◼ Romney goes on offense, forcing Obama to defend record - Jerry Markon/Washington Post
Romney painted Obama’s first term as a time of rising poverty, slowing economic growth and struggle for millions of Americans. He pushed his own plans to lower taxes and bring down the federal deficit, saying his approach would revive the sputtering economy.◼ You Were Fighting For Obamacare, Not Jobs - Breitbart
◼ Romney: 'The Path We’re Taking Is Not Working' - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard
... what we're seeing right now is, in my view, a trickle-down government approach which has government thinking it can do a better job than free people pursuing their dreams. And it's not working. And the proof of that is 23 million people out of work. The proof of that is one out of six people in poverty. The proof of that is we've gone from 32 million on food stamps to 47 million on food stamps. The proof of that is that 50 percent of college graduates this year can't find work. The path we’re taking is not working. It is time for a new path....”◼ Incumbent Debate Curse: Barack Obama Falls to Mitt Romney - Ron Fournier/National Journal
If Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney didn’t win the first of three presidential debates outright, he more than covered the spread. He was personable, funny, and relentlessly on the attack against a heavily favored Obama.◼ Chris Matthews Freaks Out At Obama After Debate: Romney Was "Winning" - Real Clear Politics (video in post below)
The president looked peeved and flat as he carried a conversation, for the first time in four years, with somebody telling him he’s wrong.
Matthews then demanded that President Obama start watching cable news, specifically his program.◼ Obama spokesperson Stephanie Cutter took a swipe at moderator Jim Lehrer's largely passive debate performance tonight, saying the PBS anchor had allowed Mitt Romney to act as the moderator. - Dylan Byers/Politico
"Where was Obama tonight? He should watch -- well, not just Hardball, Rachel, he should watch you, he should watch the Reverend Al [Sharpton], he should watch Lawrence. He would learn something about this debate. There's a hot debate going on in this country. You know where it's been held? Here on this network is where we're having the debate," Matthews said.
"We have our knives out," Matthews said, admitting his network is trying their best to defend Obama and his policies. "We go after the people and the facts. What was he doing tonight? He went in their disarmed."
◼ Andrew Sullivan: 'This was a disaster' - Live-Blogging The First Presidential Debate 2012 - The Daily Beast
◼ Bewildered and lost without his teleprompter, President Obama flailed all around the debate stage last night. He was stuttering, nervous and petulant. It was like he had been called in front of the principal after goofing around for four years and blowing off all his homework. - Charles Hurt/Washington Times
Not since Jimmy Carter faced Ronald Reagan has the U.S. presidency been so embarrassingly represented in public. Actually, that’s an insult to Jimmy Carter.◼ The Early Read: Romney Won, and He Will Gain - White House Dossier
The split screen was most devastating. Mitt Romney spoke forthrightly, with carefully studied facts and details at the ready. He looked right at the president and accused him of being miles out of his depth.
Mr. Obama? His eyes were glued to his lectern, looking guilty and angry and impatient with all the vagaries of Democracy. This debate was seriously chaffing him.
What exactly was Mr. Obama’s strategy here? Did he figure with so many people unemployed in this abomination of an economy he should go for the sympathy vote? Like voters could relate to a guy who is just scared pantsless that he is about to lose his job?...
◼ MSNBC’s Matthews gives epic smackdown of Obama - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
◼ Who won? (POLL) - Althouse
◼ According to a CNN/ORC International survey conducted right after the debate, 67% of debate watchers questioned said that the Republican nominee won the faceoff - CNN
More than six in ten said that president did worse than expected, with one in five saying that Obama performed better than expected. Compare that to the 82% who said that Romney performed better than expected. Only one in ten felt that the former Massachusetts governor performed worse than expected.◼ Best Debate Performance By a GOP Presidential Candidate in More than Two Decades - Bill Kristol/Weekly Standard
◼ Two kinds of shock - neoneocon
It occurs to me that last night’s debate was a shock to both left and right.
The left was shocked because they had really believed Obama’s hype, and he fell so far below their expectations—although perhaps it would be more accurate to say he failed so abysmally to live up to their beliefs.
The right was shocked because they really believed the negative media spin about Romney and he rose so far above their expectations—although perhaps it would be more accurate to say he succeeded beyond their wildest dreams....
◼ The Luntz focus group - neoneocon
