I assume most of you watched at least some of the debate yesterday. If not, let me summarize it: Obama got thumped. Romney cleaned Obama’s clock. Obama had his rear end handed to him. Romney put the smack down, hard. Obama was outclassed in every category by a wide margin. It was a total train wreck… and I loved every minute of it.
Initially I wasn’t a big Romney fan. I accepted him because he was facing off against Obama, but I wasn’t excited about voting for him. Over time I’ve warmed up to the idea a bit, but I still viewed my ballot as a vote against Obama – until last night. I am now 100% voting *for* Mitt Romney.
I’ve decided to write some commentary on last night’s debate. I’m going to break from my typical short article format because I have a lot of ground to cover. Also, I’ll try to stay as coherent as possible, but it was hard to listen and take notes at the same time. Plus, both candidates just rolled over Jim Lehrer, so they didn’t really follow the prescribed format. Here goes:
- Literally the first thing Obama did (after thanking everyone) was to blame Bush. He then identified education and alternative energy as the major components of his plan to grow the economy. Of course, he also took this opportunity to slam the “top-down” economics that Romney supports. This would suggest Obama supports “bottom-up” economics, but nobody actually knows how it’s supposed to work, because it never has.
- Romney responded with a 5-Point plan, which I liked:
- Energy independence
- Open up more trade, particularly in Latin America
- Make American workers competitive through world-class education (Massachusetts has the #1 public school system in the nation)
- Balance the budget
- Champion small business (rather than disdain... "You didn't build that")
- Romney also made a point of his distaste for big government. He also referred to trickle-down government, which made me chuckle.
- Obama countered with his original points: 100,000 more teachers, more educational programs, and investing in alternative energy. Translation - spend more money we don’t have.
- For most of the debate Romney and Obama called each other lairs, but frankly Romney was much more believable. Obama made some vague, unsupported claims like “people will suffer under Romney’s plan", but frankly, Obama’s own record exposed most of his misleading statements for what they were - false.
- Romney made numerous references to state’s rights, which I *loved*.
- Obama looked visibly flustered most of the debate, and a few times he was just rambling. It was also apparent that he wanted the moderator to step in a few times based on his facial expressions and hand gestures./li>
- On to healthcare: Romney is proposing a voucher system for Medicare. Compared to a fully government controlled and administered solution, it is head and shoulders above, and, most importantly, it can remain *solvent*. Obama, of course, supports the big government, big spending alternative. Romney’s program will leave seniors with an individual coverage shortfall of $6000 annually, according to AARP, as cited by Obama. Yea, cuz the AARP is unbiased – please. They should be called The Senior Citizens Liberation Front. By the way – any seniors reading this should look into The Association of Mature American Citizens (http://amac.us/) as an alternative to AARP. It seems that Obama was actually suggesting that government managed medical care is more efficient than private medical care.
- OK, now this part surprised even me. The supremely arrogant one actually said he likes the term “Obamacare”. Not only is this insanely narcissistic, but his unrestrained self-love has blinded him to the fact that his name will forever be associated with one of the most unpopular legislative time bombs of all time. Good luck getting that albatross off your neck.
- On to The ''Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act''. Obama says this legislation was prompted by the Wall Street collapse that was caused by lack of regulation. This makes a convenient excuse to blame the Republicans... except that it is patently false. The real reason for the Wall Street collapse was the Democrats forcing banks to lend to people who had no business borrowing money to buy a house. If you force banks to make a bunch of bad loans in an artificially inflated marketplace, how could you not expect the entire thing to implode?
- Romney made an awesome point that totally burned Obama. He basically told him he should have made jobs and the economy his priority, rather than Obamacare. I fully agree.
- The issue of Romney's health reform in Massachusetts came up. Obama made the claim that Obamacare was based on that, but Romney threw it back in his face:
- Obamacare was 100% partisan, Romney's plan was a collaborative effort
- Romney's plan didn't require a tax increase, but Obamacare does. It also requires $716B to be swiped from Medicare (which Obama never disputed)
- Obamacare requires an unelected government committee to make decisions about our healthcare: Romney's plan didn't have anything like that.
- One of the most laughable moments was when Obama blamed the Republicans for Obamacare being partisan... cuz it's their fault that the Democrats forced through legislation that nobody read, no taxpayer wanted, and they had to use a legislative trick to pass.
- Here's another zinger - Obama used the Cleveland Clinic as an example of how healthcare programs work, presumably as a way to support his position. Romney pointed out that the Cleveland Clinic is, in fact, 100% private... so yea, that's why it works. BURN!
- In the course of the debate, Romney made a reference to the 10th Amendment. I wish he had spent more time on this and really drilled the point. About 90% of legislation at the Federal level could potentially be argued unconstitutional by the 10th Amendment. Basically, if it isn't specifically spelled out in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, then it is the realm of the states or the people. Hey Feds, stop messing with stuff that isn't your business! We may have another blog post dedicated to this topic later.
- So where does Obama get off comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln? More than once he made reference to our 16th president. Mr. Obama, let me assure you that in no way can you compare yourself to that great man. He united America. You, sir, have divided it... bitterly.
- An awesome recurring theme in Romney's narrative was this - choice, choice, choice (thanks to my wife for this one).
- Regarding working with Republicans, Obama feebly tried to paint himself as reasonable and open to discussion. He's really a great guy who wants to listen to all ideas and live together in harmony (Kumbaya and all that). *BUT*, every once in a great while he has to say no. Really? So apparently all the times he sees fit to say no he happens to be talking to the Republicans, but all of the times he says yes he's talking to the Democrats. What a coincidence.
- Then of course, there's this: Look Mr. Obama, it's one thing to lie about your opponent on David Letterman or the View, but it's just foolish to do it while he's standing next to you in front of millions of television viewers. "Mr. President, you are entitled to your own house, and your own plane, but you are not entitled to your own facts." Aw snap!
- Even in his closing arguments, Obama couldn't stop himself from blaming Bush *again*. Thankfully, earlier in the evening Romney pointed out that Obama has been President for 4 years, and rather than improving, most things have become worse.
There's alot more I could write, but this post is already too long.
Normally the bias of the mainstream media would spin a poor performance as a draw, so if the liberal pundits are actually conceding to Romney, you know it had to be downright awful.
I can't wait for the next one!