So the First Presidential Debate Happened

[wittdooley]

And It's always fun to get everyone's comments. However, I'm going to lay out some ground rules for this forum so that we can be better informed to each other's comments. To post, you must submit the following info:

Country of Residence
Political Leanings (Conservative, Liberal, Moderate)
Age
Education

Here's why I'm requesting the previous: it can provide a good deal of background on the speaker and can help avoid a lot of that pesky "internet confusion." For example, If someone says something that suggests they may be a bit ignorant of how something works and I see that they're 17, one could write that us youthful ignorance and can better help tailor a response.

As with any political thread, Please be respectful of your other posters and use the info each poster offers to better inform the tone in which you respond.

So I'll start:

USA
Moderate, Fiscally Conservative
29
College Graduate, MBA Candidate

There were a few things that were really, well, quite shocking to me about the debates. First, it was a bit alarming how unprepared Obama appeared to be. He was most certainly not the campaigner of 2008, and it was pretty apparent.

Second, I was not expecting Romney to be as adept at the debating as he was. I chalk a great deal of this to the fact that mainstream American media has presented him as bit of a poor speaker, but to me Romney was charismatic and articulate, traits Obama expressed 4 years ago that were noticably lacking. The body language, to me, told much of the story. Obama looked down a ton, looked at Romney seldom, and seemed generally haggard. Additionally, had I said "um" the number of times he did through the course of that two hours in my university public speaking course, I would have failed. Significantly.

Third, I was a bit dismayed reading my Facebook feed during and after the debates how disinterested or uninformed a lot of my Facebook friends were. Lots of them seem to be leaning towards Obama not because he's the best candidate but because he's the "not-Republican" candidate. And they held to that unconditionally following the debate with overexagerations or simple dismissals at the disparity between the candidates last night.

I think there were a lot of things we probably should have assumed about Romney that really showed last night. The man has been a VERY successful businessman for 25 years, so of course we should have known he'd be articulate and charismatic. You don't make the kind of money he has in business without being both of those things. Nor do you get there without being an informed and intelligent leader.

The informed part is what concerned me the most about Obama last night. Whether it be due to unpreparedness or not, he was effectively 'schooled' last night in some of the more important economic topics by Romney, and thats disconcerting to me.

Overall, I think it was a pretty telling debate that should assuage some fears that Romney may not be a competent public figure. He clearly is. I'd read on CNN that Obama had more to lose than Romney had to gain from last night, and I can't help but think that all of the worst possibilities came to fruition last night for the incumbent.

[Wildeybeast]

As it was on at stupid o'clock in the morning over here, I didn't see it so I can't comment on the debate. I do have a question though - how much do these things matter? Do they actually affect the way that many Americans vote?

[Kyban]

I didn't get a chance to watch it yet either because I was engaging in a game of 40k. I think these debates generally only affect undecided voters, my impression is that those who have already picked a side tend to stay there even if it didn't put on a good show at the debate.

[wittdooley]

I didn't get a chance to watch it yet either because I was engaging in a game of 40k. I think these debates generally only affect undecided voters, my impression is that those who have already picked a side tend to stay there even if it didn't put on a good show at the debate.

This is pretty spot on, and quite frankly if you're undecided at this point in time you probably shouldn't be allowed to vote in the first place. The majority of those people (the October Undecideds) are voting based on superficial things about the candidates. Because of that, the debate was a pretty big win for Romney, IMO.

Living in arguably the most important state in the election (Ohio), it's always very interesting to me why Ohio is such a huge swing state, and I think it amounts to a lot of very 'republican' values mixing with a HUGE percentage of liberal arts colleges (I went to one) and education majors (I was one) that come from the state. In that, I mean that if you're from Ohio you're probably raised Christian and then learn to be accepting and compassionate in school, presuming you stay in Ohio. We don't have tons of old money. We have a lot of blue collar workers. And so it's an interesting mix.

I think the next debate, the one on Thursday the 11th, may play a large part in determining the outcome of Ohio's voters, as Paul Ryan, Romney's running mate, is from Ohio and went to Miami University. Should be interesting.

[Wildeybeast]

In that, I mean that if you're from Ohio you're probably raised Christian and then learn to be accepting and compassionate in school.

I'm fairly certain JC's message was that we should be accepting and compassionate. He'd be turning in his grave if he knew that wasn't a key part of Christian upbringing.

[Gotthammer]

Jesus said that he didn't come to remove the old laws, merely bring them to fruition - so he literally said he endorses the anti-woman, pro-slavery, pro-rape, genocidal old testament and that anyone who doesn't follow these rules is damned (Matthew 5:18-19, Luke 16:17).