“DAMAGE DONE. Axelrod and Crowley performed brilliantly.”
They hope damage is done, but I don’t think it really mattered. Bottom line was polling indicates Romney won overwhelmingly on the issue most people care about — the economy.
And for Romney, to come into an environment with the deck stacked against him — stupid questions, biased moderator, 9% less talk time, moderator lying for POTUS, etc — and come out with essentially a draw overall and a big win on economic issues is amazing. I’m actually quite proud of the way he overcame adversity.
Going forward, I think the polling keeps trending Romney’s direction and I think he’s headed for a landslide victory. Final debate on foreign policy — this is ALL about Obama’s record, in a much easier format for Romney to get his shots in. Highly doubtful Obama can get a “game changer” out of that last debate.
I hope you are right. Bob Shieffer probably won’t collude with the Obama camp the way Crowley did—but who knows. I pray the Obama nightmare soon comes to an end.