Posted on 10/23/2012 4:31:30 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I think it's unequivocal, Romney won. And he didn't just win tactically, but strategically. Strategically, all he needed to do is basically draw. He needed to continue the momentum he's had since the first debate, and this will continue it. Tactically, he simply had to get up there and show that he's a competent man, somebody who you could trust as commander in chief, a who knows every area of the globe and he gave interesting extra details, like the Haqqani network, which gave the impression he knows what he's talking about. But there is a third level here, and that is what actually happened in the debate.
We can argue about the small points and the debating points. Romney went large, Obama went very, very small, shockingly small. Romney made a strategic decision not go after the president on Libya, or Syria, or other areas where Obama could accuse him of being a Bush-like war monger. Now I would have gone after Obama on Libya like a baseball bat, but that's why Romney has won elections and I've never had to even contest them. He decided to stay away from the and I think that might have actually worked for him.
What he did concentrate on is the big picture. People don't care what our policy on Syria is going to be. They care about how America is perceived in the world and how America carries itself in the world. And the high point is when he devastatingly leveled the charge of Obama going around the world on an apology tour. Obama's answer was ask any reporter and they will tell you it wasn't so.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
As one Freeper posted some days ago, even with Elmer Fudd sitting up there trying to debate Obama, I’d vote for Elmer Fudd.
Romney’s best line: ‘we cannot kill our way out of this”
Where was I?
On a different planet, apparently.
Romney was horribly inneffective.
You are exactly right, Old Teufel.
Well good thing you don’t run campaigns. Romney did what he needed to , look calm, collected, Presidential..its called winning baby. So what if he didn’t try for a Perry Mason moment to satisfy partisans like you, he was not in the debate to prove anything to you, you will not vote for Obama anyway. That debate was good for another 1-2% points. This thing is and was over.
President Elect Romeny did what was necessary
I was sorry that Romney didn’t mention Libya, but perhaps there was a reason - Obama was clearly expecting him to bring it up, so perhaps Romney knew there was some kind of trap set for him there. In any case, the press has been so effective in covering it up that most Americans outside of Freeperland either haven’t heard of it or have forgotten the 20 second news report they saw on it a month ago. So probably Romney thought there was nothing to be gained there.
Obama got away with his usual airy lies, and while Romney called him on them from time to time, Obama just kept on free-associating. But I guess that’s what his fans like.
I thought Romney did a good job; he gave specifics on his programs, said that he felt a strong and well-armed America was vital, and criticized Obama’s apology tour. It didn’t seem very hard hitting, however, because Obama was in such fantasy-land that he just kept on spinning out the lies and completely ignored Romney.
At the same time, when Bambi wasn’t speaking, you could see the effort he was putting into remembering the lines they had obviously made him memorize before letting him go out in public - and it wasn’t a pretty sight. He was blinking rapidly and got those evil raccoon eyes whenever he looked at Romney, which he didn’t do very often.
just a resident...sorry for saying what I saw, I knew it would not be popular.
I heard two politicians explaining how they could fix an unfixable mideast.
Is the Kraut's proofreader on strike?
I think RCP transcribed this from Krauthammer’s chat on Fox. Check the video for the actually commentary.
I agree with what you said and felt the same way you did.
I’ll add that the Obama campaign seemed ready to spring a trap. Romney was wary. I’m still not sure how this will play with the undecideds.
Well good thing you don’t run campaigns
You’re right. None of these idiots would have a job today.
Mr. “Main Street Republican” came out of the closet.. who is running this campaign?
John McCain?
At this point Obama needed a major Romney blunder. There were no blunders, major or minor.
Forget the debating points and look at the campaign:
Romney wins.
Romney may have done what he needed to do politically here, but the meme that has gone on for some time about ‘we can’t kill our way out of this” is exactly the reason that the muslims are gaining huevos and ramping up.
Muslims understand violence, not feelgood or any other diplomacy. They use diplomacy as a means to stall effective action against them and as a propaganda tool to sap the determination of the west. All the libs and others perpetuating the cant kill crap simply ensure that eventually, when muslims have enough weapons and jihadis, we will either do that very thing oe be overrun.
Anyone who has read their very words stating the issues above can see it. Unless they are determined to go full ostrich. It’s time for a lot more shooting and a lot less fantasy that muslims are just like us and can be reasoned with. Hopefully Mitt will see the reality and most importantly ‘admit it’ once elected.
We can kill our way out of it. To the benefit of every non fanatic in the world. We just lack the will.
Good points. Benghazi’s like Watergate - it’s becoming a criminal investigation. That usually shuts down communication.
Many political junkies and hard core believers from both sides want and believe the “hammer” tactical approach to shock and therefore gain instant approval (perhaps) is always better than the subtle strategic approach which will have a broader and longer term effect on voters.
In this case Romney did exactly what he needed to do and that was to present himself as presidential before the American people. He did this well and over the course of the 3 debates the R/R team came off as being the incumbent while the O/B team looked to all as the ones challenging and going about it in a most desperate way.
R/R have momentum and seem to have the lead at this point so Romney’s performance could be seen as the equivalent to taking a knee in the NFL with 15 seconds left in the 4th quarter.
I don't know if Romney was ineffective, but I was amazed at how 0bama could make a collapsing Middle East policy sound so good. Romney made his point that 0bama is not leading, the question is does the electorate understand that? Romney has a lot to fix if he wins. And tackling having to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood as government leaders in the Middle East ....?
Today the big talking point is Obama's line about horses and bayonets, but the pettiness and smallness of it may be his undoing with independents.
YMMV
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