Presidential Debate 2012 Coverage: Debate Recap

Impact
By Zaid A. Zaid

Wednesday, October 3, is THE most important night for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. He will face off against President Barack Obama in the first of three debates this presidential cycle. Governor Romney must dominate the debate to change the direction of the campaign.

Though only by a few points, former Governor Romney has consistently lagged behind Obama in national polls. More recently, Obama has surged ahead of Romney is nearly every swing state. 

Both the Romney campaign and the Obama campaign have attempted to lower expectations for the debate. While each campaign has praised the other candidate’s debating skills, the Obama campaign has noted that Romney was strong debater during the Republican primaries; the Romney campaign has complimented President Obama’s oratory skills noting that he is a gifted speaker and an experienced debater. Commentators have noted that challengers tend to do well in debates against incumbent presidents, but that has not always led to a victory in November.

New Jersey Governor Christ Christie claimed on “Meet the Press” that “Wednesday night is the restart of this campaign, and I think you're going to see those numbers start to move right back in the other direction.”

Will Romney live up to Christie’s expectations? Or Will Obama cement his lead and make an effective argument for why the American people should re-elect him. 

Tune in and you be the judge. 

PolicyMic will be covering the presidential debate live.  For live updates, bookmark and refresh this page.

UPDATE: 9:10 PM Lehrer asked Romney if he wanted to ask the President a question, and he said yes, but I haven't heard a question yet.

9:14 Romney says"No tax cut that adds to the deficit" -- but how exactly do you do that?

9:16 Will Romney explain the loopholes and deductions that he'll take away? 

UPDATE 9:10 PM Lehrer asked Romney if he wanted to ask the President a question, and he said yes, but I haven't heard a question yet.

9:30 President can easily talk about what he did.