Again, I don’t think Romney lost the election tonight but what he did lose was momentum. All he needed was a first round knock out and he didn’t deliver it to the utter SHOCK of every cable news reporter who by the way are just as shocked that Obama didn’t use the 47% line again.
I would have liked to see Romney get in a few more shots tonight, but those come with risks. Romney appears very confident right now... I think their internal polling is probably far more favorable than the national polls we chew on every day.
Romney came across as a safe choice tonight. He was also able to drag the economy back into the debate and ended on an optimistic note. Conservatives who closely follow the daily news were probably screaming at the television a few times (I was), but Romney was disciplined and knows the important target audience approaching Nov 6th.
Conventional wisdom says it is about the undecided voters and women. I think Romney probably did pretty well with them tonight. The rest of the country has made up their minds. I believe the Romney camp will count tonight as a win. I hope they are correct.