Anyone who watched the second presidential debate Tuesday night didn’t need a poll to tell them President Obama won. Republican
nominee Mitt Romney wasn’t nearly as effective as he was when he rolled over the president
Both men came out fighting, and most political analysts agreed they don’t like each other. You could sense that the 82 undecided
voters at Hofstra University in New York who were asking questions felt uneasy about the sparring match.
A CBS-TV post-debate poll showed Obama winning 37 percent to 30 percent, a seven-point margin. The other 33 percent who were
surveyed called it a tie. CNN’s poll gave the president the edge, 46 percent t
Some political analysts called Tuesday’s town hall debate a draw because viewers who were polled by CNN gave Romney the higher
marks on his ability to handle the economy, taxes, health care and the country’s $16 trillion deficit.
CNN said its poll showed one-quarter of the debate watchers said it made them more likely to vote for Obama, and an equal
number said it made them more likely to vote for Romney. Half of those surveyed said it wouldn’t have any effect on their
vote.
The final debate is scheduled for 8 p.m. CDT Monday, and it will be devoted to foreign policy.
If Romney doesn’t do a better job on foreign policy than he did Tuesday, he’s going to have some real problems. The Obama
administration hasn’t handled the aftermath of the killing of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya well,
and it’s an issue of concern to many voters.
Unfortunately for Romney, he and his
advisers failed to check on what President Obama said in the Rose Garden
after the attack.
Obama said the U.S. wouldn’t stand for terror against its citizens
and embassies, but later in those same remarks the president
called the Libyan attack the result of an anti-Muslim film. Romney
failed to point out the inconsistency.
Obama continues to get points on his
likeability, and Romney loses points for his failure to connect with
average voters.
The latter shouldn’t come as a surprise since the president
continues to play the class warfare game, saying that Romney is
a wealthy man who doesn’t care about average folks.
Both candidates spend too much time
defending their own tax plans and attacking the other fellow’s. What no
one has pointed
out about taxes and other money issues during these debates is
Congress being the place where the real financial decisions
are made. Neither Obama nor Romney will get anything done without
help from Congress when it comes to enacting their programs,
passing taxes and handling the national debt.
One poll about working together with
Congress had interesting results. It said 55 percent of likely voters
said if Obama wins
they would prefer that Republicans hold at least the House or
Senate to keep him in check. And 62 percent said they would
prefer Democratic control of at least one chamber to keep Romney
in check. It’s obvious voters don’t trust their public officials.
Obama hit Romney hard where it hurts.
He again tried to tie Romney to George W. Bush policies, criticized
Romney’s opposition
to the auto industry bailout, the GOP nominee’s absence of details
on his tax plans, his record on women’s issues and Romney’s
comments about 47 percent of Americans believing they deserve
government help.
Romney was effective in attacking
Obama’s record for the last four years for failing to deliver on his
2008 promises, his
over $1 trillion in deficit spending for each of those years, the
national debt that he said has climbed from $10 trillion
to $16 trillion during Obama’s presidency, the absence of a
program for the next four years and Obama’s failure to deal with
illegal immigration.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was asked about the debate on CNN and said, “The problem is not his (President Obama’s) oratorical
skills — it’s his record and no policy.”
Naureen Khan wrote in National Journal,
a Washington, D.C., political magazine, about “Wal Mart moms” who
praised and criticized
each candidate. One of those moms said, “I just feel that neither
of them 100 percent answered the question before they started
finger-pointing.”
It’s my guess that American voters felt
the same way and are frustrated about their inability to get straight
answers from
either candidate. Voters also get awfully uncomfortable when Obama
and Romney stand toe to toe, pointing fingers at one another.
They expect better from their leaders.
Meanwhile, Romney had a seven-point lead Thursday among likely voters, according to Gallup’s daily tracking poll — 52 percent
to 45 percent. Romney led 48 percent to 47 percent among registered voters.
Let’s hope Bob Schieffer of CBS’ “Face
the Nation” does a better job Monday than previous debate moderators.
They failed to
keep track of time and let situations get out of hand. Candy
Crowley of CNN injected herself into Tuesday’s encounter, which
is inexcusable for any journalist serving as a moderator.
American foreign policy is at a crossroads. Maybe this last debate will tell us who can do a better job in that area. What
we need is more dynamic leadership on the home front and abroad.
Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades. Contact him at 494-4025 or jbeam@americanpress.com