"Oh, we got trouble. We got trouble right here in River City."
"It's offensive. It's offensive that you would use the death of any American as a political football. I had to greet those flag draped coffins when they came home."
Finally!
Okay, so the man can throw a punch, not just a single punch but a flurry.
Admittedly, I may not be the most objective viewer, but I thought Mr. Romney looked for all the world like the cheap hustler he is, with his breathless pitch, trying to sell you the home you cannot afford, and Mr. Obama said, "Oh, suddenly you are the champion of the middle class: the man who scorns the 47%."
It's what we wanted to hear out here in the Shire.
Romney did shout out that line "Government cannot create jobs! Government cannot create jobs!" which I wish someone would finally say, "But it sure does every day."
But in the end, Mr. Obama stuck it to Romney for voucher care, for refusing to tax the wealthy and for shipping jobs overseas.
Once again, the moderator allowed Romney to bully his way into the time space, and you could see it on the clock behind him, but Candy was not nearly as inept as Jim Lehrer and the President got enough time to land his punches.
Mr. Obama does have a halting, thoughtful delivery which in some ways works to his advantage, when juxtaposed to that rapid fire, breathy motormouth, try to get-in-that whole-sale pitch style of Mr. Romney. "Oh, we got trouble, we got trouble in River City." I half expect to see him with the boater hat soft shoeing across the stage.
I'm still not sanguine we'll see a reversal of that nugget: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." The people I talk to in my office every day are just as thick and slow and prepared to vote Republican as you can imagine. I do not for one second believe "voters are not fools." Voters elected George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan twice. So you have to have a very delusional notion of what the American electorate is like to hold out much hope for Mr. Obama's chances.
But we can always dream, and for the weekends before the election, Mad Dog will be knocking on doors and doing whatever he can, for all the good it does.
But tonight, at least, Mad Dog will sleep happily, as if lulled by a glass of port after a bracing swim through the waves.
Provided we are done with the earthquakes--Hampton, New Hampshire had a dilly tonight. 4.6. I did not consider it a good omen. At least, we are told it was just an earthquake. Mad Dog thought the Seabrook Nuclear plant had blown. Could have been worse. Say the same for the debate.
But maybe that earthquake was portentous: Maybe that's what hit Mr. Romney tonight. Tonight he was unmasked. What looked like confidence and aggressiveness last week turned out to be hucksterism, a phony sales pitch that hung all over Romney like a cheap suit.
Mad Dog,
ReplyDeleteYes,I agree with everything you've said-the President was great and touched on every point I could think of and didn't in any instance let Romney get away with his lies.At the end when he landed his 47% punch I was practically jumping off the couch. As for Romney with his bloodshot eyes,flailing arm gestures, manic speech and aggressive stances,I agree with you, I thought there-he's finally outed as the taunting, disrespectful, condescending bully that he is. I went to bed thinking all is right with the world..
So how come all the polls don't show Obama as the clear victor? How could some of those polled think it was a tie or that Obama only marginally won? Were they watching the same debate we were?? I think you may have a point about the ineptitude of the electorate.
All I see in the papers and TV is how crucial the undecided women's vote is-especially in the swing states.What aren't they seeing? Yesterday I heard a woman being interviewed say if Romney could "take care of Massachusetts then he can take care of us". What??!!I thought am I going to have to concede that Mad Dog may have had a teeny,tiny point on the subject..( and no I'm not ready to concede that-I'm just saying the thought crossed my mind) For women, even more than men, the choice should be so clear.I don't get it.
On a lighter note,and something I think you'll appreciate,yesterday USA Today listed NH as the #1 beer drinking state in the Union.(459 beers per person per year). Quite a distinction.
Maud
Well, Mad Dog, the data shows Obama actually got 4.5 minutes more than Romney. More importantly, Obama scored a TKO on the discussion around the events in Libya - being presidential in accepting the ultimate responsibility and showing Romney to be wrong on the facts as to what the President had actually said after the attack. From that point on, Romney was out on his feet. The talking heads and polls may say it was tied or very close but Ann Romney certainly knew the score - she looked sick to her stomach after the debate. She knew!
ReplyDeleteYes, I had exactly that What the? reaction when I heard the reactions and saw the polls. I'm just hoping as more careful polls and more time passes a more emphatic response will emerge. But, it must be said, the lack of response is disturbing. It may mean the dye is cast. And this would suggest an Obama loss. How one debate (the first) could do this is beyond me. There must be something the three of us are missing.
ReplyDelete--Mad Dog