Rachel Maddow tearing [politely and respectfully] into Lehrer and the entire debate format.
Romney won this one. Look for Obama’s lead to shrink. New ball game.
Ethelred the Unready. Not sure what he and his prep team were going for here.
IMHO, I haven’t the slightest idea what the Obama strategy was. To appear Presidential?
Why didn’t Obama even mention “47%”?
I think Romney did well. But I think my initial guess in this thread still has it right:
Going negative during a debate doesn’t work. It ties the attack to the attacker instead of the target. You can see it in CNN’s tracking.
Good call, Richard Parker.
Jim Lehrer sucked as moderator. I found no moderation in his job. On the contrary, he moderated Obama so Romney could talk and talk and talk, even when it wasn’t his turn.
it can help careful listening.
Sure, but he got away with it. Unchallenged, pretty much every single false claim.
[QUOTE=xenophon41]
Rachel Maddow tearing [politely and respectfully] into Lehrer and the entire debate format.
[/QUOTE]
That’s like blaming the refs. Something the conservatives have been doing this whole campaign season wrt to the mainstream media. You gotta win despite the refs.
O didn’t bring it. Gonna cost him.
As a person who wholeheartedly intends to vote for Obama, and hopes he wins, I have to say that the debate was a win for Romney, and a fairly decisive one (although not as slam-dunk of a win in 2004 during that first debate).
Romney did an incredibly good job, he was well prepared, and he made great points. Obama came off as long-winded.
I wish Obama had done better, but I don’t know how well he could have done. This was an ENTIRELY different Romney than I’ve ever seen.
I lean toward Bill Maher’s assesment: “My rating: Romney won the debate, Obama had the facts on his side, and Lehrer sucked.”
That about sums it up.
Obama sounded like me when I have to give a talk and tried to prepare at the last minute. Not sure what the malfunction was, but he really seemed drastically under-prepped for some reason.
Hope is not a game changer, but Mitt kicked The President’ butt 2nite.
Obama is bunting. He doesn’t have to win the debates; he just has to not lose terribly.
I’m interested in the foreign policy debate. Hopefully that moderator has balls.
What are her objections, specifically? That it was too free wheeling for the President to handle? That Obama got too much time to talk? Obama got 36 minutes, Romney got 33.
Well, he does have another job other than campaigning. 
Maddow wasn’t making excuses for Obama, she was observing that the format didn’t elucidate anything and Lehrer didn’t moderate.
She mad.
This debate was a no contest. Romney went into a phone booth as Clark Kent and emerged as Superman.
I think that’s the strategy. Prevent defense is a better analogy. Obama never strayed from the script, so no gaffes.