Who Won Presidential Debate 2012: Obama Scores Big, Romney Misses

Impact

I think President Obama won this debate, in part because in many cases Governor Romney offered no difference between his policies and that of the Administration’s. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of air between the two on many questions.

The President also won through some forceful rebuttals. I’m pretty sure ‘bayonets and horses’ will become a meme … or at least something that we repeat and snicker about for a few days. His response on Israel, comparing Romney’s trip to Israel with donors with his, where he visited Yad Vashem, was pretty damn masterful. Obama has really learned his lesson from the first debate.

I think Romney’s response on Pakistan was strong, but otherwise he was a little rambling. His preparation showed, but sometimes it showed too much, e.g., he was listing things off as if he were going through his memorizations in his head.

I don’t know how much of an impact this debate will have on polling, to be honest. As I said earlier, there is a lot of counter-programming going on that might mean few people watched this debate. It really depends on how the media spins this and what narrative gains ground.

I’ll be posting more over these next few days about Kansas politics, the perception of women’s roles in this country, etc. For now, though, have a great evening, and please, REMEMBER TO VOTE!!

For a full recap of the debate, including real-time analysis and coverage, see here