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| "I hope you don't mind I'm about to kick your butt, Mr. President." |
DVR'd the debate and watched it after the kids were in bed, but based on what I saw on Twitter, apparently Romney beat Obama.
7:03 - I feel like I'm watching a movie where I've already read a spoiler-filled review.
7:04 - Obama's spending his 20th anniversary doing this debate. I feel for him.
7:06 - Obama: "The question is not where we've been but where are we going." Don't look at the past four years.
7:07 - Obama's wearing a blue tie and Romney a red, in case you weren't sure which one's which.
7:08 - Romney starts out with personal stories of people, leading to his five-part plan.
1. Energy independence
2. Open up more trade, esp. in Latin America
3. Make sure we have best schools in world.
4. Balanced budget.
5. Champion small business.
7:09 - There's a slight gravelly quality to Romney's voice tonight.
7:10 - "Economic patriotism." "Trickle-down government."
7:11 - Obama says he'll improve education. Hire 100,000 new teachers. Keep tuition low. Points out where he and Romney agree, corporate tax rates too high, we need to be less dependant on foreign oil. Says Romney wants $5 trillion tax cut with another $1 trillion from Bush tax cuts, plus $2 trillion in increased military spending.
7:12 - Romney: "High-income people will do fine whether you're president or I am." Talks about the suffering middle class. Health-care costs up $2500 a family.
7:13 - It is weird how Obama looks down almost the whole time when he's not speaking. Maybe because Romney's looking at Obama almost the whole time.
7:14 - Romney promises to bring Keystone pipeline through US. Likes coal (which Virginia voters should like). Pledges not to cut any taxes that would add to deficit.
7:15 - Obama says he cut taxes for middle class families by about $3600 a family. (Really? Thought it was more like $1200.) Says Romney won't be specific about what loopholes or deductions he'd cut.
7:16 - Lehrer peeps occasionally but Obama keeps going. Obama says Romney would further burden middle class.
7:17 - Romney: "Virtually everything he described is inaccurate." "I will not under any circumstance raise taxes on middle-income families." He's energetic and all smiles delivering this.
7:18 - Obama wants to go back to Clinton tax rates for the $250,000 or more crowd. Says they have different definition of small business. "By your definition, Donald Trump is a small business."
7:21 - Romney rattles off all the different taxes people pay. Obama nods and says "Mm" and keeps looking down. Romney just name-dropped Bowles-Simpson.
7:22 - Obama: "Math, common sense, and history tell us it's not the right approach." Obama basically says Romney's approach is Bush, his approach is Clinton.
7:23 - Romney smacks down Obama for repeating the $5 trillion tax cut line.
7:24 - Lehrer tries again to get them to be specific about lowering the deficit. Romney calls the debt a moral issue. Adding a trillion a year is not moral. Rattles off specifics how he'd cut spending, encourage growth.
7:25 - Romney: "The president said he'd cut the deficit in half. He doubled it."
7:26 - Obama: "When I entered office, two unpaid-for wars, upaid-for tax cuts, etc." Says he took $50 billion of waste out of Medicare, Medicaid. We'll raise taxes $1 on the rich for every $2.50 of spending.
7:30 - Obama looks angry as Romney reminds him he kept the Bush tax cuts in place.
7:35 - Obama gets a little wonky here, getting lost in the weeds.
7:36 - Romney pegs Obama on investing $90 billion in green-energy companies that went bankrupt. Says he has no idea what Obama's talking about when he says companies gets bonusses for shipping jobs overseas.
7:40 - Entitlements, says Lehrer. What are your differences on Social Security?
7:42 - Obama emphasizing the need to lower health care costs to help with Medicare.
7:43 - Romney: "Neither the president nor I would change Social Security for retireees or near-retirees." Talks about how more hospitals are refusing Medicare patients. "I want to take the $716 billion you've cut from Medicare and put it back."
7:44 - Obama says Romney will eventually turn Medicare into a voucher program, but says the problem is it won't keep up with health-care inflation costs.
7:47 - Romney says the younger ones can choose between traditional Medicare or a private plan. Their choice.
7:50 - Obama says AARP is supportive of his approach, says Romney's would weaken Medicare.
7:51 - Lehrer now asks if there's too much or too little regulation in government. Romney says you need regulations; you can't just have people starting banks out of their garage, but steers it to bad regulations like Dodd-Frank.
7:52 - Maybe it's because I follow some hyper people, but I don't think Obama's doing that bad. He's just lower energy, seems like he thinks he's ahead and wants to run out the clock. But I just realized how bored I got during his latest answer.
7:53 - Romney: "That's just not the facts." Says Obama and Dodd-Frank just gave a blank check to five banks and called them "too big to fail."
7:56 - Steers back to Obamacare. Romney cites specific people's stories about rising costs.
8:06 - I forgot to take notes there. Very informative exchange, yet cordial, over their differences on Obamacare, reducing costs, etc.
8:07 - What was that backstage noise?
8:08 - Man, Obama's body language is terrible now. But then he says Romney's plan won't cover pre-existing conditions.
8:10 - Obama'a making his best points of the night pointing out how Romney's not being more specific. "Is he not telling us his plans because they're too good?"
8:11 - Lehrer doesn't want to let Romney respond to that, but Romney plows through. Says you can't get much done by saying "My way or the highway."
8:13 - Lehrer, "What are your differences in views on the federal government?"
8:15 - Obama: "The federal govt can't do it all, but it can make a difference."
8:16 - Romney: "The key to great schools is great teachers." Points out the Constitution and Dec of Independence on the walls behind them. Walks through them. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. "Trickle-down govt" approach isn't working. 50% of college graduates can't find work.
8:17 - Fed govt role in education? Romney wants school choice. Obama plugs "race to the top" programs. Obama: "This is where budgets matter because in budgets you make choices."
8:21 - Obama gets a dig in on Romney saying one option from kids to pay for college is borrowing from their parents.
8:22 - Romney's first "zinger": "As President, you get your own airplane and your own house but you can't have your own facts" and then he starts countering some of the points Obama made.
8:23 - Obama has this grimace that says "Will someone shut this guy up?"
8:24 - Lehrer asks now about how to combat partisan gridlock. Romney points out when he was govnr of MA, he had 85% Democrats and he leanred how to get along. Said he'd sit down the day after he got elected with leaders of both parties to get things done. "Republicans and Democrats both love America."
8:26 - Obama: "I'll take ideas from anyone if it strengthens the middle class."
8:28 - Closing remarks. Obama says he promised he'd fight every single day for the American people, and he's kept that promise, and he promises he'll fight just as hard in his second term.
8:29 - Romney says he's running becuz he's concerned about the past four years. There's no question in my mind if the President is re-elected, you'll continue to see a middle-class squeeze. You'll see health-care premiums go up. If the President is re-elected, you'll see Medicare cut, and more hospitals turn medicare patients away.
8:30 - And we're done. Obama just said to Romney, "You won." The families meet each other. I actually love how they do this, meeting each other's kids and grandkids. Obamas left after a minute, Romneys stay on stage, Mitt and Ann get a photo-op waving to some supporters.
I agree that Mitt Romney won tonight, but it wasn't that bad a stumble for the President. It's as if they're weeping and wailing to lower expectations for the second debate.
I just watched the Chris Matthews meltdown. Wow. I had to laugh by the end.
Just flipped to Wolf Blitzer and he has his "undecided focus group." Blech. And he points out the president had four more minutes of speaking time.
I'll check the fact check sites tomorrow.
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