My socialist transcript of tonight's debate

[william.scherk]

I have parked it at my blog because of its atrocious spelling and syntax, but I think I nailed it at least in broad strokes. I toyed with putting it under Humour.

I love the Town Hall format. We try to do it in Canada, but here we cannot structurally deliver the focus of a US debate. With five party leaders, we do not put on the same kind of encounter.

On points, I do not know how to reckon it. Obama's demeanor lost him the first debate -- vexed, fatigued/lazy, wonkish, irritated, not in control of the temper of the encounter or the format.

In tonight's encounter I saw two fact-check-on-aisle-two moments, one of which Romney fumbled. The best Obama moment I thought was when he got quietly aggressive and used prestige of office to undercut Romney's Libya moment. The look on Romney's face was indicative to me of bad briefing. The best Romney moment came with his crisp summation of the figures of the staggering 'recovery.'

If Obama turns out to have edged Romney tonight, I credit the Town Hall format. That's because the format allowed both men to talk louder than in the first, use the cadences one uses with a crowd, and here I think Obama is better at emoting.

All in all, I feel frightened, alone, vulnerable that the US might take a Republican lurch, fearing I might soon be deprived of the teat by knock-on. Burp.

In truth, if I felt Romney had more conviction on bold action (as in Syria, where he uses more threatening language than Obama) and a more assertive power (I am a closet security hawk) and could enunciate American principles (freedom, rule of law, democracy) as well as Bush did in the Middle East (yes, I secretly credit Bush with groundwork for the Arab Spring), I would pine for his win. But I think he is bullshitting.

Best word: sketchy.

This election could be exciting, bite-your-lip stuff. I hope we can have a cliff-hanger and then a good party afterwards here at OL, one way or the other. We Canucks have only longings and cultural affinities in the race, no votes, and zero influence.

Edited October 17, 2012 by william.scherk

[Mikee]

There is no way Obama can spin the Libya event. The facts speak for themselves. Incompetence from the top down. The economy is Romney all the way. Romney's empathy for all people showed loud and clear. I listened to the whole debate, Romney wins handily. He will be our next president. I haven't felt optimistic until tonight. I don't think it will be close, unless massive fraud. I like Romney the more I hear him. Good man, he can come to dinner at my house anytime.

[Selene]

Mikee has it clearly concluded.

I have called this election in my tight group of political people for about a month and a half for Romney.

Now we are reaching the landslide possibilities.

I waited until after tonight, just in case Romney dropped his pants, announced he was a homosexual and really felt sexy wearing his kinky religious "jammies."

Electoral vote will be 325 to 196 and it might get a lot worse for the scumbag in office because of the blatant Libyan lies that he is desperately trying to cover up. You know, the one where real people died, and then this scumbag lied.

Adam

[Brant Gaede]

Romney will win. I'll be glad Obama is gone. New President, new shit.

--Brant

are you a conservative or a radical for freedom?--the latter won't win in November, regardless--just a little Preparation H, whch I have an acute need for

[william.scherk]

are you a conservative or a radical for freedom?--the latter won't win in November, regardless

Drier than usual, Brant. If I can entertain your question, neither a conservative nor a radical for freedom. I would like to choose my own party label. There are two kinds of people in the world, those who think there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who do not.

I found a neat set of insta-soundings from a review of the post-debate snap polls. On seeing MSK's note on a Luntz focus group, I wondered if this ref was from news feed/crawl/update or from online source, so searched up "network polls debate" on Google News. I haven't yet see Fox polls or seen details of Luntz's group, but CBS and CNN reported snap polls so far of Obama/Romney 46/39 and 37/30.

Here's some other bits I found pertinent to divining what 'the public' hold in their minds at that moment, from a press release by the wonks at Public Policy Polling.

Colorado voters declare Obama debate winnerRaleigh, N.C. – PPP's post debate snap poll in the critical swing state of Colorado finds anarrow victory for Barack Obama, 48/44. Perhaps more importantly independents thinkthat the President won by a 58/36 margin. [,,,]One interesting thing we did was break down the results based on what channel peoplehad watched the debate on. Predictably Fox News viewers (65/27) overwhelminglythought Romney won, while MSNBC watchers (71/27) believe Obama was the winner.In addition to MSNBC, people who watched the debate on CNN, CBS, NBC, and PBSdeclare Obama to have been the winner. Beyond Fox News, voters who watched thedebate on ABC, the Fox Network, and C-Span (very small sample size on that one) thinkRomney was the winner.

I found this audio version of what I guess was a TV appearance but did not get the details of the group beyond undecided and Nevada. Sounds like homespun gold.**

Edited October 17, 2012 by william.scherk

[Selene]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/10/16/luntz_focus_group_of_mostly_former_obama_voters_switch_to_romney.html

[Brant Gaede]

are you a conservative or a radical for freedom?--the latter won't win in November, regardless

Drier than usual, Brant. If I can entertain your question, neither a conservative nor a radical for freedom. I would like to choose my own party label. There are two kinds of people in the world, those who think there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who do not.

