Thursday, October 04, 2012

Debate 1: The Expectations Game

Though it's painful to acknowledge, Mitt did just fine in last night's debate.  I don't think he hit it out of the ballpark, mind you, but he was competent.  The mainstream media conclusion is of the dramatic, "this changes everything" pronouncement, which I just didn't see.  However, President Obama was not at his finest.  He certainly should have gone on the attack more boldly and I have no idea why the president didn't push the 47% accusation.

The format was a flippin' mess.  Without a forceful moderator, both candidates could pull a dodge and weave.  In his conclusions, Romney bobbed up and down while making his points.  It was peculiar.  I don't think that Romney's facial expressions when Obama spoke did him any favors.  He continued to show his ability to rhetorically wander, though Obama wasn't able to take advantage of that.  I am also at a loss to understand why Obama didn't go after the Republican do-nothings in Congress, especially the House.  When Romney blathered on about his ability to compromise and work deals with the other party, why didn't Obama point out that GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell bragged that he wouldn't work with the president?  The president wasn't that inspirational and I think that he's got some serious prep work ahead if he wants to take command of the next debate.

We may see the race tighten from here.  The Obama folks certainly need to re-group and take care, especially as Crossroads GPS and other GOP Super Pacs gin up their efforts.  I don't think that the fundamentals have changed but this race isn't quite in the bag.  Yet.

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