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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: TruthShallSetYouFree
Four years of 8-9% unemployment,

Keep in mind that 8-9% would have been 12-14% if this were a Republican presidency.

61 posted on 10/04/2012 6:54:50 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To the left the truth looks like Right-Wing extremism.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Right now very bad.
Romney even flipped him the big bird...
62 posted on 10/04/2012 6:55:11 AM PDT by novemberslady
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Romney is everything that Obama despises - he’s White, Rich, good-looking and nice. Romney makes his success look effortless (which it is not). I’m sure that Obama had that - “He inherited it, he didn’t earn it.” attitude in the back of his mind, going into the debate. Since Obama has been petted and passed along through Affirmative Action, he has never really been questioned or challenged - he has been helped.

Romney just slapped Obama full in the face with reality and Obama didn’t like it one little bit. The problem Obama has now is that he has coasted for so many years, he can’t cram the information into his head fast enough to come close to Romney’s level of knowledge. And Obama knows it, it was showing on his face last night.


63 posted on 10/04/2012 6:56:02 AM PDT by nolongerademocrat ("Before you ask G-d for something, first thank G-d for what you already have." B'rachot 30b)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Democrats put on perfectly choreographed convention...

Bad grammar aside, I had to double check that this wasn't satire when I read this assertion. It was Salon, though, so it might as well be satire.

The author apparently didn't see much of the dem convention.

64 posted on 10/04/2012 6:56:02 AM PDT by MortMan (Laughter is the best medicine, especially when ridiculing your enemies.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
We need to find out where Newt was during Mitt's debate prep. R2
65 posted on 10/04/2012 6:56:40 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To the left the truth looks like Right-Wing extremism.)
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To: The Klingon
I stopped reading at “ Democrats put on perfectly choreographed convention”

Gosh, yes. That vote on reinserting God back into the platform could have been the work of Gene Kelly or June Taylor themselves. /sarc off


66 posted on 10/04/2012 6:56:52 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Col Frank Slade; Cincinatus' Wife
The next debate is about foreign policy. Obama has nothing to hang his hat on, other than killing UBL which he will crow endlessly about. The Libya debacle, mid East riots and Iran are all pitfalls for him.

Romney has a target rich environment. He can pick and choose those topics to tear Obama apart.

Yes, it is a target-rich environment - so much so that you didn't mention one key event: Obama's RECORDED statement to Russian President Medvedev about having one last election, and having more flexibility after it was over. If Romney doesn't draw and quarter him over the image and the reality that such a statement presents to the world and in our dealings with a hostile, heavily-armed and aggressive world power, then Romney doesn't deserve to be President. However, I think that he'll do it.

I was disappointed that the issue of gun control didn't come up (because Bathhouse Barry was yammering on for so long about nonsense), but the issue also spills over into foreign policy with "Fast and Furious." The Univision report that came out this week is absolutely damning, and if Romney brings it up (all of it, including protecting Holder and the violation of Congressional orders to produce information) he'll win a lot of votes (especially among Hispanics if he plays it right).

My opinion is that Romney will clean Bathhouse Barry's clock on foreign policy, and that when he does so the election is all but over. Anyone early voting in the next week or so is now more likely to vote for Romney, and the "debate" between Plugs and Ryan will only reinforce the impression that the Romney-Ryan team is ready to lead, whilst the Bathhouse Barry-Plugs team is fiddling (or, more accurately, playing golf) as the country burns.

67 posted on 10/04/2012 6:57:12 AM PDT by Ancesthntr (Bibi to Odumbo: Its not going to happen.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Obama will recover. His first line in the next debate:

Moderator: Mr. President, you have been accused of lying in the last debate. Do you think this will hurt your re-election chances?

Obama: Mr. Moderator, I do not want lying to be an issue in this campaign. I don’t want to use my opponant’s honesty and forthrightness against him.


68 posted on 10/04/2012 6:57:26 AM PDT by Daveinyork
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
“Democrats put on perfectly choreographed convention”

Really? They had a women's rights advocate (Fluke) telling us how bad R's are for women followed by a serial sexual offender (Clinton).

69 posted on 10/04/2012 6:59:34 AM PDT by TruthWillWin (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: The_Reader_David
Help me out here to respond to this from a lib:
So I'm just unclear on something. Romney says he will not raise taxes for middle class. But he will eliminates many deductions. How is this different? If I used to get a refund and will now have to pay isn't this essentially the same thing. Please explain.

I need to respond and shut this goof up. Takers?

70 posted on 10/04/2012 7:01:18 AM PDT by arbee4bush (My Dad, My Hero. Love You Dad!!)
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To: justlurking
My favorite was about "green energy". Actually, it was two of them, Comparing the 2.8 billion in tax breaks to oil companies to Obama's 90 billion to solar and wind. Pointing out later that 90 billion could have hired 2 million teachers.

Unless I am mistaken, they were talking about "depletion allowances"

Romney handled it fairly well, but the fact the American Public do not know what it is, and how it is important from a tax and accounting standpoint is scary unto itself...

If you want to eliminate "depletion allowances" ok, then let's have that debate w/ much lower marginal rates, but that will have to be down the road...

71 posted on 10/04/2012 7:01:23 AM PDT by taildragger (( Fubarward Obama 2012, think about it :-) ))
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To: The Klingon

If they have to start running ads in Kalipornia, Obama is toast


72 posted on 10/04/2012 7:02:10 AM PDT by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: Red Badger

I think you hit the nail on the head. The reason the left is so down on Obama’s performance is that they thought he was magic. Now they have to come to terms with the fact that he is not.


73 posted on 10/04/2012 7:03:48 AM PDT by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: Red Badger
“I saw the debate and I didn’t think it was as bad as all that”

You never worshiped obama and considered him your messiah.

LLS

74 posted on 10/04/2012 7:03:52 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer ("if it looks like you are not gonna make it you gotta get mean, I mean plumb mad-dog mean" J. Wales)
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To: Col Frank Slade

I have an ominous feeling that this foreign policy debate between Ears and Mitt...will not occur.


75 posted on 10/04/2012 7:05:41 AM PDT by Mountain Mary (Pray for our Republic...)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
...Democrats put on perfectly choreographed convention...

Like the voice vote to keep mention of "God" in their platform? Was that "perfectly choreographed"?

76 posted on 10/04/2012 7:05:41 AM PDT by kidd
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To: Daveinyork
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.

That is probably true of the 40% who will vote for their naked king no matter what.

A blowout election will be a victory of about 5%, and Mitt performed well enough to secure this king of margin. My prediction: 52-47, with a much greater electoral margin.

77 posted on 10/04/2012 7:06:13 AM PDT by The Citizen Soldier (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

The people who watched the debate were written off some time ago by the dems. 0 is counting on the moron vote who are uninflenced by the debate.


78 posted on 10/04/2012 7:06:29 AM PDT by Joe Bfstplk (People should enjoy the fruits of their labor. No labor, no fruit.)
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To: Daveinyork
luntz had an obama voting group last night... 13 out of 24 that voted for obama in 2008 and went into this debate as pro obama... changed their vote.

LLS

79 posted on 10/04/2012 7:07:13 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer ("if it looks like you are not gonna make it you gotta get mean, I mean plumb mad-dog mean" J. Wales)
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To: Daveinyork

Big Bird vs. Big Turd.


80 posted on 10/04/2012 7:07:19 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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