Did Bush 43 include a racial rant in a speech while adopting an exaggerated inner-city accent? I sure would like to see the video if he did.

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by Ulysses G.

I believe something big is underway and President Obama was distracted. This is not an excuse for President Obama's performance. Rather, I think the exchange of artillery on the Turkey/Syria border and the Israeli airforce increase in activity and rumours of an apprehended terrorist plot suggest something is happening that is not public.

It is no different than when President Bush was visiting the school when 9-11 started. At the time President Bush look stunned and out of touch, when he wasn't. During the debate, President Obama appeared to be distracted.

There was a tacit understanding that Israel would not engage Iran until after the US election, yet, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu did something to try and help his old workmate Romney. Just my feeling and I can understand if I am dismissed on this, but there were too many things that were out of place. Biden and Clinton were busy with something yesterday and I'd like to know what had their attention because it certainly wasn't the debate.

Edited to provide this link. Protests in Iran.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/03/world/meast/iran-sanctions-security/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by geriatrickid

I would say it was because the president has been coddled by his staff and the mainstream media for 4 years and told how "brilliant" he is no matter how unsuccessful his policies are. Romney did the same thing to Newt Gingrich in a debate and Newt is a much better debater than Obama. The president just got a little too big for his britches.

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by Ulysses G.

There was a tacit understanding that Israel would not engage Iran until after the US election, yet, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu did something to try and help his old workmate Romney.

Netanyahu got the Iranian people to protest the decline of their currency and simultaneously got Syria to bomb Turkey to throw Obama off his game in a debate? That is some conspiracy theory.

If the debates didn't matter they wouldn't do them.

The view from the UK media is that Romney clearly "won", but there was no killer blow.

Sounds about right to me, the problem for President Obama is that he will have to up his game the next time round or he will start to look weak, the problem for Romney is that he will have to find some kind of breakthrough. The pressure is still equally upon both of them.

Seconds out........Round 2!!

The actual truth about this upcoming election (and modern U.S. elections) is that it doesn't matter except for well under TEN states out of FIFTY. So why do they still hold the elections anyway in the vast majority of states where the result is already 100 percent known? Why do people in those states even bother to vote for president? Answer: most of them don't.

In other words, all of this is noise unless Romney can turn those few states that looked so bad for him yesterday.

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by Jingthing

Did Bush 43 include a racial rant in a speech while adopting an exaggerated inner-city accent? I sure would like to see the video if he did.

He specifically acknowledged race, yes. The fragment is in today's Daily Show. (3 Oct)

Isn't the Daily Show a comedy?

In other words, all of this is noise unless Romney can turn those few states that looked so bad for him yesterday.

There is more than a month until the election.

Can someone please tell me exactly why a third party won't work in USA?

Well, maybe someday it could but in the recent hyper polarized political environment, where would it be positioned? Left of the democrats? Right of the republicans? Probably not. Probably center.

There's no point for it being in the center, and very little open space in the center too. I can see a potential split in the republican party between center-right conservatives, libertarians and the nationalist tea-party loons. I can see a more labour / social democratic / 'Green' split from the Democrat party, which, also judging from what Obama has been doing, is overall not very left wing by any global standard.

I agree it probably won't happen because the way democracy is currently organized, state by state winner takes all to the electoral college.

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

There was a tacit understanding that Israel would not engage Iran until after the US election, yet, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu did something to try and help his old workmate Romney.

Netanyahu got the Iranian people to protest the decline of their currency and simultaneously got Syria to bomb Turkey to throw Obama off his game in a debate? That is some conspiracy theory.

No, put Xanax in Barry's coffee.

Edited October 4, 201213 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Isn't the Daily Show a comedy?

It is. And the comedy is largely triggered from video clips of politicians; so they dug one up of GWB saying almost the same thing Obama did.

In other words, all of this is noise unless Romney can turn those few states that looked so bad for him yesterday.

There is more than a month until the election.

One month is nothing. Romney's out of time. Almost impossible to turn enough of the swing states at this late date.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/obama-lost-the-first-debate-but-he-will-still-win-the-election/2012/10/04/9c3b7eb8-0deb-11e2-bd1a-b868e65d57eb_blog.html

The fact is that, come October, presidential elections cannot permanently change course over a few days or hours (unlike, say, media narratives). The majority of voters have already made their decision, and the debates won’t provide enough of a boost to alter the contest’s trajectory. Sadly for Romney, the path the race is stuck on ends with his defeat.

