Krauthammer on the debate: Romney by two touchdowns

Charles Krauthammer    "With a remarkable display of confidence, knowledge and nerve, Mitt Romney won the first 2012 debate going away.

""Romney didn’t just demonstrate authoritative command of a myriad of domestic issues. He was nervy about it, taking the president on frontally, not just relentlessly attacking, but answering every charge leveled against him — with a three-point rebuttal."....

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"On the other hand, Obama just isn’t that good. Not without a teleprompter. He’s not even that good at news conferences — a venue in which he’s still in charge, choosing among questioners and controlling the timing of his own answers. 

"By the end of the debate, Obama looked small, uncertain. It was Romney who had the presidential look."

http://hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com/

Cartoonists respond to the debate

conservativedailynews.com

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Where’s that Teleprompter When You Need It?   "The “yowza boss” attitude of the White House press corps is not conducive to making one fast on his feet.  Nor is becoming an alternate cast member of ‘The View.’ Maybe his schedule for the day read “9PM: slo–jamming the debate with your PBS homies,” because he was woefully unprepared."

/hopenchangecartoons

Wither free speech; America still the greatest nation in the world?

Atlas Shrugs; FREE SPEECH UNDER SIEGE IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
"...we had the sad misfortune of watching a U.S. District Court Judge discard, denigrate, downplay and dismiss our most basic law of the land: the freedom of speech."
.... "Free speech is in its death throes. Clearly, Collyer is trying to establish a precedent that will allow for the criminalizing of "hate speech" -- which will mean any speech the political elites want to silence. It is indeed a very dark day."

Caroline Glick weighs in on the left's war against free speech and the truth about jihad.  "The Left’s support for Obama’s bid to repress freedom of speech in relation to the movie was not an isolated incident. Today the enlightened leftists of New York and Washington are apoplectic because a federal judge required New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to post paid advertisements by the Stop the Islamization of America human rights group calling for Americans to support Israel against jihad.
"The content of the ads is self-evidently reasonable. They read, “In any war between the savage and the civilized man, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”"SIOA’s founder Pamela Geller submitted the ads to the MTA last year in response to a rash of anti- Israel ads calling for the US to end its support for the Jewish state. Those ads were published on New York buses and subways and on public transportation around the US."

Top Five Obama-Biden Tax Hikes Burying the Middle Class

Americans for Tax Reform  "On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden said the middle class has ‘‘been buried the last four years.’’ Taxpayers agree."

"The following are the top five tax increases on the middle class signed into law by the Obama-Biden administration:"
     1. The Obamacare Individual Mandate Non-Compliance Tax:...
     2. The Obamacare Tax on Union Member and Early Retiree Health Insurance Plans:....
     3. The Obamacare Flexible Spending Account Tax – a.k.a. “Special Needs Kids     Tax”:....
     4. The Obamacare Medicine Cabinet Tax:....
     5. The Obamacare High Medical Bills Tax:....

So, what does Obama do now?  "We know that despite being president of the Harvard Law Review, he never wrote a signed scholarly article for that journal, an unprecedented (to use his favorite word) dereliction of duty for one holding that office. We know that despite teaching at the University of Chicago Law School, he never published a scholarly article, or even participated in the intellectual life of the faculty.
"So there is good reason to suspect that Obama has never in his life had to buckle down and actually deliver an intellectual product."

From American Thinker:

Poll: Uncommitted voters give Romney debate victory

Liberal heads exploding all over the net
Obama's Got The Blues
PJ Media;
Knockout: Mitt Romney Crushes Barack Obama in First Presidential Debate
"At the 30 minute mark, moderator Jim Lehrer abandoned his designated role and coached President Obama to explain his belief that in order to close the deficit, you have to cut spending and raise revenue.  This happened after Romney used Obama’s own 2010 vintage argument for maintaining current tax rates instead of letting Bush-era tax cuts expire. Lehrer offered Obama what amounted to a lifeline. A pattern soon developed: The president would pick out an unpopular figure and bash them to argue for more taxes. The first time, he used Donald Trump. The second, he bashed Exxon-Mobil."

UK Mail; Lucianne, as usual has some great posts beginning with this one:
Was it a lack of a teleprompter, poor body language, or 'the smirk' now being mocked by the GOP in new video? Why Obama failed
"One culprit for Mr Obama's failure could have been his body language - the President looked at his lectern and scribbled notes rather than fixing his gaze on his opponent.

His sometimes surly demeanour has already been exploited by the Republican National Committee, which has released an online video entitled 'Smirk' featuring a montage of the President's 'visibly uncomfortable' expression alongside extracts from Mr Romney's performance."

