The tide seems to have changed whether anyone takes any one thing from this debate to the poll with them or not

the media is spinning this race in romneys favor. That is why the polls will continue to favor him because the media has fallen for the conservative 'liberal bias' talking point.

Though among all the people that I come into contact with (many--from both sides) I am finding that those who supported Obama still support Obama, those who supported Romney, still support Romney.

it's long been classic presidential tactics to appeal to the base during the primaries and then pivot to the center in the general, and the convention and/or the debate is a fine time to start this process.

however, with much discussion about how difficult it is to change anyone's mind these days, and how few people really are up for grabs, the focus has been more on getting those who have already made up their minds to actually get out and vote.

in that light, rmoney's shift to the middle may have been a very dubious move. he's likely to have convinced only a very few people previously on the fence, meanwhile turning off his entire base of supporters, some of whom will now stay home as a result of his apparent abandonment of right-wing"values". not that the right-wing ever had much confidence in rmoney on that point.

i think some of his comments, such as acknowledging that some regulation is essential, will come back to bite him.

He's now "likable enough ".

That is what the LIVs took from it.

We spent 6 months making people afraid to vote for Romney and lost all that work in one night of letting him redefine himself.

if team obama had a strategy for 6 months that rmoney could undo with a decent debate performance, then that would have been a piss-poor strategy. especially if all he had to do was appear more "likeable". that's something that's totally within their control, obama could have done very little to change that if rmoney really was determined to appear likeable.

but i don't agree with that characterization; or at least, i don't agree that that will be the long-term impact. by the time the election rolls around, people will not think rmoney likeable based on the first debate performance.

rmoney will need to keep up whatever likeability he has, and also respond to now being on both sides of several issues. so he's ticked off people who support regulation and now he's ticked off people who hate all regulation as well. that's the sort of thing people carry with them into the voting booth.

vague likeability, at least based on a single performance, isn't.

Before the debate Obama "controlled" the narrative and the election. Now it seems to be the other way around. The 47% speech seems like it was 10 years ago.

the media controls the narrative, and of course they're rooting for the right-winger and challenger.

shortly after the debates are over, even granting rmoney victories in all of them, obama will regain control of the narrative.
especially because i don't see rmoney "winning" the debates without giving obama even more ad fodder though his lies and flip-flops.

And I'm not sure he's housebroken, ifyouknowwhatImean.

I'm gonna throw up.

This is a serious election about serious issues. The whole Big Bird meme is just making us look like idiots.

It's shorthand for Romney's total disregard for ordinary people. The way he talked about trashing PBS' budget to a moderator from PBS--essentially, "I'm going to fire you, ha ha"--just hammers home that the predatory nature of Bain is something Romney relishes. Sesame Street's had a positive effect on millions of Americans, but Romney's willing to trash it to look good with Republicans, even though it won't do jack about the budget. That combination of callousness and self-interest captures Romney's personality in a nutshell in terms that everyone can see and understand.

"Is the reason that Governor Romney is keeping all these plans to replace secret because they're too good? Is it because middle class families are going to benefit too much from them?"

romney appearing strong and centrist. at least that's the image that a substantial number of people walked away with. that and President Obama looking listless and casting his eyes down repeatedly. It's not only about what is said. The overall impression can be potent.

I think that the reaction to the debate and these confounded polls have become that giant sucking sound you hear in a vacuum of little news. What else was on today??????? Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito split, Sandusky implodes, some guy is trying to burn up on reentry with a parachute attached, and another guy spent three days trying to electrocute himself and now needs to lay down for three days to rest.