How Romney won
First, Romney presented himself as a reasonable man — neither an extremist nor an ideologue. He calmly rebutted familiar attacks on his proposals. He was clear and forceful, tough but respectful. He sounded knowledgeable. He conveyed an impression of competence and experience as a potential manager of the economy. He praised some aspects of the Obama administration’s program, such as its Race to the Top education reform program. And when he insisted on the importance of working together across party lines, it sounded as though he meant it.
Second, Romney wove a number of anecdotes — peoples’ stories from the campaign trail — into his policy discussions. This had the effect of softening his image as a soulless manager focused solely on the bottom line. So did his assertion that the country has a responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves.
Third, Romney provided a number of policy specifics, and his virtual PowerPoint style — a series of bullets laid out clearly — underscored the impression of specificity. My guess is that viewers will come away with the sense that they know considerably more than they did before
Fourth, Romney found an organizing theme for his proposals — job creation.
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There is a reason the man made his wealth.
He communicates with others & gets them to work together to change things.
He is a leader. Who has been shaped & slandered by the media.
I can live with Romney being POTUS bcs I know he will try his best to right America.
Unfortunately, America has gone, I fear, too far down into socialist hell to ever come back to our original Constitutional principles.
Badger40 on October 4, 2012 at 8:06 AM
Fifth – Romney the businessman ate Obama the agitator’s lunch. The debate was over the instant this happened:
Obama: Let’s change the subject, Jim.
The President of the United States of America tapped out on live TV.
Washington Nearsider on October 4, 2012 at 8:07 AM
Romney won handily because Obama looked just awful. It’s that simple. I don’t think Obama will look that awful in the coming next debates but he just was bad. This is what happens when you don’t have media asking follow-up questions and just letting Obama spin his straw men. He had no idea how to answer anything!
mrscullen on October 4, 2012 at 8:07 AM
Will this be a big donation day for Romney?
Oil Can on October 4, 2012 at 8:09 AM
One could say Obama got Mitch-slapped on live TV last night.
HotAirian on October 4, 2012 at 8:11 AM
First time Obama’s had to debate a competent opponent one-on-one?
aunursa on October 4, 2012 at 8:12 AM
Obama came in with two weapons 5 trillion and 2 trillion, Once Romney knocked those out of the park it was over. I think the plan was to push that sound bite after the debate and let the MSM spin the rest, Obama’s job for the rest of the debate was to not provide any negative sound bites that could be played up by the Romney camp.
Gwillie on October 4, 2012 at 8:15 AM
I missed that part. I can probably guess, but what subject was Obama referring to?
Spannerhead on October 4, 2012 at 8:19 AM
Fun picture of his staff back stage celebrating
mrscullen on October 4, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Merit versus Affirmative-action. Any questions?
viking01 on October 4, 2012 at 8:22 AM
$300 million in negative attack ads depicting Romney as a mean, horrible, murdering, tax-cheat just flushed down the drain.
gonnjos on October 4, 2012 at 8:22 AM
Like any good business man – Romney know that November 6th is “the end of the year” – therefore has to “close the deal” – he plans his timeline and his strategy “to close”.
At least that’s my observation.
jake-the-goose on October 4, 2012 at 8:26 AM
It was right at the beginning. Obama broke out the “$5 trillion” nonsense, Romney obliterated it, and Obama, instead of responding, said to the moderator something like (i won’t remember verbatim)
“Let’s move on to a different subject, Jim.”
Washington Nearsider on October 4, 2012 at 8:26 AM
That’s a great line – I’m stealing it from you,,,
jake-the-goose on October 4, 2012 at 8:27 AM
I wonder how much money Romney raised on-line last night?
jake-the-goose on October 4, 2012 at 8:28 AM
Concerning Dobb-Frank. I am one of those people Romney talked of who has tried to get a mortgage in the last few months. I could have paid cash for a 2nd home I wanted to buy, have never been out of a job, have excellent documentation of finances and work history and a 750++ credit rating. I still was subjected to infuriating underwriting requirements that almost cancelled the deal.
Banks do not want to lend b/c they don’t want to be subjected to the Government rectal exam.
gonnjos on October 4, 2012 at 8:28 AM
I disagree. The next debate is a townhall. After watching last night, I think Romney demonstrated that he holds a premium on being prepared. Sure, he may get a crackpot question. Fine. He’ll lose a one-issue voter on same-sex marriage or something. But don’t forget HOW BAD Obama is when he has to speak and think on his feet. He’s horrible. Obama may know his stump talking points, but he simply doesn’t have a deep command and understanding of too many issues.
BuckeyeSam on October 4, 2012 at 8:29 AM
He may be able to improve his demeanor and be more aggressive … but there’s nothing he can do to improve the facts. His four years in office have been a total disaster. His only option is to do what his galpal Stephanie Cutter does, lie.
darwin on October 4, 2012 at 8:29 AM
He got another $50 from me.
Mitt Romney actually made me feel EXCITED to vote for him during those two hours.
Washington Nearsider on October 4, 2012 at 8:29 AM
See what happens when you hire Jimmy Carter as your debate coach?
SagebrushPuppet on October 4, 2012 at 8:30 AM
He won because Obama can’t compete without a script. Barry is simply not a very bright man and phoned in the same performance he gave in 2008. It was dull, boring, mean-spirited, and lacking.
We tried to tell you liberals Barry has *no idea* what he is doing.
Punchenko on October 4, 2012 at 8:31 AM
Bet Obama said to Michelle after they left the stage, “I hate this job.”
