Romney by two touchdowns
WASHINGTON — It was the biggest rout since Agincourt. If you insist, since the Carter-Reagan debate. With a remarkable display of confidence, knowledge and nerve, Mitt Romney won the first 2012 debate going away.
Romney didn’t just demonstrate authoritative command of myriad domestic issues. He was nervy about it, taking the president on frontally, not just relentlessly attacking, but answering every charge leveled against him—with a three-point rebuttal.
And he pulled off a tactical coup by coming right out of the box to undo millions of dollars’ worth of negative ads that painted him, personally, as Gordon Gekko—rapacious vulture capitalist who doesn’t just lay off steelworkers but kills their wives—and, politically, as intent on raising taxes on the middle class while lowering them for the rich.
The Romney campaign had let these ads go largely unanswered. But a “kill Romney” strategy can only work until people get to see Romney themselves. On Wednesday night, they did. Regarding the character assassination, all Romney really had to do was walk out with no horns on his head. Confident, smiling and nonthreatening, he didn’t look like a man who enjoys killing the wives of laid-off steelworkers.
Not a very high bar, I admit. But remember: It’s President Obama who set the bar. And succeeded. Romney suffers from unprecedentedly high negatives (50 percent), the highest unfavorability rating at this late date for any challenger in the last three decades.
As to the policy, Romney finally got to explain to the 60 million Americans watching that he intends to lower taxes across the board, particularly for the middle class. As for the rich, he got to explain the difference between lowering tax rates and reducing tax payments. He repeated at least twice that the rich would continue to pay the same percentage of the tax burden, while lower rates would spur economic growth.
His success in doing this against a flummoxed Obama does more than rally the conservative base. It may affect waverers—disappointed 2008 Obama supporters waiting for a reason to jump. They watch Romney in this debate and ask: Is this the clueless, selfish, out-of-touch guy we’ve been hearing about from the ads and from the mainstream media?
And then they see Obama—detached, meandering, unsure. Can this be the hip, cool, in-control guy his acolytes and the media have been telling us about?
Obama was undone on Wednesday in part by his dismissive arrogance. You could see him thinking annoyedly: “Why do I have to be onstage with this clod, when I’ve gone toe-to-toe with Putin?” (And lost every round, I’d say. But that’s not how Obama sees it.)
Obama never even pulled out his best weapon, the 47 percent. Not once. That’s called sitting on a lead, lazily and smugly. I wager he mentions it in the next debate, more than once—and likely in his kickoff.
On the other hand, Obama just isn’t that good. Not without a teleprompter. He’s not even that good at news conferences—a venue in which he’s still in charge, choosing among questioners and controlling the timing of his own answers.
By the end of the debate, Obama looked small, uncertain. It was Romney who had the presidential look.
Re-election campaigns after a failed presidential term—so failed that Obama barely even bothers to make the case, preferring to blame everything on his predecessor—hinge almost entirely on whether the challenger can meet the threshold of acceptability. Romney crossed the threshold Wednesday night.
Reagan won his election (Carter was actually ahead at the time) when he defused his caricature as some wild, extreme, warmongering cowboy. In his debate with Carter, he was affable, avuncular and reasonable. That’s why with a single aw-shucks line, “There you go again,” the election was over.
Romney had to show something a little different: That he is not the clumsy, out-of-touch plutocrat that the paid Obama ads and the unpaid media have portrayed him to be. He did, decisively.
That’s why MSNBC is on suicide watch. Why the polls show that, by a margin of at least two-to-one, voters overwhelmingly gave the debate to Romney.
And he won big in an unusual way. This could be the only presidential debate ever won so definitively in the absence of some obvious and ruinous gaffe, like Gerald Ford’s “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.”
Romney by two touchdowns.
Charles Krauthammer is a columnist for the Washington Post. His email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com.
Oct 11, 2012 at 12:31 a.m.
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concernedND said, "To me this is scary, when Obama signed the law where any U.S. citizen can be detained indefinitely if they are suspected of terrorist ties without any proof."
It's very disgusting to me and is the reason I won't be supporting either Obama or Romney -- both of whom have supported one erosion of our liberties after another. For you to say this is scary and in almost the same breath say, "Romney, i feel will do a good job" is as disgusting as the transgressions on liberties they both support. Romney would, if anything, greatly accelerate the erosion of liberties as he pursues his hawkish foreign policy and adds $2 TRILLION to our already bloated military budget.
Oct 5, 2012 at 2:13 p.m.
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Mjoseph,
I could dispute each of your "facts" but that is not the point that I was trying to make. My point was that you are ignorant of what the truth is and you are unwilling to take the time to do research on your own. You proved my point perfectly. You rely on biased mainstream news outlets that are controlling what you think because you are too lazy to learn the truth. You are being fooled by them and do not even realize it. This is the path to tyranny, much like Hitler, Stalin and many others have done throughout history. Get your head out of the sand.
Oct 5, 2012 at 12:15 p.m.
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Obama just said "I don't believe anyone is entitled to success"
A true communist if ever a comment was made.
Oct 5, 2012 at 12:03 p.m.
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You used "facts" and "Romney" in the same sentence. What a farce.
Oct 5, 2012 at 10:41 a.m.
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Send the Al Capone's back to Chicago in November.
Oct 5, 2012 at 10:32 a.m.
