Jiminy Christmas, where do I start?
Someone needs to go slap some sense into these morons at the Commission on Presidential Debates. They select "undecided" voters from Long Island, New York, and select a CNN commentator to moderate, and they expect us to believe that the whole event isn't an Obama rally? I guess I'm not really surprised at stuff like this anymore, but it still bugs the crap out of me
So, Candy Crowley: She might as well have been wearing an "I love Obama" button. Seriously, how does someone like this get to moderate a debate? This moveon.org reject was obnoxiously biased:
- She cut Romney off more than Obama 2 to 1.
- She gave Obama more time.
- She gave Obama more opportunities to counter, and cut Romney off during critical statements.
- She ridiculed Romney by *inaccurately* fact-checking him on Obama's Rose Garden speech.
- Her "follow-up" questions were blatantly designed to hurt Romney and help Obama.
- She *audibly* agreed with a point Obama made about education at one point.
On to the audience and the questions - When "the Obamoderator" ridiculed Romney about the Bengazi remark, and the audience clapped and cheered, I think they showed their true colors. These people were not undecided at all - they support Obama. On top of that, the Obamoderator selected the questions, most of which were obviously designed to make Romney look bad and Obama look good
OK, so the debate thingy...
Here are a couple of my general observations:
- Obama is a rude, arrogant SOB. I scold my children when they interrupt like he did, and they are *never* as bad as he was.
- Obama started out on the offensive, which put Romney on the defensive initially.
- Romney was on his game, but Obama was clearly much better prepared this time.
- Toward the end, Obama started to stutter and stumble over his words a bit.
- The Obamoderator was visibly biased (see above), but at times she was just plain incompetent.
- Romney made some very good points that were washed out or completely glossed over by the Obamoderator cutting him off (I'll point them out later).
Employment
Out of the gate, Romney referenced his exemplary performance in Massachusetts. He noted that he knows what it takes to create jobs, unlike the job-killer-in-chief, who just increases debt and loses jobs. He also pointed out that the middle-class is being crushed by the current administration, which he referenced several times in the debate (giving a nod to crazy uncle Joe Biden). Obama failed to thank anyone involved in the debate, unlike Romney. He then proceeded to claim he created 5 million jobs. What he failed to mention was *at least* 5 million jobs were also lost during his Presidency, and pretty-much all of his *green* jobs were temporary, funded 100% with taxpayer money. Obama has been hanging his hat on this "Romney wanted to kill the auto industry", which is completely false. Romney pointed out that he wanted to let them file bankruptcy, which is temporary, and would allow them to emerge stronger (like several companies he referenced). And waddaya know? Chrysler and GM *did* file bankruptcy, even after all the money Obama gave them, and they're stronger now, just like Romney stated.
Gas Prices
Obama began by suggesting he wanted to reduce demand, which is a fine idea... except that you can't force it to happen without a great deal of financial pain and suffering. Romney pointed out if Obama thinks he is such a great proponent of energy independence, then why did he cancel permits, reject the Keystone pipeline, and bring criminal action against drilling companies who did nothing wrong? Obama responded with the typical "You're just a big fat liar, Mitt, waaaaahhhh!"... and of course, he blamed Bush for high gas prices (*sigh*).
Taxes
Romney restated his tax plan, but he also added some specifics this time. He's proposing to eliminate taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains for earners making less than $250,000, which I think is an awesome idea. He's also proposing phasing out typical household deductions for upper income earners. Obama responded with his typical "stick it to the big, bad, mean rich people" rhetoric.
Gender Income Equality
Why are we even talking about this? That "study" that proclaims women make 72% less than men is a bunch of bunk. The study averaged *all* women's income, averaged *all* men's income, and came up with a difference of 72%. When the survey actually followed proper scientific methods, the gender income data was grouped by occupation, and the numbers were basically even, and in fact better for women in some cases. This topic creates conflict when there isn't any, and the Obamoderator knows it. However, I do have to give props to Romney as he pointed out specific bi-partisan policies he enacted in Massachusetts. Obama just talked about his grandmother and blamed conservatives for not wanting to pay for everyone else's birth control.
