obama

[Skeng DX]

got kicked up

[Sir X]

Romney did a decent job , Obama held his own , I dont know how that agression will play on john public because all that talk about "i want to create jobs" came with no specifics.

Romney was more emotional , yes , Obama more specific could have been more emotional .

Conclusion nothing changed : Romney lacked specifcs and seemed like a salesman.

How will it play out, I think John public will continue to drift from Romney.Unless they want a salesman.

[Skeng DX]

bama need to cut out the "awwm" awwm" awwm"

[Sir X]

Thats the least.

[Skeng DX]

.Mitt connected with the swing states...mentioning them by name.

[Islandman]

Romney did well , Obama seemed to be extra cautious.

Will be interesting to see what difference it makes in the support for Romney, if any.

[Hortical]

Clear victory for Romney, not even close! Lets see if Americans are & dumb & dumber and will drink the Mormon koolaid.

[Assasin]

Obama come in like he wasn't prepared. He should have hit the man the man with Bain capital and Cayman account etc.

Word of advace to Obama, stop talking bout "Romney and I believe" You sould like Al Gore and you don't know what the man believe. Let him say what he believe.

[Islandman]

That was deliberate. He didn't want to play tough offense, that's not his style.

Romney was well prepared though. He gave a good account of himself.

[Hortical]

"Connected" would be an exaggeration, but he won the debate by a mile.
CNN poll gave Romney the debate, 67-25%. Obama was clearly overconfident.

[Skeng DX]

US Republican candidate Mitt Romney won the first of three televised debates with President Barack Obama, polls and analysts say.

After the 90-minute duel centring on taxes, the deficit and healthcare, polls gave Mr Romney a 46-67% margin with Mr Obama trailing with 22-25%.

Commentators said Mr Romney appeared in command while Mr Obama was hesitant.

Mr Obama has led national polls and surveys in the swing states that will decide the 6 November election.

The BBC's Mark Mardell says if the gap narrows or Mitt Romney starts moving ahead of Mr Obama, that will be a huge boost for his campaign, and suggest he could win the White House.

However if they hardly budge, then the Republican challenger will be in deep trouble, the North America editor adds.

Stopping slump
President Obama appeared hesitant, occasionally asking moderator Jim Lehrer, of US public television network PBS, for time to finish his points.

The two candidates attacked each other's economic plans, with Mr Obama describing his rival's approach as "top-down economics" and a retread of Bush-era policies.

"If you think by closing [tax] loopholes and deductions for the well-to-do, somehow you will not end up picking up the tab, then Governor Romney's plan may work for you," he said.

"But I think math, common sense, and our history shows us that's not a recipe for job growth."

Mr Romney derided Mr Obama's policies as "trickle-down government".

"The president has a view very similar to the one he had when he ran for office four years ago, that spending more, taxing more, regulating more - if you will, trickle-down government - would work," Mr Romney said.

"That's not the right answer for America."

Mr Romney pledged not to reduce taxes for wealthy Americans, and said Mr Obama had misrepresented Mr Romney's tax plans on the campaign trail.

Both camps rushed to defend the respective performances.

"The average person at home saw a president who you could trust," Obama adviser David Plouffe told reporters. "That's what the American people are looking for."

But senior Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said the president had spoken "only in platitudes".

"If this were a boxing match, it would have been called by the referee," he said.

Commentators largely agreed that Mitt Romney had performed better.

New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said, Mr Obama "did a terrible job in the debate, and Romney did well".

"But in the end, this isn't or shouldn't be about theatre criticism, it should be about substance," Mr Krugman said defending Mr Obama's statements whilst charging that "much of what Romney said was either outright false or so misleading as to be the moral equivalent of a lie".

ABC News quoted one of its consultants and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile as saying: "Mitt Romney did a lot of good... was a little more aggressive than the president."

Washington Post conservative columnist George Will said Mr Romney's performance had "stopped [his slump in the polls] in its tracks".

A CNN/ORC International poll of 430 people who watched the debate showed 67% thought Romney won, compared with 25% for Obama.

A CBS News poll found a 46% support for Mr Romney, 22% for Mr Obama and 32% saying it was a tie.

And a Google survey gave Mr Romney a 47.8% advantage against 25.4% for Mr Obama.

Clash on 'Obamacare'

On healthcare, Mr Romney said that Mr Obama's "Obamacare" reform law of 2010 had increased health costs and kept small businesses from hiring.

Even as he pledged to repeal Mr Obama's health law, Mr Romney praised and defended a plan he himself had previously signed as governor of Massachusetts that is widely hailed as the model for the Obama law.

Mr Obama, meanwhile, said his plan had kept insurance companies from denying coverage to sick people.

The University of Denver debate was the first in a series of three presidential forums and one vice-presidential encounter this month.

Running-mates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will meet in Danville, Kentucky on 11 October, before the second presidential debate on 16 October.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-c...3#dna-comments

[Sir X]

Romney is now to the center...wow...what a shift, i think the president was just feeling him out, he laid specifics instead of emotions, the next two debates it will be both.

[TDowl]

Does Mitt have any more bullets left?

[Assasin]

Well Obama need fi draw him gun. Jah know my bwoy nuh deal with nothing last night. Seems like him was thinking bout his wedding anniversary.

The man made Mitt look good.

[Jangle]

Obama was too passive last night in the debate. Romney gave him enough ammunition to attack Romney on his points but he did not take the bait. The Democratic party has a problem selling the good that they have been able to accomplish, and this cost them the local elections. Obama came across too defensive or rather not aggressive enough to extol the growth in the economy. The Democratic campaign machinery needs to crank up and become much more aggressive over the next few weeks, especially before the next debate. This Big Bird comment can become a distraction against Romney and will take on a life of its own on the social media. The American public is very fickle and a comment about doing away with Big Bird and PBS can act as a good side show.

The next debate will be on foreign affairs. Obama needs to properly prepare for this. This new attack on Syria by Turkey, along with what is happening in the Arab world is more than enough fodder for a strong debate from Romney, but on the other hand could work against him. There are some factions within the soceity that are just warmongers and Romney comes across as one. The American public has the state of the economy at the forefront of their minds and are not in favour of starting any more wars. Obama's approach to America's foreign policies has been exemplary, but he needs to come across more forceful and decisive in the next debate.

Romney's plan on education is just plain foolish. There are certain sectors of an econamy that must be controlled by government - banking, health, public transportation and education. his plan on education is to open it up to the free market which is very dangerous. He made a point about grading schools....schools are already graded. His idea of giving more money to top performing schools and leaving those that are not to fend for themselves is a recipe for disaster and ostricising the poor. We have proof of that in Jamaica.