imreallyperplexed
Council Member
A lot of folks have come up with all sorts of reasons for Obama's lackluster debate performance last Wednesday. (Though I personally think that the President still won the debate, I will grant that his overall performance was lackluster. I will grant that Romney's salemanship was excellent. I just didn't buy what he was selling. Though Obama was not on his A-game, I still liked the product that he was selling better. But I admit to my biases.) Here are some of the reasons proferred.
Folks with hardcore Obama Derangement Syndrome said that Obama's lackluster performance demonstrated that he was a "false messiah" and incompetent (or worse).
Folks who did not have ODS mentioned things like Obama being tired (which I believe), problems adjusting to the altitude (which has some plausibility), and his being bummed out by being in the debate on his 20th wedding anniversary (which I doubt).
One thing that has not been mentioned as much is that I think that both Obama and his campaign staff underestimated Romney and Romney's campaign staff and that they did not prepare for the debate well enough. Here is one article that fits with this observation.
Obama calls debate prep 'a drag'
After the debate, I do have a new level of respect for the Romney campaign staff. I think that their etch-a-sketch strategy in which Mitt switches between "Massachusetts Mitt" and "Mitt the serious conservative" took a new turn in the debate and was well-executed. They obviously did a great job of prepping Mitt and Mitt was a good student. I think that the Obama campaign team underestimated the Romney campaign team and Mitt. I suspect that the President did as well. Both the President and the Obama campaign staff need to get more serious so that the President has more pizzazz and punch then he did the first time around (and has a wider appeal). They also have to assume that Romney will perform as well as he did the first go round which means that the debate will be competitive.
In any case, the Romney and the Obama campaign teams and the two candidates are back in the locker room now strategizing for the second and third debates. (I think that the Veep debate will help set the stage for the second Presidential debate. I predict that Biden will hammer Ryan with an unemployment rate under 8% and the differences between the Ryan plan and the Romney plan. But having seen Romney do an effective job, I have to assume that Ryan will show up prepared.) One disadvantage that Romney may have is that the Romney debate strategy is pretty obvious. They want to replicate the Reagan/Carter debate experience of 1980. They want Romney to be seen as an acceptable "serious conservative" running against an incompetent incumbent. They did an excellent job in the first debate. However, there are a number of problems. Reagan was likeable and Romney is not (though he is trying to make himself more likeable.) Obama is likeable and Carter was not so likeable. Romney was a less successful governor (but more successful business tycoon) than Reagan. Obama - despite the sturm and drang from PJ righties - has been more effective President than Jimmy Carter was. Finally, Reagan and Carter had one debate one week before the election. Reagan got a huge bounce out of that one debate and sailed to a landslide victory. Romney was trailing going into the debate and does not appear to have gotten the same kind of bounce. Furthermore, there is a month to go and the Obama campaign team should be better prepared for the remaining debates and the President will not find debate prep to be such a drag. There are lots of reasons why Romney may not be able to pull a Reagan.
It will be an interesting month.
Folks with hardcore Obama Derangement Syndrome said that Obama's lackluster performance demonstrated that he was a "false messiah" and incompetent (or worse).
Folks who did not have ODS mentioned things like Obama being tired (which I believe), problems adjusting to the altitude (which has some plausibility), and his being bummed out by being in the debate on his 20th wedding anniversary (which I doubt).
One thing that has not been mentioned as much is that I think that both Obama and his campaign staff underestimated Romney and Romney's campaign staff and that they did not prepare for the debate well enough. Here is one article that fits with this observation.
Obama calls debate prep 'a drag'
After the debate, I do have a new level of respect for the Romney campaign staff. I think that their etch-a-sketch strategy in which Mitt switches between "Massachusetts Mitt" and "Mitt the serious conservative" took a new turn in the debate and was well-executed. They obviously did a great job of prepping Mitt and Mitt was a good student. I think that the Obama campaign team underestimated the Romney campaign team and Mitt. I suspect that the President did as well. Both the President and the Obama campaign staff need to get more serious so that the President has more pizzazz and punch then he did the first time around (and has a wider appeal). They also have to assume that Romney will perform as well as he did the first go round which means that the debate will be competitive.
In any case, the Romney and the Obama campaign teams and the two candidates are back in the locker room now strategizing for the second and third debates. (I think that the Veep debate will help set the stage for the second Presidential debate. I predict that Biden will hammer Ryan with an unemployment rate under 8% and the differences between the Ryan plan and the Romney plan. But having seen Romney do an effective job, I have to assume that Ryan will show up prepared.) One disadvantage that Romney may have is that the Romney debate strategy is pretty obvious. They want to replicate the Reagan/Carter debate experience of 1980. They want Romney to be seen as an acceptable "serious conservative" running against an incompetent incumbent. They did an excellent job in the first debate. However, there are a number of problems. Reagan was likeable and Romney is not (though he is trying to make himself more likeable.) Obama is likeable and Carter was not so likeable. Romney was a less successful governor (but more successful business tycoon) than Reagan. Obama - despite the sturm and drang from PJ righties - has been more effective President than Jimmy Carter was. Finally, Reagan and Carter had one debate one week before the election. Reagan got a huge bounce out of that one debate and sailed to a landslide victory. Romney was trailing going into the debate and does not appear to have gotten the same kind of bounce. Furthermore, there is a month to go and the Obama campaign team should be better prepared for the remaining debates and the President will not find debate prep to be such a drag. There are lots of reasons why Romney may not be able to pull a Reagan.
It will be an interesting month.
