Obama vs. Romney Debate Scorecard: October 16, 2012
The first presidential debate wasn’t even close. As you may remember, Governor Romney crushed President Obama, leading to liberal despair and sinking poll numbers for the President.
The tables turned tonight. Mr. Obama scored a decisive victory over a diminished Mitt Romney.
Now, I know that some people will say I’m falling victim to a predictable media narrative (the champ falls down, only to rise again), but those critics are wrong. I’m not grading on a curve. President Obama won this debate convincingly.
Other people may complain about Candy Crowley’s moderating, the questions chosen to be asked by the crowd, and the disproportionate amount of time given to Mr. Obama. While those complaints have some merit, they didn’t affect the outcome of tonight’s debate. Good debaters can overcome those obstacles.
Photo Credit: AP
The key moment of tonight’s debate—one that will likely be replayed 20 years from now—came during a discussion about the Administration’s handling of the Libyan embassy attack. This was an issue that Mitt Romney should have dominated, as the Obama Administration has been back on its heels when trying to defend its response.
Instead, a resolute Barack Obama stared at Mitt Romney, pointed his finger, and said:
“The suggestion that anybody on my team—the Secretary of State, our UN Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own—is offensive. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I do as President. That’s not what I do as Commander in Chief.”
When Mitt Romney tried to respond, he appeared to get one of his facts wrong. Moderator Candy Crowley corrected Mr. Romney, leading to the night’s only spontaneous applause from the audience. That appeared to fluster Mr. Romney so much that he actually turned to Mr. Obama for help in clarifying the record (the President, as one would expect, didn’t help him).
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That exchange was emblematic of much of the debate, during which Mr. Obama appeared confident and aggressive while Mr. Romney appeared somewhat defensive and occasionally annoyed. By my count, Mr. Obama said some version of “that isn’t true” seven times, challenging Mr. Romney in a tone that was nowhere to be found in the first debate.
Mr. Romney had at least two other bad moments.
First, during a question about pay inequality, Mr. Obama began his answer by discussing his own grandmother. Mr. Romney began his answer by discussing his time as an executive, when, as a result of his instruction, subordinates brought him “binders full of women” to consider for a job. Romney’s bureaucratic answer looked small next to Obama’s personal one.
Second, during his final answer, he opened the door to a “47 percent” attack by emphasizing his concern for 100 percent of the American people. That may have been a strategic choice to attempt to preemptively neutralize that attack; it may also have been necessary. But it didn’t work and only served to remind people of his original hidden video.
Still, Mr. Romney had several good moments. He offered a good response about gas prices and trade with China; he also delivered a convincing indictment of the President’s failures over the past four years.
The President wasn’t perfect tonight. While answering a question about women’s pay inequality—which should have been a slam dunk—Mr. Obama lost some of his more important points with a meandering answer. And he was on the verge of overplaying his hand by interrupting Mr. Romney and the moderator, and bordered on smug a couple of times, apparently aware that he was winning this round.
But all in all, this was the President’s night. In my pre-debate post, I mentioned three things Mr. Obama would have to do in this debate: bring his passion, draw a strong contrast, and avoid burying his most important messages. He did all three.
The score is now 1-1. Next Monday’s debate will break the tie.
Grades: President Obama: A- Mitt Romney: C+
What do you think? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Disclaimer: I’m a pro-Obama partisan.
I find a key weakness of President Obama’s messaging overall is a lack of a narrative or framework. Republicans, meanwhile have virtually trademarked “Liberty” and “Freedom.”
I think that the President missed a great opportunity to draw a framework of Mr. Romney as a flip flopper who is not only untrustworthy but, also, unpredictable. Had President Obama made this characterization of Mr. Romney in the beginning of the debate, his frequent comments about Mr. Romney’s changing positions and false statements would have been far more effective.
Romney’s 100% comment may or may not have been necessary, but it’s also irrelevant because Obama mentioned the 47% himself, and brilliantly did it in the last response to the last question when Romney couldn’t respond.
I agree Obama won the debate, though I’m not sure I’d call it a decisive victory. It certainly wasn’t as decisive as Romney’s in the first debate, but that’s a pretty high standard.
Hi Kent,
I would have agreed that this debate wasn’t as decisive as the first debate – except for that Libya answer, which is devastating. Otherwise, I would have given Mitt Romney a “B-” instead of a “C+.” Thanks very much for commenting!
Brad
I would almost call it a draw. Obama had a lot of missed opportunities. He also has a tendency to lecture and meander – he needs to talk to the people.
Obama definitely won the debate. I feel like he could have still been presidential and brought up some major lies that the Romney’s campaign has been telling from early on. It was very, very presidential how President Obama addressed the Libya terrorist attack and his personal stand on behalf of our great country. He looked Romney in the eye and pretty much told him where to get off, that He is the President!!! I’d vote for him at least 2 more times, but president’s only get 2 terms max.