WyBlog

Hofstra debate post-game report, The Empire Strikes Back

Yeah, I'm going with the Star Wars metaphor. Romney crushed the Debt Star in the first debate, and the stage was set for an Obama comeback meme. He didn't disappoint, but then again he had a little help from his friend Candy Crowley. The Empire is well-served by the bylined Democratic Party operatives at CNN.

Watching one of these slugfests with a bunch of left-leaning Obama supporters is a sociological adventure. And yeah, I was pretty much the only Romney guy in the room. They cheered when Obama spoke and jeered at Romney's jabs. The "my pension isn't as big as yours" line went over particularly well with them.

In the end though most folks agreed it was a draw. Each man played to his strengths, and a few of the Obama supporters decried the generally softball nature of the questions. And no one had anything nice to say about moderator Candy Crowley. "Lost control" and "condescending" were common refrains.

Partisan hack, was my take. Because when she "corrected" Gov. Romney's characterization of Obama's Rose Garden speech on Libya, the crowd at the Cloverleaf went wild. No moderator in the history of presidential debates has ever refereed the candidates, thrown a penalty flag, and issued a ruling after booth review. Yet there was Crowley, sanctimoniously proclaiming Obama to be right and chastising Romney for daring to contradict him. The liberals ate it up. I cringed.

In years past the Obama - Crowley tag team would have carried the day. But the internet is a wonderful thing, and fact-checkers quickly rushed in where Journolists failed to tread. Faced with actual transcripts of Obama's Rose Garden speech Crowley was forced to walk-back her shilling.

Candy Crowley, the Replacement Ref of presidential debate moderators!

Or, as Smitty puts it:

Let's see, what else? I took a bunch of notes. Obama neatly sidestepped the question on gasoline prices — I doubled fuel economy standards so hey, you're only using half as much gas! — but didn't say anything really new. Romney fumbled the opportunity to hit him hard here, it's not as if Obama wasn't hammering George Bush for high gas prices back in 2008. And not everyone can afford a new car or wants to buy a Chevy Volt. But Obama didn't do himself any favors by refusing to say if $4 / gallon gas is "the new normal." Because if Obama is re-elected we'll think back on $4 / gallon gas as "the good old days." Romney should have said that.

On the taxes question we saw Obama once again try very hard to put words in Romney's mouth. "Here's what Governor Romney will do…" followed of course by Romney saying "no, I won't." And the inevitable, "yes, you will." It was childish, but what else can Obama do, run on his record?

I like these supposed "undecided" voters, NOT! What a bunch of phonies. Question for Romney, "do you blame Bush?" Gimme a break. Tailor-made softball for Obama to "rebut." Can't win issue for Romney. But Candy Crowley's not biased, honest!

Then of course one of the three aging feminuts who still burns her bras nightly showed up to agitate for "equal pay." Another softball for Obama, and Romney's tepid response was probably the best he could do but it didn't play well at all with my new liberal friends. Will rehashing the "war on women" swing female voters back to Obama? Romney should have noted that Obama's own White House pays their female staffers less than the men. Take notes ladies, watch what Obama does, don't listen to what he says.

Did anybody count how many times Obama glibly interjected "I killed bin Laden"? At one point I snarked, "how, with a golf club?" Got cold stares from the crowd.

And did anybody count how many times he claimed "I saved Detroit"? Someone needs to ask the 20,000 guys (formerly) at Delphi about that "saved" thing. Obama saved the UAW. Non-union workers, not so much.

When Romney was asked about illegal immigration there was Crowley again to shill for Obama, whacking Romney about "self-deportation." I defined "self-deportation" — it's when Paul Ryan has to wash dishes. The crowd, it was not amused. C'mon, that was funny!

Obama saved his two biggest whoppers for the end. "I believe in self-reliance." And, "The commitments I've made, I've kept." Well, except for the ones that were too hard. He's "still working" on those.

He must think we're all idiots. Maybe he can print that nonsense on all the food stamps he passes out. Or text it to every Obamaphone. (Another jibe that elicited cold stares from the peanut gallery). Some people will believe anything.

Posted at 10:08 by Chris Wysocki   [/election]   Comments | Perm Link |
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