The most interesting part of the debate in my opinion was when Romney made the following statement in response to Obama's attacks on his foreign policy: “We're talking about the Middle East and how to help the Middle East reject the kind of terrorism we're seeing and the rising tide of tumult and confusion, and attacking me is not an agenda. It's not talking about how we're gonna deal with the challenges that exist in the Middle East and take advantage of the opportunity there and stem the tide of this violence.”

I thought this quote encompassed many people's opinion about the debates in general. Each candidate is guilty of pointing fingers at the other party and focusing on negative details when in reality they should be more concerned with the improvements they can make. When discussing very serious issues, the candidates tend to get caught up in petty details and often make it seem as though they are making light of the subject they are talking about. I think this occurred less often in this debate and I was pleased to see how they responded to each other, it made me take what they were saying more seriously.

Most Recent Debate

               The most interesting thing about the debate for me was the change in stance Obama took when answering questions. Compared to the first two debates, he seemed to take a very aggressive role in answering questions and challenging Romney’s credibility. He made a very large shift from the first debate where he tended to be passive in his responses, to really taking a lead role in getting his points across. I feel like Romney did not necessarily change his mind set for any of the debates, but it seemed harder for him to gain much momentum with Obama taking control. The whole process of a candidate shifting his mindset from one debate to the next is very interesting.

               

               The positions each candidate took were also very worth noting. Obama was following a general theme of showing how he is a better suited Commander in Chief with his past experience in the White House, while Romney is inexperienced with foreign policy matters, indecisive, and changing his stances on issues as time goes on. Romney took a more reserved approach in the debate to not try and sway too many voters away this late in the process. It’s interesting to note each candidate’s strategy for going into a debate, and seeing how well they can execute that strategy.

The Final Debate

The part of this debate that stuck with me the most was when they were talking about all of the problems in Syria. I felt prepared for this topic and I understood what they were talking about almost entirely, because we heard the current event about it. What I thought was very interesting and a little bit funny was that both candidates were saying more or less the same thing, although they were still finding a way to argue about it. Both want Assad to go and are willing to support the rebels to do so, as well as send in humanitarian aid to help out the civilians. They both want to attempt to convert Syria into an American ally as well as a friend of American allies in the region. They also both were saying they wanted to find a way to arm the rebels but make sure that those weapons did not fall into enemy hands. Overall, the two candidates seemed to have very similar goals for this conflict as well as similar plans for accomplishing them, which is why this part of the debate stuck with me the most.

In the most recent debate, the moment that stuck out most to me was Obama's quip that "the 1980s are calling and they want their foreign policy back" in reference to Romney naming Russia as the greatest geopolitical threat to America. In the past two debates, Romney has been the candidate with the most catchy lines, but this line may become the most memorable moment of the debates. The jury is still out on my opinion regarding this coomment, though. While catchy and effective, I'm not sure whether it breached the line of civility.

As far as who won the debate, I would say Obama. Both candidates had shining moments in their areas of strength. Romney, a businessman at heart, outperformed Obama in the economic debate. However, I believe Obama, who has far more foreign policy experience, took the prize in last night's debate.

3rd Presidential Debate

     Watching the debate, I am impressed in the way that both men have presented themselves. Both men seem to be physically capable to debate, unlike Obama at the first debate who seemed tired and worn down, and both were clear on their answers, unlike Romney's somewhat vague responses during the town hall debate. I feel that both of the men put on their best performances, and their opinions were made most clear and presented in the most professional manner.
     Anybody who argues that Obama has not improved our nation over his presidency is mistaken, so I think the most important part of how the debate ran was how Romney outlined his proposed strategies in a concise manner. Romney has to prove himself, Obama already has in the past four years. In this debate, Romney has done a better job at presenting both himself and his views to the audience. He, in my opinion, lost to Obama at the Town Hall debate because he was not clear on how he was going to carry out his policies, but Romney changed that in this debate, as seen in his outlining of what he would focus on to build the American economy. Despite his improvement, I felt that he was copying the way Obama outlined his points.
     I also applaud the way that Romney handled Obama's accusations of him "always being wrong" when it came to foreign policy. I do not know about Romney's opinions of America's interactions with other nations, and Obama may very well be correct that Romney is "always wrong". Anybody in the audience could see that this was a direct attack on Romney, but Romney very professionally made it clear that there was no place for personal charges and accusations in their debate on foreign policy. That is exactly the kind of conduct I would expect from a presidential nominee and was frankly a little disappointed that Obama would put himself down onto that level.  

