the media appeared stunned by the whole thing. Between the jobs data conspiracy theories and explaining Mitt's sudden attempt to Etch-A-Sketch his despicable comment, the fallout from failing to sucker the President into giving him a stage to apologize is hilarious.

It would have had an impact during the debate. As you implied, he would have been able to capitalize on an apology in front of more than 60 million people, in his own words, with Obama appearing petty for bringing it up.

Instead, Mitt was so desperate, he failed to realize that an apology on Fox wouldn't have the same impact. The media then had to deal with the fallout, which turned into a debate about Mitt's credibility.

Far fewer people heard his fake apology on Fucked News than in the debate. If the debate had 60 million people watching, he probably got about 1/5th of that on his nutbuddy's network.

Obama not bringing the 47% denied Romney an out on national television.

I think Obama did what needed to be done. I think he will meet people's expectations in the next debate. This isn't the same as doing better, I don't think he has to do better. But, people wanted to see the Obama they see when he does his stump speeches. That would have been the wrong one to send in after the Gish Galloper. Yes, it was hard to watch Romney Gallop through a debate and run over a moderator in the process. But, it played almost exactly how it needed to be played. I wouldn't change a thing.

at the debate or why would he do it right after when the tv pundits said he'd won?

Mitt got shafted by Pres Obama not bringing it up and no one knew what was even happening At the Time. Maybe a few..but, that 47% was sure questioned a lot..as in why didn't PBO even mention it?!

with his marbles.

my hero, Bernardo de La Paz!

brilliant and thank you. LMSP

I never did. I assumed Obama knew it as one of Romney's "zingers".

There were other things Obama didn't mention also not to give mitt a paltform to spew out bull. For every topic you can think of that Prez could have but didn't mention, think about how mitt lied about taxes and healthcare and wonder no more.

Get out there and act like you are the victim of outrageous charges every time your opponent says something you have been saying all along.

"Tax cut? I don't have a tax cut for the rich! You keep saying that!"

It was amazing to watch. The kind of thing you would expect in a campaign for mayor.

CSPAN, and the Internet streaming.

Yea, I can see Mitt & his camp getting all excited in anticipation of embarrassing the President over this.

I don't doubt there were other issues Mitt was going to pounce on. I'm sure he was well rehearsed on any number of issues.

My son text me that night saying Mitt was baiting the President and Obama wasn't falling for it.

I think my son was right.

I still haven't figured out TV in my house since I got rid of cable. I can't get my HDTV antenna working and wondering if I can just go without.

Been without a TV for two years now. Internet has more content worth watching than I'll ever need and C-SPAN is great for the live political stuff.

www.tvfool.com and find out what kind of antenna you really need, then order the best reviewed one of that type from Amazon. I'm 45 mi from my city and I wound up with a recommendation for what's essentially an 8 x 10 piece of plastic taped to the wall behind my tv and it works perfectly. Who knew there was a transmission antenna way out of town in line of sight to me?

We use Netflix dvd rental and use internet. Everything that is "current news" can be found on the internet, there are so many live streams and follow up video.
I actually have more time to find stuff because I am not watching tv.
Oh, and have not seen an advertisement for ages, now THERE's a giant plus.

with an Etch-A-Sketch candidate who believes that serial lying is an accepted or acceptable debate tactic. Before the debate, people wondered "which" Mitt Romney would actually show up. On Wed we saw the answer - someone who repudiated nearly everything he had previously said on the campaign trail - or anywhere else for that matter.

While I'm not sure whether Obama's failure to mention the 47% or other things that I personally would have liked to see addressed during the debate was a conscious tactic, he certainly did the right thing by not giving Romney a huge forum for putting his own spin on it or anything else, for that matter, other than the lies he had prepared. After all, who really knew that Romney would actually apologize as he did? He's a walking contradiction, even to himself.

There are still plenty of us who believe that if one takes away points for outright lying, for overbearing and bullying behavior and for discourtesy, there is no way that Romney "won" the debate - even on the night itself. He certainly didn't succeed in what he needed to do, which was to make himself more "likable" and credible.

Yes, Mittens may have been more "spirited" and "vigorous" than the Prez was onstage, but does any thinking person actually want a rude and lying bully in the Oval Office? Again?

