Tell me what you think.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
111 Comments
Questions from “undecided voters” — IOW questions from the uninformed and lazy citizens. Nothing like pandering to the lowest common denominator.
I am intentionally not watching – but the early trasncripts are good – contradicting Romney’s lies directly, getting Romney mad.
Obama’s delivery is excellent.
Calling Ms.Raddatz. Candy is essentially ineffective.
Romney doesn’t have a five-point plan. He has a one-point plan. That plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules. That’s been his philosophy in the private sector. That’s been his philosophy as governor. That’s been his philosophy as a presidential candidate
Whew. I was wrong to worry – he’s ready for this one.
This “debate” is a complete fucking disaster in terms of format and moderation. I’m out.
The President seems sharp, Romney seems like a dick, it should all go fine tonight. Enjoy the circus everybody.
Bingo. Why I don’t watch.
I think Candy Crowley did an excellent job, far better than I expected.
I checked back in during all the Tigers at-bats. Good god, what a shellacking.
The only question is who was more dominant tonight: our esteemed President, or Justin Verlander?
So far, it is a thing of beauty.
Romney is an anarchist. why is he dead set on drilling on public land? What a f*cking whining liar.
Romney is being a dick, stealing from the people’s time and being a desperate, lying, clutching douchebag. Obama’s doing great. Calling Romney out on every lie and keeping it cool.
Romney could be losing points by aggressively demanding more time after Crowley attempts to move on to the next question and she has relented.
nah, the mouth-breathers will interpret that as being “powerful”.
It’s sure to go over with the broads as well.
Oh good no capital gains or dividend tax nets me exactly nothing. How about your taxcut Romney you slime.
Yeah, kind of makes my IRA and 401K stupid. Lock up my money and tax it when it comes out when if I just hadn’t put it in, I would pay no tax on the investments. BTW doesn’t that mean Mitt joins the 47% paying no taxes?
We do not need anymore “free” trade we get f’ed everytime.
Obama attacks! Sketchy deal I love it!
So the slick Leveraged Buyout conman says “Trust me. I know the numbers add up. I’m a successful businessman and I ran the Olympics.”
Riiiiiiight.
No one mentions it, but those were the Olympics where it was later determined that the Salt Lake committee bribed a large number of the Olympic voters.
While I’m no Romney supporter, IIRC that bribery stuff all happened before Mitt came on board. If you know otherwise, I apologize.
It did, it did.
But, when we’re dealing with a party who insists that Obama raised taxes, was born in Kenya, when on an apology tour, and is responsible for the Bush housing crash, who gives a crap?
Romney, feeling the pressure of the other 47% percent.
I think the Romney, is loosing his temper, I mean his spoiled temper.
Romney really should lay off the crystal meth on debate night. Just sayin’.
It probably used to help him get up for debates. He is way way past that now.
Now this is my gut reaction so far.
This is the dude I am working to get re-elected. I don’t know who that other guy was during that last debate.
Romney: Hey lady, I don’t want to talk about how I’m any different than Dubya so I’ll just waste YOUR time talking about other stuff.
Romney believes in Condoms for all, I guess the Romney just figured out the Christian Right has no where to go or not vote at all.
Wow. The President made W look almost quaint.
Mitt’s voice is getting tight and his face is losing color and expression.
Wondering if Romney is on track to break the number of lies he told in the first debate???
My guess is it’s a close race.
Romney states a lot of facts, but doesn’t offer any alternatives.
Throws around a lot of numbers. Some aren’t facts, some are misleading, and some are incomplete.
Romney gives the Gish Gallup answer. So jam-packed with false statements that it will be impossible to address, much less remember more than a couple of them. Impossible to respond to.
And Candy Crowley let it all go without any response allowed.
It’s not her fault, she’s following the rules.
Romney welcomes immigrants — from Wales.
Romney is stepping all over his own dick on this immigration question. No clue.
Exactly what a dumbass.
Holy fucking fuck!!! Romney just bald faced fucking lied about the Arizona immigration law. Holy fucking fuck!!
So if you leave the country because your a polygamist and then your grandson comes back I guess your an immigrant. Lets talk about why his relative was born in Mexico.
it’s called re-ex-patriotism.
No calls yet to expropriate the expropriators? How disappointing.
On the Libya consulate security question. That questioner didn’t look “undecided” at all. Kinda reminded me of Michael Savage, actually.
Definitely a plant.
A reasonable question.
Yes. Reasonable question. No way an “undecided voter” though.
But one that was easy to anticipate.
Unraveling because? Ghaddafi is gone or Mubarak…. or Assad on his way out. Sorry Mitt your an idiot.
The suggestion that we … is offensive.
The winner for the evening.
This is the real Obama.
She is exceeding expectations, and she is NOT introducing opinion or anything of specific political belief. Booman was overly concerned.
Yep. Going just as I expected. Romney losing, flailing, and even going so far as to heckle the president. Can’t look good.
Obama lost on the gun control.
Yes not too many assault weapon owners are going to vote for Obama no need to pander.
