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Post by dino on Oct 2, 2012 7:38:24 GMT -5
First of three begins tomorrow night.
By CONNIE CASS, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential debate is more than just the 90 minutes onstage. For the campaigns, it's a three-part performance, and the first one's already started:
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Part I: Aw-shucks time
Nobody wants to sound like a winner — not yet. Low expectations can help a so-so performance seem like a success.
So President Barack Obama calls Republican challenger Mitt Romney "a good debater" and says he's "just OK" himself. His aides grouse that Romney's been getting more rehearsal time, while Obama's busy being president.
For his part, Romney praises Obama as "a very eloquent, gifted speaker." And, despite his numerous GOP primary match-ups, Romney notes, "I've never been in a presidential debate like this."
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Part II: Tension city
The first of the three presidential debates — Wednesday at 9 p.m. EDT in Denver — should bring the biggest audience of any campaign event. More than 52 million TV viewers watched Obama's initial match-up with John McCain in 2008.
Despite all the rehearsal, something's bound to take the candidates by surprise, and they'll be judged by how they improvise on the fly. Talk about "tension city," as former President George H.W. Bush described it.
But maybe Romney and Obama should each take a deep breath. After all, how likely is it that either one will commit a big enough blunder — or score a large enough triumph — to overshadow months of campaigning? Studies find viewers tend to see the guy they preferred going into the debate as the winner when it's over.
"When is it that anybody performs so badly that you'd just say, 'Oh, my God, I would never vote for this person'?" said Rutgers University professor Richard Lau, who studies how voters decide. "Someone would have to seem so incompetent. That's not going to happen."
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Part III: The spin
It's not over when the candidates walk off stage.
Campaign aides and big political names will descend on the "spin room" to tell reporters and after-debate TV audiences that the other guy blew it, and why.
Viewers may feel they're judging what they saw and heard for themselves. But campaign strategists think getting the spin right goes a long way toward deciding who "won."
According to Tad Devine, who was a top adviser to Democratic candidates Al Gore and John Kerry, pre-debate expectations and post-debate spin "can take on more significance than what happened in the debate itself."
"Each one of those three is critically important," he said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Post by duke on Oct 2, 2012 8:58:25 GMT -5
A lot of posturing. I said during the primary, that Romney had the best chance of beating Obama out of the idiots that were in the Republican running. Looks like a good show in the making.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 2, 2012 10:07:00 GMT -5
Nobody is going to win this election based on his performance, but either of them could lose it with a big enough gaffe.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 3, 2012 20:36:32 GMT -5
The bomma is not doihg well.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 3, 2012 21:20:52 GMT -5
Both are talking too fast. Slow down and think guys.
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Post by dino on Oct 3, 2012 21:52:01 GMT -5
Romney did very well, he made it past what conventional wisdom said would be his Achilles heel which was the Romneycare/Obamacare comparison.
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Post by wheels on Oct 4, 2012 11:49:42 GMT -5
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Post by wheels on Oct 4, 2012 11:50:37 GMT -5
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Post by Fredo on Oct 4, 2012 12:12:08 GMT -5
Does anyone know when the next one is? Personally, I can't wait for Biden v Ryan, that one should be a laugh a minute.
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smoky
House cat
Posts: 20
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Post by smoky on Oct 4, 2012 13:53:45 GMT -5
it's all a dog and pony show, everybody's taxes will go up after the election, and your benefits will be reduced, the crack addled hookers are out in abundance, filching the social security dollars, from ole disabled geezers, by the score, the vested interests, are in the news again, they're talking bout mental illness, and drugs, it's just business, they use as an excuse, to justify their outrageous taxpayer financed salaries and expense accounts, the hue and cry is 'we've got to raise AWARENESS' when this evil is going on right before everybody's eyes, for every pain pill mill they bust, 50/11 others spring up to take their place, and the crack addled hookers, snort another crushed up roxie, so they can survive to turn 10 or 12 more tricks a day, at 150 per outcall per hour of pay to play.
And while it's quite obvious, that obama's gonna win this thing in a landslide, cus it's really all about this wealth distribution, and I'm down here on the bottom, gotta raise dem taxes on you, cus I ain't got no money honey, I want yours...
jus another poetic presentation, from the life and times of ole smoky,
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Post by Fredo on Oct 16, 2012 11:02:06 GMT -5
Round 2 at 9pm tonight.
My prediction: Obama will come out swinging hard and Romney will eat his lunch again.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 16, 2012 18:24:26 GMT -5
Duke sez:
But he did it with an extra 50k blank spaces so it had to be cleaned up. Otherwise unedited.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 16, 2012 18:25:27 GMT -5
Um, every time he negotiates with Congress, world leaders etc. I expect tonight to prove that obama is simply out of his league.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 16, 2012 21:30:50 GMT -5
Looks like a tie just now. I think anything but a clear win goes to Romney.
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Post by Motherjones on Oct 16, 2012 22:56:02 GMT -5
Looks like a tie just now. I think anything but a clear win goes to Romney. It was no tie- it was a clear win for the President, and it clearly superseded the dynamic of the first debate. This was a big night for the President and could be the beginning of an Obama landslide.
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Post by dino on Oct 17, 2012 6:20:47 GMT -5
Landslide? Post debate polls show a huge lead for Romney regarding fixing the economy.
The president did very well but shrunk a little each time he was faced with his record....and he tried real hard to cover the egg on his face over Libya.
