I watched the presidential debates tonight. There were more details than I expected and more back and forth, that was a pleasant surprise. Both were well prepared but they also actually engaged. I think Romney did a little better though I think some of his facts (particularly about his own plans) were wrong. I'm curious to see what factchecker.org says. Obama did well towards the end when he made the point that a lot of Romney's answers were that he would keep the good stuff of various policies but wasn't describing details. But I think Obama paused a little too much and didn't connect with the audience as much as I would have hoped.
This whole bipartisan thing really annoyed me. Am I the only person that remembers that healthcare was a national debate for over a year? That Obama spent months and months trying not to dictate a plan to congress but trying to get them to produce one of their own that met the goals. I'm sure Obama didn't want to blame Republicans in Congress for blocking too many things but he needed to do more to say that that's just what they did. Obama should have said that the $716 billion from medicare is an example of his bipartisanship because it's in Romney's and Ryan's budget but he uses the savings to pay for better healthcare.
This was also the point in the campaign where Romney finally moved to the center away from the far right of the party. I'm wondering how happy the tea party will be with how many times Romney agreed with parts of the president's policies.
2 comments:
No, you are not the only one that remembers how much time Obama wasted on bipartisanship. It was annoying to watch the debate yesterday and see Romney becoming a centrist, mentioning the reviled state of Massachusetts on many occasions and generally looking more like the old Romney I remember than an Ayn Rand's creature. I don't know what Obama could do. He was obviously unhappy and somewhat passive. Very few voters read fact checkers' articles, most people simply believe what they are told.
As I said, I don't know what Obama can do but he better do something.
I also remember that the Affordable Care Act was altered several times in order to try to get bipartisan support.
I think this debate didn't sway anyone. The biggest lines to come out of it will be how Romney wanted to fire Big Bird.
Romney's move to the center relies on the voters who have never seen him before believing that he is as he says he is now and not losing the right-wing that just watched him jog to the left. Just which Romney would appear if elected is anybody's question - he has had every position at this point.
I like how Romney wanted to repeal Obamacare and replace it with ... Obamacare.
Post a Comment