Calm down everyone.

[oakvale]

I saw the debate last night - Romney was well-prepared, Obama clearly didn't want to be there - can't blame him, mind, it was his anniversary - and it's pretty clear that Romney "won".

More to the point, the media's been itching to move on from the stale "Romney's finished!" narrative and on to a much more exciting "it's a close race now!" one - even if Romney hadn't turned in a better performance, just holding his own on stage with the President would give him a decent bump and some favourable news cycles.

The debate was "do or die" for Romney, and he saved his campaign, but let's not act as if this is some amazing game changer. If Romney had lost the debate, he'd be finished, as is he's still in the race. That's undeniably good news for Romney, but I don't think it changes the fundamental picture of the election.

Republicans and Democrats, relax. Republicans - Romney had a polished performance, but didn't have any "Reaganesque" quips, and, Democrats -  Obama had a flat performance, but didn't make any gaffes and didn't lose any voters.

I'm rambling a bit, but I can't really handle the chaos around here today.

2012 board after the debate:

[oakvale]

I haven't seen people overreact this much to a single ultimately irrelevant event since Sarah Palin was picked as McCain's running mate.

[Prez Duke]

McCain unleashing Sarah Palin certainly was relevant, just in ways we could have never imagined when he picked her.

[oakvale]

McCain unleashing Sarah Palin certainly was relevant, just in ways we could have never imagined when he picked her.

Heh, fair point. I think I'm going to tune out politics until the dust settles.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Actually such overreaction to an irrelevant event occurred just the day before with that non-issue "tape" that was "released" (after being out for five years).

[afleitch]

Think of it this way. A two point boost would be at the higher end of the expecations game. It's enough to cut Obama's national lead but he still leads. It's enough to secure Romney in North Carolina and probably enough to flip Florida and possibly Virginia. However the landscape would still favour Obama and would still be less favourable for Romney than it was this time last month at the end of the RNC.

Any bounce has to last. But first we have to see if there is one.

[Prez Duke]

Think of it this way. A two point boost would be at the higher end of the expecations game. It's enough to cut Obama's national lead but he still leads. It's enough to secure Romney in North Carolina and probably enough to flip Florida and possibly Virginia. However the landscape would still favour Obama and would still be less favourable for Romney than it was this time last month at the end of the RNC.

Any bounce has to last. But first we have to see if there is one.

Like Kerry had to do, Romney will have to keep the pressure on Obama and beat him again in the second debate. If he lets Obama back in it, Obama wins because he still have a built in advantage.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Just to tune in from Old Europe, and France in particular, our media seldom speaks about the election for now, and this morning they did to tell that Romney had won the first debate and repeat that CNN poll 67-25. It's clear though that they want the public here to believe it is a close race, and will only communicate on "game-changing" moments, real or putative.

Last time they speaked about it was the whole Romney insulting 47% of the population thing.

Ah and they also only ever talk about nationwide polls, which reinforces the illusion of a tight race for the French electorate used to winning by popular vote. For us, a 49 to 46 race, which I believe is more or less the state of the race nationwide today, seems to be a quite close race.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I don't know... usually when you have to say something's "not a game-changer," there's at least some validity to the claims that they are.

[Mehmentum]

Well, game changer is a vauge term.  I agree wholeheartedly that everything is being blown completely out of proportion.

In a way this was a game change in that the situation has changed.  Romney's campaign is no longer in danger of collapsing and Obama doesn't look quite as unstoppable.  On the other hand, the fundamentals of the race are the same.  The economy sucks but is slowly recovering, Romney is unlikabe, Obama is very likable, etc..  Obama still has the advantage overall. 

[Invisible Obama]

Right now, Republicans are bordering on getting overconfident and close to believing that the election is over because of one debate, while ignoring that there are other debates left. Obama isn't going to do the same thing twice, especially not with almost two weeks to the next debate.

[milhouse24]

Well, game changer is a vauge term.  I agree wholeheartedly that everything is being blown completely out of proportion.

In a way this was a game change in that the situation has changed.  Romney's campaign is no longer in danger of collapsing and Obama doesn't look quite as unstoppable.  On the other hand, the fundamentals of the race are the same.  The economy sucks but is slowly recovering, Romney is unlikabe, Obama is very likable, etc..  Obama still has the advantage overall. 

