Tuesday's Lessons

We've got one more debate to go...Monday night in Boca....Boca hasn't been too good for Mitt Romney....Isn't this where he made the notorious 47% statement at that closed dinner??

He'd better hope that that wasn't an omen of bad luck and bad things to come as he heads toward the final debate next week.

Some final thoughts on Tuesday night's debate...If former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney controlled the terms of the debate two weeks ago in Denver, the opposite was true here Tuesday night. It was President Obama on offense for much of the night, and it was Mitt Romney playing defense.

 The overall outcome at Hofstra University wasn't as one-sided or decisive as it was two weeks ago. Indeed, the GOP presidential nominee was strong on the economy and litigating President Obama's four years in office, and he brought plenty of energy. But just like we saw in Denver, the body language told the real story: You had Republicans, not Democrats, complaining about the moderator this time; there was the Romney campaign saying afterward, “What we really meant to say was blah,blah,blah"

And you saw President  Obama lingering with the crowd after the debate (when it was Mitt Romney who did that two weeks ago). Also, unlike President Obama’s performance in Denver, there were some uncomfortable moments for Mitt Romney (the exchange on Libya, “binders full of women,”et al. President Obama’s my-pension-isn’t-as-big-as-yours line) that have the potential to be problematic for his campaign over the next couple of days.

II-

Did you learn anything Tuesday? If you learned anything Tuesday night, as well as in Denver, it’s that the issue terrain matters. While the first two questions last night -- on a young college student’s job prospects and on gas prices -- were right up Mitt Romney’s alley, many more of the following questions were tailor-made for President Obama. Pay equality for women. Immigration. George W. Bush. 

The President used those questions, which didn’t surface two weeks ago, to draw his sharpest contrasts with Mitt Romney. In fact, a good chunk of the debate was an exercise in micro-targeting, particularly for the President. You saw both President Obama and Mitt Romney making their pitches to female voters and Latinos, who happen to be two of the most important demographic groups in this election.

Monday, I heard pundits on CNN and MSNBC that the town-hall debate was an opportunity for  Mitt Romney to make more inroads with female voters, especially those in the suburbs.  So did a debate that shined a spotlight on the Lilly Ledbetter Act, abortion, and contraception end up helping Mitt Romney with women? I don't think so.
Not the way he answered or rather danced around the questions.

The sharpest and most dramatic exchanges of the night was over Libya, a topic that has dogged the Obama administration over the past few weeks. President Obama said, “The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror.” Romney later interjected, “I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.” President Obama fired back, “Get the transcript.” Well, here is the transcript -- and here’s what  President Obama said in that Rose Garden speech: “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for.”

 Now Mitt Romney would have been on safer ground if he charged that President Obama didn’t call it a coordinated terrorist attack by al Qaeda-affiliated elements, and the Romney spinners after the debate made that point. But Mitt Romney used a different term -- “act of terror” -- and President Obama DID SAY that. And afterward, Mitt Romney appeared rattled and shook (as we used to say on the street) after he allowed himself to get caught up on the losing end of a semantic argument. Mitt Romney was not the same candidate after that moment. He looked tired and weary!

Everybody said that..CBS, MSNBC and CNN all agreed and all had President Obama walking away with the win... So that makes it Team Obama 2....Team Romney, 1....Monday is the last round....of debates....

Tuesday November 6th is when the real decision will be made by the American People.See you then!