The Politics Thread

[Ann_SS]

Apparently, the CNN undecided voters agreed with the President on this. Their line went way up. I don't think that President answered the question on Benghazi. However, his anger radiated and it was clear that he was offended by Romney and the Republicans' accusations so he made it personal about knowing the diplomats and their families and that he greeted their coffins which threw Romney off and he struggled to respond and shied away from confronting directly after that.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Ann_SS

[quartermainefan]

The consensus tomorrow will be Obama won. A couple of times it looked like they were going to come to blows, but Romney looked ridiculous insisting to Candy he gets the last word, talking over Obama, and at one point just saying he refuses to answer the question because he had another topic he wanted to talk about.

[Soapsuds]

And now the people behind Romney's campaign are pissed off at Candy for correcting him....LOL

Edited October 17, 2012 by Soapsuds

[Wales2004]

There were a couple of stupid things that Mitt Romney did that brought attention to himself. I can't remember the first one but the fact that he brought up the idea of caring for the 100% opened a door he should have left closed.

And that badgering didn't do him any good either because instead of looking tough, he came across as a bully. In fact, he mainly came across as "this is my world and I'm letting you live in it."

Good for Barack Obama calling what Mitt Romney said "offensive." What an idiotic thing for Mitt Romney to do....self inflicted wound.

[Ann_SS]

Alexrod said that they had not planned to planned to use the 47 percent at the end when Romney could not lie to rebut it. It was brilliant that the President mentioned it at the end talking so passionately about the people who comprise that 47 percent. I am thrilled by the President's performance. I think that tonight that he won back the undecided and women who leaned away from him after the last debate.

[Ann_SS]

Once a bully, always a bully. Remember the report on how Romney led some of his fellow privileged high school friends to hold down a classmate who was different and presumed to be gay and cut his hair with a scissors while he called out for help. Romney also led a blind teacher into a closed door and laughed about it. Romney has gotten older, but he has not changed at all. He is still a bully.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Ann_SS

[Wales2004]

One of the things I do find offensive is the suggestion that single mothers raise criminals or are responsible for gun toting criminals.

So I'm supposed to believe that two parents raise model children. What about kids that end up in single parent homes due to the death of a parent or children of divorced parents?

Sure it's ideal to grow up with a mother and father but the idea that one parent causes a disastrous life really needs to come to a halt. I lost track of what Mitt Romney was saying when he brought that up and I'm not picking on him because I know that he's not the only one promoting that.

He also lost me on immigration. He said something about providing children born here to immigrants a pathway to citizenship....me: huh? And I didn't get how you earn a green card by doing well in school.

So he couldn't stick to saying something about himself that would help him.

Martha Raddatz has been the best moderator so far. Candy Crowley gets major points for the on the spot fact check.

And I don't care what anybody says--Mitt Romney was disrespectful to Candy Crowley. I bet Mike Huckabee won't acknowledge that though but he saw fit to make Joe Biden out to be some sort of drunk.

[Soapsuds]

That was just being discussed on CNN and how many single mothers were offended by it. I know many children who have been raised by two parents and they still turn out bad.

The whole immigration made no sense to me. I had no [!@#$%^&*] clue what Romney was talking about.

[juppiter]

The whole marriage rant by Romney was a severe blunder. There was a time a conservative could say that and come off well -- and that time was not so long ago. But now we have reached the point where it is not just minority babies born out of wedlock... it has become increasingly common among white babies as well. In this day and age, that was a far-right rant for a candidate who has been trying to re-position himself as a moderate.

Otherwise good performance by both but I gotta say Obama did better as he had no serious gaffes like Romney's marriage rant.

[Money]

Romney looks like a greasy car salesman. He has this leer that even when he's smiling you know it's ridiculously fake. I thought it was hilarious when he said he looked through a binder for women candidates to combat the inequality in his cabinet. Absolutely hilarious.

Candy did good as a moderator. I would have said she was great if she didn't allow both men to go over their allotted two minutes however even she had to fact check Romney on Benghazi and I'm glad she did it. The crowd applauded.

I don't think there's an undecided latino who would vote for Romney after his stance on immigration.

And he should have known better to say he cared about 100% of Americans. Obama countering with the 47% in his last statement was perfect.

[juppiter]

It almost makes me wonder why Republicans do not endorse gay marriage as that is the only demographic that is increasingly getting married lmao.

[Ann_SS]

For right wing Republican conservatives, "single mothers" has always been code for promiscuous unmarried black women with a bunch of children on welfare. Unfortunately for them, the population is changing. A whole lot of white women are getting divorced, staying single, and choosing not to remarry after being widowed so lumping them together as bad mothers is not the way to win their votes.

I agree with you about Martha being the best moderator. I also agree that Romney was rude to Candy Crowley.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Ann_SS

[Money]

I will also add that tonight Obama showed that you can be aggressive and still be presidential. If he had done that in the first debate Romney would have had zero momentum. Hopefully it's enough to move forward.

[Ann_SS]

Exactly what I was saying after the first debate debacle. Obama should have come out swinging at the first debate. Look what a good job he did refusing to let Romney run from his record and his words. The CNN audience sharply agreed with him when he expressed his fury at Romney's attack over Libya.

Obama's poor performance after the first debate made the road to reelection way harder than it had to be. He should be sauntering to the finish line, instead he is scrambling desperate. Worse of all it is ALL of his own making.

[Money]

You always know when Obama did good. Chris Mathews is grinning like a Cheshire cat LOL