United States Second Presidential Debate
I'm sure many of you witnessed the debate, and I'm quite sure that many of you will agree that President Obama performed much better this time around. He was far more energetic, far more passionate, but perhaps most of all, far more confrontational. I'd also like to say that Candy Crowley did a far better job of moderation than poor Lehrer did.
A lot of points were discussed, including the economy (Of course.), fuel costs, women's rights, gun control, immigration, education, foreign affairs with a specific focus on Libya and the current administration's handling of the attacks.
Again, on economics, Governor Romney's supposed "Five Point Plan" comes into the forefront, and again, we receive absolutely no details about it. One truly wonders if he even has a plan at all, beyond what President Obama states is a "One Point Plan", with the only objective being to "make sure the folks at the top play by a different set of rules". Again, the idea that the math doesn't add up is brought up, and once again, Romney assures people that it does and this is what he does. With absolutely no examples of what the specifics of the plan are.
On the subject of Libya, Governor Romney attacks the way President Obama handled the situation, only to be met by an angry President Obama stating that he and his team do not take kindly to accusations of misleading and playing politics during a time of national security. He also accepts responsibility, even after the moderator gave him the chance to pass the blame to Hillary Clinton, which was, at least for me, refreshing to see. In a world where there's little accountability in politics, President Obama states that he was ultimately responsible.
He then proceeded to criticize Governor Romney trying to turn national security into a political point. Romney countered by saying that Obama took too long to tell the public it was a terrorist attack, but President Obama and, indeed, Candy Crowley informed Romney that the president had used the term "acts of terror" the day after the incident in the Rose Garden. Fox News, of course, had a different interpretation of the events, saying that Obama was clearly talking about the attacks of 9/11/2001, despite him talking about losing four more Americans. I will inject my own personal bias here and wonder out loud why Fox News cannot even stay in the same objective reality that the rest of us are in.
Other important highlights in the debate that perhaps don't deserve as much description:
Discuss.
A lot of points were discussed, including the economy (Of course.), fuel costs, women's rights, gun control, immigration, education, foreign affairs with a specific focus on Libya and the current administration's handling of the attacks.
Again, on economics, Governor Romney's supposed "Five Point Plan" comes into the forefront, and again, we receive absolutely no details about it. One truly wonders if he even has a plan at all, beyond what President Obama states is a "One Point Plan", with the only objective being to "make sure the folks at the top play by a different set of rules". Again, the idea that the math doesn't add up is brought up, and once again, Romney assures people that it does and this is what he does. With absolutely no examples of what the specifics of the plan are.
On the subject of Libya, Governor Romney attacks the way President Obama handled the situation, only to be met by an angry President Obama stating that he and his team do not take kindly to accusations of misleading and playing politics during a time of national security. He also accepts responsibility, even after the moderator gave him the chance to pass the blame to Hillary Clinton, which was, at least for me, refreshing to see. In a world where there's little accountability in politics, President Obama states that he was ultimately responsible.
He then proceeded to criticize Governor Romney trying to turn national security into a political point. Romney countered by saying that Obama took too long to tell the public it was a terrorist attack, but President Obama and, indeed, Candy Crowley informed Romney that the president had used the term "acts of terror" the day after the incident in the Rose Garden. Fox News, of course, had a different interpretation of the events, saying that Obama was clearly talking about the attacks of 9/11/2001, despite him talking about losing four more Americans. I will inject my own personal bias here and wonder out loud why Fox News cannot even stay in the same objective reality that the rest of us are in.
Other important highlights in the debate that perhaps don't deserve as much description:
- Mitt Romney wants to cut Planned Parenthood funding, but wants people to have children in wedlock only. To prevent gun violence.
- President Obama once again talks about the "money saved from ending the wars", but that money isn't saved, it's just not borrowed. We didn't pay for the wars. We can't just spend that money on other projects and say it's the money saved from the war.
- Romney states that women have special needs in the workplace and might need to go home and cook dinner for their families. He also did NOT endorse women having the same salary as men.
- Over the next few days, I'm fairly certain you'll see some fact checking from both sides. It probably won't be pretty.
- Obama finally dropped the 47% bomb, directly after Romney put his chin out for it. Bad form to give him that 47% line for a last word, in my opinion.
- Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, and her running mate were arrested outside the debate grounds, after they were denied access. I suppose corporate America can't deal with there being more than two voices heard in the "political discourse". She held an impromptu press release, calling the debate a "mockery of democracy".
- Several members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (My own party.) were at the site, protesting the lack of third party presence in the debates, but there was no media coverage of it.
Discuss.