Mr. Obama Won the Debate: Read The Transcript

The first televised television debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy was won by Kennedy, if you watched on TV and by Nixon if you listened on radio.

Why? Nixon had a good resonant baritone and Kennedy was better looking.

Style over substance. Does anyone actually think when they react to these debates?

Reading the transcript of the debate I’d say President Obama thumped Romney big time, but watching it, I had the opposite impression.

Romney did something I supposed Mr. Obama was not expecting—he kept adopting many of the President’s own arguments, and trying to say he believed in these things all along—Sure, you need government regulations, sure you need to build our economy from the middle class up, as if these were his ideas all along.

 And Romney, as Republicans always do, had better one liners—so now it’s “tricke down governement”  and “some people say the government shouldn’t pick winners and losers, but the government seems to pick only losers.”

And Romney took head on the attacks on his tax breaks for millionaires by flat out lying, “I will not reduce the share paid by high income individuals—I know you and your running mate keep saying that, and I know it’s a popular thing to say with a lot of people, but it’s not the case.”

But, of course, it is the case.

And Romney suddenly becomes the champion of the middle class. “Middle income people are being crushed. And so the question is how to get them going again, and I’ve described it. It’s energy and trade, the right kind of training programs, balancing our budget and helping small business. Those are the cornerstones of my plan”

So now Mr. Romney is singing the Democratic line and calling it Dixie and the Republican anthem. And who is not in favor of small business and the middle class if not the Republicans?

President Obama did respond forcefully, but he allowed his numbers to get in the way of the simple, big ideas. Ronald Reagan would never have done that, at least not without summarizing them with some catchy punch line Rush Limbaugh and all the nattering right wingers could repeat.

Mr. Obama:  “Governor Romney’s proposal that he has been promoting for 18 months calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of $2 trillion of additional spending for our military. And he is saying that he is going to pay for it by closing loopholes and deductions. The problem is that he’s been asked over a hundred times how you would close those deductions and loopholes and he hasn’t been able to identify them.  When you add up all the loophole and deductions that upper income individuals can—are currently taking advantage of—if you take those all away—you don’t come close to paying for $5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in additional military spending. And that’s why independent studies looking at this said the only way to meet Governor Romney’s pledge of not reducing the deficit—or—or not adding to the deficit is by burdening middle class families.”

So what’s wrong with this? 

Let Mad Dog rephrase, at the risk of Monday morning quarterbacking.

“Governor Romney’s proposal that he has been promoting for 18 months calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of $2 trillion of additional spending for our military. Well, that’s just pie in the sky, promise them everything and hope they are too dumb to add up the numbers. He’s going to pay for all this by “closing loopholes” [Finger quotation marks] Oh, wouldn’t we all love to close loopholes. Loopholes is the refuge of the clueless man. There aren’t 5 trillion dollars of loopholes. Wish there were, we’d all have blown those away years ago. The fact is, the loopholes which do exist are only for the rich and Mr. Romney depends too much on billionaires to have the courage to tackle them.  Mr. Romney has become, right in front of your eyes tonight, Mr. and Mrs. America, the champion of the middle class. He is a born again friend of the middle class. After all his intransigence against cutting taxes for millionaires, even when it is the only way to reduce his dreaded deficit. Oh, the deficit is the coming apocalypse, until it threatens his off shore tax havens or the finances of the Koch brothers.  Well, Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America with friends like Mr. Romney, you need no adversaries.

And whenever you hear that line, 'Well, if you’re over 60 you can stop listening because this plan is not going to affect you. You’re grandfathered in,' you know what’s coming next is really nasty. And this from the man who claims to be worried about your grandchildren.”

That’s the way Mad Dog would coach President Obama,

Now, if Mad Dog could just get him on the phone.