It's A Drag

American Spectator ^ | 10.4.12 | George Neumayr

[IbJensen]

Obama performs lamely against an energetic and effective Romney.

"It's a drag," Barack Obama said earlier this week about his debate prep. "They're making me do my homework." This foreshadowed his lackluster debate performance on Wednesday night. He seemed disengaged and defensive. He didn't look at his watch, à la George Bush Sr., but he was probably doodling (under the guise of taking copious notes) as an energetic Mitt Romney offered a detailed brief against his failed presidency.

Romney conveyed the command of a hands-on CEO while Obama looked like a tired demagogue. His summation was pathetic, dribbling out some sort of promise about equal effort in a second term. In other words, he offers more of the same. Romney came up with a good phrase for his stale liberalism: “trickle-down government."

Nothing seemed to work for Obama: not his lame jokes about Donald Trump (why would he attempt humor at a debate where the audience is sworn to muteness?), not his rote and insincere flashing of his Cheshire Cat grin, not his recitation of small-ball, long discredited government programs. Occasionally he would look up at the camera and address the television audience directly, which is probably an easier mode for him. Demagoguery is his reflexive posture and he tried mightily to scare seniors and stir up hatred of the rich.

But it all seems so exhausted. The canned lines and themes from 2008 haven't changed a bit. Obama is still rattling on about evil "oil companies" and people who don't "pay their fair share."

[IbJensen]

I do not see how little muslim school boy Barry can be re-elected, but if he is we are in for a nasty ride for the next four years throughout the world. Additionally, we've learned much about the other half that inhabits our nation.

While it is good to see the truth come out, we live in dangerous times. Obama can't go soon enough.

[txrefugee]

No wonder Obummer couldn’t cut it as a lawyer. That summation was indeed horrible. Haaaahvahd Law must be so embarrassed that this Affirmative Action project publicly humiliated them.

[txrefugee]

No wonder Obummer couldn’t cut it as a lawyer. That summation was indeed horrible. Haaaahvahd Law must be so embarrassed that this Affirmative Action project publicly humiliated them.

[Salvey]

I doubt if obama’s performance in the next two debates will differ from last night’s. If anything, they might be worse, as he becomes demoralized and panics.

[Iron Munro]

Captain Awesome Crashes To Earth

[rockrr]

I mostly agree. I leave a tiny bit of wriggle-room for the altitude excuse and “opening night jitters (it can happen to anyone) but I believe that this WAS Øbozo’s “A” game.

The reason why? Because of his act today where he is back on the stump and excusing his way out of his own crappy performance. All that head-fake “I’m not a good debater” wasn’t so much a head-fake as it was a bar-setting exercise.

He may do better next time, but without his teleprompter, his bully-pulpit, and his fawning audience he’s going to bomb.

[MissMagnolia]

Saw this .... guess Axelrat realizes that he can only force-feed so much info into Obummer, especially if O doesn’t want to do it (it’s a drag, you know!):

All but stating that the Republican had won the debate, David Axelrod conceded that the performance aspect was ‘not the President’s strong suit in these events’ but insisted that ‘I don’t see us adding huge amounts of additional prep time.’

[fr_freak]

In the debate, Obama showed quite clearly that all he is capable of is giving speeches. His manner of speaking was still calibrated to “speech mode”, even while he was engaging in back-and-forth with Romney. When someone is giving a speech to an audience, his speech takes on a certain rhythm and intonation, but when someone is speaking to another person(s) who can respond, that spoken rhythm is usually different. Obama maintained the “speech mode” all throughout, and my guess is that it is because that is all he knows how to do. It is quite obvious that he practices his oratory regularly, using various techniques of inflection, pauses, intonations, etc. to make himself sound eloquent and wise, but he obviously has not put any effort into debate and he has no natural ability for it (nor intelligence). I can’t see him performing any differently in the next two debates because he simply isn’t capable of it.

[informavoracious]

Little Barry should have been doing his homework instead of hanging around with his no-good friends on Letterman and the View.