8:40 Welcome all to another installment of Live Blogging The Presidential Debate! I hope you can join in- we set a record for participation and visits on this blog during the last debate, and I hope we can break it tonight. And this gives me an opportunity to remind viewers that if they want to get on the distribution list for the regular posts here, just shoot me an email at dickinso@middlebury.edu And tonight, I promise (Anna are you listening?) that we will be employing the new live blogging software so – in theory – you don’t need to refresh your screen to catch the latest comments.
more “presidential?”… sorry matt, silly issue as was the concern of the size of the lapel pin. Avoid the Fox commentary. : )
To be honest, I can understand why, given the preposterous nature of Mitt’s claims of credit. Clear misunderstanding of correlation and causation. But I doubt the American public will understand that.
Sam, not just you, and I see red when Romney talks about his ‘role’ in Mass’s education successes…
Les – if you are going to lurk here, you better learn to identify humor from serious commentary – I don’t think Seb meant you to really pay attention to the size of the flag on the lapel.
Back to FP, maybe Bob heard the twitter scolding…
Hillcrest just erupted in laughter and applause with ‘horses and bayonets’ comment
“fewer horses and bayonets”! Ouch!
That submarine/aircraft carrier jab was one of the funniest debate comments I have ever heard. I loved it.
Not just schooled in the policy nuances, but also figuring out how to lay those out and debate them in this format, with this audience, in the campaign context…(resisting the urge for a pithy twitter hashtag here).
How is Mitt defining strength and weakness? I don’t agree necessarily, but I am intrigued by the framing.
Great! Crippling Iran …. good plan….making sure a mother can’t feed her kids! Always love how sanctions work. Remember, there was a time not too long ago where we were represented by someone who stole an election. Good thing the rest of the world didn’t impose sanctions on us!
POTUS comment wasn’t over the line, it was overdue. Mitt makes outrageous claims, and should be dealt with. The ‘apology tour’ is similar.
And Obama defense, ready for it. This is where we need partners, for real. (also – interesting jab about investing in Chinese oil/Iran – sanctions indeed, let the American people judge)…
I once heard that debates don’t change elections much – I think this debate will be case and point. The election is NOT about foreign policy (2004, 2008 is a different story).
As for how angry/patronizing Obama has been – there must be internal polling or something. Either that or he realizes it is time to poke holes in the boats that are rising with the Romney tide.
He skipped Israel? What did we have to ‘apologize’ for there? Maybe we finally have found a place of disagreement here….
And Mitt continues the “I like Israel more than you!” game.
How many Americans believe we have stood – recently – on the right side of history?
Mitt just pushed back because he didn’t want to have to answer that – understand, but he may well have to do that…? Someday….if/when.
that was a stupid question from Schieffer–
hasn’t the White House been denying the possibility of one-on-one talks with the Iranians?
9/11, Bin Laden, personal anecdote….it’s a personal touch, we have to make tough decisions, that aren’t poll tested – pivoting to the nuances of governing as commander in chief, with congressional oversight – or not.
did he just throw Biden under the bus???
Jeff – how so? Missed it….
I think Romney just got confused – he gave an answer that was perfect for the current policy. But lets talk about Pakistan…
Does that 9/11 story not poll well with men for a specific reason, as in the personal ‘anecdote,’ narrative, or do women just really like it, accounting for the gap (not on CNN here)?
Jeff, I don’t think that he did perse, although I definitely could see it. I think he was making the point that people in Congress (even if your own party) are entitled to disagree with your decisions as commander in chief (Biden has long been a critic as a member of the FP committee…from admin to admin).
I know its not the time but could you take a few moments sometime to talk about the Gallop polls and why they are so different than the rest.
Let’s keep Pakistan in our fold, because they have nuclear power, well, one can’t really argue with that and consequently why Iran wouldn’t mind having a few of those in stock, rhetoric about nuclear energy power aside….
Chris – I can do a separate post on it. But it has to do primarily with how they are weighting their sample, I think – particularly when it comes to the racial composition of the likely voter screen.
Obama’s bin Laden? Anyone else catch that? Not your best, Bob.
Killing the bad guys – polling well – except with the bad guys.
Is it honestly smart for Romney to mention Middle East peace process, given his ‘kick the ball along’ comment earlier in the campaign? I think not.
Drones!!! Mitt says America should be a nation of peace. We all want peace he said. Are drones part of that plan? When all evidence points to their ineffectiveness. Strange peace!!
I’m really surprised the European debt crisis hasn’t come up yet in the debate.
Hey Matt, do they make tires in Ohio? 😉
the live stream cuts out in the orchard! panic ensues! danny zhang saves the day!
Obama’s eyes are drilling holes, holes….at least in my split screen.
There are 2 large military bases in Florida – some have said they could help sway the election.
Chris – Isn’t there one in Maine as well? A shipyard? Can he steal an electoral vote there?
Was it smart for Mitt to say “my dad was head of a car company”??
investing in research and design, I don’t think about auto industry, I think about what hasn’t been imagined yet…or invented yet. Government will take risks that companies might not, without a product payoff.
Domestic policy, in the frame of competition (international)…thin I realize…
Holy cow, Mitt has actually met someone who does not have a job!
Is he never going to nail him on Bain….what a great opportunity. Matt Taibbi would have crushed it!!!
how did those statements poll on CNN…?
The shipyard is located in the first congressional district – the one that includes Portland and southern Maine – there really isn’t a vote there to steal. As for the northern (second) district – I think the vote that he needs there is the Tea Party vote, not the moderate vote he has been after.
Petty, but I just have to say, couldn’t he say, just one, in my great state of Mass? Like really?
Peace with Drones!! 8 women died the other day in one of those “precision” strikes. Of course the pentagon now counts them as terrorists and not even as collateral damage. Crazy world!
Les – I was waiting for it. Not sure why he didn’t unload the Bain reference.
Donna Brazile on ABC argues, essentially, “Romney agreeing with Obama on fp is a win for the President.” Is this an incumbency advantage? Thoughts?