Mitt Romney “The Bully” Appears in the First Presidential Debate

The pundits and news sites, even MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and the Huffington Post, all seem to agree that Mitt Romney won the debate last night. If you’re a Liberal, the display was a bit hard to bear. But was the debate won on substance or style?

The interesting thing about the performance of the two men was how discordant they were in demeanor. Obama, who is touted to be the “ever cool” unflappable orator, held to this standard, but was rightfully flummoxed by Mitt Romney’s attack dog nature. Romney was erratic, his eyes glassy while he blinked rapidly and at times tripped over words with the effort to say as many of them as possible. He ran roughshod over the moderator, Jim Lehrer, arguing over the time limit, or blatantly disregarding it and the moderator himself who was left to frustratingly attempt to control the former governor, failing miserably. In effect, Mitt Romney, who’s been spiraling downward in the polls after a spate of recent gaffes, decided this was the night to take back control of his campaign. And in doing so, he would prove that he was not only a formidable debater, but by taking the risk that his aggressive tactics would paint him more presidential than the sitting president.

This is how he scored points — but many of them were hollow. It is one thing to bully the debate around in slick, calculated style, and another thing to win on actual gained substantial points. And this is where Romney failed. He’s much like the used car salesman who promises the best deal, only for the customer to find out what’s hidden underneath when one either reads, or neglects to read, the fine print.


Where Romney appeared hungrier, more energetic, and oftentimes blatantly dismissive to the president –like those instances where he compared Obama to one of his children, or chided the president about being entitled to airplanes and houses — he interspersed his cajoling with walking back on many of his primary positions. He went so far as to highlight similarities to the president, at times sounding much like a Democrat. And isn’t that slick? In order to win a debate as a Republican, he has to disavow the base, eschew all the plans that he’s been running on for months that have billed his campaign as out of touch with the average American, and then embrace the exact ideals the president has been campaigning on from the very beginning, and then, in an act of willful indignation, chastises the president for not realizing that what Romney really meant all along was to be moderate in his position. Of course he’s not the man who wants to turn Medicare into a voucher system, or proposes a $5 trillion tax cut? Hard to debate with someone who didn’t actually plan on debating any of his stances for the last eighteen months and still offered few details.

Oh, no, Mitt Romney wants to keep bank regulations in place, bring in more teachers, maintain taxes on the wealthy, and make sure those with pre-existing conditions have health insurance. He absolutely does not want to let sick people fend for themselves in hospital ER rooms, cut funds for education to pay for his lofty plans, tax the middle class, or work against Simpson-Bowles, and we’re sure if it were brought up (Sheesh, POTUS. Candy meet baby.), he totally cares about the 47% he wrote off as personally irresponsible for their own lives. But he will cut funding to PBS and leave Big Bird out in the cold, because that’s what a career-destroying business man who likes firing people does.

Romney was in full Etch-A-Sketch mode and anyone watching last night could see it. Yet, the main person who was supposed to not just see it, but call him on it, and stop him in his tracks failed to take Romney to the mat. Obama relied on his professorial comfort zone with the occasional fiery response like in response to Romney’s walking back the $5 trillion dollar tax cut to carry him through the debate.

“Now … he is saying that his big bold idea is ‘never mind.’ The fact is, if you are lowering the rates the way you describe, governor, it is not possible to come up with enough deductions or loopholes,” Obama said. “It is math. It is arithmetic.”

But without pressing him on it, Romney basically shrugged his shoulders and let the lie stand. And this was the rhythm of the night. Romney attacked, agreed with the president, put forth plans like a Democrat, and in the face of such rhetoric based on little substance with actual details, and a whole lot of back flipping like a true charlatan, he courted undecideds with revisionist history and verbiage gymnastics. Mitt Romney came out looking sharper and more prepared, albeit ready to double-down on his bullshit. The latter of which we know Obama won’t do. The former, which in the next debate, he better do since it will be imperative to his survival.

What Liberals can hope for is that this was a training ground for Obama, and that now he sees what kind of debate strategy Romney is employing. He sees just how desperate this election is for the former governor; that he’ll say and do anything to score points; and that he’s not above bully tactics, outright lying, or walking back on his positions to appear palatable to the electorate. It’s a dirty business. And while the president and his advisers cherish his likability and want him to maintain the dignity of the office, sometimes, you’ve just got to take it to the mat and unleash everything in your arsenal.

Mitt is a fraud.

Obama, you better start reminding the electorate of this fact. He’s given you a wealth of Etch-A-Sketch moments in this debate. Use them in the next one.

And by God, call Chris Matthews. His veins were about to pop last night.

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