DAYTONA BEACH SHORES -- In 90 minutes of mutually respectful, detailed and substantive debate, Mitt Romney walked away the clear winner over President Obama. The discussion focused on the economy, health care and taxes and within the first 30 minutes it was plain that Romney had the upper hand.
Both men had obviously prepared for the evening, but Obama seemed unprepared for in-depth discussion and frequently fell back on lines from his recent campaign speeches which were sometimes not wholly on target.
When he was especially hard-pressed Obama resorted to the tactic which has led me to award him the title of the Great Mendacinator. He simply adduced a false set of facts and figures regarding Romney’s positions, in this case a false claim that Romney plans seven trillion dollars in tax cuts.
Normally the press does not call him on this but Romney never let him get away with it. True to form, Obama repeated the lies and again Romney corrected him. The president doubled and even tripled down on the lie and every time Romney reined him in. This may have been what caused uber liberal Bill Maher to tweet, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but it looks like Obama really does need a teleprompter.”
Moderator Jim Leher lost control of the event almost from the beginning, with the result that the announced range of discussion was not completed and most of the answers and responses by both candidates exceeded their allotted times. As a practical matter this produced a more informative discussion which better revealed the positions of both men. It also made it harder for the liberal Leher to intervene in favor of Obama, though on three occasions he attempted to prompt the president, apparently feeling that he needed some help.
Romney also won the body language contest, an aspect of any televised debate which really matters. When Obama spoke Romney was smiling and attentive, gazing at the president. When Romney spoke, and particularly when he was scoring points against Obama’s many failures, Obama stood with head down, a sour look on his face and frequently shook his head.
This may have indicated bad coaching by Obama’s handlers. But in my opinion it underlines how hard it is for a true narcissist like Obama to handle public criticism.
President Obama did best when defending Obamacare. He was better informed on the intricacies of its effect on the nation than he had been on other subjects but even here he achieved nothing better than a draw. Most pundits expected a far more vicious series of exchanges with more attention from Obama directed toward the series of personal attacks on Romney which have characterized his campaign and the ads put out by his super-PAC allies. They wondered if Romney would respond in kind. This did not happen.
While each man scored jabs on his opponent they were often made in passing and never descended to the point of rudeness. From that perspective both candidates conducted themselves in presidential fashion, keeping their cool and concentrating on making their points. Romney was just a lot better at it and I expect Obama to come out at the next debate trying to throw more haymakers.
There remain two debates between the presidential contenders and one between their vice-presidential running mates and it is far too early to say who will be the eventual winner of these contests or of the election itself. But at this point I believe that Romney’s win in this first debate will help him in the polls and strengthen his standing with his base as well as with most of those in the middle who are unhappy with the current direction of the country but uncertain if Romney is the man best fitted to lead us out of the mess we are in.
Mitt Romney did not win the presidency with his performance in this one debate, but he should certainly gain solid momentum from it. Now let’s see what happens next time the two come together.