And this one: Why was President Obama so bad?
"Below we take on a few of the likeliest reasons for Obama’s out-of-character performance — culled from conversations with Democratic strategists and our own observations."

Obama the debater: Making Jimmy Carter look awesome

Here's another list for you: Six reasons Mitt Romney won the first debate
"While Romney’s workman-like performance may have lacked one single big moment, there were a lot of reasons he came out ahead."

Obama's "Lazy": A Stunned MSNBC Host Gives Romney Surrogate Opportunity To "Take It Back"

Greg Hengler at Townhall  "The tension is so thick during this segment with Romney surrogate, John Sununu and MSNBC host, Andrea Mitchell. She seems like a lovely lady. Alan Greenspan should consider himself the luckiest guy on earth.
"Be sure to stick around for the "look" by Mitchell at the end."

sodahead.com/

Does Obama want out?

Steve McCann  "After all there is a purported $12 million house waiting for him in Hawaii, he will be wined and dined as well as feted as America's First Black President for the rest of his life.  Not to mention he has solidified a place in the nation's history books for that one reason alone.  Nothing is more important to Obama than celebrity and adulation as well as the attendant wealth that goes with it.  With the economic and international turmoil over the horizon, which would be blamed on him, the next four years will not be the same fun and games as the first four."

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Late thoughts on the debate

Weasel Zippers; CNN Poll: 67% Say Romney Won Debate, Only 25% For Obama…

Sam Feist

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@SamFeistCNN

BREAKING: Results of CNN-ORC Post-Debate flash poll. Who won the debate: Romney 67%, Obama 25%. +_ 4%. #CNNDebate

Thomas Lifson at American Thinker opines: Romney triumphs in first debate  "The only question is how far the polls will move in Romney's direction. And whether this weak performance by the president will demoralize his campaign. Obama appears to [have] been overmatched and outclassed.

"The body language clearly [showed] Romney was in charge. Obama frequently looked down when Romney was speaking or made a point, and Romney looked right at Obama with clear eyes."

Chris Matthews Freaks Out At Obama After Debate: Romney Was "Winning"  Freak out, he did.

""Where was Obama tonight? He should watch -- well, not just Hardball, Rachel, he should watch you, he should watch the Reverend Al [Sharpton], he should watch Lawrence."

""What was Romney doing?" Matthews asked. "He was winning." "

Legal Insurrection has some fun with Chris Matthews' reaction

Romney goes on offense, forcing Obama to defend record

"Appearing more vigorous than he often is on the campaign trail, Romney painted Obama’s first term as a time of rising poverty, slowing economic growth and struggle for millions of Americans. He pushed his own plans to lower taxes and bring down the federal deficit, saying his approach would revive the sputtering economy."

Lands Punches Against Obama in Debate - Cameron Joseph, Hill
Why Romney Succeeded - William Galston, Huffington Post

Real Clear Politics

On the road

On the road again on Thursday, so will post on the debates in the evening.
I do see Obama staring daggers at Mr. Lehrer when he is ready for Romney to stop speaking.

Apologize Now-Starring Barack Obama

Conservative Daily News  "When Obama first came on the scene I knew he was no ordinary candidate. While everyone was falling under his hypnotic spell I sensed something very wrong here. When he went to Cairo and apologized for America calling us arrogant and dismissive towards them I knew his position right away. In an interview with George Stephanopolus he spoke of his muslim faith. In one of his books he spoke of the fact he would support the muslims if the winds took a different direction. This would explain his current attitude towards the recent terrorist attack on 9/11 to our embassies in Cairo and Libya. He apologized to them instead of showing anger. They attack and killed our people and burn our flags and he apologizes to them???"

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/10/branco-cartoon-needs-four-more/

Did Lockheed Martin Just Win Virginia for Obama?

ABC News  "In a statement Friday, GOP Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte accused Obama of putting "his own reelection ahead of the interests of working Americans and our national security by promising government contractors that their salary and liability costs will be covered at taxpayer expense if they do not follow the law that requires advance warning to employees of jobs that may be lost due to sequestration. … Apparently, President Obama puts politics ahead of American workers by denying them adequate time to plan their finances and take care of their families. The people who work in the defense industry and other government contracting companies deserve as much notice as possible that they are on track to lose their jobs." "

Lindsay Graham: Obama’s Cash Bribe Of Defense Contractors To Affect Election ‘Patently Illegal’   "The guidance said the Pentagon did not anticipate killing any contracts on Jan. 2, the day automatic spending cuts are set to begin hitting defense spending. The guidance also said the federal government would cover severance costs that are mandated under a federal layoff notices law. (Emphasis in the original)

