Like the vice presidential debate, I was afraid to watch -- afraid that Barack Obama would just be too nice of a guy to get into a brawl with Mitt Romney in the second presidential debate. After seeing the effects of his poor performance in the first debate -- after which, Romney had not only caught up in the polls, but is also leading in a few of them -- another loss could put an end to his campaign for re-election.
I had read a lot of pre-debate spin. Obama’s campaign had promised that he would be more engaged, and that he couldn’t wait to get back onto the stage with Romney. Romney’s campaign, again, tried to downplay his chances by saying that the media would be looking for a comeback story for Obama, giving him an advantage.
In this case, they were both right. Barack Obama was declared the victor of the second debate. I was so relieved. Obama was aggressive from the get go. Like Biden in the vice presidential debate, he contested every misleading claim from his adversary.
I thought Romney had finally crossed the line of being a rude, arrogant jerk when he refused to abide by the rules by insisting on getting the last say on every single question. Luckily, moderator Candy Crowley stood firm and didn't allow much of it.
Romney also directly asked Obama a question a couple times, regarding oil drilling permits and pensions, which was against debate rules.
Romney walked into two traps. The first was regarding the Benghazi incident that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. I thought Obama would be put into a tough spot, but, boy oh boy, did he give Romney a mother of all lectures when he called Romney’s accusations “offensive.” That moment was the highlight of the debate. After that exchange, I think Romney should never ever get remotely close to anything regarding foreign policy.
The second trap that Romney got himself into was regarding his 47% comment. Throughout the debate, Obama hadn’t mentioned it, which indicated how well a night he was having because he was already winning without it. When the last questioner asked what each candidate would like the American people to know about them that’s been wrongly depicted in the media, Romney surprisingly brought up the 47% comment. I couldn’t wait for Obama’s answer. Like Biden, Obama made sure viewers know who the 47% comprises of: veterans, retirees on social security benefits, and the middle class. Nail in the coffin.
Bain finally got a few mentions during these debates. Obama used it primarily to illustrate what a hypocrite Romney was for saying that he would be tough on China when the company he founded had invested in startups that were pioneers in outsourcing - most of it to China.
When I first heard Romey said “binders full of women,” I had thought it sounded awkward, but I didn’t think it would turn into the next internet phenomenon. Now, there are hundreds of thousands of followers on accounts created on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and even Amazon. This couldn’t be good for Romney when he’s desperately trying to close the gap for women voters.
Overall, I thought Romney showed his bad side in this debate. He was just plain rude. Crowley was firm and would not let him push her around. Obama was able to be confrontational, but respectful. If women voters were what each side was trying to appeal to in the debate, then I couldn’t see Romney getting a gain from it.
About 65.6M people watched the second debate, which is only a few million off from the first. In terms of Twitter, it garnered over 7M tweets, about 3M off from the first. These are pretty good numbers for a sequel.
It’s good to see Obama/Biden win two out of the three debates. It’s been entertaining. The only problem is can two strong debate wins by the President and Vice President blunt Romney’s momentum from his decisive victory from the first debate? Or has the damage already been done. We’ll see next week.
