With Romney himself already admitting President Obama is likely to win the debate the expactations are already pretty low.
The plan, described by top aides and advisers in interviews this week, is an acknowledgment that Romney is in enough of a hole that he cannot depend on the presidential debates to turn his candidacy around. In fact, Romney, who recently did five mock debates in a 48-hour period to practice, has confided to advisers that it may be hard to win a debate because every attack against President Barack Obama will seem stale while the attacks on him will seem fresher and newsier to a hostile media.
Now, the Romney Mock-Obama Stand-In Sen. Rob Portman has spoken out and it seems that Romney may in trouble because... Obama is actually smart, articulate, and knows the issues. None of these apply to Romney of course.
I normally don’t talk about it but, I played the role of Barack Obama back in 2008 as well, and I’m playing that role again this year. And one thing that I think has been missing in some of the discussion I’ve heard is that Barack Obama is a very effective debater. He’s articulate, he’s smart. He did a great job in 2008, during that campaign as a debater. He had some tough debates with Hillary Clinton and he performed well. So this notion that somehow Barack Obama as president hasn’t had time to really get up to speed – he’s up to speed everyday, because he deals with all these issues, federal issues everyday. Mitt Romney’s a business guy and a former governor. He actually hasn’t had a debate against a Democrat in over ten years I think, I guess it would be 2002 when he ran for governor. People say, ‘Well he’s been debating with the Republicans in the primaries.’ Very different debates
What Kenyan voodoo does Romney need to be on the lookout for?
"He’s a smart guy. And I disagree with him on policy issues, strongly, which is why I’m so supportive of change. But he’s very good at the politics of this. And so what he does is what a good politician does, connecting with folks, explaining the issue from his perspective, hedging on the truth sometimes by doing so. But he’s a good politician."
You know what Sen. Portman, I agree so much that I'll even let that 'hedging on the truth' bit slide. As asinine as it is. But all in all, you are saying that Obama is everything Romney is not, and as someone who is most vital to helping Romney defeat Obama... you don't think he has a chance.