Three takeaways from last nights debate

[gman]

I watched most of the presidential debate, and it was a wild one. Early on I thought they were going to get into a real brawl.
Anyway, the three things I took from the debate.
One, $4 gasoline in the new norm. The president said that the only reason it was $1.87 under Bush was because the economy was so bad. That's nonsensical. What about the decent economy un Clinton, where gas was under a buck?
Second, you are not supposed to know that Ambassador Stevens was killed in a planned attack after he brokered a deal to arm the Libyan rebels, the rebels turned out to be Al-qeada, and the Gov't ignored the cries for more security.
Third, you're not supposed to know what the latin Univision audience knows. That, Mexican drug cartels were allowed to take American weapons across the border into Mexico under the Fast and Furious program, and now several hundred people are dead including an American who was killed in Phoenix with said weapons.
The moderator wasn't awful, I didn't think, but I did think she often favored Obama. And she did one of jobs she was supposed to do, which was steer clear of Fast and Furious and Libya.

Anybody else watch it? Does anyone think the President's ideas can really work to turn things around? It seems obvious that he is not interested in addressing gas prices. If the economy really gets going, should we expect to pay $6 or $8 a gallon?

[pmal]

[executioner]

I feel Obama only just stopped the bleeding, but the Libya thing is really starting to get in the voters head more & more. The next debate is totally just for Foreign Policy and I believe will be mostly about Libya & Iran; If Romney sticks to the facts about both he will hit it out of the park. Obama has no legs whatsoever on any of his policies and all of them have taken America to the fiscal cliff. Obama continues on a daily basis to change his tune on Libya and that proves he is telling a complete lie about the whole Libya.
I'm not sure if the Fast & Furious story will be brought up, but I'm hoping it will because this is another thorn Obama has and could & should be seen as bad for him as the Libya Attack.
Is anyone somewhat worried about if Romney wins how the Obama supporters will act? I've thought about it and feel it to be more talk and has no bite, but I am wondering if there could be some violet protesting going on.

[executioner]

I would've have given anything to see Clinton's face when Romney said that; I'm sure Clinton has one for his recreational purposes.

[gman]

I might be way off, but I think unless the vote is really close and there are widespread cries of fraud, the violence will be miniscule.
I kinda think at this point that Obama doesn't care to win. I see him as the public face for all the progressives pulling the strings behind the scenes. I think he and Michelle believe in progressive ideas, but they prefer the leisure life more. They'll have more of the leisure life if he loses.

[executioner]

I might be way off, but I think unless the vote is really close and there are widespread cries of fraud, the violence will be miniscule.
I kinda think at this point that Obama doesn't care to win. I see him as the public face for all the progressives pulling the strings behind the scenes. I think he and Michelle believe in progressive ideas, but they prefer the leisure life more. They'll have more of the leisure life if he loses.

I think you could be onto something because there were rumors since early 2011 that he hadn't really been 100% going for another term. I do believe there were high ranking Dems that were trying to push him out and try bringing Hillary into the mix. Behind closed doors there are some Dems(elected & party leaders) that are hoping for him to loose a close election. I know Bill & Hillary do not want him to win.

[gman]

I've heard that there are inside sources that say that he is disengaged, doesn't attend briefings, and generally shows that he would rather be elsewhere. It wouldn't surprise me if there are people in the party who say that he is more radical than they are, and he's hurting the party.
I still say that if he loses, the party leadership, the media, and loyal voters will throw him under the bus very quickly. I'm certain there will be a lot of talk about voters remorse and wishing they had nominated Hillary the first time around.
President Clinton was the glory days for them. Gas was cheap and the economy was decent. President Obama is touting higher energy prices and saying that you'll know the economy is good when gas prices are way up. Recreational activities and occupations that require a lot of gasoline are not exclusively republican.

[Petrafan327]

Obama is a liar; we need to vote him out! God help us if he gets in again....

[executioner]

I've heard that there are inside sources that say that he is disengaged, doesn't attend briefings, and generally shows that he would rather be elsewhere. It wouldn't surprise me if there are people in the party who say that he is more radical than they are, and he's hurting the party.
I still say that if he loses, the party leadership, the media, and loyal voters will throw him under the bus very quickly. I'm certain there will be a lot of talk about voters remorse and wishing they had nominated Hillary the first time around.
President Clinton was the glory days for them. Gas was cheap and the economy was decent. President Obama is touting higher energy prices and saying that you'll know the economy is good when gas prices are way up. Recreational activities and occupations that require a lot of gasoline are not exclusively republican.

