Presidential debate
October 9, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
My general theory of presidential debates is that, whatever happens in the immediate aftermath of a debate, gravity will tend to pull the candidates back to where they started out. Thus, if President Obama went into last week’s debate up by 4 points, say, but after the debate finds himself 2 points behind Mitt Romney, then my general theory would predict that, over time, Obama will recapture most of that
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October 8, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Stung by their man’s miserable performance in Wednesday’s debate, the Democrats have tried to change the subject by claiming that Mitt Romney “lied” repeatedly during the debate. But they have had a tough time coming up with any actual lies. The chronically truth-challenged Paul Krugman somewhat ironically stepped up to the plate in a New York Times column on Thursday that was titled “Romney’s Sick Joke.” You can always count
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October 8, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The Pew Research Center Poll provides additional evidence that last week’s presidential debate has shaken up the race. Before the debate, Pew had Obama leading Romney by 51%-45% among likely voters. After the debate, Pew found an extraordinary swing, with Romney now leading Obama 49%-43% among likely voters. Pew also finds interest and enthusiasm surging among GOP voters. This swing it too good to be true, I think, but it
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October 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
As John noted earlier today, Mitt Romney is ahead of President Obama by two points in the latest Rasmussen survey, not all of which was conducted after the debate. The reason for Romney’s surge is straightforward, but a memo by highly-respected Republican pollster David Winston helps us appreciate the impact of the debate. Winston notes: The opening 2012 Presidential debate was watched by a remarkable 67.2 million viewers according to
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October 6, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Writing about this week’s presidential debate, Andrew McCarthy titles his weekly NRO column “Obama unfiltered.” Yet from the debate Andy takes Romney unfiltered. “With no slavish Obamedia filter between the candidates and the viewers,” Andy writes, “the Obama campaign’s ludicrous distortion of Romney collided, one on one and for all to see, with the reality of Romney.” Andy gives us Romney unfiltered in this paragraph: Whatever you may think of
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October 5, 2012 — John Hinderaker
…then it is hard to imagine who still believes the myth of Barack Obama. Next week’s New Yorker cover: So I guess it’s unanimous. Clint Eastwood was right. But here is what I don’t understand: why isn’t everyone embarrassed to be a liberal? Or, put another way, a Democrat? How is it that some people can witness the latest liberal fiasco–Romney sneaked a crib sheet into the debate! That’s the
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October 4, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Driving around today and listening to the radio, I heard several liberals complain about Jim Lehrer, the moderator of last night’s debate. The specific grievances against Lehrer were a bit fuzzy. Some seemed unhappy that he occasionally reminded President Obama of the time limits, and pointed out when Obama ignored the limits after being reminded of them. One would think that this is a core function of a debate moderator.
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October 4, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
What must swing voters, who supported Barack Obama four years ago based on his soaring rhetoric and promises of a better future, be thinking after last night? Not only have these voters witnessed almost four years of bad economic performance, but now they learn that, under pressure, Obama can’t even deliver quality rhetoric.
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October 4, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Gotta love those Taiwanese news folks for rendering the Romney-Obama debate in animated form. (You don’t need to know Chinese to understand what’s going on, though you can click in the upper right hand corner to get a YouTube version in English). I especially liked taking the chain saw to Big Bird while the Sesame Street cast looks on in horror. (By the way, looks to me like Big Bird
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October 4, 2012 — John Hinderaker
This photo pretty much says it all: Barack and Michelle Obama looking lost and forlorn, while a smiling, confident Mitt Romney collects his notes from the podium: The verdict on last night’s debate is unanimous. You can go to Drudge for a collection of reactions. The New York Post headlines, “Mitt Mauls O:” The Daily Mail headlines: “The new Jimmy Carter? Obama slammed by media as even his own supporters
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October 3, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s difficult to see how Mitt Romney could have been much better than he was in tonight’s debate. Romney was crisp, forcful (without being disrespectful or obnoxious), and almost always on point (especially during the crucial first hour). Most importantly, he was vibrant and even passionate. I have seen stiff lawyers come alive in a court room (I’ve even been described as having done so myself). To some extent, that’s
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October 3, 2012 — John Hinderaker
I’ve been watching presidential debates for quite a few years, but I have never seen one like this. It wasn’t a TKO, it was a knockout. Mitt Romney was in control from the beginning. He was the alpha male, while Barack Obama was weak, hesitant, stuttering, often apologetic. The visuals were great for Romney and awful for Obama. Obama looked small, tired, defeated after four years of failure, out of
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October 3, 2012 — John Hinderaker
If you want to exult (or commiserate) with fellow conservatives during the debate tonight, tune in to Power Line Live. I notice that some early birds are already starting to congregate; I will be there later on. If you want to keep up with what the Romney campaign is putting out, you can follow the campaign’s rapid response Twitter page. For longer responses from the campaign, go here. This is
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October 3, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
John has posed one of the key questions Mitt Romney must answer in formulating his debate strategy: Should he come across with the unapologetic conservatism that will fire up the base, or should he play to the middle? Most polls show that Romney is doing fine with the base — as well or better than Obama is doing with his. But under the best case scenario for Romney, turnout probably
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October 3, 2012 — John Hinderaker
More than 60 million Americans are expected to tune in to tonight’s kick-off debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. The stakes are high and the suspense is growing. Will Barack Obama finally have to answer hard questions about his record? Will Mitt Romney come across with the unapologetic conservatism that will fire up the base, or will he be playing to the middle? So don’t watch the debate by
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October 2, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The web site e21 (Economic Policies for the 21st Century) has collected a number of questions from several sources which tomorrow night’s moderator, Jim Lehrer, should ask the candidates. They really are very good. Here are a few samples. Charles Blahous: On Social Security: For the past two years Social Security’s payroll tax has been reduced and the program given over $200 billion in subsidies from the general government fund
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October 2, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
My friend Bill Otis has offered an “opening statement” for Mitt Romney to present tomorrow night. I don’t know that the candidates will give opening statements. Typically, I think, they give closing statements of a minute or so, instead. But there’s much in Bill’s statement that Romney can make good use of: My fellow Americans, our country remains, as Lincoln said, the last, best hope of earth. We should be
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