Many pundits on the right are praising Mitt Romney for his performance in debating President Obama last night.
There’s no question that Romney’s assertiveness and lack of deference to the moderator helped him win the debate. There is one question though…why is he still so vague on details when discussing his economic plan for the country?
The Huffington Post
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney spent much of his first presidential debate Wednesday walking back some of his core primary positions and highlighting similarities with President Barack Obama — from keeping bank regulations in place, bringing in more teachers, maintaining taxes on the wealthy, to making sure those with pre-existing conditions have health insurance.
But the president failed to respond effectively, drifting into his professorial demeanor and barely attempting to veil his annoyance with Romney. It wasn’t pretty, but Romney won, according to the general consensus among reporters and political operatives after the debate at the University of Denver.
Romney appeared more relaxed than Obama, who spent much of his time explaining policies he would likely rather be done selling by now. He hardly looked Romney in the eye during the debate.
There is one critical caveat, of course, in determining the winner of a debate: It’s difficult to know how the millions of voters, whose prisms are radically different than those of mainstream reporters, took in the debate. But, at minimum, Romney cleared the most critical bar, by appearing presidential.
Still, one issue continued to plague Romney: details. While he said he would end Obama programs, he was vague on how he would do so without eliminating a host of components he pledged to keep.
“At some point, you have to ask, is he keeping all these plans to replace [programs] secret because they’re too good?” Obama said. “Families are going benefit too much from them?”
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- Liberal Spin: Romney Bullied Moderator, Dominated the Time – The Truth: Obama Talked 4 Minutes Longer (nicedeb.wordpress.com)
- Romney’s policy vagueness pays off (washingtonpost.com)
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- Obama: “If you’re 54 or 55, listen up” (cbsnews.com)
- 2012 Presidential Debate: Who Won: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? (hollywood.com)
- Obama and Romney clash over economy, taxes, health care (sacbee.com)
- Top Romney Adviser: States Will Have To Cover People With Pre-Existing Conditions Under President Romney (tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com)
- Obama: “If you’re 54 or 55, listen up” (cbsnews.com)
- 2012 Presidential Debate: Who Won: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? (hollywood.com)