White House Wins: Lockheed Martin Won’t Issue Layoff Warnings Days Before Election  "Why did the administration get so concerned about Lockheed sending out the notices? Well, because Lockheed is a major employer in Virginia, a significant swing state. As The Atlantic put it in a headline, “Did Lockheed Martin Just Win Virginia for Obama?” "

""The guidance said the Pentagon did not anticipate killing any contracts on Jan. 2, the day automatic spending cuts are set to begin hitting defense spending," reports The Hill's Jeremy Herb. "The guidance also said the federal government would cover severance costs that are mandated under a federal layoff notices law." Voila! The next business day, Lockheed Martin announces it will no longer be issuing layoff notices." The Atlantic

..."did not anticipate"? Watch out for the Obama trap in those words.
Hot Air; Lockheed: Sure, we’ll keep our workers in the dark about layoffs
"Democrats have now gone from demanding the WARN Act to paying companies to violate it.  I guess the working class is only valuable when they serve as a talking point, eh?  They told me that if I voted for John McCain, the working man would get screwed by Washington and the board room, and … well, you know."

news.webindia123.com

Reading list: More on tonight's presidential debate

Bridget Johnson; 10 Things to Expect at the First Presidential Debate  "Obama just might as well prop up an old-school projector and loop Mother Jones’ undercover fundraiser video, because he wants to have those dim tabletop candles and Romney words branded in voters’ minds from now until Nov. 6. ...The Romney camp wishes the tape would disappear, but there are three debates to get through questions about the 47 percent (yep, I wouldn’t put a dropping of that digit past Obama in the foreign policy debate), and where the GOP hopeful does not want to be is on the defensive."

From the comments section to this post:

                       “Obama and Romney hate each other.”

I don’t believe Romney hates anyone. It’s not in his nature. Obama, on the other hand, hates all who do not submit to him.

 

Mike McNally;  10 Attack Lines Romney Should Use in the Debates  "Just as importantly, it’s his opportunity to acquaint voters with some of the scandals that have beset the Obama administration, and with some of the president’s most damaging blunders and revealing comments. Most of these are notorious among conservatives, though the media gatekeepers have done their best to ignore or minimize them.
"What follows is a list of ten lines of attack that Romney should use when the opportunities present themselves. For good measure, at the end of each point is a line Romney could deliver."

Video: PJTV Debate Preview: How Should Mitt Romney Answer Jim Lehrer's Loaded Questions? 

Hope n' Change gives us this version of debate bingo:

From Heritage: 10 Questions for the First Presidential Debate  "Tonight’s debate ... is supposed to focus on domestic policy, with a major concentration on the economy. Health care, the role of government, and philosophy of governing are also on the agenda. The Heritage Foundation’s policy experts have submitted 10 questions they would like to see asked in the debate."

American Thinker; Softballs We'd Like to See Romney Toss Obama  "For a hardworking president, these five questions should be "gimmies." To not know the answers wouldn't necessarily disqualify the President. But they would certainly be tell-tales as to how much effort he's putting into the job. We can be fairly certain that the better of his Democratic predecessors would know the answers cold."

Neal Boortz; Tonight's Debate  "Look for these phrases from Obama during the event.  Every time you hear one you take a hit.  Here are Obama’s noteworthy phrases I’m anticipating to hear tonight -- are ya ready?"  The list includes, among numerous others, “I inherited …”

Boortz included these opinions as well:

Pre-Fact Checking the Debate  "So here’s the list of Obama talking-points that have been proven false, but let’s see if he tries to use any of them in tonight’s debate."...Romney Zingers; a gift from Neal BoortzThis one was my personal favorite: "If I have an off mic comment for a Russian leader .. it will be to convey our strength, not my weakness."

http://legalinsurrection.com/

From National Review Online we read about Five things to watch at the first debate

Boston.com; It’s lights, camera... and drool all over Obama
"You know what everyone on every network except Fox is going to say. Comrade Chris Matthews’ leg is going to be tingling out of control. Sgt. Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow will be breathlessly reading phony stories from the Internet about dissension in the GOP ranks."

Investors.com:  Here's how debates like tonight's have mattered  "Romney needs to confront Obama over the weeks of false ads that have given the Democrat poll leads in crucial swing states. With no economic record to run on and no second-term agenda beyond the slogan "Forward," Obama is likely to play considerable defense. He wants to avoid any mistakes that would elevate Romney's stature by comparison."

One of several articles that recommends watching the debates on C-SPAN, unless, like me, you are a Fox-o-phile.