Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for October 18, 2012
Robert A. Hall
My initial take on the presidential debate
I'm writing this immediately afterwards, without reading what the pundits thought, or listening to the talking heads on TV. I'd rate it a draw. Not that Romney was bad, but that Obama was much better than the first debate, which will encourage his supporters, even though he channeled “Rude Joe” Biden a bit. Of course, I tend to discount much of what he says, just repeating already-refuted talking points, but doubtless liberals do that for Romney. I thought the moderator did a better job than I expected despite her obvious bias, but I felt the questions she picked were about two to one pro-Obama, at least. The one that infuriated me was the old canard that women make 72% of what men make. If you control the studies for hours worked, years of experience and education, that difference disappears. But if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the conventional wisdom. What she was saying was that women should get paid as much as more experienced, better educated men who work longer hours. Romney missed the chance to point out the disparity in the White House pay scale. Also I noticed that Obama got the second opening statement and the second closing statement. Not fair--in my debates, one candidate got to go last on the opening, one on the closing. It will be interesting to see what the polls say, rather than the spin from partisans. Of course, fact checkers on both sides will tear some of their statements apart, but I suspect the public ignores them.
Debate take—the morning after
Both sides spinning that their guy won, as expected. Watching the news, I had missed the moment when the moderator defended Obama—wrongly—on his Rose Garden comment about the Libya murders. Clearly put Romney off his game. Must have been getting more wine—the debates are not good for my diet. I saw a Nevada focus group of supposedly undecided voters who said Romney won. Most said they voted Obama in 08, were for Romney after the debate. You can’t make too much of this type thing, but it’s still encouraging. I also saw that despite his whining about time Obama spoke over three minutes more than Romney did, just as Biden spoke more than Ryan, but whined about his time.
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