Obama-Romney Debate 2

As Chris Wallace said, Obama’s performance stopped the bleeding in his campaign, so Democrats will be happy.  I think Republicans will be happy, too.  Romney came off as knowledgeable and didn’t back down.

Fox News contributor Brit Hume gave his analysis on the candidates during the town hall-style presidential debate. He assessed that President Obama was more aggressive and assertive this time around, whereas Mitt Romney was “basically the same” as he was during the first debate.
Hume said that since the president raised his game in comparison to his first debate performance, he will come out as the winner. He continued, “I will say this though, it was clear time and time again the difficultly the president has in being the incumbent.”
This was apparent when a voter in the audience told President Obama that he’s not as optimistic as he was four years ago. “There’s really no rebuttal to that. There’s no way a good debate performance can get you around that,” Hume said.

Charles Krauthammer reacted to the second presidential debate on tonight’s post-debate analysis, saying of the contentious debate, “this was a boxing match … at one point, I thought they were going to use their mics as weapons,” turning it into a Taiwanese parliament.
“Obama clearly had a good night,” Krauthammer said, asserting that on points, President Obama won the debate. “When Romney went large he did well, when Romney went small [...] Obama got the better of him.”
One area that Krauthammer said offered Romney a “huge opening that he missed” was on the topic of Libya. Krauthammer said the president “was completely at sea” on questions on the Benghazi attack. “He didn’t even try to answer it.”


According to Dick Morris, Romney looked more presidential than Obama did and showed himself to be an articulate, capable, attractive, compassionate leader with sound ideas. When a president gets into a bar room brawl, he loses his dignity and his aura, key assets for an incumbent. Romney was polite but firm. Obama seemed quarrelsome, frustrated, nasty, and cranky.

1.  Romney made very clear the case against Obama's economic record and Obama's rebuttal about 5 million jobs was pathetic. 

2.  Romney injected the China issue, big time, and tapped into a strong public sentiment on the issue.

3.  Romney made the effective case that Obama is anti-oil, coal, and gas and that this has doubled gas prices.

4.  Romney was very effective in differentiating himself from Bush-43 and in establishing that, unlike the GOP of the past, he was for small businesses not big businesses

5.  Romney rebutted the attacks on him over Chinese investments.

6.  Romney explained his tax plan well and to everyone's satisfaction.

7.  Obama erred in trying to make us believe that he always felt Libya was a terror attack. We all heard him blame the movie.

Obama scored points over the 47% statement by Romney, immigration, and by his response to the accusation that he went to Vegas after the murder of the Ambassador.

In another composition, Morris offered the following for believing that Romney is on his way to victory.
Romney:

1)  Explained his tax plan very well.  His suggestion that he would allow up to a flat $25,000 in deductions was excellent.

2)  Recited the statistics of economic decline so well and so frequently that they will be repeated again and again by voters as they contemplate their decision.

3)  Clearly pinned the blame for high gas prices on Obama by enumerating the president's anti-oil, anti-coal policies.

4)  Put the China issue in play big time by explaining Chinese currency manipulation.  In the next debate, Romney should drill down and explain how much Chinese chicanery and hacking costs us jobs and how passive Obama has been in the face of their conduct.

5)  Demonstrated his compassion and heart in his personal stories of his ministry.  He should continue just this kind of argumentation.


Here is some fact checking. 
President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney faced off last night in the second of three presidential debates, with just three weeks remaining before Election Day. The town hall forum was held at Hofstra University in New York, and was moderated by CNN’s Candy Crowley.
So where did the candidates get it right and where did they stray from the facts?
Check out this fact check courtesy of the Fox News Brainroom:
1) Romney said Detroit should go bankrupt
Romney: “And one thing that the president said, which I want to make sure that we understand, he said that I said we should take Detroit bankrupt. And that’s right. My plan was to have the company go through bankruptcy like 7-Eleven did and Macy’s and Condell (ph) Airlines and come out stronger.”
TRUE. Romney called for a managed bankruptcy in a New York Times Op-Ed.
This statement is drawn from a headline – “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” – on an opinion article written by Romney for The New York Times. But he did not say that in the article. (He repeated the line, however, on television.)