Wrong.
re: the president’s rose garden statement immediately following Benghazi attack that it was an “act of terror”
Romney looked like he was about to get physical with the moderator for actually validating Obama’s statement. Intimidating jerk. To me, he looked like he was actually threatening her if she didn’t side with him. He got WAY too close to her and he looked mad.
I was hoping he would lose it and start yelling.
We need more gun registration.
AHHHAHAHHHAHAHA
CANDY, YOU BITCH!! YOU CALLED HIM OUT!!!!
Uh oh! Obama mentioned a reintroductiand tell him to buy some stock in manufacturers of tin foil.
BTW, Romney veered way out into the ether on this question.
…mentioned a reintroduction of the assault weapons ban. Call your broker and tell him to buy some stock in tin foil.
Dang it, BooMan, we need to be able to edit posts. I screw up too much.
Me too.
Romney, is all over the map like some kind of world traveller.
Whoa! Did Romney just call Obama a bastard?
This babe is an Obama employee.
Fact check:
I do not want Romney anywhere near the nuclear codes. I am more convinced then ever he is a very unstable individual.
Who knows more about outsourcing than Mitt?
Damn these “undecided voters”! Asking questions about exporting jobs to China. Don’t they know the rules!!!
HYPOCRISY on China. Its incredible!
I like Obamacare, made my greedy Health Ins. give me a check for not spending 80% of premiums for medical care. And when I got a new insurance Co., who took me with pre-existing condition. Ty Obamacare.
Another Plant!
Lie Mitt Lie
God! I’d like to punch him in his lying mouth!
Mitt, what a caring guy. :::choking sounds:::
I think I hear the feverish scribbling of pens at Fox News, trying to come up with a common narrative they can all use to spin this as a massive positive for Mitt. I know I’m partisan, but I think this debate is an epic fail for Mitt Romney.
And he is closing with a positive mention of his health care program in Massachusetts.
What? Government doesn’t create jobs, Barack? Government gave me a job for twenty years. Was I mistaken? I was working for some private company named Civil Service?
I wince at that too. But I’ll cut Obama some slack. It’s a rhetorical device. You agree with you proponent, you look fair. Then you deliver your main point: BUT WE NEED TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD.
He could have done it a completely different way. Oh, government doesn’t create jobs? How much government money did you get for Salt Lake City to sponsor the Olympics. Did that not create jobs? (Romney got boatloads of money from the government, far more than any previous Olympics held in the USA.)
47% – yes
Obama is taking it to Romney.
Obama must have won the toss. Best to have the final statement.
Winner: Obama
Q: What is America’s greatest mis-perception of you? Debunk it.
Romney: I cares about the poors. Really. No, really!
Obama the winner going away.
Absolute cleaned Romney’s clock
Instapundits are calling it a draw to a narrow win for Obama, but nothing like the massive win for Mitt last time.
That means it’s a massive win for Obama.
And I agree, even though he started to backslide in the end.
Wonder why he keeps silent when Romney keeps saying that Obamacare hurts small business? I thought it leveled the field on premium costs.
Not the only thing he let slide. But in a debate with a bs artist, have to know when to pull your punches and which ones are the strongest.
A draw? Are they nuts?
Well, Hannity calls it a “clear win by Romney, Game, Set, Match”.
Still waiting to hear from Dick Morris. Bet he agrees with Hannity. Which would actually mean, of course, that Romney sucked ass.
Perhaps, but it’s probably the fear of being wrong that inhibits their ability to perceive, think, and rate.
I’m not nervous anymore! Obama takes control!
Well he did pretty good except for the gun ban and the right wing talking point that government doesn’t create jobs.
yeah, I wonder what that check that just landed in my bank account last Friday has to say about that.
I noticed Romney mentioned patents…did he forget the “government bureaucrats” like myself who are as much a part of that process as the private sector?
Yeah. I thought wanted to get rid of regulations.
Hey seabe. What agency do you work for? I’m with USPS, but don’t get worried about the postal guy not wanting to ban assault weapons. Really. Ok, I know you will.
USPTO; the agency Romney claims will spur our innovation. Funny, patent protection is important, but governments can’t create jobs. Again, I wonder…does he think private sector lawyers approve/reject patent applications? Or do people like me, working our best in the public interest, scour the globe and databases at our fingertips to make sure people are given the IP protection they’re entitled to by our Constitution?
An excellent example of how the Randites are off their rockers. I suppose these free market guys would defend their IP with second amendment solutions.
I can’t bare to watch any of it. Too much on the line. My blood pressure goes way up any time I look at Romney, I had the same problem with Bush II. So thank you all for providing my “look” at the debate. Here is hoping the giant Noise machine over at Faux can’t turn it back around. Thanks again.
I know just how you feel, but curiosity gets the better of me.
I think he stuck the landing. Should have known he would. The man is great in a crisis.
Watching Fox make excuses for Romney.
Brit Hume is tongue tied. President probably will be declared winner.
