Romney 1, Obama 0

Unlike the last presidential debates which I could not stomach beyond the introductions, I managed to keep with this one throughout.  Here are some random observations and thoughts.

Obama hammered on Romney's tax cut plan, claiming that it would cut $5 trillion mostly for the rich and result in a $2000 tax hike on the middle class.  He repeated it again and again to become rather tiresome, especially since Romney would take his turn denying it.  He notably did not pursue the widely-broadcast Romney gaffe about the 47% whose votes he is not seeking.  Many Democrat pundits were befuddled by its absence.  Perhaps it was just me, but it seemed as though Obama was sometimes debating as if he was not the incumbent.  He noted that Romney didn't have specifics for his plan but Obama's plan - specifics or not - has clearly failed to get the economy moving.

For his part, Romney pounded on the $716 billion cut from Medicare several times.  He also touched on the $90 billion for Green Energy.  Whereas Romney was quick to counter Obama on the tax plan, Obama let these go unanswered.  Though these were the ones repeated, Romney fired volley after volley on a range of economic issues: unemployment, deficit, debt, Obamacare, etc.  Some of these came across as zingers.  Though it only got a mention, I really appreciated that Romney brought up the 10th Amendment; if we actually followed that one, the budget would be in surplus next year.

Of the two, it is obvious that Romney was well-prepared with a quiver full of arrows and a number of ready responses to predictable Obama lines of attack.  By contrast, Obama was not prepared for predictable Romney attacks and didn't have anything beyond the $5 trillion tax cut.

 

Of course, between the two, I far prefer Romney.  Recognizing that I was biased, I still thought Romney presented his case better.  It was funny how he didn't let the moderator moderate him.  Speaking of the moderator, Jim Leher seemed to frame Obama's responses on a couple of questions: I recall he asked the president to respone to Romney's assertions on deficit reduction by announcing that "you want a balanced approach."  He may have done that in both directions but this instance struck me.

 

Amazingly, though Romney dominated the debate, he actually spent less time talking.  The post-debate showed that Obama spoke for something over 42 minutes and Romney for something short of 39 minutes.  Even Democrats agree that debate one goes to Romney.

 

The next debate between them will be in a townhall format which should benefit the charismatic Obama and hinder the often wooden Romney.  Plus, expectations for Romney have just jumped while Obama's have sunk.  Thus, I expect Obama to come out much better there.