Although “bankrupt” often conjures up images of liquidation, Romney called for a “managed bankruptcy.” This is a process in which the company uses the bankruptcy code to discharge its debts, but emerges from the process a leaner, less leveraged company.
Romney: And I think it’s important to know that that was a process that was necessary to get those companies back on their feet, so they could start hiring more people. That was precisely what I recommended and ultimately what happened.
Crowley: “Let me give the president a chance.”
Obama: “Candy, what Governor Romney said just isn’t true. He wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open. And we would have lost a million jobs. And that — don’t take my word for it, take the executives at GM and Chrysler, some of whom are Republicans, may even support Governor Romney. But they’ll tell you his prescription wasn’t going to work.”
Obama’s statement is FALSE.
[Source: "Fact Check: Letting Detroit go bankrupt," The Washington Post: 17 Oct 2012]
2) Women earn less than men
Question: “In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?”
The question posed was slightly INACCURATE.
The Census Bureau, which tracks annual wages, found women who worked full-time, year-round in 2010 made 77 cents for every dollar men earned across the country. This comparison includes all male and female workers regardless of occupation.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses different measures to analyze the pay gap, including weekly wages. In 2010, women working full-time had median weekly earnings of $669, versus $824 for males, according to a BLS report released in 2011. So women earned 81 cents of every dollar earned by men, which has been typical since 2004.
[Source: Politifact]
3) Romney’s 60 Minutes interview
Obama: “Now, Governor Romney has a different philosophy. He was on 60 Minutes just two weeks ago and he was asked: Is it fair for somebody like you, making $20 million a year, to pay a lower tax rate than a nurse or a bus driver, somebody making $50,000 year? And he said, ‘Yes, I think that’s fair.’ Not only that, he said, ‘I think that’s what grows the economy.’”
FACT CHECK – Obama took Romney’s words slightly out of context and also misled the audience when he added, “And he said,’Yes, I think that’s fair.’ Not only that, he said, ‘I think that’s what grows the economy.’”
The president’s comments suggested that Romney thinks the economy will grow by virtue of bus drivers paying less than millionaires. But the Republican candidate was really saying that limiting taxes on investment income will encourage people to invest more of their money into the economy.
Note that none of this has anything to do with individual income tax, for which both Romney and Obama have both proposed progressive systems requiring higher earners to pay more than lower earners.
Here’s a transcript of the relevant part of that conversation between Romney and 60 Minutes reporter Scott Pelley:
Pelley: “You made on your investments, personally, about twenty million dollars last year and you paid fourteen percent in federal taxes. That`s the capital gains rate. Is that fair to the guy who makes fifty thousand dollars and paid a higher rate than you did?
Romney: It is a low rate. And one of the reasons why the capital gains tax rate is lower is because capital has already been taxed once at the corporate level, as high as thirty-five percent.
Pelley: So you think it is fair?
Romney: Yeah, I think it’s the right way to encourage economic growth, to get people to invest, to start businesses, to put people to work.”
[Source:The Washington Post: 16 Oct 2012]
4) Obama’s China connection
Obama deflected questions about his own investments in China with a joke. But independent reports have shown Obama holds shares in mutual funds that invest in Apple, Wal-Mart and other U.S. firms with operations in China.
[source: Washington Post -- Fact Check, Debate: Fact Check: China investments, Oct 16, 2012]
The Romney campaign claims that President Obama has money invested in China too, albeit indirectly. The president’s financial disclosure shows he has retirement money in Vanguard mutual funds and the Illinois pension plan. Those funds list investments in some 500 companies, including Apple, Wal Mart, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and General Electric.
Those firms have employees and in some cases, manufacturing facilities in China, which relates to another campaign hot-button issue: outsourcing. However, the companies themselves are based in the U.S. The investments involve domestic, not international, stock purchases.
[source: Politifact - Obama says Romney talks tough on China but puts his money there, Sept 13, 2012]
_____________________
What Romney said last night:
Romney: Yeah. Just going to make a point. Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in – in Chinese companies. Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?
Obama: (Inaudible) – Candy -
Romney: Have you looked at your pension?
Obama: I’ve got to say – (inaudible) -
Romney: Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?
Obama: You know, I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours, so it – it doesn’t take as long. The -
Romney: Well, let me – let me give you – (laughter) – let me – let me give you some advice.
Obama: I don’t check it that often. (Chuckles.)
Romney: Let me give you some advice. Look at your pension.
Obama: (Chuckles.) OK.
Romney: You also have investments in Chinese companies.
Obama: Yeah.
Romney: You also have investments outside the United States.
Obama: Yeah.
Romney: You also have investments through a Caymans trust, all right?
5) Speaking time
According to a tally by CNN, the president received over three minutes of additional speaking time compared to Gov. Romney. Obama spoke for a total of 44:04 while Romney spoke for 40:50.