Debate

Obama just looked out and said "yo, homies, I'm gonna lay em down and smack em yak em".  No just kidding.    He started off by blaming Bush.

Romney was gracious.  He looks fresh and of course, presidential (he's always looked like he was built in a presidential candidate factory).

So far, so boring.  Which actually might favor Obama.

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Mitt is now looking directly at O with his reply.  He's getting happy with his hands and a bit defensive.  He just used a Democratic talking point by equating taxes with the revenue/deficit, saying he won't cut taxes and affect revenues.  This goes against the Laffer curve theory.

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Policy wonk theater.   No zingers.   O using the same boilerplate.  Now he's attacking Bush again, blaming him for the 'great recession', which is absurd.  Obama has as much culpability in causing it as Bush.

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Romney just said he would fire Big Bird and Lehrer.   LOL.    Now Obama is bashing Bush again.


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"Aircrafts"?   This was said in context of Obama saying he has cut the federal government.    Now he's filibustering, talking about Romney wanting to cut old ladies in nursing homes, etc.

Wait, now they are actually in a back and forth!   Romney is defending himself well, and turning around the arrow towards O, putting him on defense.  Obama should not be able to win a debate with an actual businessman, despite his use of "corporate jets" and such.

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First ZINGER!   Mitt hits with Solyndra in reply to the nonsense about corporate welfare to the oil companies.  "So much for picking winners and losers, you picked all losers".

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Now Obama is explaining how the great recession occurred and his factors don't all point to Bush.   He needs to keep that straight.    Romney had a great reply about regulations because the conventional wisdom is that Republicans don't want any regulation at all.  Obama is trying to use that canard right now. 

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Awesome.  Romney is now clarifying that lowering red-lines in mortgage lending helped to cause the great recession (which Obama advocated for).   And Lehrer is now once again hectoring Romney to stop talking.  

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Obama is blaming Bush.
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O now goes for the throat--"Romneycare"!    Mitt's reply is to point out how his plan was passed by both D's and R's while Obama slammed through the federal bill without any R support.   He's attacking the "you can keep your doctor" line from O, which is about the best he could do I guess.  Now O is sinking the Mittcare ship by pointing out it was a GOP plan in the beginning.   Did anyone really think Romney was going to be able to sidestep this attack?   All he has is that goofy grin.

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Hey, Obama got it right--"Transcontinental Railroad".  That's his model for collectivism, which is funny because it was the government giving land grants to two railroads to connect the coasts, which later caused a scandal, and which also caused both to build a hasty and shoddy line to receive the land grants before the other got them.

Romney initial answer on role of government was better framed.

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Obama hasn't said "dolla" once yet.

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Romney got another Solyndra jab in without Obama being allowed to respond (other than shaking his head).

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Interesting tact by Mittens--he's making a HUGE play for the middle.  HUGE play.   That's a smart move.

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As to closing statements..  Obama's was almost bizarrely weak.  Mitt gave a solid stock campaign closing speech, hitting on all the downpoints of the last 4 years.