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Post by Motherjones on Oct 17, 2012 9:54:00 GMT -5
Landslide? Post debate polls show a huge lead for Romney regarding fixing the economy. I don't look rely on "snap polls" to tell me who laid out the most compelling vision; I rely on my own view of the candidates themselves. And on that front, President Obama was simply much stronger than Gov. Romney I didn't see it that way at all; I saw the same old, tired attempt by Gov. Romney to misrepresent and mischaracterize the President's record (as he did in the first debate), and I saw the President dismantle those mischaracterizations with great skill. And Gov. Romney's teeing up the "47%" issue - something that is extremely embarrassing and damaging to his message - was one of the most inept debate tactics I have ever witnessed. He handed that one to the President on a silver platter, and I would imagine he is not pleased with himself for doing so this morning. Ouch. I don't agree. The one with "egg on his face over Libya" is not President Obama, but rather Governor Romney, who not only got publicly spanked by the moderator (and the audience, who openly pushed back) when he tried to get away with another lie. What's more, the President effectively turned the tables and took it to Gov. Romney for his shameless, bumbling and amateurish politicization of the matter. It exposed very clearly how far Romney is in over his head when it comes to matters of foreign policy. The President issued a solid beating last night, and he has reclaimed the momentum in the race. If that momentum takes deep root in a couple of key states, the election could end up very lopsided in the President's favor.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 17, 2012 11:14:17 GMT -5
Now that I've had a good nights sleep and a few hours to think about it, I would give the win to Romney on points.
He just kept landing that right hook known as the last four years. Romney didn't eviscerate him like I had expected, but he definitely showed him who's boss. Anytime you back the President of the United States back into his chair, you're likely to get the win.
I stand by my earlier prediction. It's going to be Romney by a mile.
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Post by Motherjones on Oct 17, 2012 11:58:46 GMT -5
He just kept landing that right hook known as the last four years. The attempts at this "right hook" were particularly clumsy and transparent last night. Unfortunately for Romney, vague attacks on the President's record were commandingly refuted one by one, all night long. Further, Romney's dishonest "economic plan" (which boils down to a huge wet kiss to his fellow billionaires - bought and paid for by the middle class) was once more exposed as the irresponsible sham and tired Bush-era retread that it is. Romney's open endorsement of affirmative action via the "binders full of women" trope was as awkward and condescending as it was worthy of the heaping scorn and ridicule that it is receiving today (see bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/)I am open to creative alternatives to improve the economic recovery, but Governor Romney has repeatedly failed to deliver anything even close to viable. That pattern continued last night, and he's running out of time. The next debate focuses on foreign policy, where Romney is extremely weak and inexperienced. Meanwhile, key economic indicators are showing signs of an increasingly robust recovery, which undermines Romney's already-reed-thin case. I've reviewed the debate recording, and there's simply no such instance. It just didn't happen. There are several cases of Romney being rude, interrupting the moderator and even heckling the POTUS, however, and they are even more cringe-inducing today than they were last night. It's OK to disagree with your opponent, but Romney came off as sweaty, petulant and desperate. I'd say that prediction is farfetched at best. Without Ohio, Romney basically has no feasible path to 270 electoral votes. Obama has led there for many months, and there are early indications that he is starting to pull away again.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 17, 2012 14:06:32 GMT -5
I guess we'll find out in a few weeks, but the bomma's henchmen are sounding increasingly desperate.
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Post by Motherjones on Oct 17, 2012 14:20:32 GMT -5
but the bomma's henchmen are sounding increasingly desperate. Hardly so, but if you want to hear a whole boatload of "desperate", just tune in to the Romney mouthpieces' butthurt whining and moaning about debate moderator Candy Crowley. Someone forgot to tell them that when you are complaining about the moderator, it's obvious to all that your guy just got utterly waxed. And for added measure, check out the Romney tax plan: www.romneytaxplan.com/
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Post by duke on Oct 18, 2012 11:09:40 GMT -5
The determination as to who won the debate seems to hinge more on who the viewer wanted to win than reality. Often making excuses for 'their guy' and nit-picking the opponent for justification.
IMHO both did very well. Only the election will likely tell how many voters actually changed their mind based on the performance in the debates.
More often than not, the challenger historically has had the advantage over the incumbent in these political debates. IMHO Obama took a great risk in agreeing to any debate based on historical outcomes.
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Post by wheels on Oct 18, 2012 11:49:42 GMT -5
i didn't think either candidate performed particularly well. however, i would give this one to obama on a very thin margin. not a landslide by any means, but a slight win.
anyone who says that either candidate "issued a solid beating" needs to lay off the kool-aid and come back from fantasy land.
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Post by Motherjones on Oct 18, 2012 12:33:11 GMT -5
i didn't think either candidate performed particularly well. however, i would give this one to obama on a very thin margin. not a landslide by any means, but a slight win. anyone who says that either candidate "issued a solid beating" needs to lay off the kool-aid and come back from fantasy land. The louder the right-wing complains about distractions like Candy Crowley, etc., the more obvious it becomes that they know down deep that their guy got spanked and spanked HARD. When the GOP standard-bearer is bragging about ordering an affirmative action program for hiring in Massachusetts, he's enduring a beat-down. When the entire audience is laughing at Romney's failed effort to lie about the Libya attacks, he's enduring a beat-down. When Romney is avoiding any substantive discussion of how he is planning to pay for massive tax cuts on the wealthy and huge military expenditures - a plan that simply defies simple principles of arithmetic, then he is enduring a beat down. That's not kool-aid - that's just the plain facts.
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Post by Fredo on Oct 18, 2012 14:49:24 GMT -5
Perhaps you were watching a different debate from the rest of the country. Pretty much everyone else saw a close race.
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