Charlie Neibergall | Associated Press
–psparn@my.apsu.edu
If you missed the first presidential debate last week, all you need to know is Big Bird won and lost, depending on your political views.
According to many polls and political pundits, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney actually won the debate, but neither candidate seemed to bring anything new to the table.
Nearly a week after the first debate, the most memorable moment came when Romney suggested cutting funding to Big Bird and PBS as one of his only specific solutions to reduce the national deficit.
Big Bird immediately started trending on Twitter and Facebook during the debates and the topic is still trending on social media, TV and in the news, according to USA Today.
Most political pundits and polls said Romney won the debate with a strong performance.
Romney was more aggressive and seemed more prepared for the debate.
Romney definitely had more energy and was not afraid of being confrontational with President Barack Obama over their differences.
Although Romney won the debate performance, I do not think many potential voters learned anything new about him or his proposed policies, and this could be said about both candidates.
To read the rest of the article, please pick up the print edition available on campus.
Mac
If by “prepared” you mean “Prepared to lie and avoid the truth for the entire length of the debate” then yes- Romney was VERY prepared.
More energy… more aggressive… being confrontational… all very true. But the amount of BS he was spewing, completely unchecked and without any reservation whatsoever showed me one thing- he lacks any sort of moral compass and is willing to tell ANY lie- no matter HOW big, and is willing to change positions at the drop of a hat.
That aggression and energy? That’s also known as “If you keep telling yourself a lie long enough, you begin to believe it”. And that’s what he hopes happens with us as well.
If you and your supporters can walk away from THAT declaring “victory”, then you are in a world of hurt. And if the American public can watch that and say “Romney won the debate” and do it with a straight face, well then… we’re ALL in a world of hurt if we had this guy the reigns of power, because he’ll drive the wagon train straight off the cliff and into oblivion.
Philip Sparn, Perspectives Editor
Thank you for your comments…
I encourage everyone to read the full version of this article in The All State’s print edition, on news stands now. The full version of this article further explains the debate performances.
CJ Daniels
Mac, there is no proof in any of your accusations. They’re pure conjecture.
CJ Daniels
Interesting how you cut-n-pasted Romney’s comments to make him say something he didn’t. I listened to the whole debate. What I heard Romney say was he wasn’t going to borrow money from China to fund PBS, ie not go further into debt irresponsibly. The Children’s Television Workshop, now the Sesame Workshop, has long been a profitable organization without tax dollar support. But, please don’t misquote to decieve. And your comment that he provided vague suggestions is an acknowledgement that Romney understands Congress makes the laws, and he will give the direction with suggestions. Congress will make the final decision. Maybe a study in government would help you.
Mac
CJ,
I CLEARLY wrote a letter stating opinion- I never presented it as fact. Perhaps it’s YOU that should take an elective- maybe reading comprehension.
But since you’re interested in facts, check out politifact.com- Romney’s 2 debate performance statements got a rating of 71% ranging between “Half True” to “Pants on Fire” with a sad 30% being rated as “Mostly True” or “True”. The President’s 2 debate performance statements got a rating of 54% ranging between “Half True” to “Pants on Fire” with 45% being rated as “Mostly True” or “True”. factcheck.org has similar numbers. Both sites rate the VPs closely to their running mates.
The most honesty to ever come from the Romney camp? When they said that fact checkers aren’t going to dictate what they say or do during the campaign. That’s the most truth we’ll EVER hear from those folks.
Mac
**crickets**
AWFULLY quiet in here since I mentioned actual facts/statistics (stats that were not favorable for Romney, quoted from a right-leaning website, I might add)…
AWFULLY quiet in here since the last debate…