Oct 22 Pres debates

Leigh Moring

Comm 369

10/23/12

                                          Analysis of the October 22 Presidential Debate

            Last night’s presidential debate was in my opinion less exciting than the last two debates, not that it lacked heat or aggression or sassy comments. Both candidates gave strong performances overall, but I think that Romney had the edge on the economy while Obama had the edge on foreign policy. More of the 90 minutes seemed to be spent on talking about foreign policy, which is probably not what most Americans care more about, but Obama certainly seemed very clued in to what is going on and how his office can help. Romney kept trying to steer the debate towards to economy where he feels most confident in his plan to help America succeed. Obama seemed to take the more aggressive and defensive strategy in this debate while Romney opted for a more calm but offensive tactic. It almost seemed like the roles were reversed, and Obama was trying to dethrone Romney because of the tactics deployed. Nevertheless, both candidates said some things that the fact checkers have pointed out as inaccurate.

ROMNEY: “The president said by now we’d be at 5.4 percent unemployment. We’re 9 million jobs short of that.” Romney has repeatedly said this throughout the debates and is not exactly true. Obama’s aids had written a 14-page report before he took office that spoke about a theoretical stimulus bill, but it was not an official government document or an actual plan that had passed through congress. The administration did later cite the report in a testimony in congress, but Obama never promised that this would be the case, he only hoped it would be so.

ROMNEY: “When I was Massachusetts governor, high-school students who graduated in the top quarter ‘got a four-year, tuition-free ride at any Massachusetts public institution of higher learning’."

OBAMA: "That happened before you came into office."

ROMNEY: "That was actually mine, actually, Mr. President. You got that fact wrong."

This was one of the times when both candidates got a little feisty with each other. This fact is a quick one to check. What Romney said was absolutely accurate. In 2004 while Romney was governor, The John and Abigail Adams scholarship program began and still helps top high school students get a free education in any public Massachusetts college or university. Obama probably just wanted to try to discredit Romney, as he was doing to him.

            ROMNEY: "Mr. President, the reason I call it an apology tour is because you went to the Middle East and you flew to Egypt and to Saudi Arabia and to Turkey and Iraq. And by the way, you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region, but you went to the other nations. And by the way, they noticed that you skipped Israel. And then in those nations, and on Arabic TV, you said that America had been dismissive and derisive. You said that on occasion America had dictated to other nations."

OBAMA: "Nothing Gov. Romney just said is true, starting with this notion of me apologizing. This has been probably the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of this campaign. And every fact checker and every reporter who's looked at it, governor, has said this is not true."

Romney has wrongly accused the president of traveling the Middle East in his presidency and apologizing for American behavior multiple times in the debates and in speeches. Obama didn't actually apologize during his visits, what he actually said was that the U.S. acted "contrary to our traditions and ideals" when discussing treatment of terrorist suspects, and "America has too often been selective in its promotion of democracy," that the U.S. "certainly shares blame" for international economic turmoil and has sometimes "shown arrogance and been dismissive, even divisive" toward Europe. (courtesy of Washington Post) Obama never actually apologized for American behavior at all, so Romney should stop referencing Obama’s visit to the Middle East as an “apology tour”.

            This debate definitely got heated at times and both performed well as I stated earlier. Although each candidate had his strong points, I would declare Obama as the winner of the last debate. His performance was more put together and had more credibility than Romney. Romney is still feeding off his success in the first debate, so we will see on November 6^th who pulls out the victory.