However, after last night's debate I fear Santorum cannot possibly beat Obama in a debate, and this is of great concern to me. Rick has great leadership qualities, a solid record that conservatives can latch onto, fine morals, good ideas for solving our nation's problems and a knowledgeable comprehension of foreign affairs...but he was lost last night under Mitt's attacks. Obama surely will ridicule Rick much worse...and how will he fare? I am afraid he won't do well, he is not a man who is skilled in street level ridicule and making caustic comments. Actually, he is refined and dignified, and those tactics aren't part of his M.O.
We need a candidate who can spar without backing down and stand strong against Obama when they are face to face. With all of Gingrich's faults I think he is the only one capable of doing in and pounding down Obama during debates. And...in the end...unfortunately, it will be the debates that will influence most of America, and not any other qualities that the candidates do or do not have.
We saw this with Obama and the way he beat on McCain. Many Americans paid little or no attention to any information about Obama...they voted based on what they saw and how he handled himself when he and McCain faced off. Aside from the race issue and his support based on his skin color...Obama's snide remarks and quick comebacks were the basis for what convinced most Americans to vote for him.
that’s actually not true about Obama and McCain. If you look back at the polls, the debates really made little difference. Obama didn’t see any big boosts from any of them.
It’s also hard to tell because the market was collapsing by 30% over the same time frame as the debates. as well as McCain’s suspension and then support for TARP.
But I don’t really think the debates had all that much influence on the outcome. I don’t recall Obama doing all that well. Basically his entire debate strategy was “I’m not a Republican and McCain is” with a hearty helping of “I’m not Bush and McCain is”.
McCain also got in trouble in that the 1st debate was supposed to be on foreign policy which was his strength but they shifted it to domestic policy because of the economic meltdown and bailout votes. And even McCain would admit the economy wasn’t his strong suit.
basically, though, once the economy went south after Lehman collapsed the die was cast. the debates didn’t relaly matter all that much.