Let The Debates Begin! Obama v Romney

It was just kind of boring, really; Obama passed on a lot of what were seen as opportunities to attack Romney, but didn't really give Romney much of a chance to use any of his prepared "zingers." Jim Leher couldn't keep control of the proceedings, with the result that Romney basically walked off with the show.The general consensus is that this is a "win" for Romney, but with Obama has such a tremendous lead that unless Romney changed the game, he lost. And despite what people are thinking is a tepid performance, Obama denied Romney the game-changer. So nothing happened. Boring.Probably the highlight of the night was the CNN "fact-check" that basically said that if you take Romney at his word, his claims are true.

What? That makes no sense. It's not like Romney can drop out of the election, there's no "end" except voting in November. And Obama already had a lead so large that it's going to take a major event to upset the inevitable Obama victory.And Romney didn't get it. The election is exactly as "over" as it possibly could be. What didn't Obama do? Make the obvious attacks that the Romney team was prepared for? Did you hear Romney's line of attack on how Romneycare wasn't exactly like the ACA? It was rehearsed and potentially devastatingly effective - it's possible that the Obama team won't be able to equate them anymore. Do you really believe they didn't have something like that on "47%"? On "Etch-a-Sketch"? On Bain Capital? The smartest thing Obama did all night was avoid those lines of attack, neutralizing Romney's chance to respond to them.People wanted to see blood, but they seem to have forgotten that Obama wins in the long game, because he lets his opponents knock themselves out. Obama's not the guy who ends the election in a single stroke because he knows elections don't ever work like that. They go until the vote.

But every day Romney doesn't overcome it, it becomes harder and harder to. How, specifically? Making the attacks that Romney had spent weeks prepping for? You heard him on Romneycare, right? Don't you think he had a million of those? And how is the election not every bit as "closed out" as it could possibly be? Let's see it last through two more debates. Obama plays the long game, remember?

And Obama rebutted that: "It was a Republican idea." And, wow, imagine that - it didn't end the election right there, it didn't cause Romney to say "oh, you're right, I guess I'm a shameless liar", it didn't cause him to evaporate in a puff of logic or any of the other scenarios Green Lantern Liberals like you imagine will happen if only Obama was a little more like Jeb Bartlett. Did he miss "hanging curves" or baited traps? As the example with Romneycare proves, Romney's team knew what the obvious lines of attack were going to be, and they were ready for them. Remember all those "zingers" we heard about that didn't materialize? I'm not enthused about Obama's performance either, but you can't make money betting against him, and it seems pretty obvious to me that Obama's plan was to avoid giving Romney the opportunity to spring any of his prepared traps. All Obama has to do is run out the clock. Romney's behind and that hasn't changed.

He did, by executive order. Congress overruled him, remember?

Why do you say that Obama "cannot get anything through Congress"? His administration has signed over 600 pieces of legislation from Congress, including such campaign priorities as the American Care Act, the Lily Ledbetter Pay Discrimination Act, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I guess I would say "you're clearly a nincompoop who can't be bothered to do the least bit of research about recent political history or the separation of powers delineated in the US constitution." The President doesn't get to force Congress to do anything.

Ok, I guess, but have you forgotten that's exactly what they did? That also has already happened - they chose tax cuts.