Clever, clever man.

47% or not, the President might have perked up, picked his head up, and AT THE VERY LEAST corrected the "$716 billion from Medicare" lie. THAT was an important subject to GET OUT THERE.

been stronger and more polished.

You can't help but think that there's some strategy being played out by both candidates, hence Obama's passive demeanor. I don't believe how anyone can be an independent undecided voter this election. If you haven't made your mind up by now, you're a misinformed .. IDIOT.

...would have felt encouraged to rant and rave the way he did? Obama had to make Romney believe he was weak and incapable of responding to all of the crap he was spewing. By enduring short-term pain, how much additional ammunition did the Obama team gather to fire at Romney for the remaining 4-5 weeks?

Of the 67.2 million viewers who tuned in for the debate, how many do you think never heard ""the 47%" and/or the "$716 billion from Medicare lie"? How many times has "the 47%" been mentioned by the Obama Campaign and the media? How many times has the "$716 billion from Medicare lie" been mentioned? How often do you think they will be mentioned between now and Election Day?

Mitt repeated it after it was repudiated.

I wish the false information on green companies going bankrupt had been addressed but at least we got to hear about Corporate Welfare.

mitt a platform to address those remarks, or to lie about Bain. If PBO had given mitt an opportunity to address them, his attacks would become moot and ineffective. I even tweeted Lawrence O'Donnell about that.

sorry, I just don't see it. Rather if Obama had simply reiterated that Romney said that he thinks 47% of Americans refuse to take responsibility for their lives, and consider themselves victims it would have made Romney look bad. Then once Romney apologized, Obama could then have stated that Romney truly is an Etch-A-Sketch, who says what he does depending on what kind of audience he is talking to. And no, Romney, Mr. "No apologies" wouldn't have cried.

moment? I didn't need the President to point and yell YOU LIED, it was self evident. I am not brain dead, everyone and their brother was watching the debate to see if President Obama would smack down Romney...that tape was there on the dais with Romney, and people were listening to Romney debate the Romney in the tape....Obama didnt really have to be there to point and say "YOU LIE!

and what you just said does not even come close."

How Obama let Romney get away with the lie that Obama cut $700 billion from Medicare is just beyond me. 67 million were watching. I still haven't gotten over it. And it's not like Obama didn't know Romney was going to say this. Romney and Ryan have been saying this lie on the campaign trail for weeks.

There are presidential ways of calling out a lie. You don't have to resort to Louie Gomert's crassness. Further, this is not a State of the Union speech where you are supposed to let the President make his case without comment. This is a freaking debate. You can't let your opponent lie about you like that and leave it unchallenged. People will assume (and have) that it is true.

Man, if Obama does not call Romney on this horrific whopper at the townhall debate, I really think he is giving this election to Romney.

you will see the exact same debater you saw the other night. It is no biggie for a sitting President to do poorly in the first debate. I thought it went well...he didn't have to pull an upset, just keep the status quo.

No gaffs, no real soundbites, just another debate... Imagine what the Right wing media would make of a black man attacking a white man calling him a liar...Really think about this...the very group Obama NEEDS to peel away from Romney are WHITE BLUE COLLAR WORKERS...how do you think they would take the image of a passionate Obama calling Romney on his lies? IMPRESSIONS....I believe Obama played this well...Biden will do the heavy lifting...with the Budget Wonk.

I appreciate you trying to talk me down off the ledge. I am looking forward to Biden tearing the smarmy Rand freak a new one. You better be around to save me if he doesn't!

I just needed Obama to challenge Romney from trying to reinvent himself as someone who gives a shit, which Romney was able to do in the minds of millions of Americans, because Obama didn't challenge him. Romney got way with deceit.

to point out the obvious? You know Romney lied, would it have more weight if it were verified? For me that is a waste of time...the only people who loved Romney, marking his territory like a predator animal, the base. They didn't hear what he said....When he argued that Dodd Frank was really weak and he wanted to replace it with stricter regulations...they should be shitting diamonds... They wanted a vicious attack dog, that was why we had the "anyone but Romney" bullshit primaries...they were trying out the attack dogs...They hate Obama, they want him Humiliated...to them it's personal....I wanted to hear what Obama had to say.