Joe Trippi notices Romney’s abusive treatment of the moderator. But she took sides.
Chris Wallace seems determined to “prove” Romney was right about the oil well permits.
Megan Kelly says women don’t like men getting in each others faces and they were both SO nasty to each other that women probably hate them both now.
Really they don’t have much to work with to help Romney.
Switching back to msnbc to see if Chris Matthews had an orgasm or not.
Thanks so much for watching that PoS so we don’t have to!
Obama was scintillating (must have been the teleprompter, huh?), and visibly champing at the bit.
What was particularly good was how he circled back on every single question to tag Romney.
On several, to use the fight metaphor, he rung Romney’s bell:
I could go on and on, but the closer argument was the kicker. Very efficiently delivered reminder of who the fuck Romney is.
I think Obama clearly was the “winner” tonight. But, now the $64,000 question….Due to the massive momentum created for Romney by the President’s performance in the first debate; did this win need to be exponentially greater than it was in order to offset the losses from the first debate? And, if so, did it deliver? My sense is that it might not have.
Thoughts, anyone???
I think he repaired a lot of damage and that Mitt may have damaged himself with his base as he tried to appear Liberal. Pro-contraception. Pro-immigrant. It all depends on whether the Tea Party is capable of doublethink. My bet is that for most of them the affair is cooling. They never liked him much.
For others, the paleness of his skin is all that matters.
It is encouraging that the right wing punditry seems to be in rationalizing mode and damage control. That tells me that the sense on Romney’s side is this was not perceived as a good night for him. The next 48-72 hours will reveal a bit more about the overall effect. I see that Josh Marshall says that Romney “did well”. I don’t know if that is the exact word that comes to my mind. I think what few valid points made and punches thrown by Romney were overshadowed by the certitude of the President’s statements and demeanor.
I’m hoping his brainless base becomes disenchanted. Early on, when they followed yahoos like Rick Perry and Herman Cain, they hated Mitt. This debate as he etch-a-sketched, their secret fears must be resurfacing. They may rationalized it as campaign lies, but surely that would make them wonder if he is lying to them.
I think when Obama stood over Romney during one of the early questions, that was a key moment. I think Romney was disorganized and borderline enraged the rest of the time.
I think Romney is a real bully, and the moment when he thought he’d caught Obama on the Libya statement-the glee in his eyes-only to be taken down by Crowley, was priceless. That’s Mitt Romney right there.
OK.
Here’s the fix deal as we head to he closing rounds:
Rounds 1-4 (The first debate):
Rounds 5-8 (The 2nd debate):
Rounds 9-12 (The last debate):
The fix is in. That much is certain. On which side? I initially thought on Obama’s side, and I still think so. Why have the champ come out and blow away the tomato can in the first four rounds? You’d hear the sounds of channel changers turning to soft-core porn and football recaps from sea to shining sea. But…get some drama happening? What could be better?
Next debate will seal the deal.
My own odds?
3 to 1 for Obama.
Why change frontmen in mid-quiz show when you don’t absolutely, positibvely have to do so.
Sometimes the frontmen get a little too feisty, of course.
There are apps for that.
Bet on it.
And one “remedy” that’s not gonna work?
You can bet on that as well.
AG
P.S. Didja notice? Romney looks like the undead from the right side but like a reg’lar ol’ human from the left.
Hmmmm….
Just sayin’.
AG
Is it a left/right thing? I will have to look for that.
I thought it was two different things. One, perhaps lighting. Two, a state of mind, or say a “place” where Romney’s mind goes sometimes. He has a stupid ass closed mouth grin but his eyes get a little glassy and there’s this vacancy behind them like he’s not fully there. Like maybe he’s suffering a glitch or some kind of stand-by mode.
Watch him. There is a sort of “no affect” look from the right. His face seems frozen and pallid. But from the left? He looks like a movie star. Lighting? Maybe. But it didn’t happen w/Obama.
Left brain/right brain.
The left brain controls the right side of the body, the right brain controls the left side.
If the right side of his face is blank…and I saw this quite clearly last night…it says to me that his logical systems are down. A lot of animation from the left side? He’s running on instincts and emotions. An unbalanced man, to say the least. We already kind of knew that; this is just another piece of evidence. If i was Obama I’d attack Romney’s logical structures until the right brain got really angry. Then I’d kick him in the…
Oh.
That’s exactly what he did.
Nevermind.
AG
Romney is evidently not all there. Didn’t know this until recently – he was driving the car in France that collided with another car and killed his supervisor. in soldiers it’s called PTSD – but Romney clearly never went through the necessary therapy. imo that’s when he lost contact with other carbon based life forms. ok he was a dick before, but he’s been a hopeless dick since that accident in France was never addressed.
My favorite Mitticism: AK47 violence is caused by unwed mothers!
Yes, that one has real staying power
Obama did well. Good. And it validates those of us who though his performance in the first debate was poor.
There are as many “explanations” as there are peo[le doing the explaining, but long story short…?
He is no longer human.
Deal wid it.
AG