make ends meet. I almost ragequit when he started going on with his sob stories instead of saying something substantive. He's been claiming to have a plan this whole time, and then what, he chokes?

All around, not impressed.

Bond · 10-04-2012, 05:13 PM

Just amazed Mr. Lehrer lived through the debate.

TheGame · 10-05-2012, 04:02 AM

In my opinion Romney won the debate. Hands down.

...though I haven't had a chance to look over the fact checks yet.

I think the bar was set very low for him by Bush and Mccain (and himself) and he easilly exceeded the level of expectations that I had for him. That seems to be the opinion of a lot of people I work with too.

On the other hand, Obama just looked like he didn't want to be there and was letting Romney have the last word on everything. I know that they're trying to get away from blaming Bush and the Republican party for the crisis, but I think he should have. If the right wing is going to blame him for all of the jobs lost in his first 10 months as president that's his only defense.

thatmariolover · 10-05-2012, 10:55 AM

I'm sure Obama didn't want to be there. He'd been in a NATO briefing on Turkey/Syria all day and then a couple hours after he finishes he has to go debate Mitt. All on his wedding anniversary.

Fact checks are not coming in favorably for Governor Romney. Think Progress is hardly impartial, but they have a well formatted article here: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/20...in-38-minutes/

Vampyr · 10-05-2012, 11:12 AM

I think they should start doing fact checks in the middle of the debate. Have a team dedicated to it and scroll it across the bottom.

It's kind of ridiculous. It's easy to "win" a debate when you make shit up.

Teuthida · 10-05-2012, 09:25 PM

Someone suggested this guy moderate the debate:

TheGame · 10-06-2012, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyr

I think they should start doing fact checks in the middle of the debate. Have a team dedicated to it and scroll it across the bottom.

It's kind of ridiculous. It's easy to "win" a debate when you make shit up.

Agreed.

Professor S · 10-06-2012, 11:32 AM

http://factcheck.org/2012/10/dubious...-declarations/

Fact Check is the best site for debunking things like this.

To add some context: As stated n the debate, Romney's tax plan also relies on economic growth, and not just deduction cuts, to drive tax revenue after his proposed cuts. You can say that it's wishful thinking, but looking at the the historical numbers you can easily argue that any tax plan relies on economic growth to remain viable. As Bond and I have cited multiple times, GDP drives revenue, not individual tax rates.

Overall, I think Romney's most effective claim, and what separated him the most from Pres. Obama, were his statements on bipartisan governance. Listening to people in the middle, I think that resonated with independents.

As for Pres. Obama, he didn't look like he wanted to be there, and missed several opportunities to swing at lobbed softballs. Dems better hope he was simply tired, and that this isn't a strategy. If it's strategy, he's in trouble.

Bond · 10-10-2012, 10:01 PM

VP debate tomorrow night should be interesting.

Professor S · 10-11-2012, 10:57 PM

This is a shitshow...

Professor S · 10-11-2012, 11:46 PM

I'd say Ryan closed the gap in the second half of the debate, but Biden won. He was a interrupting bully, and a little embarrassing at times, but he won. Actually, I thought Ryan was surprisingly ineffective on some subjects that are usually his strengths.

If anything, I think this shows just how good Romney is at debating. Both Romney and Ryan discussed similar points, but Romney articulated them more effectively.

Bond · 10-12-2012, 12:55 AM

That was the most bizarre debate I've seen in a while. I guess I'd call it a draw.

Teuthida · 10-12-2012, 05:13 AM

Is there a reason for the different format of the VP debate vs the Presidential one (sit down vs podium)?