Oh yeah he will be treated as the plague in Dem Circles; Look at Jimmy Carter 32 years later he is still not welcomed at any DNC activities and nobody wants him campaigning for them, and in alot of circles Obama is looked upon as a loof and a clear puppet. Another thing to remember is most of the "CZARS" he has brought in really don't relate to the mainstream DNC especially on economic social issues. The only ones in the world looking at Obama as their saviour right now is Jimmy Carter and all the ones wanting their free cell phones.

[executioner]

The final debate was very interesting. Romney acted & looked like a president, Obama on the other hand looked like some type of street thug and playing on what they call "street cred". Romney showed that he has a grasp on the whole picture because it all comes back to having a strong economy which enables us to do all we should be doing in the foreign policy realm.

[gman]

Mitt could have gone for the kill on several issues, and it would have fired up the informed conservative crowd, but he took the high road instead. The more I think about it, getting that information out there in the debate didn't really matter. Supporters on either side are firmly planted and won't be swayed at this point. Average undecideds aren't likely to engage deep enough at this point to get into all the stuff Romney left out. Their eyes would likely glaze over.
I thought his brief touches on Libya, the Arab Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Putin jab were enough to reassure the conservative base that he is well informed and knows exactly what is going on.

[gman]

The final debate was very interesting. Romney acted & looked like a president, Obama on the other hand looked like some type of street thug and playing on what they call "street cred". Romney showed that he has a grasp on the whole picture because it all comes back to having a strong economy which enables us to do all we should be doing in the foreign policy realm.

I didn't see the debate, but I have to ask, is that true or is that just what you wanted to see (we tend to find what we're looking for)? Today I was interesting listening to a call in show on Canadian radio about American politics ... I heard this comment: MSNBC is an extension of the Dems, Fox is an extension of the Republican party, and CNN is somewhere in the middle with the lowest ratings of the three. The question on this call in show was whether we have "election envy."

the way you guys do politics down there is on par with sport fanatics.

I think EXE's take is pretty accurate. Although, what does it mean to be presidential? Obama was condescending at times, and he was angry at times.
Also, I thought there were times where he didn't have a coherent response to what Romney said, or he wasn't really listening to Romney, and was intent on repeating a bunch of prepared lines and attacks no matter what. Some people don't care abou their guy acting presidential, just like they didn't care about oral sax in the oval office. Or they just support their parties guy regardless.

[gman]

On the Libya issue specifically, a lot of conservatives in the media are lamenting that Romney didn't go for the homerun and flesh out the time line of what happened with the Ambassador and what was really going on there. I too wish he would have gone there, but again, I don't think it matters. Obama supporters wouldn't have cared, or they would have laughed it off as a right wing conspiracy. Informed Romney supporters understand the time line in Libya and what the ambassador was doing, and they know that Romney knows as well. As for the independents and undecideds, I think Romney has a better shot at getting their vote by sticking to the on the ground domestic realities, and also as many have pointed, by not coming across as a war monger.

[executioner]

On the Libya issue specifically, a lot of conservatives in the media are lamenting that Romney didn't go for the homerun and flesh out the time line of what happened with the Ambassador and what was really going on there. I too wish he would have gone there, but again, I don't think it matters. Obama supporters wouldn't have cared, or they would have laughed it off as a right wing conspiracy. Informed Romney supporters understand the time line in Libya and what the ambassador was doing, and they know that Romney knows as well. As for the independents and undecideds, I think Romney has a better shot at getting their vote by sticking to the on the ground domestic realities, and also as many have pointed, by not coming across as a war monger.

I think you hit the nail on the head; Romney went out of his way last night to make sure that we all knew why they are there; its all about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. Romney kept the Reps & Obama kept the Dems, but Romney stole some more undecideds & independant voters last night just like he has done in each debate. If a voter is still undecided at this point in the campaign than 90%+ end up voting for the challenger on election day. I think where Obama should be worried is how many women & blacks have left his side.

[executioner]

For a week now Gallup Polling has had Romney 51%-52% to Obama 45%-46% and everyone in the Dem camp has said that its wrong and we all should pay more attention to the Rasmussen Polls which have been dead even since the after the first debate; well this morning Rasmussen realeased the latest numbers and they have changed from 47%-47% to 50%-46% with Romney ahead; so Obama where are we suppose to look now for the right numbers???