Nice try, Mitt. But back to one of his many houses he will indeed go and Obama stays in the white house, you can bank on it.

The actual truth about this upcoming election (and modern U.S. elections) is that it doesn't matter except for well under TEN states out of FIFTY. So why do they still hold the elections anyway in the vast majority of states where the result is already 100 percent known? Why do people in those states even bother to vote for president? Answer: most of them don't.

In other words, all of this is noise unless Romney can turn those few states that looked so bad for him yesterday.

The only place where the result is "100% known" is Washington DC. Euronews just had a piece where they interviewed people there who had watched the debate and ALL of them said Obama had one. Talk about out of touch...or just "touched".

There was a tacit understanding that Israel would not engage Iran until after the US election, yet, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu did something to try and help his old workmate Romney.

Netanyahu got the Iranian people to protest the decline of their currency and simultaneously got Syria to bomb Turkey to throw Obama off his game in a debate? That is some conspiracy theory.

It is a bit of a stretch but I would agree that being CiC probably does have its distractions at the moment.

Romney will win Alabama. That's 100 percent.

Obama will win California. That's 100 percent.

There was a tacit understanding that Israel would not engage Iran until after the US election, yet, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu did something to try and help his old workmate Romney.

Netanyahu got the Iranian people to protest the decline of their currency and simultaneously got Syria to bomb Turkey to throw Obama off his game in a debate? That is some conspiracy theory.

It is a bit of a stretch but I would agree that being CiC probably does have its distractions at the moment.

Never stopped him from playing golf. Anyway, maybe there is something going on. Did you see him jump when a noise came from backstage? A little jumpy for a Commander in Chief.

Romney will win Alabama. That's 100 percent.

Obama will win California. That's 100 percent.

38 more to go...

Nice try, Mitt. But back to one of his many houses he will indeed go and Obama stays in the white house, you can bank on it.

I put as much faith in this as your claim that Obama won the debate.

One month is nothing. Romney's out of time. Almost impossible to turn enough of the swing states at this late date.

That's a silly and desperate statement. One month isn't enough for opinions to change? LOL

In which you tell us a bunch of silly right wing anti-gay rumors that Obama used to haunt the Chicago gay bathhouses.

So what's Romney's excuse

He won on truthiness. That will all come out later. Romney has set the table now for Biden and Obama to finish the job.

Yeah, finish their jobs and retire to Hawaii.

You're right. A semi successful 3rd party run on the left, right, or center would just take the election from ONE of the major party candidates.

I guess there are scenarios where it could work. Such as two really horrible candidates (many would say we have that now) and a 3rd guy who is super famous and super rich and probably centrist.

What's wrong with not having a majority to rule the country if that's how the people vote. A third party often means that some compromises need to be made.

Put Florida Virginia & Pennsylvania in the win column for Romney.

Ohio is the jump ball & the decider.

I hope that Obama's butt-kicking last night is covered by Obamacare.

-Dennis Miller

Put Florida Virginia & Pennsylvania in the win column for Romney.

Ohio is the jump ball & the decider.

obama will win florida i think

150 million dollars in negative ads blown to dust.

- Charles Krauthammer

obama will win florida i think

I don't think so. The elderly tend to vote Republican and so do Cuban Americans.

Edited October 5, 201213 yr by Ulysses G.

Obama's performance was so bad, even Chris Matthews is still angry the day after.

"I think [Obama] had to be both the moderator and the fact checker," Matthews said. "He could've done it like a gentleman. I thought Romney was excellent with his civility, his respect for the office of the president. I think the president could have done the same thing and sliced through all the claims by Romney."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/matthews-obama-debate-video-151330099--election.html

Republican supporters on this forum deserve their gleeful gloating with the beating Romney took in the past few weeks, and it has bumped him 2 points, but Obama still leads, even at Intrade where his lead has dropped from 78% to now 64% vs. 34% for Romney.

Most experts agree that Romney will get a bigger bump in a few days. No major polls have been done in less than 24 hours. Romney is getting lots more contributions and most likely next week Ryan will clean Biden's clock and that will ad to Romney's momentum. Obama will do better in the next debate, but that is not for two precious weeks and he will still have a record that is impossible to defend. It is very likely that Obama will fail yet again.