George W. Bush
For crying out loud, enough Bush bashing already! Liberals blame him for everything, he's evil, we get it. Of course, this was yet another attempt by the Obomoderator to discredit Romney, as the question was specifically directed at him, asking how he will be different from Bush. On the plus side, he made some really good differentiations:
- He'll pursue a much better energy policy, largely based on technology that wasn't available then.
- Bush didn't confront China on unfair trade practices, Romney will.
- Romney will reduce deficits, Bush made them bigger (although not as much as Obama, the champion debt maker).
Obama just blasted Bush a little more, then claimed he created 5.2 million jobs (which we know isn't true - see above). Obama started going on the defensive here.
Previous Obama Voter Reconsidering
So one guy told Obama he voted for him last time, and based on how things are now, he might not this time (cuz that's believable in this group). Obama touted all of his wonderful accomplishments... but amazingly enough, everything still sucks. Huh. Thankfully Romney capitalized on this (as much as the Obamoderator would let him, of course): With Obama, you know exactly what you will get - incomes are down, poverty is up, food stamps are up, and the debt is *way* up (I added the last one ;-).
Immigration
I kinda zoned out a bit on this one, but I think Romney pointed out that the Democrats had full control of the entire government from 2008 to 2010 and didn't implement immigration reform.
Lybia
Obama basically spewed more rhetoric about "being tough"... blah, blah. I like how Romney reminded people of Obama's "International Apology Tour" when he first took office. He also pointed out that Obama kept fundraising and campaigning when he should have been investigating the incident, and that it took his administration over 2 weeks to admit that it was a planned terrorist attack. I chuckled a little when Obama feigned righteous indignation and offense when Romney called him out. This is the part when the Obamoderator decided it would be prudent to fact-check Romney. Um, Candy? Shut the hell up and do your job, *especially* when you don't know what you're talking about (see above).
Assault Weapons
This happens to be one of my hot buttons. Thankfully, the tide is turning on gun control (see my other post - Guns Are Bad, M'Kay?). Both candidates cited improving opportunities for under-priviledged areas as a way to curtail gun violence. Romney, however, proved his effectiveness by mentioning that Massachusetts has the #1 school systems in the nation. He also talked about the importance of families. The best part, though, was when he confronted Obama about Fast and Furious, and Obama had nothing. Romney also tried to talk about his bi-partisan collaboration as the source of his success in Mass., but sadly, the Obomoderator *totally* interrupted him, diminishing his argument. This was the point where Candy *audibly* agreed with a point Obama made... but she's impartial, really.
Outsourcing
I'm sure Obama thought this segment was going to be a slam dunk, but Romney wasn't havin' it. Romney used his phrase "trickle down goverment" (which I love). Basically Obama likes more taxes, more goverment workers, more regulation, etc. Romney made a good argument that the US needs to be a place where businesses want to be, citing our corporate tax rate of 35% vs. Canada's 15% rate. He also mentioned Obamacare as a deterrent. Obama mentioned this phantom moving off-shore tax credit, but Romney discreditted that in the first debate. Obama tried to call-out Romney on his foreign investment, but Romney totally burned him, pointing out that Obama's pension is loaded with off-shore investments. Unfortunately Romney's delivery was a little poor, and the Obomoderator cut him off abruptly.
Biggest Misperception People Have of You
This last segment was just a bunch of grandstanding on both sides. Since it was the last question, I suppose I can excuse it, but frankly I zoned out again.
All in all, Obama can keep telling people what he's done, or what he plans to do, but in the end people believe what they see and experience rather than what he tells them. Romney did a very good job of supporting his platform and dismantling Obama's, and he would have pwned if the Obamoderator hadn't cut him off, skewed the questions, and contradicted him. I suppose in the coming days the debate will be disected and analyzed ad nauseum, but hopefully the truth will come out.
I'd like to thank my hosting company for allowing me to host my website. I'd like to thank TV, for letting me watch the debate last night. And finally, I'd like to thank you, the reader, for reading my post!