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Just how bad is the damage?
Salon ^ | October 4, 2012 | Steve Kornacki

Posted on 10/04/2012 6:22:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

Let’s get the obvious out of the way:Barack Obama lost last night’s presidential debate. The question is how badly it will hurt him.

Heading into last night,the president enjoyed a lead of 3.1 points in the Real Clear Politics polling average. The margin was roughly consistent with where the race has been since Romney secured the Republican nomination in the spring,but it did reflect a slight tightening over the past week. But the immediate verdict from voters who watched the debate was clear,with 67 percent saying Romney fared better in a CNN flash poll,compared to just 25 percent for Obama. In CBS’s poll of undecided voters, Romney was the victor by a 46-22 percent spread.

Over the next few days,Romney stands to reap some significant benefits from what happened in Denver:

* The best press coverage of his life. Well,that’s probably overstating it, but Romney is in for the most favorable stretch of media treatment he’s received as a general election candidate. Since late August, when Republicans staged a dud of a convention,Romney has been portrayed as a candidate in decline, and Obama as a resurgent front-runner. There was good reason for this. Democrats put on perfectly choreographed convention, Romney suffered through the release of the devastating “47 percent” video,and polls confirmed that the momentum was squarely on Obama’s side. Anything short of a clear victory by Romney on Wednesday would have perpetuated this narrative. But he turned in the performance he needed (with a huge assist from a bafflingly docile Obama) and has given the media a new storyline: Romney’s back in it – now we have a real race! At least for the next few days,it will be Romney who is treated as the candidate on the rise,and Obama as the one desperately seeking to contain the damage..............

(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: debate; obama; obamabiden2012; presidentialdebate; romney
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To: Red Badger
If you saw the debate and didn't think it was "that bad" then we saw a different debate.

I instant messages some friends to ask what they thought - not telling them what I thought and heard such things as "Mitt cleanen his clock," "Obama looked terrible," "bored," stunned," and "out-of-touch." Those are just a few.

21 posted on 10/04/2012 6:36:14 AM PDT by zerosix (Native sunflower)
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To: Obadiah

More than anything, I think the real loser was the MSM. They were exposed as complete sycophants.


22 posted on 10/04/2012 6:36:27 AM PDT by patton (Tinker toys, watches, and shiny things - we all sell rocks for a living.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
CNN had everybody, even snakehead and Van Jones saying Romney won it. That flash poll was powerful.

I did notice something odd, though. Post debate, every CNN commentor and Stephanie Cutter, whom they interviewed, said that Romney wasn't specific. But the way they said it was forced. Anderson Cooper seemed to be saying it as an afterthought, like oh, yeah, I forgot that I was told by the Obama team before the debates to say 'Romney wasn't specific.' Romney WAS specific, and it looked very much like an odd, preplanned comment.

23 posted on 10/04/2012 6:36:32 AM PDT by sportutegrl
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Republicans staged a dud of a convention?

Says who? What did the Democrats even have to compare to Clint Eastwoods speech to the empty chair? Just because the news media repeats their endless lies with great enthusiasm and Bill Clinton did a superb job sugar coating a turd doesn't change the basic nature of the thing.

24 posted on 10/04/2012 6:36:45 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Had to stop reading after this line: “Democrats put on perfectly choreographed convention”.

They clearly didn’t watch the same convention I watched.


25 posted on 10/04/2012 6:37:13 AM PDT by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

How bad was Romney’s stomping of Barack?

This was the “October surprise” that many people fear, and the fear is showing on Obama’s face and that of his supporters.

Obama was left wondering “who is this guy they put up against me?”. No doubt, after so many times looking down and wanting Lehrer to stop Romney, that he also wanted to check his watch to see how much longer he would have to endure the beat-down.

Obama was close to calling for his mommy last night.


26 posted on 10/04/2012 6:37:23 AM PDT by adorno
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To: fortheDeclaration
Excellent point!

Now they can point to Obama's demonstrably poor job performance as a reason to NOT vote for him, and that provides a very effective "innoculation" against those who would attack them with cries--and even screams- of "racist".

27 posted on 10/04/2012 6:38:22 AM PDT by milagro (There is no peace in appeasement.)
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To: Red Badger

Really? What adult beverage were you consuming while watching Obama get absolutely schooled by Romney?


28 posted on 10/04/2012 6:38:45 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: zerosix

Half of 0bammers’ support comes from people who want to associate themselves with “brilliant” people to make themselves feel just as brilliant.