I would actually say that Voters have been looking for an viable alternative to Obama all year, and Romney has now given voters hope for an alternative.  The pieces have always been in place for a Romney victory, but no one was sure about the leader to put them all together.  Romney appears to be someone "who can Save America" and the polls next week will show Romney tied or leading Obama in the swing states. 

As long as Romney keeps up his A game for the next month, he will win the election.

[Clinton 2016]

I saw the debate last night - Romney was well-prepared, Obama clearly didn't want to be there - can't blame him, mind, it was his anniversary - and it's pretty clear that Romney "won".

More to the point, the media's been itching to move on from the stale "Romney's finished!" narrative and on to a much more exciting "it's a close race now!" one - even if Romney hadn't turned in a better performance, just holding his own on stage with the President would give him a decent bump and some favourable news cycles.

The debate was "do or die" for Romney, and he saved his campaign, but let's not act as if this is some amazing game changer. If Romney had lost the debate, he'd be finished, as is he's still in the race. That's undeniably good news for Romney, but I don't think it changes the fundamental picture of the election.

Republicans and Democrats, relax. Republicans - Romney had a polished performance, but didn't have any "Reaganesque" quips, and, Democrats -  Obama had a flat performance, but didn't make any gaffes and didn't lose any voters.

I'm rambling a bit, but I can't really handle the chaos around here today.

2012 board after the debate:

1+.

Obama thought "I'll give him this one but he better enjoy it because i'll kick his ass in the next 2 debates"

[Fritz]

Why is this stickied?

[Yank2133]

CALM DOWN......WE AREN"T GOING TO CALM DOWN!

Nah, but seriously. Obama had a bad performance, but internal polling shows that he didn't lose any support, which is what Romney has to do at this point to win(peel off support from Obama).

Great night for Romney though, he breathed new life into his campaign and there is now absolute no chance of a blowout.

[Lief]

It's over, Romney will be the next president. Better come to terms with it now than be heartbroken early Wednesday morning when Ohio is called for Mittens.

[Grumps]

Michael Moore's twitter account needs to calm down...lol

[Likely Voter]

Moore does have a point. Sure Kerry has experience and even won Presidential debates. However, he isn't a good fit for Romney and I doubt he was able to study Romney the way Portman has studied Obama. Romney clearly was better prepared last night. I doubt Kerry has been able to get Romney's aggressive style and likely Kerry hasn't been as blatant at stretching the truth. Obama didn't seem prepared for Romney to say things like his tax plan doesn't cost $5T or his health plan will cover pre-existing conditions. You can tell from Team Obama's reaction today, focusing on these 'fact checks' that they didnt have Obama ready to do that kind of fact checking in the debate itself

One thing is for sure. If Romney lost last night it was over. he would have lost donors, enthusiasm. He was toast. Now he is back in it.

[Vosem]

Obama thought "I'll give him this one but he better enjoy it because i'll kick his ass in the next 2 debates"

Er...that makes no goddamn sense.

[SirNick]

Why didn't they hire an expert for debate prep and not John Kerry?

[Speed of Sound]

Why is this stickied?

Yeah, seriously. This has absolutely no right to be stickied, not any more than some random "Romney's ahead now!" post would be. Can a mod bring the down the Professionalism Hammer on this one?

As to the point, yeah, it's true that this isn't revolutionary, but the comparative performances were a great surprise in one of three often very important events. I'm not terribly surprised that a 2012 election board hence has a lot to say about it.

[Jayhawker]

It's absolutely absurd that this is stickied.

[wildfood]

If Romney doesn't gain in the polls as a result of these debates it will be a very bad sign for Romney after such an effort.

[oakvale]

Why is this stickied?

Yeah, seriously. This has absolutely no right to be stickied, not any more than some random "Romney's ahead now!" post would be. Can a mod bring the down the Professionalism Hammer on this one?

As to the point, yeah, it's true that this isn't revolutionary, but the comparative performances were a great surprise in one of three often very important events. I'm not terribly surprised that a 2012 election board hence has a lot to say about it.

It's absolutely absurd that this is stickied.

lol

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

God bless this thread.