When The New Yorker magazine's cover depicts Mitt Romney debating an "empty chair," borrowing a prop from Clint Eastwood, you know the debate did not go well for Obama.
Debate-watching events were held throughout Redlands and I was pleased to join 25 others at a local restaurant. As a Republican, I was expecting a good showing from our candidate, Mitt Romney, but I didn't predicted the decisive victory he earned.
Why did Obama have such a poor showing last week? His own Van Jones said on CNN after the debate on Wednesday night, "I think he took Romney too lightly. I think he did not expect Romney to throw that kind of heat. Romney was able to `out-Obama' Obama - on the connection piece, on the authenticity piece, on the being able to tell the story."
Many feel that President Obama has been protected, insulated and, as John McCain said, "spent four years inside the bubble with an adoring media." Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin wrote that Obama "looked lost without the protective blanket of compliant media and over-eager left-wing bloggers."
In four years, Obama was never challenged or asked the kind of questions he was asked in the debate. He has held far fewer press conferences than recent past presidents and when he does, he takes questions from only a limited number of selected journalists. Obama has not been on a Sunday news show since 2009, and has not been interviewed recently by hard-hitting or challenging interviewers
like Lou Dobbs or Bill O'Reilly, but has been on "The View" and interviewed by People magazine and "Entertainment Tonight."
Analysts are suggesting that Obama did not have a bad night, but that his showing was the real Obama, stripped of his media filter and teleprompter.
What is the Obama campaign to do? Charles Krauthammer proposed that all he can do is try to attack and discredit Romney because, "They can't run on the record, they can't run on stewardship, huge debt, high chronic unemployment, the worst recovery since the second world war, can't run on that. You can't run on a future or a vision because he doesn't have a program. He has nothing on Medicare, nothing on entitlements, nothing on the debt. Nothing!" (Fox News "Special Report," Oct. 9)
Arnold Ahlert of frontpagemag.com spells out how the Obama campaign might hold a candidate accountable to the truth - "perhaps they should begin by holding Barack Obama accountable for the ever-evolving story surrounding the murders of four Americans in Benghazi or the administration's numerous investments in failing green companies owned by top Democrat campaign donors or the top-secret security leaks surrounding the Bin Laden execution - just for starters."
With Obama's failures in last week's debate, the vice-presidential debate tonight becomes much more important. What will we see in tonight's debate? "Conservatives are licking their chops at the prospects of Paul Ryan debating Joe Biden, but the challenge is that Joe Biden has a folksy way about him that we will have to confront. It will give Paul Ryan an opportunity to demonstrate he was a good pick," said Terry Holt, a Republican strategist.
Joe Biden has 40 years of debating experience. Paul Ryan told Fox News that Joe Biden is "a very disciplined person when he speaks in these kinds of situations. He doesn't produce gaffes in these moments."
"Mr. Ryan is well suited to discussing GOP fiscal policy; he is the author of a budget blueprint that calls for a Medicare overhaul and spending reductions, which has become a central policy document among House Republicans," said Van Hollen, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
Many people dismiss the importance of tonight's debate. It will not be a "slam dunk" for either candidate. The game has been elevated and this will be the most important vice-presidential debate we've seen, between a talented, established and political veteran and a youthful, intelligent and energetic patriot who is one of the smartest people on the hill. Sparks are sure to fly.
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