And Michelle agreed and added, “Well, soon it will be over.”
albill on October 4, 2012 at 8:32 AM
Crickets. You are so completely correct. Time to end the AA farce. Nobody is screaming for quotas in professional sports.
Blacks are every bit as capable as anyone else. Maybe when our black president turns to the black community and begins emphasizing that a good education is not “acting white” and that conservative family values will solve many of their problems will we finally get past the dependence on AA.
BuckeyeSam on October 4, 2012 at 8:34 AM
I don’t think we need those academic transcripts anymore. I think we know how he got into Harvard.
The Count on October 4, 2012 at 8:38 AM
I hit my invisible Like button.
hillsoftx on October 4, 2012 at 8:39 AM
I missed that, Bark really said that?
Bishop on October 4, 2012 at 8:40 AM
Really really.
Washington Nearsider on October 4, 2012 at 8:44 AM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh man.
Bishop on October 4, 2012 at 8:53 AM
In the debate open thread, I said the exact same thing (about POTUS tapping out).
I knew, in that instant, that Obama had lost. He begged to talk about anything else.
The greatest orator ever to grace the White House had to run back to daddy with his tail between his legs.
Washington Nearsider on October 4, 2012 at 9:05 AM
One of the biggest mistakes he made in my estimation.
Responsibility
Self, Immediate Family, Extended Family, Community & Charity, Local Government, State Government, Federal Government.
Self should be 90% of the population, Immediate Family should be able to take care of 5%, Extended Family should be able to take care of 3%, Community and Charity should be able to take care of 2%.
Cost shifting beyond this is not American in any way shape or form. It is socialism. Forced socialism through the use of the government’s monopoly on the use of violence.
astonerii on October 4, 2012 at 9:09 AM
Just shows again how inept/conspiratorial the MSM has been in not vetting Obama 4+ years ago.
And who in their right mind would schedule a debate for their anniversary? WTF? Talk about bad decisions being obvious…
I know I and others suspected it wouldn’t be good for Obama when the pre-pologists (pre event apologists) started trying to lower expectations for Obama in the debate.
But they didn’t lower them enough. “He’ll be like he votes: ‘present’” would have been better….
ProfShadow on October 4, 2012 at 9:25 AM
Obama’s been so busy battling strawmen he had no idea how to respond when rebutted.
It’s really that simple.
jhffmn on October 4, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Romney came ready to both refute and share a vision.
Obama came ready to deflect.
Obama came to a “gun fight” armed with a pillow. An old one. From a no-tell motel. That rents by the hour.
ProfShadow on October 4, 2012 at 9:48 AM
In the past, Obama could faithfully rely on this:
1) Destroying his biggest threats to the point they have to drop out of the race
2) Face subsequently weak, unprepaired candidates.
3) Let the media spin the unprepairadness of the weak candidate to the point where –
4) He doesn’t have to say anything of substance and can lie like a rug, and the weak candidates are so unprepaired that they simply can’t defend themselves.
The GOP gave him a gift in 2008 by nominating McCain. Obama didn’t even have to destroy McCain – he was not by any stretch the strongest in the GOP field that year, and subsequently he came off as old and cranky even in the primary debates. Add to that running against Bush (and McCain as the third Bush term), and the financial meltdown and 2008 was a cakewalk.
But team Obama severely miscalculated this time out. They thought they could just cruise to a victory using the same old strategy – destroy Mitt by painting him as a heartless, murdering, robber-baron, get Mitt off of his game, and let the empty platitudes do their Jedi magic. But the personal destruction hasn’t stuck (especially with someone as squeaky-clean as Mitt), and has only made Team Obama look desperate.
Also, Mitt is a heck of a debater who isn’t afraid to go on the offensive right out of the gate. I remember the 2002 Mass Gubenitorial debate quite well. He absolutely killed it. And now Obama has a real fight on his hands and he’s woefully unprepaired for it.
Do I think that Obama will look that bad next time? Probably not, but I still don’t think he’ll look good. The empty platitudes aren’t working, and he can’t defend his horrendous record. Add to that the fact that he’s absolutely horrible off of the TelePrompTer and I think Mitt (who’s no fool and won’t go into the next debate thinking he has this thing locked up) will kick his booty again.
(is “booty” one of those RAAACIST code words?)
crazy_legs on October 4, 2012 at 9:53 AM
He is following the A-B-C strategy.
A: Always
B: Be
C: Closing
Always Be Closing! ALWAYS BE CLOSING!
Nick_Angel on October 4, 2012 at 10:05 AM
Am I the only one who thinks the Republican convention was a “positive” for Romney? I am still not buying the narrative that it was a failure. WTF? How was it a failure?
Anyway, great debate performance last night. Romney owned that podium and the subject matter. His CEO leadership style came through strong.
R/R 2012!!
lucyvanpelt on October 4, 2012 at 10:07 AM
In the interest of fairness, I should point out that he had to debate Frau Pantsuit a number of times, one-on-one. And she is a pretty competent debater.
JohnGalt23 on October 4, 2012 at 10:11 AM
Moochelle must be starting to check what their combined government retirement benefits are about now…
“Oooo! Barack, we have some really Golden parachutes!”
profitsbeard on October 4, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Don’t consider it as an absolute value, but as a relative value.
Romney had an okay convention. But the Dems had a better one, 0′s performehnce notwithstanding. Let’s face it… Big Bill delivered the goods, yet again.
That advantage, however, just got wiped out, by the worst beating I’ve ever seen on a presidential debate stage…
JohnGalt23 on October 4, 2012 at 10:23 AM