Romney ended up debating Romney in that 47% tape...anything he says is suspect...add with that his relish to off BIG BIRD...his goose is cooked...ease up. Nothing has changed.

tended to better regard Romney as the person he's trying to portray, i.e. one who cares, then yes of course Romney's deceit only works to improve Romney's chances. Challenging that deceit by referring to Romney's quotes works to mitigate this misperception of him. It's not all that "obvious" as you point out to many of the more uncertain voters in this country that Romney is as bad as he really is, and not challenging such deceit was a HUGE mistake on Obama's part. There was so much available--especially direct quotes from Romney himself--to help voters see just how uncaring Romney truly is. It's true that some of them may have already heard Romney's comments from his Boca Raton speech, but perhaps not all of them, and even for those who had already heard them it would have gone a long way to counter Romney's bullshit, if Obama had reminded them that this is the way Mr. Romney truly is by re-iterating these comments. Not only do people forget as they go about their daily business, but also repetition emphasizes crucial points. Now Romney's surge in the polls just shows that the "obvious" wasn't so obvious to a portion of the electorate.

All Obama had to say after Romney started in the first part of the debate discussing some down-on-her-luck person he met was, "Oh, and how would she feel, Mr. Romney, if she discovered that there's a good chance she's one of the 47% of Americans that you don't worry about, that you feel aren't taking responsibility for themselves, that you believe view themselves as victims?" and "you truly are like an Etch-A-Sketch, Mr. Romney, as one of your Republican challengers in the primary debates put it--you change your position based on who your audience is."

Please don't think I'm blaming Obama himself--I think Plouffe may have given him bad advice, and Kerry wasn't aggressive enough as a debate partner in the role of Romney. Also, Al Gore may be right that Denver's altitude affected The President.

On a brighter note, I think maybe you're right that Romney's goose is still cooked, as there is still some chance that Obama can win in Iowa (a lot of people there already voted), Colorado (up by 3 points), Wisconsin (up by 2 points), New Hampshire and thus win the election.

That's definitely one demographic that doesn't want to apologize for anything ever.

So Mitt trampled his own dick once again, this time with his base.

He might as well staple the damn thing to the bottom of his wingtips at this point.

You nailed it, for sure LynnSin!

When you mentioned how SHmITt must have been peeing his pants waiting for that squeeze-a-tear moment, my FIRST thought was of a real, true psychopath I once got sucked in by. He got great glee out of lying and suckering people. He knew the effect of a well-placed tear--he spelled it out for me in a plan he once described.

That was a story that would be longer to tell than it's worth; but yeah, psychopaths definitely plan out their acts for the most emotional hookage. Pre-meditated, as they say.

Is Obama's body language. Apparently he wasn't aware of the split screen. How is that possible? This campaign is on top of everything! Seems so strange that Obama didn't look more on top of it .....even with the barrage of lies coming at him .....

suggested that PO's appearance may have been due to the fact that he flew into Denver at 2:00 p.m. on the day of the debate and may not have had time for his lungs to adjust to the high altitude. I thought this very credible because my late husband I took our youngest two children skiing near Denver several years ago, and we all spent the first day in bed from altitude sickness. I understand that Romney had more prep time in the area than PO.

I also saw PO looking down on the split screen, but I also saw him writing the whole time he was looking down. You have to consider that this was the very first time he was hearing this new Romney being presented, so naturally he was making good notes on which to counter. He did not seem at all intimidated or timid, it was just mind-boggling that Romney flipped the way he did. How do you debate someone who completely misrepresents his positions. I just figured PO felt, like I did, it was a waste of time and energy to debate this person. It was like that arcade game Whack-A-Mole, utterly ridiculous.

I live in NM .....people get winded.... sad that general public can be so fickle. Saw Pres O live in Northern New Mexico four years ago ....energetic charismatic .....he's gotta bring this to the TV next time

really, President Obama could have appeared petty, stooping himself to the kind attack that should have reserved for (sorry to say this) "attack dogs," if he had mentioned that types of things like 47%. I'd rather not see him do that.

