The Debates - Romney/Ryan 2.35 Obama/Biden 1.65

Wow, what a snooze fest last night.  I doubt that anyone except the media (who is paid to watch) and political junkies stayed until the end of that one.  Which was unfortunate for Romney, as he improved as the night went on.  His opening statement was rambling and almost incoherent.

Now most of the polls are showing a Obama win by a slight margin.  I have to say I agree with that.  But, one must remember that a sitting president is always going to have an advantage on foreign policy compared to a challenger.  That said, Obama needed a knock out last night, and he didn't do that.

Gov. Romney was able to hold his own.  Now, many conservatives are upset that he didn't hit Libya more.  I personally feel he did the right thing.  Romney is in a very good position right now with 14 days left until the election.  Caution was the word of the night, as I think it should have been.  Romney got a little burned with pushing Libya last week.  Unfairly of course, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt him a bit last week.

Romney needed to pass the CIC test.  I believe he did that.  He was steady under the constant attempts of Obama to paint him as some sort of war monger who would be pulling the trigger on Iran on day one.  No one wants to go to war.  That is just a caricature that is painted of the right.  Romney was able to stay steady and say that he wants to try to use diplomacy first.  Of course military action can't be taken off the table, but it isn't the first, or even second or third option.

President Obama again tried to mischaracterize Romney's past statements, mostly by not providing the proper context.  Romney (and even some of the fact checkers) have done a good job at setting the record straight on those.

What I found the most amusing was the fact that Obama kept saying that Romney agreed with much of what he was doing in the arena of foreign policy.  What Obama (and the media for that matter) hasn't mentioned is that much of what Obama has done was continuing policies put in place by President Bush.  An irony that has largely been lost on the left.

Now, Romney's closing statement was a thing of beauty:

ROMNEY: Thank you.
Bob, Mr. President, folks at Lynn University, good to be with you. I'm optimistic about the future. I'm excited about our prospects as a nation. I want to see peace. I want to see growing peace in this country. It's our objective.
We have an opportunity to have real leadership. America's going to have that kind of leadership and continue to promote principles of peace to make a world a safer place and make people in this country more confident that their future is secure. I also want to make sure that we get this economy going. And there are two very different paths the country can take. One is a path represented by the president, which at the end of four years would mean we'd have $20 trillion in debt heading towards Greece. I'll get us on track to a balanced budget.
The president's path will mean continuing declining in take-home pay. I want to make sure our take-home pay turns around and starts to grow.
The president's path will mean continuing declining in take-home pay. I want to make sure take-home pay turns around and starts to grow. The president's path means 20 million people out of work struggling for a good job. I'll get people back to work with 12 million new jobs.
I'm going to make sure that we get people off of food stamps, not by cutting the program, but by getting them good jobs.
America's going to come back, and for that to happen, we're going to have to have a president who can work across the aisle. I was in a state where my legislature was 87 percent Democrat. I learned how to get along on the other side of the aisle. We've got to do that in Washington. Washington is broken. I know what it takes to get this country back, and will work with good Democrats and good Republicans to do that.
This nation is the hope of the earth. We've been blessed by having a nation that's free and prosperous thanks to the contributions of the greatest generation. They've held a torch for the world to see - the torch of freedom and hope and opportunity. Now, it's our turn to take that torch. I'm convinced we'll do it.
We need strong leadership. I'd like to be that leader with your support. I'll work with you. I'll lead you in an open and honest way, and I ask for your vote. I'd like to be the next president of the United States to support and help this great nation and to make sure that we all together remain America as the hope of the earth.
Thank you so much.

I especially loved how Romney kept bringing it back to economic issues.  On this Romney and I agree 100% - a economically weak America is a danger to the entire world.  I was very happy to see him bringing that up and bringing it up often.  The two are very closely connected.

Romney needed to be bloodied last night to change the momentum in the race - Obama couldn't accomplish that.  Obama may have a slight win last night - but it seems it is too little too late.