I wasn’t going to comment on the debate but since everyone else is giving their two cents I might as well give mine. A short background on the way I looked at the debate. Two years ago I lost my Mom. I was her caregiver. She had to work into her eighties because no one was giving the elderly a break. I lost my job because I had the audacity of being in my sixties with C.O.P.D. and my employer could get a cheaper health insurance if I wasn’t on board. On August 29th I lost my brother who was a veteran of Vietnam. We have really let out veterans down. I live on Social Security with no health insurance until Medicare cuts in next year. Okay so what did the debate say to me? Follow me below the orange squiggle.
Like many seniors I cannot afford Medicare to go under. Voucher system? Give me a break. No insurance company is going to insure me with C.O.P.D. There are too many of me that President Obama’s Obamacare and refusal to gut Medicare resonates with. He reminded us tonight he is on our side. 2010 saw many seniors going Republican. 2012 is showing them how wrong they were.
My brother never got the help he needed as a veteran. He never got over Vietnam. Trying to deal with his death and knowing how bad it was for him at the end I was disappointed that Veteran help was not emphasized more. Romney has made it clear that the only military he cares about is the people who supply the military their over priced weapons etc. He doesn’t care about the people themselves. I’m hoping future debates will make that clear.
I am glad that Obama hammered Romney on Obamacare. The devil in me was hoping he would say the line Obamacares Romney Doesn’t Care. I think Romney made a big mistake in going after Obamacare because people are beginning to realize just how important that legislation is.
I was hoping that Obama would hammer the Republicans on their obstruction. He needed to hammer that he had a job plan that Republicans refused to pass. I guess I lived in Chicago too long. I wanted him to fight Chicago style and call Romney a liar to his face and put the blame where it belonged firmly on the Republicans.
What is my analysis of the debate? Well I could have wished that Obama had played Chicago style because I am feisty and relish a good fight. I debated in High School and was a champion debater so I would have wanted Obama to come back after the lies and refuted them but realistically Jim Lehrer was too cowed by Romney to let that happen. Did Romney win? No realistically he did not. He failed to put his plan forward in a way that would convince people he was a better alternative to Obama. His constant smirk was definitely off putting. His interrupting and acting like a dick was irritating.
Did Obama lose? No he kept his composure. He made his points firmly. He was not dynamic but then he rarely is. Obama is a steady performer. He wins debates on shear facts. He is like the old saying “slow and steady wins the race.”
Okay as a champion debater what would I recommend? Now that you know your opponents style work on his weaknesses. Call out the major lies. Ask him where he gets his figures from. Challenge him on his “facts.” Hammer him on the specifics of his programs. Put him on the defensive. How is he going to finance his programs? How will his not letting the rich be taxed going to affect the taxes on the middle class? Emphasize where you are getting support figure wise from. Push him on where the States are supposed to get the money from that he wants to dump back on them. Obama needs to hit Romney on the lies. You can be a gentleman and still ask where the figures came from. Obama needs to put the hard questions to Romney. If the moderator cannot handle the debate then Obama needs to step in and take over.
Who won tonight’s debate? It depends on whether we allow Romney to get away with his lies. If the MSN cannot do their job then we need to do it for them. Romney said enough lies tonight that we can nail him. It is time for us to put up or shut up. Obama needs our help and I for one am planning to do all I can to help him in spite of the personal hell I am now going through.