Carol Goldberg, Presidential Debate Questioner, Rates The Candidates' Answers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/carol-goldberg-presidential-debate_n_1973774.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Carol Goldberg waited a long time to ask a short question.

Goldberg arrived at Hofstra University for the second presidential debate at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. More than 12 hours later, CNN's Candy Crowley finally asked her to stand up in front of President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

"The outsourcing of American jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy," Goldberg said. "What plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the United States?"

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Reached at home by The Huffington Post on Wednesday, Goldberg, who lives about 20 minutes from Hofstra in Woodbury, N.Y., said she appreciated both candidates' answers.

"It was great," she said. "It was a question that I really wanted the answer to for a long time and I thought the candidates answered it fairly well."

But she liked Obama's answer a little better.

"The gist of Romney's response is they're not supposed to do this, whereas President Obama spoke a little bit more directly to the issue because he mentioned that he wanted to close loopholes, and he also mentioned he wanted to bring science and technology and manufacturing to the U.S."

She liked Obama's dig at Romney's private sector work: "It's true he’s done the very thing we're trying not to do."

And Goldberg liked Obama's remark that "some jobs aren't coming back," even though the Romney campaign used it against Obama after the debate, saying in a press release the president had given up on his job growth promises.

"Honestly, he did say, look, some jobs aren’t coming back, and I believe that's true," Goldberg said. "I thought that was a very good answer."

Goldberg said she runs an office for her husband, who works as a financial services headhunter. She said their health insurance premiums have seen double digit percentage increases each of the last three years. She doesn't know whether Obama's health care reform law will ameliorate that problem or make it worse.

Still, Goldberg said she's leaning a little closer to voting for Obama as a result of the debate, though she's still thinking it over. She has three weeks to make up her mind.