Wednesday’s debate was not President Obama’s high point in this campaign. Admittedly, it was his 20th wedding anniversary and his first debate in four years. He was rusty, to be sure, but I don’t think (and I’m not alone in thinking) the reason for that was any of the reasons listed above (or, as Al Gore thought, “the altitude”).
It’s hard to stand on a stage and debate an opponent who you had never heard of before.
Yes, Mitt Romney is pretty well known. Yes, he’s the Republican nominee. But the Mitt Romney we saw on stage Wednesday night, and the one that apparently is now campaigning, is a different Mitt Romney. A lying Mitt Romney. A Mitt Romney that is running the hell away from everything he’s ever said. New Romney has a different opinion on healthcare, one in which, apparently, his plan would cover pre-existing conditions (it would not). He has a brand new tax plan, one completely different than the one he’s been campaigning on for the past 18 months, but to his credit, both tax plans are lacking in any sort of specificity (but replete with partisan buzzwords).
Romney didn’t stick to just lying about policy. He lied about some investments in green technology. Hell, he lied 27 times in 38 minutes. Don’t take my word for it. Our own Phil Gingrey admitted that Mitt Romney is just changing positions in a ploy to win votes.
So call it burying the lede here, but let’s look at some facts. Today, a new jobs report came out and unemployment is at 7.8%. For all of you wondering, that’s below 8% unemployment. But for Republicans, good news just can’t be good news. Republicans are now saying that the numbers are all a fraud, that they’re “too good to be true.” But the numbers aren’t lying. Over 100,000 jobs added, and unemployment is below 8% for the first time in years. That’s good news, no matter how you spin it.
Democratic policies work. Todays numbers prove it. But Republicans are just going to lie to you about it. They’re going to tell you whatever they need to in order to make you doubt Democratic policies. Hell, they’ll lie about their own policies. The next debate will be different, mark my words. But we won’t even need to wait until the next debate.
“Winning” and “losing” a debate isn’t about the hour and a half that the two candidates are up on stage, speaking to a bunch of cameras. The outcome is far more evident in the days following. Romney’s camp will continue to tell you he looked “good” and that President Obama looked “bad.” But when you delve into the content– the words– of each of the candidates, the contrast could not be any starker. President Obama talked to the American people about the past four years. He told the truth about his policies, and gave definitive examples of what his second term would look like. Mitt Romney just stood up there and lied through his teeth. It’s easy to look good when all you do is lie, lie, lie.
Leave a Reply