This was a chance for Mitt Romney to
gain some momentum as he came in with the lowest expectations, and he
met those expectations
but did not exceed them.
He made claims that will shock a lot of
voters, including the elimination of PBS and other arts programs. He
flip-flopped
on himself and his proposed tax policy. He also said we need
religious tolerance in our country, yet we are all children of
the same God.
But he definitely stuck to his guns and did as good a job as he could have attacking President Barack Obama’s policies from
the last four years. Obama continued to present his eloquent style and attacked Romney directly and defended his policies.
The high point for the president was when he defended his cuts to Medicare and defended Obamacare. The low points came when
the president stumbled over himself and took too much time deciding what he wanted to say.
Both candidates actually did a good job presenting the issues and their stances on them. Both men had difficulty speaking
to voters exclusively, paying more attention to debate moderator Jim Lehrer than they did the camera.
Overall, both candidates were able to effectively explain how they are similar to each other, and then tell voters how they
are different.
• • •
Andy Luster is assistant director of speech and debate at McNeese State University.