By John Stark
Did the Wednesday night faceoff between President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, change your view of either man?
If you are a devout follower of either one, that’s fine. But spare us the partisan cheerleading, if you can. Tell us if the debate shifted your thinking, your leanings, your attitude in any way.
I’ll confess to tuning in a bit late, but from what I saw, Obama’s vaunted debate and speaking abilities were not much in evidence. To me he seemed tired–the Presidency seems to do that to people– and his delivery was often halting.
It was clear that Romney was working hard to convince us he’s a sensible moderate alternative–not a wild-eyed right-wing radical. He spoke earnestly about the need for government regulations.
In the discussion of Medicare, it seemed as though the world was turned upside down. Romney–standard-bearer for the party of fiscal conservatism–repeatedly bashed Obama for cutting billions from Medicare by reducing the reimbursement rates the government pays to health care providers.
But both Romney and Obama agreed on the obvious need to bring down the cost of health care. The fact is that private insurers are also trying to control costs by holding down reimbursement rates. Here is a local example.
Cutting back on reimbursements is a simple way to force health care providers to cut their own costs. Maybe too simple. But if health care costs are really going to be cut, then we need to spend less on health care. Am I missing something?
I did not bother to watch the debate because I already know who I am voting for.
Mitt Romney and the once sensible G.O.P that I voted for in my youth. Are being held hostage and are now beholden to the right wing radical TEA Party.
This scares me more than any threat this country has faced in it’s past.
Bill Maher on Denver debate: Obama needed teleprompter
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/81998.html#ixzz28LdKeUjM
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!!
“I’ve been watching presidential debates for quite a few years, but I have never seen one like this. It wasn’t a TKO, it was a knockout. Mitt Romney was in control from the beginning. He was the alpha male, while Barack Obama was weak, hesitant, stuttering, often apologetic. The visuals were great for Romney and awful for Obama. Obama looked small, tired, defeated after four years of failure, out of ammo……
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/10/its-over.php
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
It looked like Obama had just awakened from a nap. And Romney had just drank two cups of coffee.
“Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore went on a Twitter rant over President Obama’s performance on Wednesday night at the first presidential debate.
The progressive activist said Obama’s debate performance was lack-luster and failed to fire up the base…..
http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/260195-michael-moore-rants-against-obamas-debate-performance-
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Something seemed to be wrong with Obama – he really wasn’t the Obama I’m used to seeing. He almost seemed jaded or ???
Didn’t influence who I’m voting for, but made me feel so much better about the choice I’d already made, based on principles. Re health care costs — there are two main components, the price tag of services, and the quantity of services used — usually referred to as “utilization.” We need to work on both. Demand is endless, and even if efforts to reduce “prices” can be successful, we won’t achieve meaningful overall cost reduction unless we work on reducing utilization. Will this be done thru rationing? Capping benefits? There are levers that can be pulled, but whether society will support them, is the big question. Central, top-down (government) price controls only distort the picture and cause all sorts of unintended consequences, usually undesirable — such as causing doctors to stop taking DSHS or Medicare (yes this goes on in Whatcom County!) or certain commercial insurance, to leave medicine or influence young people to not choose this profession in the first place (medical school enrollments already are way down). To those of you who think it is wrong for medical professionals to refuse Medicare, etc., just envision your reaction if the government forced your employer to reduce your pay by, oh, say 30%. We haven’t seen anything yet — wait until the obesity wave hits hard, with the increased demand for joint replacements, diabetes treatments, cardiovascular disease and everything else that is worsened by obesity. I don’t see a good way forward, to be honest.
Just goes to show you the liberals are in lock step with their Messiah and nothing will open their poor little weak minds…
I am blue to the core, but last night’s debate stunned me. Obama did not fight back! He just let Romney spew lie after lie, flip flop to a totally 180 position than the one he has campaigned on for a year, and Obama wasn’t ready. He got his arse handed to him. He sould be emabarrassed!
Now, with that in mind, time to go back to the drawing board and try again. This thing is not over yet! It is the 4th quarter and the GOP is making a run, we need to counter it!
All Romney had to do was stand up for 90 minutes and not collapse. Because of the low bar set for him, he won big. In addition to Romney’s win, Obama lost points because he fumbled a few times under pressure. I listened on the radio rather than watch on the web, so I don’t have an opinion on the body language. I suspect the polls will show a bump for Romney in the next few days.
I am not going to vote for either of them. They are both bad, evil people who will keep killing innocent people in pursuit of cheap oil energy.
I don’t trust Romney he is too shady . If you are running for president you should be an open book with nothing to hide.I think he will get in there and help other millionaires( which is most of congress) to pay less taxes. Obama sucked during the last 4 years just wasting money we don’t have. The truth is, it is congress that is screwing up the country not the presidents. They are just somebody to blame when the people find out what is going on.Neither one talked about the poor in our country who lost their jobs when their company left the country to avoid corporate taxes.There are tent cities going up all over the country. Is that the 47% Romney was talking about not to mention the homeless vets who fought THEIR war.
Both men did well, but Romney is like the kid who always gets D’s, and when he gets a C, the class claps for him. I am not a fact-nazi, but did catch several statements by Romney that I know are completely untrue. Makes me wonder how much else he said is not correct…I guess if he repeats something enough and look convincing, it doesn’t matter whether its actually true, the media will decide he did well. Wierd.
well if you can’t sell them an Edsel, dazzle ‘em with your BS etch a sketch flip flops and outright lies. This changes nothing except in the jello minds of those clueless.