The Final Debate

I'm currently watching the debate, and I think the most interesting comment so far came from President Obama, in which he stated that America is stronger now than it was before he came into office.  I have to disagree.  I understand that Obama came into the presidency at a very difficult time considering our affairs overseas, and it would have been a difficult situation to deal with for anyone in the presidency, but I don't think our, what I believe to be, loss in Iraq and our continued efforts fighting terrorism at home and overseas have left us stronger than before. We left Iraq almost a year ago, yet Iraq is in complete shambles.  Although we left it as a "sovereign" state, the current conditions in Iraq do not reflect that of a stable country.  If we had as strong of a military force as Obama is claiming, I think that our efforts would have proved more efficient in Iraq.  I think it is obvious from this that the United States is no longer viewed as a military powerhouse, and I don't think a lot of countries find the United States to be a threat anymore.  Iran's involvement in Iraq actually happens to be a threat to our interests, not the other way around. 
Under President Obama, we have taken out Osama bin Laden and Muammar Qaddafi, and we have made some advances, yet I believe the war in Iraq is a technical loss for our country, and I believe President Obama was somewhat false in saying we are stronger now than before he was president. 

Third Presidential Debate

The most interesting part of this debate for me came in the first hour. At one point about 30 minutes in, Mitt Romney started to sidetrack from the foreign affairs topics, and tried to turn the conversation to the economic problems in the U.S. By Romney doing this, I think it hurt his performance in the debate because it shows that he is not very experienced or knowledgeable in how to deal with foreign affairs, and instead he was trying to focus the conversation on what he has an edge in, which is the rehabilitation of the American economy. I think this debate was the best one for Obama, and it was a topic about which I thought he would  have the greatest advantage in. This will help Obama in the election in two weeks because this will be the last debate that sticks in Americans' minds, and if there is not a significant event in the next two weeks, this could arguably one of the most important factors in whom undecided voters will decide to cast their votes for.

Out of the Presidential debates I think that there are two important things to look at. First there is the person who “wins” the debate. I think that Mitt Romney definitely won the first debate, and Obama had a slight edge in the second debate. So far, it seems that Romney is just a better-suited orator for debates, because he appears and sounds more confident and prepared, while Obama tends to stutter and pause often during his responses. Another factor that is perhaps even more important to voters is the likeability of the candidates during the debate. The way that the candidate comes off to the American people can greatly affect their opinions of that candidate. For example, during the vice-presidential debate, I felt that Joe Biden “won” the debate, but he came off very arrogant and condescending by smirking while Paul Ryan spoke and laughing during parts of Ryan’s responses where he cited negative facts about Obama’s policies over the past four years. Through these three debates, I think the Romney/Ryan ticket has performed well enough to reduce the lead that Obama created for himself, but the race is still undecided. Barring a major event that significantly increases or decreases the support for one of these candidates, I think it will be a very close election on Nov. 6.

            Based on the past two presidential debates and what I have read and heard about, I have concluded that Mitt Romney is ahead in the election as of right now. I've noticed that president Obama has been having some trouble defending his presidency the past four years. I mean, he said he was going to create a ton of new jobs and unemployment is still at 8%. On top of that, I have also observed that Romney just seems so much more confident and enthusiastic about what he is saying. Obama is more reserved, which is fine, but I feel like Romney and his 5 point plan are going to work because he is so fired up about it. I also feel that Americans trust that Romney knows what he is doing because he has been a businessman his whole life and is much more credible about knowing about business then Barack Obama who has been a politician his whole career. Also, although Obama did much better in the second debate, the clear winner of the first one was Romney who seemed much more prepared than Obama.

