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.
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(So I'm posting in the comments section because I can't figure out how else to do it so thanks Elizabeth for getting the ball rolling!) Anyway, based on this moment in time, I believe that President Obama has the advantage in the upcoming election. I still don’t know who I am voting for, so this is just made on observation alone. Although I saw neither of the presidential debates, I heard enough about them to formulate my opinion. Even though Obama supposedly lost the first debate, his supposedly strong performance at the most recent debate puts him ahead of Romney because it was so recent. Timeliness matters in a contest like this. Obama seemed to actually answer the questions in the second debate, giving specific plans to problems, while Romney referenced his goals not his solutions. Though no politician ever seems to give a straight answer, Obama came closer to doing it than Romney when answering questions. Another factor that puts Obama slightly ahead in my opinion is his campaign trail and its comparative cleanliness to Romney’s. Romney has had a few slip ups in his campaign, including the 47 percent remark, him using the Libya attack as a political tool, and his lack of definition some issues. Maybe the public is hearing more about Romney’s hiccups than Obama’s as a result of the media, or maybe it’s because he has had more errors, I don’t know. But I do think that this year’s election will be close and whoever wins will win because of his most recent triumph or failure. Happy Almost Election everyone!
I have to agree with Elizabeth on a few points. I believe that Romney was the clear winner of the first debate. He came in strong and much better prepared than President Obama. However, I still believe that Obama has more supporters. From the many people I've talked to, and also from media coverage and polls, most sources say Obama is in the lead. I think that, even though Obama has not fulfilld many of his promises within the past 4 years, he has still outlined plans, whereas Romney is a little more vague in his plans for the presidency, as we saw from last night's debate.
The debates are meant to pull in the undecided voters, not to change republicans' or democrats' minds, so it will be interesting to see where the undecided votes go. I think that these undecided voters will consider differences in policy, which is all personal opinion, but they may take into account character of the candidates. I think that Romney is coming under fire within the media for dicrepancies, and this may play into voters' opinions as well.
(Same as Emily) As of now I think that Romney will win the election. Right now Romney is in fact leading the polls by more than just a margin of error. I would attribute this to the level of confidence that Romney has had in theses last two debates. Obviously there were plenty of inconsistencies or flat-out lies by Romney but to uninformed voters Romney has a level of confidence that Obama simply just doesn't posses. Long-term I think Romney has the advantage in his ability to use Obama's failures against him. Romney constantly brings of Obama's ineffective handling of the economy and even though there is only a limited amount of economic change Obama is in control of, that is not much comfort to those who have been in a recession for his entire term. That is just my opinion but of course anything could happen between now and November 6th.
It wasn't until recently that I've realized the effect that the debates have on the American population – not only what is said at them, but how the information is delivered as well. Romney has proven to be a very talented and convincing speaker and he showed this throughout the first night, leading me to believe that perhaps Romney had a better shot at winning the election than I had previously thought. However, both candidates came out fighting on the second night, which I would argue is the more influential of the two because it covers concerns of the average citizen by asking questions from the audience. Because of this, I think people regained some confidence in Obama who may have lost it after night one. While the debates are effective, I think many Americans can feel confused due to the rumors regarding false claims made by each candidate, so it is hard to say that based off of the debates I can see a clear winner when I'm not quite sure what is true. However, I think enough people are satisfied with what Obama has done or what he says he is going to do that he will win the election by a small margin, but Romney has proven to be a greater threat to Obama than I had earlier envisioned.
(I also cant't figure this out) I believe that Obama is slightly in the lead. I believe that in the first debate Romney was more prepared and won that debate. In the second I felt that Obama felt more confident and exuded confidence. I think Obama is in the lead because of this and the fact he constantly wears on the fact Romney never tells us his actual plan. What Romney has to his advantage is the fact that Obama still hasnt fixed the economy. I also believe that Obama is more pleasant to hear and see so that influences voters as well. Obama also forms his answers much better than Romney. Although I honestly would like to hear more from each canidate while they are focused and on topic. The next debate will be interesting and I'm pretty excited for it.
It is evident that these debates have had a profound effect on the election. The polls show Romney gaining ground, but Obama still having slight leads within most of the important swing states. Obama's lack of fire in the first debate really hurt him with swing voters and it is hard for the average American to understand the repeated misrepresentations comming from Mitt Romney.Obama will still win the election due to the fact that Romney needs to sweep at least 80% of the swing states and that just wont happen, especiall with Ohio still slightly in the president's favor. The newer polls comming out should reflect the stronger performance of the president in the debate. In the end, i am certain that the American people will chose a ticket that is going to fight for the people and their families, and not one that continues to lie and present no mathmatically sound plan to fix our economy.
Before the debates, I expected that Obama would comfortably win the election. After a great performance in the first debate by Romney, I think he may have a slight edge. Obama did better in the second debate, which I think was vital.
Romney has been very general about his plans and I think that could turn into a problem for him. Unless he begins to get more specific, and says what he actually intends to do, I think voters may become frustrated with him. Part of what made Obama seem better in the second debate was how he actually answered the questions and said what he intends to do. If Obama continues to clearly articulate his plans, I expect him to retake the lead.
In my opinion, Obama is going to win this election hands down. Romney has no concrete plans that he can show the voters so no one has a good reason to vote for him other than they do not like Obama. I agree that the first debate was pretty rough on Obama but you can tell he stepped it up in the second one and really tried. Also, I think americans have a tendency to reelect the current president and seeing as how Obama did not really make any horrific choices while in office, he will be reelected no doubt.
At this point, I think the race for the presidency is extremely close. I honestly believe it could go either way after watching both presidential debates. Both candidates have had mistakes that could affect the independent voters (Romney's 47% comment and Obama's small businesses comment are just two examples). At this point it time, I do believe Romney has a slight edge over Obama, but that could change within the next few weeks before the election. I think because Romney seemed so confident in the first debate and clearly appeared more prepared this caused the American people to view him in a different light. Before the debates, Romney hadn't really said much about what he was planning to do as president and while some may argue he has still not given a clear plan, I don't think Obama has either. He has been a little bit more clear but not to the extent where it will impact the election in a big way. Both candidates have danced around the questions that they have been given and have given clear, concise answers. I think only time will tell before we can come to any conclusions on who we think will win the race.
This election is much closer than it should be. Obama should be comfortably in the lead, because many of Romney's points are just not applicable to what America needs right now. Obama is focusing on the American people, and how he will pull the nation out of our economic crisis. Romney's policies for not cutting military spending are outrageous. America is not under any direct threat from any country. The Pentagon's budget as of 2012 was $554 Billion (CNNMoney). We can't seriously need this much spending on the military. What are we going to war with the Russians? Obama knows that the American people's number one concern is their day to day lives, and that it is most important that people get the jobs that they deserve so that they can fulfill the American dream. My question is why is the race even close between a man who is trying to create an affordable healthcare plan for Americans and trying to make the American people more economically successful, and a man who doesn't want to cut military funding for a nation that has too many killing machines already?
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