Jill Stein or Rocky Anderson would have been much better a debate against Romney
simply noticed that while Romney talked about patriotism, The Constitution, “We the People” ; Obama was all about “I” and “MY which tells me he’s full of himself while Romney talked about “we” and had a clear plan. Obama was full of himself “I brought the troops home” when in fact it was a deadline set by the “other” administration. Clearly Obama is not the patriot we need – he is indeed a socialist at heart. I don’t really care for either candidate, but Romney at the very least convinced me to get off my duff and vote. Socialist principles don’t belong in the great USA. By, by Obama
I have already made my mind up on who I will vote for so I didn’t take the time to watch the debate. I am sorry but I can not support a Mormon for POTUS regardless of who he/she is running against. I could support a Mormon for just about any position except for the President of the USA. It bothers me that a person in that position could believe in the Book of Mormon, which is really a cult not a religion. Mitt is not just your average Mormon, he is considered a high ranking official in the Mormon Church. He is a also the grandson of a man that had at least three wifes and 35 children. His grandfather left the USA in protest of the ban on polygamy.
Just the idea that a President of the USA could actual believe in the Book of Mormon fairy tale is enough of reason I can’t vote for him.
Romney did well in the short term, but lied like a rug.
The media needs this to be a close race so they are selling this as a watershed moment because Romney went 90 minutes without being felony stupid.
Obama didn’t deliver a tour de force performance, so now I’m expected to believe that Romney is going to lead in the polls.
Oh, and Romney likes coal. I remember that. That struck me as the only truthful think Mitt said in the debate.
The right wing is doing an end zone dance on the 50 yard line. That could be a mistake.
Winning debates is very important. Just ask President John Kerry or President Ross Perot… both of whom won their first presidential debates hands down.
Toby – Romney wasn’t flip flopping. You are comparing the real Romney positions to the media portrayal of Romney, that has been put out in ads and campaign articles. Romney is the same person that he always has been. It’s just the first time so many viewers got to see it without a filter.
Notice that Obama didn’t challenge Romney on any of those previous accusations. Why do you thing that was? It was because he couldn’t afford to give Romney a chance to rebutt all the lies that have been told about him. Obama’s body language told it all, he had nothing to say.
I watched Democracy Now’s expanded debates which included Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson. Those two were much more enlightening than their glossy media counterparts. One thing that came out loud and clear in the Stein, Anderson responses to America’s health care dilemma is that insurers are out of control middlemen that enormously jack up the cost. Single payer health care was recommended by both of these third party candidates.
It’s hard to believe “reform” of the tax system under a Romney/Republican government will be anything but further redistribution of the national wealth from the lower brackets to the higher.
But it’s amusing that, in the end, he would have us believe it will all be paid for by the Growth Fairy. I enjoyed Dean Baker’s remarks this morning:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/morning-edition-debate-commentary-badly-misinforms-listeners
“….Obama, who was barely present onstage last night, was the same president who has been failing to show up for years.
He’s the man who can’t be bothered to tackle entitlement reform, to keep his promises on immigration, to negotiate a Middle East peace deal, to remind Americans that we are at war, to meet regularly with members of Congress, to meet with any world leaders at the UN last week, and to put away his golf clubs.
Last night, he couldn’t be bothered to debate. And today, the Obama campaign is feeling very bothered indeed.”
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2012/10/04/obamas-hubris-cost-debate/
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
I watched Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson on Democracy Now.
Both of these candidates were far superior to the twins of the Republican and Democratic Party.
I find very little difference between the Republicans and the Democrats and will not vote for either.
I will vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party. It is pastime to support a third party that represents the people and not big business. This does not take away a vote from Obama or Romney because my vote would not be there. Although Jill Stein may not win, a vote cast for her adds strength to the collective body of people who are working to bring peace to the world and a worldwide standard of living that allows people to live in dignity, with free higher education, healthcare and to have their daily needs met.
Insight: nobody loves insurance companies, but in my experience, they are far from being the sole source of the problem. The insurance is expensive because the CARE is expensive. If it cost $25,000 to fix a crumpled fender, nobody could afford car insurance either. Next time you get a medical bill or a benefits paid statement from an insurance company, take a close look at it. When I get them, I usually see a very big number that is the base charge from the care provider, followed by a smaller number usually labeled “negotiated rate” or something like that, which is what my insurer is willing to pay. The difference between that base charge and the negotiated rate just disappears. I’m not on Medicare yet but from what I understand, the government does the same thing. They have a rate they are willing to pay, and providers who won’t accept that rate can’t do those patients. A few years ago I had to change doctors because my doctor would not accept the private insurance company my employer was using at that time.
I have never loved any Presidential Candidate. Neither a Rep or a Dem. But if you boil away all the mudslinging and take both Candidates resume’s side by side it is clear to me who is much more experienced and capable of hopefully putting our economic woe’s into a positive direction. I believe it is that simple and what our country needs most now.
john there is one way to reduce cost and it is called competition, the more you have; the cheaper prices get and the less you have the higher prices go! Funny how that works, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
The most lasting impression of the first debate can, apparently, be summed up in two words: Big Bird.
I’s know Aman how you luv’s the occupy thingy so did you hear bout this?
“Grab your tent, grab your stash, the movement is alive once more. You’ve heard of Occupy Wall Street. Now it’s time to take the people’s revolution straight to Big Bird. As National Review reports:
President Obama, who has railed against the “fat-cat bankers on Wall Street” and the wealthy, has been an eager defender of Big Bird and public broadcasting this week in light of Mitt Romney’s comments that he would defund it in last week’s debate. But it turns out that many of those behind Big Bird are actually members of the 1 percent.
Wait. What? The actress who plays Big Bird on TV makes $314,000 per year. And the CEO of Sesame Workshop makes $988,000. (Gasp!)…
http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/11807
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!