Following President Obama's rather poor job at the last presidential debate during which Mr. Romney aggressively attacked the president on many of his policies, Obama took time over the past week and a half to brush up on his debating skills. He absolutely refused to be distracted in anyway, including golf courses, a Ferrari convention, and visits to local historical sites. According to close personal aides to the president, he was not practicing by cramming his head full of facts but instead by training his ability to debate directly; learning how to counter Romney's attacks on his policies and to redirect the pressure to Romney. After how well Vice-President Biden did at his debate against Paul Ryan, President Obama spent many hours reviewing the tactics Biden used. Obama plans to be not only more energetic and lively but also to focus more on foreign policy than domestic.
Monday, October 15, 2012
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I think that after the first debate, Obama needed a great comeback, which he got on the second debate. He wasn't rude or desperate, as his advisers wanted him to be and he was able to slam Romney on the last word. I think Obama needed this debate because he was really quite during the first one, while Romney was very aggressive. On Tuesday, Obama was much more aggressive and had even told Romney that he was wrong. I feel that Romney was caught off guard by this and wanted to remain the winner of the debate, but lost that chance after numerous incidences where he seemed (to me) rude to the president and had some other trip ups that I did not like. Overall, I don't think I could ever do this, but they both did a better job, but Obama did much better this time around.
ReplyDeleteWow...I wish I could be distracted by Ferrari conventions, but onto the real point. I think we all know Obama had a much stronger performance in Tuesday's debate. He was more focused, more in tune, and much more aggressive against Mitt Romney. Obama also did well by focusing on foreign policies rather than being tied down to the economy where many believe Romney has the edge. I for one thought Obama did quite well for answering the questions on the economy especially for being put on the spot. Mitt Romney did well too, but I just feel as though everything he said had some kind of reservation to it. He also completely shot himself in the foot at the end with the caring for 100% of Americans. I think this debate will shift the polls back towards Obama and the third election I believe will ultimately decide the winner.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised that Obama took his loss so seriously. Everyone knows that he is not usually like the way he was at the first debate, in fact the Romney campaign was trying to under sell how Romney was going to do in the first debate. I think that Obama just had an off night, too bad it was one of the most important nights of the election.
ReplyDeleteAs fot the second election, I think Obama was more like himself. He was more aggressive towards Romney, which I don't think Romney was expecting, and Obama seemed to more direct and in connection with the voters that Romney was. I don't think all of that training was required for that but in certainly helped. He just needed to get the rust off his debating strategies. I think what helped him most was watching the VP debate. I think it is good that Obama and Biden are working very similar tactics. Obama definitely learned a a thing or two from how Biden dealt with Paul Ryan. Now we just have to wait and see what will happen in the next and final debate.
I don't think it's a shock to anyone that Obama put so much time into preparing for Tuesday's debate. After the first debate, he definitely needed to “bring it” on Tuesday. All of the preparation definitely paid off, as most people agree that Obama won the debate. Though I can't say I am happy about it, I believe that this debate will definitely help him to gain more of a lead in the polls. Voters seem to have really responded well to Obama’s performance on Tuesday. I can’t say I blame them; he did an excellent job presenting his points during the debate. However, I still think it is premature to predict who will win the election. The candidates are so close together in the polls that anything could happen. I am looking forward to the next debate, as I feel that it will definitely have the most influence on election outcomes.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama has definitely improved performance wise since the the first debate.He was way more agressive when Romney tried to attack him and he wasn't afraid to go after Romney as well. I would say that President Obama had the upper hand on this debate. Romney's aggression was too over the top, while President Obama used more control. It was crucial that the President improve and he did. I think that this debate not only improved President Obama's campaign, but it opened Romney up to criticism after his display of poor etiquette through out the debate.
ReplyDeleteI find it absolutely incredible how much preparation goes into these debates. I know how incredibly important they are and I am sure nerve wracking as well but as we saw in the debate, the preparation President Obama put into the second debate greatly benefited him. I feel as though Romney should have expected this from the President as he is not one to just roll over and let his opponent win. I agree with Nicolette when she says that it is still too early to really predict who will win. Something could go terribly wrong for either candidate in the final debate and opinions of the voters could drastically change. It will definitely be interesting to see how much preparation goes into the final debate.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the sentiment that it is too early to predict. Early voting has already started in some parts of the country and while there still is one debate to go, I think at this point many people really have it in their head who they will vote for unless one screws up the 3rd debate completely.
ReplyDeleteIn the first debate, it looked like Obama didn't even want to be there. He was way too passive and let Romney criticize his past policies. However, the second time they met was much different. Obama wasn't afraid to tell Romney that something he said was false, especially the comments about the Benghazi attack where Romney said that it took the Obama administration two weeks to call the attacks a terror attack. I was impressed with the manner Obama told him to check the transcript. Now that each candidate has a win in each debate, there is a lot riding on the third one. If Obama can keep the momentum and intensity of the prior debate, the results of the third will be the same as the second.
ReplyDeleteI concur with everyone that Obama came out significantly stronger in the second debate and seemed to be able to find a happy medium between his first performance and Joe Biden's performance which I just found to be obnoxious and immature. After the dip in his polling numbers there was no way he could have a repeat of the first debate and still hold the lead in the election. As Dave said, it'll be key for him to keep up his momentum in the third debate because if that goes poorly it could be a set back for the campaign especially if a bad jobs report comes out on November 6th just two days before election day.
ReplyDeleteObama really needed to come out strong in this debate and he seemed to do so. I think this will be the last significant change in polling numbers before the election. I can't see the third debate having that much of an impact since both candidates are likely to play it safe so close to the election and the fact that it's on foreign policy, something that most Americans are not going to be basing their vote on. Also I think most people have already decided who they're voting for and for people who haven't, I'm not sure anything will convince them to go one way or another at this point.
ReplyDeleteAfter the first Presidential debate, I think everyone agrees that President Obama had some ground to make up. Knowing this, Obama has apparently taken more time out to prepare more thoroughly for the 2nd Presidential Debate. President Obama kept away from distractions such as golf courses, Ferrari Conventions, and historical sites. The article states that Obama was criticized for visiting the Hoover Dam instead of preparing for the 1st Presidential Debate. Another factor of success that the article mentioned was that Obama did not need to fill his head with facts to preach about during the debate, but train himself to accuse Romney of twisting facts in an appropriate manner. Obama will attempt to be a lot less passive when Romney attacks President Obama.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren that it's incredible how much time the candidates put into preparing for these debates, but I don't think neither of them got where they are without putting the hours in and doing their homework. Obviously all of this preparation paid off for President Obama at the debate. I cannot even image how hard it is to manage a country and prepare for these debates at the same time
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Dave. President Obama was a lot more aggressive and alert in the second debate than in the first. After seeing the results of the first debate, it's no wonder that President Obama spent time getting ready for the second debate, which, in my opinion, paid off. I was also impressed with the moderator, who was a lot more firm with the candidates than was Jim Lehrer.
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