9:37 PM: Bipartisanship! Romney and Obama form tacit agreement to make the debate about domestic policy. Classic Schiefer smackdown.
9:38 PM: Is Mitt sweating a lot?
9:39 PM: Romney’s looking flustered now.
9:41 PM: My sense is that Obama’s tone and command is rising now and Romney’s getting more scattered. Sort of like Obama’s feeling more confident and Romney less.
9:43 PM: TPM Reader AP has a different take so far. He writes: “I hear Obama attacking Romney. I hear Romney laying out a vision, however disjointed. Disjointed won’t matter – most voters aren’t as informed as you. I don’t see this as good for the President.” That’s not my take. But wanted to share with you.
9:44 PM: God, I’ve been waiting for someone to call out the ridiculousness of Romney’s comparison fo the fleet size of the 1917 and 2012 US Navies.
9:47 PM: Mitt looks like he’s lost his footing.
9:48 PM: Like the auto bailout, Mitt now claims Obama’s policies are his own.
9:49 PM: Romney is making a rousing case for Obama’s policy.
9:52 PM: One guy up there looks comfortable and happy. The other looks like he’s in pain.
9:24 PM: My general take on this debate so far is that Obama lacks some of the sharpness of the second debate. And I think he could have connected more on a few points. But Romney seems sort of all over the place. Lots of complaints and criticisms and words like unravelling but I’m not sure clearly connecting with a powerful argument.
9:26 PM: Again, Romney can’t come up with anything he’d actually have done differently.
9:27 PM: Mubarak “had done things that were unimaginable.”
9:27 PM: I guess we’re in the phase of the debate where both candidates are doing everything they can to drag the debate back to the economy and domestic policy.
9:28 PM: Curious what others think but again, Mitt’s run there, just a laundry list. Just don’t feel like he went anywhere with it.
9:29 PM: TPM Reader JB writes in: “I feel channels turning to football and baseball.”
9:32 PM: Shorter Romney: Plan on the basis of everything being scarier than you can imagine.
9:33 PM: Ummmm, Schiefer? Foreign policy?
9:34PM: Flashback video: Mitt: We can’t kill ourselves out of this.
9:35 PM: Flashback video: Obama: The 1980s called. They want their foreign policy back.
I’ll say this. Over the last 25 years most of these debates have been ones between people who seem wildly mismatched as debaters. I say as debaters because George W. Bush won the presidency twice but he could barely string a sentence together sometimes. This cycle is very different.
9:04 PM: Having Schiefer moderating this debate has always been a bad sign for Obama.
9:05 PM: “We can’t kill our way out of this mess.” No doubt Mitt’s advisors wanted him to mention bin Laden first. Good idea.
9:06 PM: Was shrewd of Mitt to hit bin Laden first but sounded like a bit of a laundry list.
9:08 PM: Interesting — and I don’t mean that snarkily — that Mitt is positioning himself as the guy who’s not just about killing terrorists.
9:09 PM: “I know you haven’t been a position to execute on foreign policy.” “Not wrong and reckless leadership.” Obama not necessarily connecting with zingers but definitely taking it to Romney.
9:17 PM: On Syria, I’m not sure why Obama doesn’t just say, “Hey, this isn’t worth going to war over.”
9:19 PM: Romney’s policy is to continue Obama’s policies apparently. So now we’re to the Etch-a-Sketch.
9:21 PM: “Steady thoughtful leadership.”
9:21 PM: Good question from Schiefer. What would you actually do differently, Governor? The answer seems to be, nothing.
If you want a preview of probable press reactions to tonight’s debate, remember that the travelling press just had a touch football game with Romney’s campaign staff, reffed by Mitt.
The Tire Swing Never Dies.
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake will be joining us for a live chat tomorrow at 12 noon eastern time at TPMPrime to answer your questions about anything and everything about polls and the campaign.
We’re talking pre-debate expectations, questions, rattled-nerves here at TPMPrime.
I guess this is what happens late in the tight presidential race. Ronna Romney is the ex-sister-in-law of Mitt Romney. She’s apparently remained close to the Romney family. She has a minor role in the Romney campaign in Florida and has recently appeared at campaign events in Michigan with her daughter.
Earlier this afternoon she posted these grotesque images of the mangled body of the late Ambassador Chris Stevens with the words “Obama killed him” surrounded by dripping blood.
A race too close to call seems more than a lot of people can handle. They need to know who is winning RIGHT NOW. Uncertainty not tolerated! Greg Sargent crunches the numbers and has your answer.