Frankly, I thought before the debate that the President should engage Romney strictly on ideas, policy and facts, absolutely avoid anything personal or appear to be personal (ad hominem). I thought he should be respectful to the opponent, but firmly disagree and state his case to the people. He was OK on the part of being calm, cool, but off on the part of being astute, giving firm response, and rejecting Romney's non-sense and lies.

I empathized with President Obama because I went through something similar. I was so tired to argue with my ex during my divorce negotiation because there was so much delusion, twisted facts, and distorted reality that I didn't even know where to begin, and decided it was not worth my time and effort. I just let all the blah blah past through and responded only on the executable clauses .

Remember, Pres Obama has the risk of "angry, aggressive black man" image. Had their demeanors were swapped, had he behaved like Romney, many would have thought he were a pompous, obnoxious, aggressive (black) jerk, while President "Romney" would have appeared to be a man of reason, who had chosen gentleman silence in the face of irrational attack.

I hope he will close the deal in subsequent debates. Don't get bogged down in Romney lies and crude cheapskate tactics. Just tell Romney that "I disagree with the Governor on these points...because (give short, succinct, simple explanations)" and "I believe this is the right path for our country...(make his simple point)." Just be respectful to the audience intelligence and have faith in the American electorate.

He will never convince those hellbent on making him one-term president to vote for him. (Just like Romney not worrying about the 47% who would not vote for him - he made the mistake of lumping these into the 47% who don't pay income tax). Pres. Obama should just focus on giving his message to the people, including those who would not vote for him, that his vision and policy is the best for America. (Just like in his ads).

Just kidding, but may be Obama should invoke G H W Bush's matra "stay the course..."

the president could have smacked down his walk-back in front of those 50 million people, called him out on his elitism and pandering.

The debate performance sucked, but the president survived it, mostly because Rmoney is a loathsome liar and panderer. Can we please stop trying to polish that turd?

And make sure Obama does NOT make that mistake at the next debate. Unfortunately, the next debate won't have 67 Million watching, the number will drop off as the debates go on.

If Mitt pulled off the 'Mr Sincerity act' it would have made Obama look bad.

Plus the dumbass went ahead on Hannity and did his apology there to an audience that probably AGREED with Romney's comments about the 47%. Not a good move.

I think that's a great point, although I think he should subtly mention it in the next debate. Say, "I care about 100% of the American people" or something like that.

Also if Obama mentioned 47%, the tax returns, Bain, etc., all of that would have probably been drown out by the overarching narrative that he lost the debate, which means that months of building up these attacks would go down the drain and make Obama look petty. I think Obama played it smart. The only thing he should have done was pushed back more on the lies and appear more upbeat and passionate.

He did not have to wait for Obama to bring it up. There were a dozen times in the debate he could have worked it in.

The guy spent 2 weeks working on his zingers but zingers only work if someone else says something first.

lol

Obama needs to take every chance he gets to bury this pathological liar. I was so disappointed in his debate performance. However, I enjoyed watching Chris Matthews blow a gasket and I enjoy Chris a lot.

What a GREAT point !! What a BRILLIANT point !!

Now please explain why Obama did not refute ALL the other Romney LIES !!

Never mind those poll numbers in swing states showing Romney in the lead or gaining ground since the debates. Obama was, as always, the superbrilliantawesomechessgrandmaster. And when he does mention the 47% in the next debate, and does better, that, too, will be a sign of his superbrilliantawesomechessplaying.

I expect to see a very different Obama the next 2 debates.

The third debate is foreign policy.

And we'll see whether the 47% is mentioned. And which Obama shows up. It's a town hall format, which will make it harder for Romney to dominate things, and it's almost impossible for Obama to do worse, but we'll see. It's sad that the only time he demonstrates fire is when he's in trouble. Sad and destructive.

And after the first initial shock that Obama didn't fight back during the debates, the main comment by the news pundits was all about Romney and his lies. So in the long run it became more about the crap Romney tried to talk about vs Obama's debate performance. Not to mention the Big Bird issue..

I think playing this like a boxing match strategy, going 3 rounds, taking the punches from your opponent so you can let him have it in the later rounds is a big gamble. A gamble that was not needed especially when he came in with such an upper hand in the race. Leaving your supporters baffled for two weeks and slipping in the polls does not seem like smart politics.