Current Election Leader

I feel like Obama is the current leader in the election. Romney did a very nice job in the first presidential debate, but Obama really stepped things up from the most recent one. I noticed that Obama took a more direct approach in explaining how he was going to solve issues, while Romney seemed to just give his ideas and goals in a lot of his responses. Obama is also ahead in terms of the number of electoral votes from the individual states; he is at an estimated 294 while Romney is at 244. My opinion is contradicted by researchers from The University of Colorado. These researchers conducted a study and concluded that Romney is most likely to win by the standards of the Electoral College. I still feel though that Obama has the upper hand in this election. It just seems that in all of the statistics I find regarding the election on CNN, Obama has more support. I feel like Obama’s experience as president will out him in a higher position to be re-elected, while Romney is only familiar of being a governor at this point.

I think the last two debates have made a big difference in the election. Before the debate, I did not really have any doubt that Obama would win. Romney's strong showing in the first debate definitely changed my mind more than I expected it to, and I think that a lot of Republicans found hope from that. Everyone expected Obama to come out strong in the debate yesterday, including me, and I was surprised by how well Romney held his own against him. I still would say Obama won the debate, but I definitely don't think it was by the same margin that Romney won the first one. I was watching the TV show Kudlow and Company today, and there was a guest on the show who was a professional behavior and body language analyst, and she was talking about the debate. She did confirm one thing I thought, which was that Obama seemed to get a lot angrier, while Romney seemed more calm. I do not necessarily think this will effect the election, but I thought it was very interesting. I honestly would not be surprised if either candidate won this election. I do think that Romney has done a good job of clawing his way back into a race that many people counted him out of, but we have to wait until the election to find out if it has been and will be enough. I do not have an opinion about who is in the lead. I know it may sound like I just don't want to take sides but I really don't know who I think will win. I think the last debate and the days leading up to the election will be crucial for both candidates, so I think this race is about to get even more interesting.

      The past two presidential debates have both been interesting precursors to the election. Romney was the clear winner in the first debate, appearing much more prepared than Obama. This came as quite a shock to me, as Obama is a consistently good orator. However, he appeared apathetic and unengaged during the first debate, while Romney was prepared and aggressive.
     However, the tables turned during the second debate, as I believe Obama took the prize. While the winner of this debate was not as clear as the first one, I believe Obama performed better because of his use of specific plans. Romney, while equally as aggressive as the president, spoke mostly in generalities.
     Because this election will likely be an extremely close race, the debates may play a more important role than in the past. However, I don't believe most of the American populace is involved enough in political fairs to pay a great deal of attention to the results of the debates. Thus, I do not believe that the debates will significantly impact the outcome of the election.

     

After seeing parts of the presidential debates and listening to others opinions, I think that the race for the presidency has become much closer than it was before the debates started, but is still tipping in favor of Obama. In the first debate, Romney undeniably put on a better performance than Obama. Romney was more firm, energetic, and appeared more confident than his opponent even if he was a bit vague on the specifics of his policies at times. This performance quickly advanced his standings against Obama, which made the bid for the presidency much closer than it had been before the debate. However, in the second presidential debate, Obama appeared to put on a better show. He seemed much more prepared to answer the questions presented to him, and answered in a more thorough manner than Romney, who was polite and maintained his poise and confidence from the last debate, but did not specify on how he was going to achieve his goals as president. Romney seemed to spend more time talking about his past successes as a governor than ta1k about how he was going to be doing his job in the future. I think that after the first debate it would have still been Obama leading Romney, but after the second I can definitely say that I think Obama has the lead.

After reading How not to read the Constitution written by Tribe and Dorf, assess to what degree you view the Constitution as a blueprint for governing. How much of a Constitution should be fixed and how much should be flexible?