On-Topic Mondays Final Debate

[Just_Believe18]

Ok, Jack, Benvolio, Chance - does it seriously not bother you that Romney's positions keep changing? Or do you think they aren't?

Agreed. Guys, you have a lot to say in always criticizing Obama, but what are your criticisms towards Romney constantly flipping his positions that just baffle the audience and Obama? Clearly you notice it. His waffling on abortion alone is a mindfuck.

 

[Joshua_me]

Agreed. Guys, you have a lot to say in always criticizing Obama, but what are your criticisms towards Romney constantly flipping his positions that just baffle the audience and Obama? Clearly you notice it. His waffling on abortion alone is a mindfuck.

^ The above is true, J_B, but I just had a really unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach....

I'm not going to give a shout out to the conservatives on this board- they know who they are. They are the same folks who would rail against Obama finding a cure for cancer because it would put so many hospital employees out of a job.

I've made my peace with them; at least in my own mental space.

But, it's that same gnawing at my gut that literally keeps me awake at night.

I can't help but feel, in my soul of souls, that Romney is going to be our next president. From his son owning the voting machines in Ohio, to the chicanery we know that they are capable of in Florida, if the GOP can't win the election legitimately, they will steal it.

There is NOTHING in these United States that money can't buy. Every door in Washington has a dollar sign on it.

And when the middle class goes to shit, and the "upper 2 percent" and the industrialized military complex has unlimited funds, (this is REALLY the ticket Romney is running and being funded by...) then they will have four years of Obama to blame it on...

That unscrupulous man that wanted quality health care for the poor and the sick, the man that lost because the GOP was actually able to convince the "low information voter" the teachers and firemen and the police were the REAL problem with our economy.

NO other country can believe what is happening to us, nor should they.

I wish I could join them in their disbelief, but instead I'm left with the insomnia and nausea that intelligence brings.

Perhaps I'll just start following NASCAR and watch cars going around in an oval while chicks with big tits sell me cheap beer.

God help us.

 

[rareboy]

I have to say.....love the horses and bayonets.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...with-horses-and-bayonets-quip/article4630429/

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

 

[Joshua_me]

I have to say.....love the horses and bayonets.

[

*sigh* :-(

 

[chance1]

Agreed. Guys, you have a lot to say in always criticizing Obama, but what are your criticisms towards Romney constantly flipping his positions that just baffle the audience and Obama? Clearly you notice it. His waffling on abortion alone is a mindfuck.

Mitt on abortion is pick a position I agree has morphed too many x in both directions

I believe he is a social pragmatism in reality

And would focus on the economy ...... Period

 

[bankside]

The Economist pronounces Obama the winner:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/10/foreign-policy-debate

That caution made it harder for Mr Romney to lose the debate by offending viewers—and he duly avoided any gaffes. Yet by hugging the president tight Mr Romney also gave up any hope of a decisive win. His objective was instead to appeal to wavering voters disappointed with the president, and to make Mr Obama’s foreign policy seem like one more broken promise. (In an opening sally about the Arab spring, Mr Romney even talked of “hope” and “change” being undermined in the region, in what sounded like a subliminal reminder of Mr Obama’s domestic pitch of four years earlier.)

Many Americans will only see one extract from the debate, an exchange about military spending. Mr Romney has a (frankly nonsensical) plan to set American defence spending at the arbitrary level of 4% of national wealth, whether military commanders have asked for that funding or not. Seeking to paint Mr Obama as undermining the military with spending cuts, the Republican said that the present navy was the smallest since 1917, with just 285 ships. Mr Obama pounced, responding, "Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military’s changed... The question is not a game of Battleship where we’re counting ships. It’s what are our capabilities."

I agree with their assessment. How does the size of your GDP change your security needs? And I'm prepared to be somewhat charitable to Romney's Syria geography fail; he could have meant that Syria helps Iran get access to the Mediterranean, which is arguably true. But it is too reminiscent of the ignorance and failure of George W. Bush, that Americans voted in Obama to cure.

 

[rareboy]

 

[HenryReardon]

Romney had better drop the "angry bully" persona for at least this 90 minutes because it's really not working.

"Angry Bullly"? That's one side of him that hasn't been seen. Romney has been playing "Mr Nice", and he needs to get tough.

