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The Spectacle Blog
For 75 minutes tonight, I was tearing my hair out over missed oppotunities for Romney. But he did succeed in making it so boring that few people will base their votes on Obama’s better performance during that long, long stretch. By “better,” I don’t mean “slam dunk.” I just mean slightly better body language and tone of voice, and a narrow edge in terms of electoral effect.
In the last 15 minutes, Romney hit his stride. And while Obama’s closing argument was warmed over, same-old same-old pablum, while he looked a bit shaky, Romney’s closing statement was superb. If anybody was still awake by then, Romney left a much better closing impression.
Final effect: More people, by a narrow margin, will say Obama “won.” But he didn’t get a game-changer. A couple of days of poll doldrums for Romney will follow — not big losses, but just a few little ticks down — and then comes a nice little recognition by the public that Obama is a disaster. Tonight’s debate did nothing to make Romney look unpresidential or unlikeable. Therefore, Romney is still more than viable.
This will be a dog fight until the end. Nerve-wracking. But if Romney turns the closing statement into a commercial, it should help him make a nice final push.
View all comments (27) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Quin Hillyer
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/10/22/romney-closed-strongly
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Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.22.12 @ 10:59PM
I listened on the radio for the first hour or so, and caught the last 20 minutes on TV. I too thought he closed stronger, as well as won the points on truth and substance (e.g. his editorial on auto bailouts did call for government guarantees, the SOFA agreement in Iraq that Biden asked for and was unable to attain).
CJW| 10.22.12 @ 11:08PM
Albert
Another win for Romney. O looked like a little dog barking and sniping at Romney's heels. O looked desperate and petty, trying to interrupt while Romney was speaking.
The most revealing line was when Mitt said O did an apology tour visiting Egypt,Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, but not visiting Israel. O's answer was it was not an aplogy tour, and ASK THE REPORTERS. Maybe O was hoping Candy Crowley or Raddatz would stand up in the audience and support him, or else he thought Schieffler would lie for him, as did Crowley.
If you want to know who won, I spent five minutes watching Rachel Maddow and foreign pollicy expert Al Sharpton. They were all angry and upset, blaming Romney for "changing his positions." Same argument as first debate
spike59| 10.23.12 @ 5:42AM
you should have watched "Greta"...among other guests, she had Derpie Whatserface Schultz, always an entertaining look into the inner workings of an alternate universe
RJ| 10.22.12 @ 11:02PM
Well Quin, it looks like you are the only columnist who wasn't watching football or baseball tonight.
I thought this was a fairly typical debate where each side's supporters walk away thinking their guy won. No homeruns, no knock-outs. Obama made his share of interruptions and looked angry at times, but that won't hurt him with his base. As for Romney's "missed opportunties" I think he didn't want to get lost in the weeds of reminding people what they already know (e.g. Obama's claim that the Libyan attack was instigated from bad movie reviews). Instead he focused on his ideas and letting the people see him be relaxed and comfortable in talking about foreign and domestic issues.
Kingofthenet| 10.22.12 @ 11:02PM
Did we watch the same debate? President Obama DESTROYED Mittens in closing arguments...
chuck| 10.22.12 @ 11:07PM
Probably, it's just that your view was filtered by all the fat surrounding your ass.
CJW| 10.22.12 @ 11:11PM
K
O lost and will lose the election.
spike59| 10.23.12 @ 5:44AM
well, yes, if you assing points for 'neener neener neener, here's my bumper sticker slogan'...somehow, the rest of us expect a President to at least act like an adult
Tom Kyba| 10.23.12 @ 11:42AM
Perhaps most of us were sober when we watched.
chuck| 10.22.12 @ 11:05PM
O looked bitter and angry, especially when Romney went through the litany of failure.
Romney's line about Obama's attacking him was no agenda, was just superb.
MikeBee| 10.23.12 @ 12:00AM
Chuck,
My favorite part of the debate came after Romney made his point that there has been no leadership in the Middle East. O's response? I have TOO been providing leadership. Spoken just like the child who got caught with his pants down. O's infantile response made him look VERY unpresidential beside a guy who looked and sounded very much presidential and in charge.
J.C.Eaton| 10.22.12 @ 11:05PM
Romney will win nationally by at least 5 points. He will likewise win the Electoral College convincingly. A clear majority of Americans are not complete saps. Breathe deeply, Quin.
bluecollarbytes| 10.22.12 @ 11:13PM
Obama looks and sounds small next to Romney. The messiah has fully deflated.