But instead, Obama just let Mitt spew and spew, offering only weak challenges and, even worse, stating several times that he AGREED with Mittens!

Please stop fooling yourself -- Obama blew it and all the rationalizing his debate performance away doesn't change that fact. He let Mittens steamroll him.

To excuse Obama's lack of mention of the 47% as a superior chess move does not fly with me. Obama should have raised it, and beat Mittens over the head with it relentlessly and called him on his lies when he lied about it.

Obama did none of that. To say I was disappointed in his debate performance is putting it mildly. I may be a Democrat, I may have gone to an Obama rally, I may have donated all the money I can to his campaign, but I am not going to fool myself that Obama didn't blow the debate. He did.

I'm sure you would have it all sewn up for him.

Can you find the time to actually support him? Or have you given up and now assume Mitt is our President?

When he debates a serial liar like Mitt Romney, I expect Obama to call Romney on his lies, not give his stump speech -- and instead of addressing Romney's lies, what Obama gave during that debate was a recitation of his stump speech. I should know - I've heard it live.

Maybe you are forgiving of Obama throwing the debate away - but I am not.

These rationalizations and excuses and fantasies about third dimension chess do not reflect the reality that Obama badly flubbed the debate.

It's really interesting that you automatically accuse anyone who doesn't blind herself to that fact, a Romney supporter. Are you saying that Obama supporters must either blind themselves to reality or be seen as turncoats?

But it would have probably made Mitt look even worse if he brought it up. Sometimes one can't play the contrition role unless the subject is broached by another.

Should he have slipped it in while he was pointing angrily at Obama while telling his umpteenth lie?

Instead Mitt gave us hit on Big Bird.

Last edited Mon Oct 8, 2012, 03:34 PM - Edit history (1)

It was unreal that Mitt said that he would balance the budget on the back of Big Bird by firing him.

I wonder if Mitt lives on Sesame Street in his imagination.

Mitt never released all of the official records for the 2002 Olympics.

When Mitt was Governor of Massachusetts, he made his staff use their own private hard drives, and then he had them remove them when he left office, so that no one knew what him and his staff talked about in their e-mails or had saved on all of their computer's hard drives.

Now, while running for President, Mitt won't release his federal income tax forms.

What is Mitt hiding, anyway?

I've never seen anyone like him before, someone that constantly hides the records of what he did when he was working somewhere, like for the Olympic committee.

Did Mitt steal money from the Olympic committee to pay for his run for Governor?

There's something dark and ominous about a guy who hides all of his business dealings and information like that.

and it's not inelegantly stated.

Brilliant analysis, LynneSin, and I'm looking forward with you to rounds 2 and 3.

You are probably right.

....then went on to beat McCain as the first African American to become elected President:

HE AND HIS CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION ARE F-ING SMART AND THE BEST STRATEGISTS!!!

Huh? first of all, there are what? TWO more debates coming?

Rmoney's 47% comment will likely come up in the next debate-- which is Town Hall format,
where people in attendance ask questions of the candidates.

the comment didn't come up in the debate last week, simply because it wasn't brought up,
and it didn't fit in with the pre-prepared debate subjects-- which BTW, the candidates
approved-- well before the debate.

I'm wayyy more interested in WHY Obama ignored Rmoney's debate statement (stated
at least three times) "You spent $90 Billion dollars on incentives for green industries-- in one
year".

Obama's response: crickets...........

Why was that, I wonder? I can make a good guess as to why.

Unfortunately, in the interest of political expediency, Obama lost an excellent opportunty/teachable
moment-- to explain to the American people just why tax incentives for our green/alternative energy
industries are needed/important.

Geez now he's gonna look like George Constanza from the Seinfeld episode "The Comeback" ESPECIALLY if he tries to apologize again. Now it's almost 3 weeks later and Mitt is looking awfully stupid even attempting to apologize.

right.. I think he really blew in that little presentation to his millionaire pals in FL.

Not sure if Obama needs to bring this up in the debates..

mention that it took him 17 days to do so - after Romney "stood by" what he said - many times.

he also exposed what mitten`s wife was afraid of..he`s not stable enough to handle the job