The Great Debate: Mitt Romney stands tall, while Barack Obama takes a short fall.
Last week, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney met head to head for their first debate leading up to the 2012 election. While many expected a verbal beat-down, the outcome of that beat-down didn’t come quite out as expected.
Most pundits had Mitt Romney down for the count for months leading up the debate after weeks and weeks of gaffes and missteps by the Romney camp. His “47%” comment and the apparent lack of support from his Republican party led many to believe that this race was over before it even started. But like they say, that’s why we play the game folks. So when the lights came on October 3rd at the University of Denver when Barack Obama and Mitt Romney met up for the first of three debates, all who watched it saw a blood bath with their own two eyes, but it was the challenger who leveled the kill shots rather than the champion.
[kkytv id=”HSmitzyhqyQ”]
From the beginning of the debate, Mitt Romney stood in the ring ready to play a game of punch, counter-punch with the President. Debate moderator Jim Lehrer refereed the contest asking questions to both parties concerning their views on the economy, health care and more. While Mitt seemed fresh and ready to compete, Barack came off dazed and confused. Mitt came out his corner ready to fight, while Barack came out ready to defend. Mitt would send jabs Baracks way in the form of attacks on his policies on the economy and the passing of “Obamacare,” while Barack spent most of his time with his hands over his face trying to comfort the blows. By the end of the fight, Romney was winning by points while Barack was sitting in the corner wondering when the re-match would be.
The Mitt Romney we saw at this debate wasn’t the Mitt Romney we were used to. His past debates with fellow Republican hopefuls saw Mitt coming off as an over-confident, arrogant, flip-flopper who couldn’t stand on a decision. He made 1o thousand dollars bets with fellow candidates. He stumbled over facts and often found himself the butt of jokes. The lead up to this debate seemed to paint Mitt in that same box as someone who can’t make up his mind about who he was or what he wanted to represent. That was then and this was now, and on this night he was the one in charge.
Despite not expanding on what he would do for the economy or explaining the real differences between “Romneycare” and “Obamacare,” Mitt stood confident and poised on the stage. A sharp contrast to what we have seen before. On the other side of that stage, stood a man who all presumed was going to win hands down. The Barack Obama who we’ve seen in past at debates was one who stood tall over his competition. His debates with Hilary Clinton were masterful. His grasp of all things policy and his way with words kept Hilary off balance and kept the flow of power in his hands as he cruised to a victory in the primaries and later in the overall election.
That night, we saw another side of Barack Obama, one that many feared would show its face eventually. Barack, while a master of words and commanding a crowd can come off at times very professorial. More like he’s delivering a lecture versus defending his stance. He spoke at the crowd and his competitor, not to them. He was stand-offish and arrogant. His facial expressions showed a man who was seemed almost offended at the fact that he was standing on this stage having to address this crowd and this man. In fact, he came off like how we all figured Mitt Romney would. At the end of the debate, Barack seemed more elitist and dictatorial and less like the man of the people who we came to know and love. The most visible stumble by Barack was the fact that he refused to even look Mitt Romney in the eye when defending his views. This was a huge flaw seen by many as being arrogant and condescending. Mitt would look Barack in his face, confident in what he said, while Barack would look down at his papers, as if Mitt wasn’t worth his time.
By the end of the debate, many called it a blow-out 45 minutes in and Barack wasn’t the one on the winning side. While Gallop polls still have Barack in the lead by 5 points, many wonder where this still could go. We still have two more debates and many more topics to tackle. There will be more opportunities for Barack to show himself the master debater that he can be. There are also many more chances for Mitt Romney to show himself as the arrogant, flip-flopper that he has shows to be at times. Only time can tell which candidate will show which trait. What we do know for fact is, time is ticking and in less than four weeks we will decide who we want to run this country for the next four years. If we take this first debate as any indication, the country might be in for a big change, one that we never saw coming.
Here is how Carl Brown, Vice President of the FUBU corporation thought about “The Great Debate”
OK Romney won last night but it was one of the most dishonest performances ever. The problem for Obama is it’s impossible to pin Romney down on anything. Romney’s established his willingness to change his position entirely on a dime, as many times as it takes, depending on wherever he’s speaking. All Romney has to do is say “No, that’s not my position” and Obama can do nothing about it in a debate setting without looking petty; there’s no way to prove it even though you can immediately show Romney is an outright liar as soon as the debate is over with video of his previous statements and policy positions. It’s impossible to debate jello, and that will be Obama’s challenge going forward..Trying to nail Jello to a wall!
With less than a month away from the general election and the fact that the unemployment rate has dropped below 8% will sure surely give the upcoming October 16th presidential debate a new round of issues to discuss.
Hip Hop Enquirer Magazine | twitter.com/hiphopenquirer
