Posted on 10/17/2012 7:08:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Tonight’s debate reminded me of the Packers/Seahawks game just a few weeks ago. You all remember how it ended — the Packers intercepted the final pass but the replacement refs jumped in and called it a touchdown for Seattle. The next day no one cared that the initial result was a Seahawks win — the focus was on the poor call that screwed over the Packers.
Sound familiar? For anyone who made it through the entire debate, the question on Libya was a muddled mess by both Romney and Obama. What should have been an easy opening for Romney was fumbled by not focusing on the misleading timeline of Obama’s evolving designation of the attack at the US consulate. But just like the Packers/Seahawks game, Candy Crowley jumping in with a very inaccurate statement that benefited Obama changed the post-game narrative. What was seemingly a winning exchange for Obama might end up costing him in the days ahead by bringing more focus to his initial reaction on 9/12 and compounded by his deception tonight in the insistence that he designated it a terror attack from day one.
With that out of the way, the initial “snap polls” had a slight Obama win. CNN had the final tally at 46 Obama to 39 Romney. CBS found 37 thought Obama win compared to 30 for Romney. A PPP (D) poll of Colorado voters only had Obama win by 4%, 48-44. Those numbers only tell a small part of the story when looking at the issues:
* On the economy, Romney beat Obama by 18% in the CNN poll and 21% in the CBS poll.
* The CNN poll had Romney up on handling taxes (7%) and the budget/debt (23%)
* CNN poll on if candidates had a clear plan — Romney was -1 (49-50) and Obama was -23 (38-61)
* Romney even led on health care (49-46), being a better leader (49-46), and giving direct answers (45-43) Obama led on being likeable (47-41) and who cared more about the questioners (44-40)
* PPP CO poll on whether view of candidates were more positive after debate: 40-36 (+4) Obama, 44-35 (+9) for Romney.
* PPP CO poll on who better understands people like you: 50/50 tie.
In addition to the issues, more voters with CNN felt Obama attacked Romney (49%) than Romney attacking Obama (35%). If you watched the dials on the CNN feed you would know that every time they attacked each other the dials went down fast.
Finally – on the issue of whether or not this changed your vote. In the CNN poll, 25% said they were more likely to vote for Obama and 25% said more likely to vote Romney. In the PPP poll, it was 37% more likely for Obama and 36% more likely to vote for Romney. If you watched the Fox News or MSNBC undecided voter focus groups you saw more voters decide to vote Romney than Obama.
Bottom line — the debate as a whole was an improvement for Obama that was badly needed, but Romney remained strong throughout. While many thought Crowley’s interference on Libya was a big negative to Romney, it may end up negating what was clearly one of Romney’s worst moments as even she backtracked from her statement after the debate.
While the snap polls showed a small Obama win, it is nowhere near the win Romney received in the first debate. Even worse for Obama is that even though the public found him to win the debate slightly, they thought Romney was better when it came to the economy, leadership, taxes, and debt. And unlike 2008, being a better speaker isn’t going to cut it this time.
Obama didn’t come out swinging- he was more like a disgruntled worker spraying an office with an AK-47 after finding out he’s gonna be fired.
King Obama is a communists black Muslim and everything America was is way over his head. His Muslim upbringing and his Communists education makes him the worst damaging President America has ever had. All hail the King and his mighty Queen.
King Obama is a communists black Muslim and everything America was is way over his head. His Muslim upbringing and his Communists education makes him the worst damaging President America has ever had. All hail the King and his mighty Queen.
My twitter friend said he didn’t understand why so many people were undecided, he said the way he was it was simply either black or white.
No way in he4ll did Obama win the debate and I thought Rommney did damn good since he was debating two people.
Sorry, me and my tired old Mac got carried away.
Romney answer regarding Benghazi was not muddled. Candy Crowley muddled the issue with a misleading interruption and interpretation of Obama’s Rose Garden comments. (That was the Packer vs SeaHawks and Refs(moderators)
Moderators are supposed to moderate, not cheerlead...
Not only did Zer0 lose the debate, but he failed to mitigate libya. The moderator supplied, opportunity to downplay his Libya/foreign policy failure, was lost when 0bama claimed he called the attack terrorism the next day in the rose garden. The transcript of those remarks, where he generically mentions “terrorism” are today’s top topic in the echo chamber, and thus the 0bama failure lives through every news cycle up until the next dabate.
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