Well, let's get started: males and females.

--Brant

there are two kinds of people in the world: me and the rest of you; short and tall; smart and dumb; fat and skinny; those who have read Atlas Shrugged and those who haven't; those who live in Canada and those who don't; I'm glad we agree on something, but we're both trapped in irony (there are those trapped in irony and those who aren't)

[PDS]

The "debate" was an embarrassment.

The first question: "I am a 22 year old weenie who has no discernible job skills and a worthless college degree, what will you do to create for me a job?"**

To which both candidates outdid themselves in promising a nirvana--just around the corner, one act of Congress away--in which the lion will lie down with lamb and there will be more tears...

And it went downhill from there. We have become a nation of whiners and snivelers.

[**Best possible answer: "Join the Marines!".]

[Robert Campbell]

In tonight's encounter I saw two fact-check-on-aisle-two moments, one of which Romney fumbled. The best Obama moment I thought was when he got quietly aggressive and used prestige of office to undercut Romney's Libya moment. The look on Romney's face was indicative to me of bad briefing. The best Romney moment came with his crisp summation of the figures of the staggering 'recovery.'

WSS,

Which moment do you have in mind?

Obama angrily proclaimed that he would not "play politics" with anything like the Benghazi attack, and professed to be mortally offended that anyone would suggest such a thing.

This was about as convincing as Bill Clinton's finger-wagging delivery of "I did not have sex with that woman."

Robert Campbell

[caroljane]

are you a conservative or a radical for freedom?--the latter won't win in November, regardless

Drier than usual, Brant. If I can entertain your question, neither a conservative nor a radical for freedom. I would like to choose my own party label. There are two kinds of people in the world, those who think there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who do not.

Well, let's get started: males and females.

--Brant

there are two kinds of people in the world: me and the rest of you; short and tall; smart and dumb; fat and skinny; those who have read Atlas Shrugged and those who haven't; those who live in Canada and those who don't; I'm glad we agree on something, but we're both trapped in irony (there are those trapped in irony and those who aren't)

Lucky for us, it takes all kinds and we contain multitudes within us.

Carol

One kind of person

[PDS]

The "debate" was an embarrassment.

The first question: "I am a 22 year old weenie who has no discernible job skills and a worthless college degree, what will you do to create for me a job?"**

To which both candidates outdid themselves in promising a nirvana--just around the corner, one act of Congress away--in which the lion will lie down with lamb and there will be more tears...

And it went downhill from there. We have become a nation of whiners and snivelers.

[**Best possible answer: "Join the Marines!".]

Here's our hero in action. He's actually only 20, and hasn't yet earned his soon to be worthless college degree.

Because I am a fundamentally kind person, I shall not comment on whether this fellow is Marine material, or not...

[caroljane]

College degrees are never worthless even to the holders thereof, as they force a little knowledge into the heads of those who otherwise would never have acquired it, and keep them off the swollen job market for an essential 3 or 4 years when they would otherwise be joining gangs or siring unwanted children; compulsory national service is not a bad idea however, but when you tell it to the Marines (ie Brant) or the Israelis I wonder what they would say.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

The best Obama moment I thought was when he got quietly aggressive and used prestige of office to undercut Romney's Libya moment. The look on Romney's face was indicative to me of bad briefing.

 

William,

 

Let's have some fun with this. Maybe it was bad briefing. Let's say, hmmmm.... maybe Romney wasn't briefed on the possibility of the moderator correcting him as she totally screwed up the facts. The progressives certainly had their fun. Just look at the glee and gloating. (The link is to the video on Real Clear Politics. Sorry, it doesn't embed.)

 

Matthews: Imagine The Hell Crowley Would Get If Wrong On Libya

 

But... ooops... Looks like Candy Crowley actually admitted she got it wrong. Isn't it funny that Chris Matthews thinks she was right? That he didn't fact check this? That he just assumed she was right and there was no need for any further thought? Time to celebrate. Whoopeee!

 

And isn't it funny when Crowley later corrected her mistake on air for the whole world to see? Ya' think Matthews and his distinguished guests will also correct themselves?

 

 

It's instructive to look at all that gloating on the Matthews video in light of Crowley's backpedal. To the reader, if you have not followed the complaints of Crowley's mistake and mea culpa, try this. Now that you have seen Crowley say she was wrong, watch the Matthews video one more time. It's a hoot.

 

It's a perfect snapshot of the progressive mentality in the mainstream media. (Not all progressives are that way, of course. Some are really sincere, thoughtful and caring people. But not those clowns.)

 

Moving on. Matthews said imagine the hell she would get if she were wrong. Looks like he, at least, got that part right.

 

(organ music with thunder and lightening)

 

It starts:

 

 

 

(Read about Rush here on The Blaze.)

 

And the crap-storm will get worse.

