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.
