Who Won Hofstra Debate?

OK, my take on this debate is that both candidates "came out swinging" this time.  This says a LOT more for President Obama compared to the first debate.   It was more like a "brawl" this time around.  Both made points.  Governor Romney made a mistake (several times) in asking open-ended questions of the President.  In a debate one should never ask a question to which they either a) don't already know the answer to, or b) have not already telegraphed the answer to, leaving your opponent no alternative than to give the answer you expected - that is, if both your expectation and your opponent are honest.

Overall, on substance I believe Governor Romney still "wins" - but in "debate points" I may lean toward President Obama.  The problem is, while he wins the debate points - once the "fact checking" takes place, he loses the actual argument.  For those who just watch the debate and do not watch for the fact checking, I believe there's a slight edge to the President.  For those who do wait for the fact checking, I believe the evidence will be overwhelmingly in Governor Romney's favor.  So, while Obama "wins the night" (barely), Romney actually "wins the debate."  One fact I've already heard verified was where Gov. Romney claimed a 50% drop in drilling contracts - the fact is it's over 60% for off-shore drilling and about 33% for on-shore drilling (Chris Wallace).  To that point, I must add, Governor Romney asked a specific question, "How much did you cut them by?"  President Obama diverted and answered about how much oil is being drilled... he answered a question which Romney didn't ask.

Who Won?
National Journal:  Obama wins debate points - but ultimate verdict is uncertain (in short, a tie).

A "Quick Poll" on Huffington Post says Obama wins:

 CNN says "Obama comes on Strong, Romney holds his ground."  Their poll suggests Obama won, but also conceded that the results were within the margin of error.

The Global Post states that while Obama "held his own" it also says "but Romney didn't lose much."

Foxnews says it's a split decision - Democrats say Obama won, Republicans say Romney won.

The bottom line is, after President Obama's dismal showing in the Denver debate, he needed a grand slam, knock it out of the park victory tonight in order to quell Governor Romney's momentum - and while Obama was more aggressive, Romney stood his ground - or as the Global Post put it, "Romney didn't lose much."  Therefore, President Obama didn't get the kind of win - if there was any "win" at all for him - he needed this time round so I predict that Romney will continue to overtake Obama - and in some polls, he already has.

When One Debates a Fool...

Cutting Taxes DOES Work! So Said JFK!

Even one of the greatest Democrat Presidents of the United States agrees!  Cutting the tax rate will increase the tax revenue - not only did John F. Kennedy say this, but so did Ronald Reagan, it the FACT is it is absolutely TRUE!  Governor Romney and Senator Ryan are proposing virtually the SAME THING that President Kennedy proposed!  Was President Kennedy wrong?  If it was right then, it is right now!

Scott<<<
  

Sesame Workshop Response to Obama Ad

To paraphrase, they want Big Bird removed from the Obama campaign's recent anti-Romney ad.  Sesame Workshop (the host of Sesame Street, and Big Bird) is a non-partisan organization which does not support any political party or candidate.   You can see their response here.

The attack stems from Governor Romney's comment from the first presidential debate held last Wednesday where he said, "I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for. That's number one."  President Obama's attack ad sarcastically states that Big Bird is "a menace to our economy" and that Governor Romney is "taking on our enemies no matter where they nest."  Now, is that what Governor Romney REALLY said?  No!  He said he likes PBS and LOVES Big Bird - but he cannot justify sending money to support PBS (including Sesame Street) if we have to borrow that money from China to do it.

Romney's side has used an image of "The Count" and references Big Bird and Elmo - counting the number of times the Obama Campaign has referred to Big Bird and Elmo compared to how many times Lybia or "Plans to Fix the Economy" have been mentioned.  

Again, Sesame Workshop requests their trademarked characters be left out of the political campaign ads.  The Republican image is not as offensive as the Democrat one, but both should respect the wishes of Sesame Workshop.
 

Time To Circle The Wagons

In the aftermath of last night's debate the liberal media has been, thus far, been expressing their disgust with President Obama's lack of preparation ... soon you can expect them to begin circling the wagons and rallying to support the president.   Watch and see! 

Romney Wins First Debate

It is clear, Governor Romney won the first debate.  President Obama did get in a few good points, but overall it was Romney's night.  Romney did miss an opening "zinger" when President Obama said:

And so I just want to wish, Sweetie, you happy anniversary and let you know that a year from now we will not be celebrating it in front of 40 million people. 

Romney could have responded:

Mr. President, first off, congratulations on your 20th anniversary. I will do my best to make sure you spend your next one in Chicago and not in the White House.

While not a lot of substance to the statement, it would have been a bit of humor which would have resonated with the observers.

Another thing I noticed was that when President Obama was asked a direct question by Mr. Lehrer his response was almost every time a distraction to another subject.  Lehrer, in my humble opinion, should have then stated, "but my question was..." and then repeat the question.  Obama should not have been able to get away with the red herring tactic so easily with such an experience moderator (Lehrer has hosted the first presidential debate every time since 1988).

President Obama seemed to be stuck on Governor Romney allegedly planning a 5 trillion dollar tax cut, even after Romney repeatedly stated he has no such plan.  If Obama believed he indeed had such a plan then he should have been prepared with the facts of when Romney announced such a plan - rather than just keep repeating it is Romney's plan after Romney denied it (several times).

Now this was just the first debate, not the election.  There's still plenty of time for President Obama to rebound - but if he doesn't rebound from this, the swing is going in Romney's favor.

Full transcript of the debate can be found here:
http://www.timescall.com/ci_21693042/presidential-debate-running-transcript-obama-romney-square-off
 

Please feel free to add your own comments.

Terrible Call or Horrendous Non-Call

The manner in which the mainstream media treats liberals, President Obama being the chief among them, can be compared to the replacement refs in the National Football League.  Week after week we're seeing terrible calls in the NFL, not the least of which was last Monday night's game where the game was lost to the Green Bay Packers (and I'm a Vikings fan, so I speak with some objectivity here!) due to two calls on the second to last play of the game (the last being the point-after kick).  It was actually one terrible call and one horrendously missed call.  

The terrible call was to call the catch in the end zone "simultaneous possession."  How could that be?!  Jennings is a good 8-10 inches higher than Tate, the ball is clearly IN his hands before Tate touches it - then as they go to the ground Tate grabs hold of the ball with Jennings - but Jennings already has it securely in his arms and against his chest!  It was clearly Jennings' ball that Tate was attempting to steal away.

The horrendously missed call was PRIOR to the catch - where Tate, with two hands, SHOVES #37, Sam Shields, out of the way!  That's what REAL refs would call "offensive pass interference" which would nullify any chance or argument for Tate catching the ball.  See for yourself:

OK, back to what I was saying about how the mainstream press treats liberals.  Let's just take the attack in Benghazi, Lybia - where the United States ambassador and 3 others were killed.  The Obama administration comes out and says it was a spontaneous attack brought on by protestors due to an insulting, and very amateur video (called a movie).  In reality it was a well planned terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9/11.  On top of that, being a US Consulate - it is consider "American soil," so it is a terrorist attack on American soil on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in history.  The Obama administration therefore MUST distract and play down the reality of the situation not only for that reason, but also the question arises "Where was the Ambassador's protection/security?"  He was virtually ALONE when he was attacked!  Two of those killed were former Navy Seals, who were not "on duty" - but heroically stood up in the face of certain death for the sake of the Ambassador.  There was NO security, NO increased protection on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 and this was AFTER there were warnings that the Ambassador was in danger!  One could say that President Obama made a "bad call" in this matter - or an horrendous non-call.