The thing about the debate is that it affected Obama supporters in a profound way. I was never going to vote for him, but Obama’s performance just broke the spirits of his supporters.
It was as if the scales were lifted from their eyes and they saw that they had been following a false messiah.
“The thing about the debate is that it affected Obama supporters in a profound way. ... Obama’s performance just broke the spirits of his supporters.”
I think you hit on something very important. This broken spiritedness can be seen in the very public meltdown of some of his big celebrity and “journalist” supporters, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that this reaction had to be occurring in a more private manner amongst millions of the little folk
And I think that the damage can’t really be undone. You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again, even if he does considerably better in the subsequent debates. Those initial mental images of utter and total failure are simply not going to be erased. They happened and nothing can make them unhappen.
Most of these broken-spirited folks will probably still vote for Obama, but they’re definitely going to be quiet about it and not trying to convince others to vote for Obama as well. It’s bound to dry up their financial support for Obama as well. And some of the disillusioned may simply choose to not vote at all. It all adds up to extremely bad news for Zero.
Alternatively, Romney’s knockout performance has helped to energize a lack-luster base. Many of us view him as a hopeless RINO, which he may be, but by George FINALLY someone stood up to the Obamination and said many of the things that no one else has dared say and which we have been wanting to say ourselves to the SOB for a long time. Romney showed he was no milquetoast in the debate, and while maybe not a complete conservative, at least a fine anti-Obama champion.