For the very reasons you’ve described, that is also why I have not watched any of the debates. I would be grossly irritated by watching the “moderators” slant the playing field in favor of Obama.
Worse yet, I would be even more incensed by Obama’s non-sensical bloviating answers to almost any question asked of him.
I “cheated” .... I had the TV on behind me and was watching the Power Line open thread (would rather have been on FR) & Dick Morris. Initially, I was pretty depressed because I expected a “stronger” Mitt, especially when Libya came up. It took me 20 - 30 minutes to ‘figure it out’ and then I started laughing. As awful as it was to hear Obama blah blah blah, every word just made him sound/look worse and worse. Romney got in his punches and there were a couple of good ones ... really good ones. For a good roundup of the punches, you can read them here: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/10/the-knock-out-punches.php
On Benghazi, I think the episode with Candy Crowley showed Romney which way the wind was going to blow if he tried to tangle with Obama directly. Of course, I am outraged beyond words with what happened as are many Americans; however, Obama was going to be impossible to pin down on that subject ... a friend of mine uses the term “slicker than eel snot” and I think that is a great description. I’m sure as Romney and his advisors tried to figure out a debate strategy, it became more and more obvious that they were not going to “win” on that issue and in fact, with Obama being the incumbent President, they would probably not even get to a draw. Romney is still a private citizen ... and Obama has a distinct advantage as the incumbent .
I think Romney played it perfectly - rope-a-doped Obama big time. Obama was staring at Romney, I think trying to figure out what was going on! I’m sure 3/4 of Obama’s time at Camp David was spent trying to figure out if MR says ‘this’ on Benghazi, we’ll say ‘that’ and if he says ‘that’, we’ll say ‘this’. Wasted time, big time. As the debate went on, Obama got snarkier, more petty and very diminished. Most folks agree Romney was calm, cool, collected, knowledgeable and Presidential. Chris Wallace and a few others said it looked like Romney was the president & Obama the challenger. I’m glad I listened .... glanced at the TV a few times (seeing Obama blah blah is almost unbearable). Schieffer, to my surprise, was VERY even-handed .... he tried a ‘gotcha’ once at least, maybe twice, and Romney handled it perfectly - made him look even more suited to be President. It was a GREAT evening for Romney overall - if Obama “won” (marginally) the debate, he lost the war.