 

So I think it's possible Romney had poor preparation for this moment in the debate. I think he was under the impression he would be debating Obama, not Crowley, and he did not prepare for her wrong-headed intrusion.

 

Michael

[Robert Campbell]

Carol,

When the percentage of 18 to 22-year-olds enrolled in college hadn't grown past the point of diminishing returns and hit negative territory, it was fairly said that a college degree will never be worthless.

The students in 2012 who have taken four years of dumbed-down courses, racked up $100,000 in debt, and gotten a Bachelors in Nondisciplinary Studies are in a different fix. Their degrees are genuinely worthless.

Robert Campbell

[Jonathan]

...there are two kinds of people in the world...those who live in Canada and those who don't...

Do Canadians technically qualify as "people"? I'd classify them as something more like "subhumans" or "savages."

J

[caroljane]

...there are two kinds of people in the world...those who live in Canada and those who don't...

Do Canadians technically qualify as "people"? I'd classify them as something more like "subhumans" or "savages."

J

\\

Go ahead and classify Sunbonnet Man. if your ancestors had been nimbler you too could be classified among the Blessed

[Robert Campbell]

MSK,

I didn't realize that Candy Crowley had walked back her comment.

Whoa! This definitely is the kind of thing that, once upon a time, would have finished her career.

Some of the Obami thought the Benghazi scandal had been safely dispatched. Au contraire, they will never hear the end of it.

Robert Campbell

[Brant Gaede]

I had never heard of or seen Candy Crowley until I turned on the debate last night. Of course, I don't watch CNN either.

--Brant

[Selene]

Now there is a young man who can really take a stand!!!

Asked Wednesday whether he was still undecided, Epstein said he was not.

"No, I think I made a decision," he said.

Can you imagine this clown in your foxhole?

[Robert Campbell]

I had never heard of or seen Candy Crowley until I turned on the debate last night.

Brant,

She is one of a very few veterans remaining from the early days of CNN.

Robert Campbell

[william.scherk]

I forgot to mention a low point in my viewing, a gambit by Sharpton in a post-debate scrum. He observed that only two visible minority folks had asked questions, couldn't figure out how that could happen in the consitutiency in this part of New York. Why only one 'black' question?

I waited for someone to quickly remind him that these were undecided voters, and that the black 90% plus committed to Obama kind of self-excluded from the pool.

Did anyone else take a lesson from the channel bias in the snap polls? It makes me think of the psychological term 'demand characteristics.'

-- as for the Benghazi affair, I think the administration deserves as much raking over the coals as they can get. It is a terrible thing that there was not more protection or intelligence. I don't think the president has adequately responded to concerns, and I hope Romney can better articulate his line.

As ever, the swing-states swing. We all look at the sme electoral votes, even if we watch different news channels that skew our perceptions of the same race. Some of us here have already called the race, some have not.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Did anyone else take a lesson from the channel bias in the snap polls?

William,

As a matter of fact I did.

CNN seems to have the most unbiased snap polls of the lot, even though the commentators are not as objective as they should be for journalism. I've noticed this for some time.

In Frank Luntz's defense, he's a big, big dog in polling. I have seen his polls on Fox absolutely trash the party line. I think of him as a pro, but one with a defined preference.

Even if there were some bias in that massive swing toward Romney in his poll of undecided voters in Nevada with lots who had voted for Obama previously, I doubt he would ever stake his reputation on doing something as obvious as faking that. His bias shows in how he comments on the results, especially on Hannity, and in how he uses the results in campaigns, not in how he polls for them. Regardless, bias and all, I believe his poll showed the Obama camp they have a serious problem to contend with. Besides, of course, giving heart to the anti-Obama people.

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

I had never heard of or seen Candy Crowley until I turned on the debate last night.

Brant,

She is one of a very few veterans remaining from the early days of CNN.

Robert Campbell

I must have forgotten her. I did watch it occasionally in its early years.

--Brant

she might have expanded

[Mikee]

Romney ad advantage doesn't tell the whole story

This: "Under federal law, stations must offer presidential campaigns a discounted price to run their spots in the two months leading up to Election Day. In some cases, that means Obama pays almost half as much for an ad."

What? This is Venezuela? Romney spends twice as much and gets less air time...who sponsored and pushed this legislation?

And here's a $Trillion spent on the Obama campaign: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/7-eleven-presidency_654846.html

[PDS]

College degrees are never worthless even to the holders thereof, as they force a little knowledge into the heads of those who otherwise would never have acquired it, and keep them off the swollen job market for an essential 3 or 4 years when they would otherwise be joining gangs or siring unwanted children; compulsory national service is not a bad idea however, but when you tell it to the Marines (ie Brant) or the Israelis I wonder what they would say.

I count a nice, clean 1-dozen falsehoods in this rejoinder, one of which was calling Brant a Marine.

The Israelis are fans of compulsory service, of course. But then again, they do fight with their backs to the Sea.