Presidential debate played like a prizefight

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
10/17/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Both men fought hard as the White House is clearly up for grabs.

Americans love a prizefight, and last night they got one. Both Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama threw verbal punches at one another that at times unsettled many viewers.

Both candidates sparred with equal alacrity on Tuesday night.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Prior to the debates, it was worried that the town hall format would keep the debate low key as the candidates would be surprised by each question and constantly shifting topics, however that turned out not to be the case.

Both men moved about the floor of the hall, often in close proximity to one another, gesturing, interrupting, and generally disregarding the rules of the debate.

Both routinely went well over-time in their remarks, and often spent the beginnings of new questions trying to get the last word in on the previous.

However, these antics didn't provide the fireworks that the statements themselves did.

The tensest moment of the debate came when a citizen asked Obama if he was responsible for the lack of security in Libya at the time of the recent terror attacks. The atmosphere was hushed and palpable.

Admirably, Obama took full responsibility for security, but stopped short of saying whether or not he knew the truth about the attacks. Romney pointed that the President referred to terrorism in his immediate remarks, but then began referring to the event as a demonstration gone bad.

The implication was that the Obama administration had no clue what really happened despite warnings, testimonies, and common sense. Ultimately, Obama tried to believe what he wanted to believe, but the facts did not support him.

Romney added that Obama departed for two fundraisers in the wake of the tragedy.

Obama took exception to the notion that he had played politics with the event and delivered one of the most tense lines of the debate. "The suggestion that anybody in my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. That's not what we do," said Obama.

Repeatedly, Romney's best moments came when he pointed out that Obama has been president for the past four years. On a wide range of issues, Romney was able to point out where the current administration had failed in one way or another to deliver on promises.

Immigration reform, a campaign promise that Obama pledged to complete within his first year, remains largely where it was four years ago. Romney also pointed out the administration's failures in controlling the deficit, ensuring energy independence, and foreign policy.

Romney pointed out that the price of gas had risen to over $4 per gallon during Obama's presidency, up from an average of $1.86. Obama was never able to explain why this was the case.

Of course, the greatest punch was Romney's statement of fact that unemployment remains much higher than it ought to be.

Obama countered against many of Romney's ideas saying the Governor lacked specifics.

With the feisty debate concluded, the question that remains is whether or not either side managed to sway voters. Early polls suggest Obama eked out a narrow victory over Romney, but that this may not be enough to check Romney's momentum.

As of this morning, Romney had a 49 percent to 47 percent lead over Obama according to Rasmussen Reports.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
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Keywords: Obama, Romney, presidential, campaign, debates

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

DLL
7 months ago
Blinking! The most amazing thing that I remember about this second debate was the fact that there was so much blinking going on. Talk about body language,I think blinking is very significant body language. Obama won in the blinking category by out blinking Mitt Romney. It was evident that when one candidate had to keep quiet and listen to the other,the intensity on the look of their face along with the blinking,had a lot to do with the impatient disdain that one felt for the other. Obama blinked at a rate of one blink per second. Romney was pretty good too but his rate wasn't quite as rapid,he blinked about every one second and a half. This debate is about power and power is very important to these two men and they want that power. Politics is about power and the power of one party to manipulate the other to destroy its reputation. It is frustrating to see how evil the power of the political system has become and how aggressively this power has become a war between these 2 different political parties. The media groups gladly chime in as well. I hate to have to vote for any of them because I don't think any of them deserve it. It is obvious that Obama hates to be challenged on any of his policies. Romney is a surprisingly good debate challenger. I do hope though that there is no hatred mixed with all this aggressiveness. Still you can't help but wonder if there is.
Miss Marie
7 months ago
I take my responsibility to cast a vote very seriously. I've tried to keep up on current events at the local, state, and federal levels, educate myself on the bills being passed and the votes my representatives case, write to my representatives whenever I feel strongly about an issue, and come election time, I always try to be knowledgeable about the candidates. For our presidential election this year, I've watched all 3 debates and don't plan on missing the 4th.

I'm not impressed with the inappropriate level of decorum displayed by our public servants at the various levels of government. I realize many of our candidates and their respective parties believe elections are games to be won or lost at any cost and using any means necessary, but believe their message could get out while maintaining civility and respect. I understand compassion about an issue, frustration about an opponent not telling the truth, and in know that in our current society we've become accustomed to a "reality show" or "in your face" mentality. That doesn't make it right or appropriate.

Unless/until we can have discourse without drama, real and honest conversations and debates over issues are just a side show and flashy people with lots of money will continue to get elected into positions of power. It is really kind of sad that our freedom and liberty hinges on a society that thinks elected officials are there to entertain us.
Me
7 months ago
With a populous this polarized (49% to 47%)... we really aught to have Presidents with a member of the opposing party as mandatory VP. Or SOMETHING like that.

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