Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 7:51am

The Debates Are History!

 

 

And what an interesting history, up till this night, the debates have written in this election contest.  In the first debate a lifeless Obama and an energized Romney turned the election on its head with Romney taking the lead from Obama.  The second debate saw an aggressive Obama, full of sound and fury but ultimately signifying little as Romney turned in a very good performance and Obama gained bupkis from his efforts in the polls.  Here are my thoughts on the third and final debate.

 

1.  Libya Missed Opportunity-Libya was the first question out of the box and Romney didn’t attempt to lay a glove on Obama.  Mistake.

2.  I Am Not a Hawk- Romney went out of his way throughout the debate to refute Obama’s argument that he is a hawk.  My guess is that is correct.  If Romney is left to his own devices I believe he would be tightly focused on getting the American economy moving.  Unfortunately American presidents often are not allowed to engage in “of the world forgetting and by the world forgot”, as 9-11 demonstrated.

3.  Lacklustre-Of all the debates I found this one the most dreary.  I think both Obama and Romney were repeating talking points from previous debates and the entire debate had a “been there, done that” feel.

4.  Obama on the Attack-Like most candidates who are behind, Obama was on the attack all night.  It would have been much more effective if he had not also been sneeringly condescending while doing so.

5.  Hollow Military-Romney effectively challenged the reductions in military strength that have been the hallmark of the Obama record on defense.

6.  Not the October Surprise- Obama made some news by denying media reports that the US and Iran are going to negotiate directly.

7.  Split Screen-Obama forgot about the split screen and looked perpetually perturbed while Romney was speaking.  Romney continued the face discipline that he has displayed in each of the debates.

8.  Nation Building at Home- Obama repeated this talking point frequently.  Take money from the military and send it down a stimulus rat hole at home.  Considering how dubious nation building has been in both Iraq and Afghanistan, I find it an odd mantra for Obama to embrace.

9.  Mitt in a China Shop- Romney attacked China once again over fair trade which I think is popular with the voters, whatever the merits or demerits of it as a basis for our trade policy with the Middle Kingdom.

10.  Boring- You know a Presidential debate is truly boring when even I, a political junky’s political junky, find it boring.  I doubt if the debate will have much impact, even for those who stayed awake and didn’t switch channels.  Obama needed a big win, and at best he got a draw.

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Dante alighieri
Admin
Monday, October 22, AD 2012 11:00pm

You know a Presidential debate is truly boring when even I, a political junky’s political junky, find it boring.

At least you watched it. I tuned in for a minute, saw Barry droning on about a trip to a Holocaust museum, and then flipped back to baseball.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Monday, October 22, AD 2012 11:45pm

I think I know why Romney’s performance at this debate was lacklustre. It must have been something he ate at the Al Smith Dinner.

Ivan
Ivan
Monday, October 22, AD 2012 11:48pm

Perhaps Romney couldn’t land a punch over Libya as he is (was) equally gung-ho about the Arab Spring. Its sad that even with Obama’s serial lying over Libya and his arrogant disregard for the life an ambassador, Romney could not derive any advantage.

Kyle Miller
Kyle Miller
Tuesday, October 23, AD 2012 12:45am

#1. I can only assume Romney didn’t hit Libya hard because it’s been going round on the news outlets for weeks now. And, going round again in this debate appears as a “He said. She said” argument for the non-political. Or, Candy Crowley scared the heck out of him.

I actually applauded at one point. I thought Romney did really well hitting Obama for his apology tour.

Rozin
Rozin
Tuesday, October 23, AD 2012 1:31am

Presidential debates are not debates of course but to have 3 of these 90 minute “Specials” is definitely one too many. I would like them to drop the town hall format and just have two debates on domestic and foreign policy. The town hall sounds good but even leaving aside the biased selection of people, the odds of intelligent questions coming from “Undecided” voters is close to zero. Give the candidates alternating 5 or 10 minute blocks for each of them to speak. The moderator (no prima donna or partisan hack) just is there to sound the bell and spray water on them if it gets too heated.

Paul W. Primavera
Tuesday, October 23, AD 2012 6:48am

Glad the debates are over. Praying for a Romney win on November 6th. What will Obama say and do if that happens?

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Tuesday, October 23, AD 2012 7:21am

[…] The Debates Are History! – Donald McClarey, The American Catholic […]

Darwin
Darwin
Tuesday, October 23, AD 2012 8:46am

It struck me by the end of the first exchange that Romney had pivoted from being the challenger to acting like the president, while Obama was still in attack-dog mode, replaying the second debate.

That said, this was, as you say, a pretty lame debate, underscored by the fact that the candidates kept trying to switch to canned domestic policy talking points.

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