I listened to the Debates from my office in Australia. What I heard was a mess.
Obama! Why didn't you go after 47%?
Obama! Call him out on his lies!
OBAMA! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED THIS!?!?!
I went to to bed annoyed. My historically wired mind tells me that Debates haven't changed an election in decades, why should they start now? I would try and allay my fears. But yes, I was worried.
I just woke up (Being 14 hours in the future and all) and started (reluctantly) reading the news.
Then it hit me: Rope-a-dope
Obama has his cards, and he is keeping them close to the vest. While Romney, seeking a game changer, jumped out there and tried and tried to make a splash. And boy he did. He is now on national television spouting lie after lie, after lie. Obama kept his mouth shut because reacting on stage to every lie won't win him the election.
Now he has time, money, and most importantly, truth on his side. Romney, the politician who can never stay on the same side of the issue can't keep dancing. He will need to double down over and over on those same lies, and once they are refuted he will have nothing. And today, from fact checkers, to every day people with common sense, to the Obama campaign itself are showing america that the man they saw last night is trying to con you... Romney may have made a splash, but it will soon be seen as a Belly Flop.
There are two more debates to go, and Obama has Romney's playbook. Sure he lost the first debate, but he knows exactly how Romney is playing this. We have seen this before from him, and he always seems to come out ahead. Why? Because Obama plays the long view. he did it with Hillary, he did it with McCain. They may win the moment, but he knows those moments are fleeting.
We tend to live in the moment, lucky for us. Obama always has taken the long view, and I will back Obama long view over the daily news cycle any day.
We got this folks, we just need to stay focused, and stay patient.