VA Governor Debate This Wednesday

The local NBC stations will be covering this debate live.

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.

The Debate - Romney/Ryan 1 Obama/Biden 0

There is no question who won the debate, hands down it went to Romney.  Obama looked defensive, unprepared, and downright surly at moments.  The way he constantly looked down instead of at Gov. Romney was truly outright rude.  I suppose, what else was he to do?  He knew he was getting his butt kicked all over the stage.  

I have wondered all day if the President just didn't think that Gov. Romney would be prepared as he was, did he not spend as much prep time as he should have, or is he just that arrogant?  I say the latter.  But, what ever it was, I doubt we will see this bad of a performance again.  He will be better prepared.  The next one is more likely in his wheelhouse as it will be a town hall format.  

What Romney did so effectively is that he allowed people who are still undecided or open to changing their minds that he is up for the job.  I firmly believe that one of the reasons that it is so hard to beat a sitting president is that Americans will feel far more comfortable dancing with the devil they know.  It is human nature to an extent.  

Did I love everything that Romney had to say?  No, not really.  But I did like some of it.  He acknowledged that education is best left to the state and local level.  As all my regular readers know, education is a push button issue for me.  I firmly believe we are reaching the point that it is becoming a national and economic security issue for this country.  We must improve the level of education in this country, and it must be done now.  

Romney was funny at moments when it was appropriate, had some somewhat memorable one liners; nothing along the lines of "There you go again" or "You're no Jack Kennedy", but the you pick losers was quite effective I thought.  

The reactions from the left were somewhat predictable.  Chris Matthew's meltdown was a riot to watch.  I will post here, just because you really can't watch this enough.  Here is a tweet from Bill Maher:

Obama made a lot of great points tonight. Unfortunately, most of them were for Romney

Their are very few that  I see are even attempting to spin it as anything other than a loss.  Now the excuses are getting more and more creative as the day goes on.  I especially like The Gorical's explanation that he was off due to the altitude of Denver.  Gee, is it any wonder that his cable channel gets few viewers?  After a statement like that, I don't see how there can be.  

The biggest excuse seems to be to blame the moderator, Jim Lehrer.  Because it is so well-known how much he favors conservatives. /sarc.  It has been said that Lehrer was allowing Romney to push Obama around.  Romney kept interrupting,  and Obama was trying to play by the rules.  Oh, OK if you insist on ignoring the facts that Obama did go over his allotted time and even had more speaking time than Romney did.  I guess you delude yourself into think this.  But the facts don't back it up.  Especially if you read the transcript, the CNN version has it notated when their was crosstalk and who was talking at the time.  I also think that the format was designed to be a little more free flowing and allow the audience listen to the two of them engage each other.  Apparently, not a format that Obama excels in.  Shocker!!!  

At the end of the day, Romney did complete some very important tasks.  He showed conservatives he respects the 10th amendment, he should the undecideds and squishy middle that is still open to changing their votes that he can be presidential.  He even has moved closer to getting a conservative blogger who doesn't want to vote for him, to pull the lever.  I say all and all, he did very well last night.  

One last thing, I don't know who went out and did the color check on Obama's tie, but they should be fired.  It was so clashed with the background color that it was very distracting.  I may be the only one who noticed it, but OMG, it was driving me mad.  

As I said, you just can't watch this enough:

The CNN Debate

Just some quick thoughts as I don't have a great deal of time. 

I think that Michele Bachman did a great job.  She sometimes has a habit of getting her facts a little mixed up, but not tonight.  She showed that she is able to stay on topic and answer questions with quick soundbites that get to the point. 

I think that Tim Pawlenty was the big winner tonight.  He came across as likable, knowledgeable, and a good conservative.  Job well done. 

Newt showed why he has been described as the brain or the idea guy.  He is in his element in a debate format and tonight was no exception.  The big down side was that he outright lied in my opinion.  He is sticking to his ridiculous story that what he said about Paul Ryan was taken out of context.  It was a live interview Newt, we ain't buying what you are trying to sell with this one.  You just made yourself look dishonest. 

Herman Cain I think was one of the biggest losers.  Not because of his answers, just that he wasn't given much of a chance to speak.  The questions went mainly to Romney, Newt, and Pawlenty.  I guess these are the three that CNN has deigned the viable candidates for the nomination.  Overall his performance was strong, just not nearly enough face time. 

Ron Paul was Ron Paul.  I agree with much of what he would do on fiscal policy, but he loses me on social issues and foreign policy. 

Romney was doing his somersaults about Romneycare or as Pawlenty's newest phrase Obamney Care.  Not happening Mitt.  I am not buying it, you seem unwilling to sign a all out repeal and nothing less is acceptable.  Screw this waiver idea of yours. 

Rick Santorum also did pretty well, he showed he can debate with the rest of the field.  Santorum is out for me, I will not vote for him even if he is the nominee so I don't really care what he has to say. 

What I did find refreshing is that they talked about some of the third rail topics.  Ethanol and entitlement reform.  We need to open and honest to the American people, we are broke and it is time we take on the tough and scary subjects.  We are almost out of road and can no longer just the kick the can.  The right needs to talk openly and honestly about these topics and not allow the media and the left to turn this into throwing granny over the cliff scenario.  Oh, wait they already did that. 

What are your thoughts? 

Must See TV - Arizona Senate Debate

Here is a portion of the first debate between McCain, Hayworth, and Deakin.  This is about foreign policy and border security.  There were many good zingers throughout the debate. 

If you would like to see more go here