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Isn't fun to see the left meltdown? Now with a President who wouldn't know the truth if he stepped in it is shouting liar and playing the race card. Chicago style politics are a coming- can't run on his record and munipulating the jobs numbers. No Record to run on is why you saw a meek Obama - He can't look his opponent in the eye and say "you lie" because Romney is not.
Obama knew early on Romney had all the facts and was ready to go.
Oct 5, 2012 at 10:29 a.m.
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I sincerely believe that Chucky is intoxicated each and every time he bloviates about anything.
Oct 5, 2012 at 10:03 a.m.
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Give the patriots a break. They've been out at sea a loo0ongg time. It's only natural for them to want to hop in the sack and propose marriage to Mittens.
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:50 a.m.
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Romney was the more aggressive and came out of the political theater a little ahead of Obama, but that's about it. Facts don't matter much to the Republicans, as noted by Romney's fact challenged statements and flip-flopping, but what do we expect from the fantasy crowd?
Krauthammer is a shrill neo-conservative shill.
I'm looking at the Gazette front page today, and the President of the United States was 40 miles away speaking to tens of thousands of people. Where is the story?
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:48 a.m.
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Thanks, Tim. And good luck to the Crew in the playoffs. (Couldn't resist)
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:36 a.m.
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The best comparison I have heard is how Ryan's convention speech was received immediately after versus one week later.
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Immediately after, great speech, wow, amazing, game changer...
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One week later... how could anyone lie that much and that blatantly? BOOO!
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President Obama did not have a great performance but Romney lied his way to the win. After further review... Romney keeps the win but it is tainted.
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:09 a.m.
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Krauthammer? - wasn't Glenn Beck available for a column.
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:06 a.m.
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I'm w NV on this one. Well said sir.
Also, good luck today!!
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:05 a.m.
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Two touchdowns and a field goal-scccccoooooorrrrreeeeee!!!!!!!
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:19 a.m.
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Charles Krauthammer = Biased = Amateur journalist
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:17 a.m.
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Shrek -
Go ahead! You provide us the supposed corrections to the Fack Checkers.! I provided all of the original information,so it is your turn.
We are waiting (but know that you will not come through, because Republicans don't like FACTS.
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:05 a.m.
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Mjoseph,
Have you considered doing a fact check on the fact checkers? You will find that they are not giving you the whole truth.
Ignorance is the tool that tyrants have used over history to achieve total control of the populace. Unfortunately there are too many like you that believe they are informed yet are being fooled because they don't actually do any research. Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Oct 5, 2012 at 7:51 a.m.
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More like 25+ touchdowns, if you count the Romney lies as touchdowns, but they're all being called back once the ads exposing them start running. The Romney euphoria is destined to not only be short-lived but eventually the nail in the coffin of his campaign.
Oct 5, 2012 at 7:42 a.m.
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Why don't some of you sore losers do a fact check on Obamas failed promises and policies?
Oct 5, 2012 at 7:15 a.m.
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MITT ROMNEY’S FALSE DEBATE COMMENTS
1. Romney said Obama is “cutting $716 billion from Medicare.” FALSE said the Washington Post Fact Checker (Oct. 4)
2. Romney said there are 23 million Americans out of work. FALSE, says the Associated Press (Oct. 4). about half that number.
3. Romney said there is no tax provision that gives companies a tax deduction for moving jobs overseas. FALSE, says the Washington Post Fact Checker (Oct. 4)
4. Romney said that Obamacare “puts in place an unelected board that's going to tell people ultimately what kind of treatments they can have.” FALSE, says the Associated Press Oct. 4.
5. Romney disagreed with Obama saying that Romney planned a $5 trillion tax cut over the next decade.” HALF TRUE. Romney does plan such a cut, says nonpartisan Politifact
6. Romney accused Obama of double the Federal deficit. FALSE says Fact Check dot org. .
7. Romney said incomes are down $4300 since Obama took office. FALSE, says USA Today on Oct. 3.
8. Romney said he “…will not reduce the share (of taxes)” paid by high-income individuals.” FALSE. Romney wants to cut personal taxes by 20 percent for everyone, including the wealthy, as the Romney campaign website states at mittromney.com.
9. Romney said that Obama “...provided $90 billion in breaks to the green energy world” and that that figure amounts to 50 years’ worth of what oil and gas receives (in tax breaks).” FALSE says the Washington Post, Oct. 3.
10. Romney said his unspecific health plan will cover people with pre-existing conditions? FALSE, said the Los Angeles Times and Talking Points Memo. It will only cover those who currently have insurance, a right already provided in most cases under Federal law, but his plan will not cover first-time buyers or returning buyers.
11. Romney said that his proposed changes to Medicare will not impact current seniors. FALSE, according to Think Progress fact checking nonprofit.
12. Romney said Obama’s plan to let current tax cuts to expire will “kill jobs.” FALSE
What else is Mitt Romney not being honest about? His promises to the American people?
You CANNOT TRUST extremist, Mitt Romney.
Oct 4, 2012 at 7:19 p.m.
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What the Kraut does not understand, when he uses a football analogy, a game that he does not have a clue about, is that the first game in a three game series does not make the series. The Obama camp strategy was simple: Be Presidential and be civil. As a sponsered poker player, I can say that Mitt went all-in on the first hand. He has no more chips to play. The President never even initiated a pot. You are in deep do-do Mitt. You don't even have calling chips.
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