Friday, October 05, 2012

Who Won the Presidential Debate?

Who won the presidential debate? That seems to be the main question bandied about in the wake of the October 3rd debate between President Obama and Governor Romney. And the general consensus seems to be that Mitt Romney won.

However, there is more to this debate than that simple question. Clearly President Obama could have done a lot better, but the big surprise is how well Governor Romney performed. He had been vague on his campaign policies, and that vagueness did show-up in this debate, but he had a better over-all strategy for his policies than in the previous several month. And, I'm sure, his recent release of semi-candid remarks had sparked many people to watch the debate simply to see if he would verbally misstep again.

President Obama, it was evident, was prepared to debate on some of the few points of policy that Governor Romney had brought-up along his campaign trail. However, that was no help to the President and he was found floundering, as Governor Romney debated in favor of his new policy ideas.

All this being said, Governor Romney showed himself to be a much better contender than was previously evident. If President Obama prepares himself better for the next debate, which I am sure he will-and with the help of his aids-then we should have a quite interesting and lively debate when they meet again on October 16th.

A side note: It was very refreshing to see how the candidates were so congenial with each other at the debate on October 3rd-a definite change from previous years. Let's hope that continues.

Links: 2012 Presidential Debate Schedule