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New Yorker

Obama lost the debate because he’s too sensitive and thoughtful

When Barack Obama was a student at Harvard Law School, he was never known as a particularly good debater. In class, if he thought that a fellow student had said something foolish, he showed no forensic bloodlust. He did not go out of his way to defeat someone in argument; instead he tried, always with a certain decorous courtesy, to try to persuade, to reframe his interlocutor’s view, to signal his understanding while disagreeing. Obama became president of the law review—the first African-American to do so—but he won as a voice of conciliation. He avoided the Ames Moot Court Competition, where near contemporaries like Cass Sunstein, Deval Patrick, and Kathleen Sullivan made their names…

Reverend Love grew close to Obama when Obama was a community organizer. He could tell that Obama was never particularly comfortable in the debate format. “He’s better out there by himself,” he said. “His personality has always been kind of contemplative. In that kind of format, when you are contemplative, it makes you seem not as quick on the draw.”

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“The President has always been someone who takes the truth seriously and has a great faith in the American people and their ability to handle big ideas,” Burns said. “He doesn’t patronize them. He uses the campaign as an educative process. He wants to win but also wants to be clear about his ideas….

I can’t believe the drivel in this article!

TarheelBen on October 6, 2012 at 1:10 PM

He lost it because he was himself and 70+ million, at least, saw him.

Schadenfreude on October 6, 2012 at 1:20 PM

LIVING WILL FORM

I, ____________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn’t pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/doctors/hospitals interested in simply running up the bills.

If after a reasonable amount of time passes, and I fail to ask for: (Check appropriate items): a Martini ______, a Margarita ______, a Scotch and soda ______, a Bloody Mary______, a beer ______, a Gin and Tonic _______, a Glass of Chardonnay ______, a Steak ______, Lobster or crab legs ______, the TV remote control ______, a bowl of ice cream ______, the sports page______, Sex______, or Chocolate_______, it should be presumed that I won’t ever get any better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, and call it a day. At this point, it is time to call the New Orleans Jazz Funeral Band to come and do their thing at my funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise their glasses to toast the good times we have had.

Signature:________________________Date:__________

P.S. I hear that in Ireland there is a Nursing Home with a Pub. The patients are happier, and they have a lot more visitors. Some of them don’t even need embalming when their time comes. If anyone knows the name of this happy place, PLEASE pass it on.

Amendment #1:
Should I become incapacitated as described above, DO NOT PULL THE PLUG until after I have voted against Barack Obama by absentee ballot in the November 2012 election.

Schadenfreude on October 6, 2012 at 1:20 PM

Didn’t see ONE comment at the New Yorker that was positive towards our dear “tender” President. Perhaps they should have stuck with Al Gore’s excuse—altitude sickness.

Rovin on October 6, 2012 at 1:23 PM

Corrected it:
Obama lost the debate because he’s too sensitive and thoughtful not very good and Romney was so much better.

albill on October 6, 2012 at 1:23 PM

“The job of being President,” Owens went on, “you can see it in his face—that level of seriousness, having to do what he does, and then go debate. His hair has gotten grayer so quickly! Mine, too, but for him it’s almost

Azzes, every president turns gray the moment they walk into the Oval Office and are shown the documents. Take this to the bank. It is an absolute fact.

Obama hasn’t presidented much. He’s lazy and has been playing golf and campaigning from day one. What ways on him is that disconnect btw. what he’s supposed to do, is unable to do, and having nothing to show for the last 4 and next 4 years.

A debate is a job interview for the nation. He was irritated that he had to go through it and that Romney was his equal, in this case his superior, by far, in job interviewing abilities.

Obama is a clinically NPD’d guy and needs treatment, alas. No one will tell him.

These are not friends, none of them.

Schadenfreude on October 6, 2012 at 1:25 PM

BTW: Has anyone else noticed that Obama and Biden appear to have dropped the “trickle-down economics” characterization for Romney-Ryan and have adopted the “top-down” characterization? I wonder whether it has anything to do with a 17-page piece that Thomas Sowell recently released:

http://www.tsowell.com/images/Hoover%20Proof.pdf

I encourage all to read it.

It’s highlighted in Walter Williams’s weekly column this week:

http://www.creators.com/print/conservative/walter-williams/trickle-down-and-tax-cuts.html

BuckeyeSam on October 6, 2012 at 1:26 PM

Sorry, this part was supposed to be in quotes

“The job of being President,” Owens went on, “you can see it in his face—that level of seriousness, having to do what he does, and then go debate. His hair has gotten grayer so quickly! Mine, too, but for him it’s almost overnight. You can really sense the stress on him.”

Schadenfreude on October 6, 2012 at 1:26 PM

He lost it because Class Warfare never works.

kingsjester on October 6, 2012 at 1:29 PM

His personality has always been kind of contemplative.

“Where your dolla at!” Yeah, super contemplative.

RepubChica on October 6, 2012 at 1:34 PM

We know that Obama skews cerebral and that he has never liked debates as a way to engage issues

Skews retardo more like it.

RepubChica on October 6, 2012 at 1:39 PM

I’ve had to remind myself that Barack Obama’s instincts and talents have never included going for an opponent’s jugular.

Yeah, cuz like every punk I’ve ever known, he’s a tuff guy when he’s safely ensconced in a cheering, brain dead crowd.

RepubChica on October 6, 2012 at 1:51 PM

obama lost the debate because he is arrogant and permanently stoned.

Pork-Chop on October 6, 2012 at 2:00 PM

I’ve had to remind myself that Barack Obama’s instincts and talents have never included going for an opponent’s jugular.

Uh huh…except when his target can’t respond. Tell this to Paul Ryan and the Supreme Court. Then his full blown bully personae is front and center.

I think Bill Maher’s take on the situation is closer to the truth.

“He looked tired. He had trouble getting his answers out. It looked like he took my million and spent it all on weed.”

kakypat on October 6, 2012 at 2:24 PM

I’ve had to remind myself that Barack Obama’s instincts and talents have never included going for an opponent’s jugular.

Obama: ‘If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun …

Opinionator on October 6, 2012 at 2:54 PM

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