The Debate Spectacle Last Night
The second Obama-Romney debate looked like it needed a banner in the background that said “WrestleMania.” The President and his challenger went at it on a number of issues. The bickering matches on drilling permits or what was said in the Rose Garden about Libya were intense. Voters are most likely going to walk away from it thinking that Governor Romney blew it on the whole Libya thing. Now Romney is left with the challenge of keeping the momentum he has developed in recent weeks and redeeming himself at the final debate.
There was no decisive winner last night; most polls lean toward Obama scoring the overall victory while Romney won on financial issues. It was supposed to be one of the determining factors in who won this election. In the end, it just left voters waiting for their next chance to see the two tussle. The next debate on Monday will focus on foreign policy. The President will have to keep scoring debate points on these issues if he wants to get re-elected. One can imagine that Mr. Obama is relieved that topics like jobs and deficits are no longer going to be in play. He has struggled with high unemployment and deficits that have lead to a massive $16 trillion plus national debt during his Presidency. Romney could easily out-debate him on these issues.
An interesting part of last night’s debate was that the moderator threw her impartiality out the window and provided support to the President. It offended a number of conservatives and kept the complaining about the moderators alive. Of course, the first Presidential debate had Jim Lehrer at the helm. He was criticized for allowing the participants to walk all over him. The Vice-Presidential debate’s moderator, Martha Raddatz, did next to nothing when Joe Biden interrupted his opponent 83 times. Last night, Candy Crowley appeared to be a tag team partner of the President.
The next debate moderator, Bob Schieffer of CBS News, will be more responsible. I can guarantee it. He is a real professional. I once worked with his network and saw how he does business. He is from the old-school when TV journalists attempted to show impartiality. He has demonstrated the ability to be tough on both sides in his coverage of this election. That is an amazing feat since it seems the industry has become a battle of political propagandists who try to inject their beliefs in just about everything they do.
I was actually impressed with a recent interview Schieffer conducted with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. The journalist from CBS, which is considered to be highly left-leaning, pressed the governor on whether he could really say Americans were better off in 2012 than they were four years ago. O’Malley said “No.” It was stunning to hear a Democrat say something like this, especially someone who is as far to the left as O’Malley. Yet, a skilled journalist such as Bob Schieffer can bring this out during an interview.
The next debate promises to be interesting, please watch and then get out to vote.
