I do not see this as a game changer. I think Romney may pick up 1-2 points nationally. He is likely to be viewed as a little more plausible as president.
But I watched the CNN feed to see the lines on the focus group, and i saw a continued serious gender gap in favor of Obama (more women voting than men, and a bigger advantage for Obama among women than for Romney among men ).
Yes, Obama, could have been more forceful, more aggressive, but I do not think the Obama campaign approached this debate in isolation.
Romney will believe he did very well. He will probably stylistically take the same approach in the town hall debate, which would be a disaster in that setting.
Also, Romney flat out lied on a number of issues, and gave a lot of ammunition for advertisements.
The pundits will bloviate, some because they want a contest, others (like Ed Schultz & Chris Matthews) because they wanted Obama to crush Romney in this 1st debate and end the contest.
I will be blunt. There are things I think Obama could have done better.
There were no real gaffes.
There really were no memorably moments that stand out.
The fundamentals of the race were not changed.
In the electoral college, Romney will still lose Ohio, and probably both NH & NV, in which case the election is over.
I have seen results from two snap polls, one giving Romney a substantial( 13 point) advantage, the other being even.
Yet even if people thought Romney won the debate that does not mean that they were convinced to vote for him.
Let me repeat that:
Yet even if people thought Romney won the debate that does not mean that they were convinced to vote for him/
He needed a game changer.
He did not get it.
Obama remained presidential.
Romney may have been too hot. He may have won debating points and at the same time lost votes.
And he lied repeatedly. The question is how and when he will be called out.
I am not excited about tonight. I think Obama could have done better.
I am certainly not distraught.
What about you?