I so agree.
Romney's performance was not for us. It was for the soft middle that he needed to lock up.
They listened to obama last night and thought "What. An. @ss."
Romney won them last night with his presidential demeanor.
Obama drove them away with his disrespect and disdain for Americans wanting a civil discussion on critical issues that impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people all over the planet.
"I so agree. Romney's performance was not for us. It was for the soft middle that he needed to lock up. They listened to obama last night and thought "What. An. @ss." Romney won them last night with his presidential demeanor. Obama drove them away with his disrespect and disdain for Americans wanting a civil discussion on critical issues that impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people all over the planet."
Good points. While I think a lot of us may have wanted Romney to come out swinging like he did in the first debate, his strategy makes sense in retrospect for exactly the reasons you mention. Obama wanted so desperately to paint Romney as his favorite (and predictable) target, George W. Bush- and Romney wisely didn't take the bait.
It was a more subtle performance by Romney last night- but he was able to cast his foreign policy views as a continuation of Reagan's successful, common-sense, peace-through-strength policies (as opposed to Bush 43's more debatable- even to many on the right- and certainly more controversial policies), all the while managing to stand up for our closest allies. Subtle, but quite a feat, actually.