 

[rareboy]

^

 

[JayHawk]

The only thing those who question the conservatives who claim to be neutral is that they NEVER have a sideways word to say about Romney. They may say yeah he did bad but it was because x,y,z...... it is is very sycophantic but those who respresent the Romney ticket ignore all other forms of reality to get on that boot. I just wonder to what end? Must be to love to argue because nothing good can come from a Romney presidency. Nothing.

 

[Rolyo85]

The vocabulary the GOP endorses...

 

[chance1]

Nasty plays here

Doesn't play in the real world

Or rather in swing states

Obama had command of info - 4 years on the job will do that

Romney was told to lay low

Personally I think he looked weak doing so

But if doing so quelled fears of him being a hawk .....

So be it

Obama would've been better w/o the Stephanie cutter impersonation

But will leave that to the voters

 

[HenryReardon]

The vocabulary the GOP endorses...

Good for Ann. Tell it like it is!

 

[Rolyo85]

Good for Ann. Tell it like it is!

You don't call the commander in chief "retard". Hell, you don't call ANYONE retard if you have any class. Clearly that's not the case here. Welcome to modern political discussion where it's ok to use degrading insults but not ok to admit faults or mistakes.

Pathetic and abhorrent.

 

[Benvolio]

Its the economy, stupid. By essentially agreeing with BO on foreign policy, Romney neutralized it as a campaign issue, returning the focus to the economy, where BO is in trouble. BOs foreign policy has been weak, but criticism by Romney would have been twisted to sound war-like.

 

[refujiunderground]

Its the economy, stupid. By essentially agreeing with BO on foreign policy, Romney neutralized it as a campaign issue, returning the focus to the economy, where BO is in trouble. BOs foreign policy has been weak, but criticism by Romney would have been twisted to sound war-like.

i don't get why people think this is a smart strategy. it's NOT. it's NOT entirely about the economy. people want a leader and romney showed that he doesn't have it in him last night. his campaign for the most part has been WEAK and i think obama proved that last night by turning romney into a yes man. that's NOT good at all for romney. you can agree with obama here and there but don't agree with him to the point where you're making him look more confident than you are. even if the economy is down, i think the swing voters or people in romney camp even will be switching their votes to obama because they're more confident with him than romney. i don't think people are buying the whole "i'll bring jobs, i'll bring back our economy" talk from romney anymore after last night. it's becoming more of a "say anything to win" strategy with no proof. watch him lose florida, virginia, and several swing states. he might even lose north carolina. i see the tide floating right back to obama in the next couple of days.

i'm willing to bet my life on it.

 

[FuryOfFirestorm]

Its the economy, stupid. By essentially agreeing with BO on foreign policy, Romney neutralized it as a campaign issue, returning the focus to the economy, where BO is in trouble. BOs foreign policy has been weak, but criticism by Romney would have been twisted to sound war-like.

WTF? If Mitt thought that Obama's foreign policy was weak, why would he agree with it? How does that 'neutralize' it? If anything, Mitt ended up emphazing how successful Obama has been with Bin Laden, Mubarak, and pulling out our troops.

I swear Benny, you must have eaten paint chips like they were Pringles when you were a kid.

 

[Jack Springer]

Does anyone tell me what Obama's 4-year vision is for America? He followed many of Bush's foreign policies except for the apology tour and leading from the rear.

I thought the moderator would ask that question last night of both candidates last night.



Reflections: Romney could have been a little tougher on Obama. He missed several opportunities to slam Obama. Obama told a new bevy of lies and distortions last night (read the left leaning Politico if you doubt it). Obama appeared mean spirited and angry to me, I guess that's good if you like that kind of thing in a leader.

However, I guess it's not me or others here on CEP they were trying to convince -- just the kind of people who spend most of their time on FB, shopping at the mall, and frequently tell others that they hate politics and don't normally pay any attention to politics.

 

[T-Rexx]

Romney was told to lay low

Personally I think he looked weak doing so

But if doing so quelled fears of him being a hawk .....

So be it

He was only told to lay low to quell fears of him being a hawk because last time he was told to be aggressive, to create the impression of hawkishness.

If your guy had a position on the issues, he probably wouldn't have to keep undoing his last position, to correct misperceptions about his perceived positions.

 

[HenryReardon]

the economy trumps all?????? Retaining obscene profits while robbing from the middle class and poor is far more important to you than our rights as equal citizens under the law....way to stab the entire community in the back!

You need to be a bit more specific. What obscene profits? Retained by whom?
And who is robbing from the middle class and poor? And for that matter, how?