Kingofthenet| 10.22.12 @ 11:20PM
IF Mittens feels Syria is Iran's "Gateway to the Sea" someone should buy the fool a map.
RCV| 10.22.12 @ 11:29PM
Isnt that the truth. Not only does Iran have more than 10 times greater a sea coast, it isn't even contiguous to Syria. But then, foreign policy isn't his strong point, is it?
JmsA| 10.23.12 @ 1:34AM
You don't need a map to understand what Romney meant: Syria and Iran don't have common borders, but the Shia do insofar as Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are concerned. There are thousands of Iranians fighting in Syria, in support of Assad, who along with Shia Iran supports Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon. All of it has been done overland through Shia southern Iraq and the same's western desert with no one to stop them. So in a sense, it won't be long for Iranian naval assets to port in Syrian ports, such as Tartus, where the Russians (a geopolitical threat, as Romney correctly pointed out) use and maintain naval installations.
Tom Kyba| 10.23.12 @ 11:44AM
Nice try kids, but the adults disagree with you.
CJW| 10.23.12 @ 1:32PM
Maybe you should look at a map that shows Syria on the Meditarranean, and check the US map for the 57 states.
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.22.12 @ 11:40PM
No game changers in this debate. Romney failed to drive the knife in on some points, but I think he was trying for blandness on foreign policy. However, he did score some hits on the economy, which is what most undecideds are concerned about.
Red Phillips | 10.22.12 @ 11:59PM
The winner of tonight's debate was Ron Paul, because both the candidates are interventionist clowns. Although it is telling that Romney toned down the usual chest-thumping rhetoric that he normally feeds to his “conservative” audiences. I think Romney and his advisers know that that crap doesn't sell to undecided voters. In fact, I would think that some of Romney's uber-hawkish supporters should be disappointed in him for not chest-thumping enough.
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.23.12 @ 12:43AM
We understand that when appealing to undecideds (i.e., morons), candidates have to soft-pedal their beliefs. Ron Paul will never be a winner since he is just a retailer of the late George McGovern's foreign policy.
Red Phillips | 10.23.12 @ 9:22AM
And the late Washington and Jefferson.
Simon Templar| 10.23.12 @ 1:24AM
Romney won the debate, the Fraud behaved again like a petulant child...and brought these debates to a new low, as well as the office of the Presidency. Of course, the Fraud could have sat on his head tonight and shit in his ear and they would have called it an Obama bin laden win.
http://www.theblaze.com/storie.....6TgNpp6_6Z
Simon Templar| 10.23.12 @ 1:31AM
Quin, I think it would be a good idea if you watched the debate again from a view that does not include your subjective desires, hand wringing, and back seat driving. This debate was NOT about Romney's performance or how many zingers he threw or did not throw. It was about Obama, his ability to act presidential, defend his record, and offer a viable and coherent foreign policy. He failed on all three..
You need to come back to this in the morning. In the meantime,
http://www.theblaze.com/storie.....6TgNpp6_6Z
spike59| 10.23.12 @ 5:46AM
3 debates, and i'm STILL waiting for ObaMao to explain what he intends to do in the next 4 years; so, let's make it easier for him to decide-send the idiot back to whatever godforsaken village will have him, and send Joey Plugs into well-deserved obscurity
fmm| 10.23.12 @ 8:19AM
I thought it was extremely wierd that the O---- said on several occasions that we need to get our domestic policy right so that we will be in a position to have an effective foreign policy. The obvious conclusions are that he was running away from addressing his actions on the world stage, and don't expect any improvements because his domestic policies are in even worse shape. Isn't it sad when the O---- simply has no place to turn?
Oldefarte| 10.23.12 @ 11:07AM
Again, these debates mean next to nothing to me, as they represent just words, not actions. Obama's words and actions have been demonstrated clearly over the last four years in a clarity that only a complete imbicile could misinterpret. Calling him a "disaster" is politically correct kindness at best. I'd say more like devastatingly destructive would be more to the point [and I won't waste everyone's time in enumerating the individual instances of same]. Only by the grace of the Almighty have we somehow avoided a comlete meltdown of this nation after our collective stupidity of 11/4/08. We only get one more shot at this folks, so please lace up your running shoes in preparation for 11/6/12 and thereafter simply mark THE COMPLETE REPUBLICAN TICKET on your ballot at that time!!!!!!!!!!!!