He was exposed as having the less-than-average IQ that he has.


29 posted on 10/04/2012 6:38:47 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: F15Eagle

The Left is most likely angry because their Messiah didn’t turn Romney into a Pillar of Salt with a wave of his hand..................


30 posted on 10/04/2012 6:39:16 AM PDT by Red Badger (Is it just me, or is Hillary! starting to look like Benjamin Franklin?.................)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

People who were planning to vote for Obama are not going to change their minds, and in fact many of them are claiming that Obama won the debate, and that Romney told a bunch of lies, irrational as it might sound, but they are irrational people. Therefore, I don’t think the debate will have much, if any, effect on the election.


31 posted on 10/04/2012 6:39:16 AM PDT by Daveinyork
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To: Red Badger

...I saw the debate and I didn’t think it was as bad as all that the Left is making it out to be....


I doubt a single hard core supporter changed after this talk session. The undecideds may have been swayed a bit but if they are changed after one session then they aren’t that solid thus may be changed again with 33 days and three more debates to go until voting day.


32 posted on 10/04/2012 6:40:18 AM PDT by deport
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To: fortheDeclaration

Yes! You hit it on the head. Mitt did three things, he came across as presidential on stage with the current office holder, he dispelled the image being created by the left/media/hollywood/Obama team of a heartless, worthless, selfish rich guy who doesn’t care, and third (as you said), he gave millions of voters what they needed to finally vote against Obama. Voters have been disgusted for 3.5 years, but they needed to be comfortable with an alternative. Mitt showed leadership, competence, intelligence, and fairness.

This was a huge moment. This thing is far from over, but it could not have gone better in terms of meeting the most important objectives.


33 posted on 10/04/2012 6:41:14 AM PDT by ilgipper
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To: Red Badger

“I saw the debate and I didn’t think it was as bad as all that the Left is making it out to be.”

My wife was watching the debate in the living room while I watched the Yankees POUND the Red Sox with the sound off so I could half listen. Romney did good but missed many chances to make major points. Especially regarding the role of govt regulation in causing the economic meltdown. To me obama sounded like he was dishing out the same old S***.


34 posted on 10/04/2012 6:42:03 AM PDT by Brooklyn Attitude (We won't stand for biased umps fixing a ball game but we allow a biased media to fix elections.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

If his handlers decide it was so bad that they don’t think he’ll do much better next debate, there will be drone attack in Libya to show everyone how presidential Obama is & that he’s been distracted by more important things than debates.


35 posted on 10/04/2012 6:42:36 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: patton
More than anything, I think the real loser was the MSM. They were exposed as complete sycophants.

You got it! Obama got hammered, but for the press this was the Battle of Midway. They still don't know what a mauling they got.
36 posted on 10/04/2012 6:42:36 AM PDT by hemogoblin
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To: traderrob6

It was more animated than what I was expecting, considering the moderator and the format. But apparently the Left believes that because they actually saw a real honest-to-goodness actual debate, not a 90 minute infomercial for Obamacare, their guy got PWNED................


37 posted on 10/04/2012 6:42:55 AM PDT by Red Badger (Is it just me, or is Hillary! starting to look like Benjamin Franklin?.................)
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To: patton
Totally concur. If the corrupt MSM had never sealed off the Obama bubble from the American public Obama would be about 30 points down in the polls. The contrast between how the corrupt MSM daily went after Bush and how they have stoutly protected Obama is very stark indeed.
38 posted on 10/04/2012 6:44:43 AM PDT by Obadiah (The corrupt MSM is the enemy of the American people.)
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To: The Klingon

I too stopped reading at that statement.


39 posted on 10/04/2012 6:45:19 AM PDT by A message
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To: fortheDeclaration
It was very bad, because many people want a reason to vote against Obama and now have it.

Anyone with a shred of intelligence wouldn't need a reason to vote Obama out, beyond: Four years of 8-9% unemployment, a 16 trillion dollar deficit, Solyndra, Fast & Furious, Benghazi lies, Obamacare, Keystone Pipeline, War on Coal, disrespect for the Catholic Church, Czars replacing Congress, Out of Control EPA (and that's just off the top of my head.) But, if this gives some former "White Guilt" voters the cover they need to oust a Black man, all the better.

40 posted on 10/04/2012 6:45:41 AM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree (When the Obama poster fades, the portrait of Che Guevara beneath it shows through.)
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