On Oct. 3, President Obama and Mitt Romney took the stage at the University of Denver in the first Presidential Debate of 2012.
This one was, without a doubt, a win for Governor Romney, which is a change, because he’s been trying to catch a break for a while. For months now, the Romney Campaign has been on the defense. They have not been able to put out anything positive because they have been too busy defending against one gaff after another made by the governor (most recently Romney’s notorious remark about 47 percent of Americans not taking responsibility for their lives.)
To be fair, it is not a surprise that Romney “won” the debate. This has always been his strong point. And not only that, but he has had much more recent practice by taking part in over 20 Republican primary debates. The president, however, had not debated for four years leading up to this point, and this was also never a strong area for him. Mitt Romney has always been a strong debater and President Obama has always connected with voters better.
Unfortunately, though, on Wednesday night voters did not get to see the best of President Obama. The president just seemed out of it. He looked tired, pale, and old. He stumbled over his words, seemed out of focus, and just didn’t seem like he was trying hard enough. He didn’t make enough direct attacks on Governor Romney, and when he did, Romney fired back, brutally. After that, when it was Obama’s turn to talk, he chose not to challenge (most of the time) what many later called Romney’s untruths and misrepresentations. For instance, at the debate Romney said that he would not reduce taxes on rich Americans. Apparently, his plan does not agree with him. His plan on his website says to “reduce individual marginal income tax rates across-the-board by 20 percent, while keeping current low tax rates on dividends and capital gains.”
President Obama performed terribly on Wednesday night and the polls have tightened as a result of that. Almost 60 million Americans were watching that night. They watched President Obama talk four minutes longer than Mitt Romney and yet come off as if he hadn’t said much of anything. They watched as he looked down and away when Mitt Romney was talking. The confidence that Obama will win the election has now faded. Yes, there are still two more presidential debates coming up, but who knows whether that many people will watch again? No one has really been able to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why Obama was the way he was on Wednesday. Whatever it was, and if Obama even knows what it was, he better fix it, fast. If he loses the next two debates, the election could quite possibly go to Romney.
The next major Presidential Debate will be between Vice President Joe Biden and Romney’s VP candidate, Paul Ryan, on Oct. 11. The Last two major Presidential Debates between Obama and Romney will be Oct. 16 and Oct. 22.
