Obama Shows Up: Romney Takes It On the Chin
The bully got whupped, as the Rev. Al Sharpton said, summing up the second presidential debate in which President Obama not only stood up to Mitt Romney but kicked his keister.
On equal pay for women, immigration, economic policy, Mitt’s pension, the 47%, contraceptive rights, Bin Laden, General Motors, Benghazi, and best of all, what Obama called Romney’s “sketchy deal” where he proposes $5 trillion in tax cuts but can’t or won’t say how he’s going to pay for them.
The Barack Obama who failed to show up two weeks ago, not only showed up Tuesday night, but he brought his best to the debate, responding to most of the questioners and then pivoting most times to warn the audience (and more importantly millions of viewers) that what Romney was telling them was, as Joe Biden would have put it, “malarkey.”
Obama recharged his base who are once again going to be fired up and ready to go.
Romney demonstrated his worst characteristic: his bullyism. He tried to shove Obama and moderator Candy Crowley around but neither of them were afraid of him. And, to her great credit, Crowley even did an instant fact-check when she pointed out to Romney that Obama had indeed called the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya an “act of terror” the day after it happened.
When Obama was talking, the pinched, nasty plutocratic smile on Romney’s face made him look like he was smelling some rogue flatulence.
Commentators at Fox called the debate a draw, which tells us what we need to know. But the fact that Obama decisively won was borne out by virtually all the network polls of independent voters and debate watchers.
Romney’s “binders full of women” was so offensive that it sparked wild exchanges on the social media websites and, combined with his exposed stance on equal pay and contraception, will likely put a halt to whatever inroads the GOP candidate may have made with this crucial bloc of voters. (We thought only Hugh Hefner had those binders.)
Whether the debate will give Obama a boost in the polls, we’ll see in the next few days. But almost certainly, it will stop any advance Romney was seeing in national polls following the first debate.
One thing was clear – Obama and Romney don’t like each other. And worse, as our friend Chuck Todd of NBC said after the debate: “I don’t think these two guys respect each other.”
You guys are unbelievable. Obama “decisively won” because network polls showed him up 46%-39%?
You are so good on state politics, but on national politics, you might as well be Chris Matthews.
Don’t be rude by insulting and berating the messenger just because he’s telling you something that you don’t want to hear. The fact of the matter is that Obama’s was considered the victor pretty much across the board, regardless of the poll.
If you are insisting that Mitt Romney somehow won Tuesday’s debate, even after that prime-time face-plant he suffered by falsely accusing the president of playing politics on Libya, then that says all we need to know about you.
Good job, gentlemen. So succinct and on target. An important service for those who don’t want to watch the sparring between “the evil of two lessers” as this race has become. (Quoth Molly Ivins re TX ’70 Senate race). Yes, Obama won decisively, Mr. or Ms.Reed, because he had thrown the first debate so decisively…intentionally or not.
This President slapped Romney off of BS Mountain. The bully will not be giving haircuts to the American people. Analysis–spot on!
The real loser last night was the Office of the Presidency. Romney’s demeaning tone, his physical intrusion into Obama’s space, his constant interruptions were a new low in disrespect. In the Army they say, “It’s not the man, it’s the uniform.” If Romney (or any of his able-bodied five sons) had bothered to serve they would know that.
Hank, I’ve been thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, I blame George Bush for this too. By being such a buffoon while in the White House, he lost a lot of the respect due to the office. You and I and the Calbuzzards are somewhat of an age. I’m sure we all remember when this would have been unthinkable.
My aunt, who’s a lifelong Republican, said the same thing. She told me that she was brought up to respect elected office and those who serve in it, regardless of party, and Romney’s imperious demeanor toward the president and moderator Candy Crowley offended her. “I tend to not vote for people who treat others so contemptuously,” she said.
The man I saw last night–ignoring the pre-debate rules that prohibited candidates from asking direct questions of one another, attempting again to bully the moderator albeit with less success, stumbling over questions about equal pay for women by alluding to “binders full of women” (trapper keepers, perhaps?) and clearly coming off as childish and ridiculous in the exchange on Libya, where the President was serious, responsible, sober and adult–was exactly the grown-up version of the boy who ganged up with others to torment and torture a skinny little gay kid. No thanks.
The Right will be outraged today: Why did “CNN hack” Candy Crowley “fact-check” Governor Romney, but not the President? Answer: There was no need to do so.
Boy! You guys are way ahead of me. I thought this too. Governor Romney really showed his bully side. It was clear he didn’t fancy being corrected by a woman and a black man in public. I guess it’s a fairly new experience for him. As CEO, he got to give orders. No wonder he only lasted one term in elected office. There, you actually have to work with people. Not just send their jobs to China. And spoiled, preppy, rich boys never think they have to play by the same rules as the rest of us..
Romney is a rich pariah who simply can’t identify with ANY average American through his fog of lies, binders full of women and network of havened money. Smug comments only exemplify his elitism and show how out of touch he is. It’s time we tell Mitt he can’t buy this election! Read about the role of his money and his Magic Mormon Underwear are playing in the polls at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/05/mitt-romneys-magic-mormon-underwear.html
That’s what I thought. The bully got a swirlee!
Did anybody see the Al Smith dinner last night? Obama took a few jabs at Romney, one at Biden, and the rest of his jokes were on himself. That’s pretty typical if you’ve seen past appearances by other candidates. Romney, on the other hand, landed one on Biden, a couple on himself, and the rest on Obama. Just seemed mean-spirited. To me, it reflected the majority of comments here.
Here’s a tip, folks: Whoever attacks the moderator knows that his/her candidate lost the debate. Three guesses who’s attacking Crowley.