Love live the fighter! -- part 2

By Carl 

(For part 1, see here.)

5) Since both you and President Bush are Republicans, I fear a return to the policies of those years should you win this election. What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

Here's where I think Obama could have unleashed his snarky side: "President Who? Oh, you mean the guy the Republicans have run away from all year? The man never even mentioned once in the debates or the convention, except when Jeb Bush said 'my brother'? That guy?"

Oddly, here's where Romney might have stolen a question: he was very specific (if a little wrong) on contrasting a Romney administration against a Bush administration. Had he used this line in 2008, I think he might have beaten John McCain.

But Obama zinged him with the "Governor, you're the last person who's going to get tough on China," and raising obliquely the issue of Sensata (which I would have raised directly).

6) Mr. President, I voted for you in 2008. What have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in 2012? I’m not that optimistic as I was in 2012. Most things I need for everyday living are very expensive. 

Now, this gave Obama a chance to roll out the accomplishments, and there have been many and there are times I wish President Obama was a more boastful and less Christian man, of his first term, and how he may have saved us from the abyss we were staring into.

His mistake here? Not being a bit more specific to the question of why he deserves a second term. What will he accomplish?

7) President — Romney, what do you plan on doing with immigrants without their green cards that are currently living here as productive members of society? 

Both candidates were very specific as to what they would do here, and it's pretty much boilerplate. Fix the laws, offer opportunity, and deport those who don't deserve to be here. Bromides.

But Obama had the rhetorical flourishes on this one that Romney lacked, possibly because his RAM was overheating. Particularly moving was talking about children who have grown up here and pledge allegiance to our flag every day in school, thinking they're American. That was masterful oratory.

Romney, on the other hand, wants to privatize deportation. Hmmmm.

Oh, and Obama got in his kitchen in a big way here. Romney was whining like a little baby towards the end of this exchange.

But the best exchange of the night occured as Romney tried to shift the focus back to China: 

MR. ROMNEY: Mr. President, have you looked at your pension? 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, I don't look at my pension. It's not as big as yours, so it — it doesn't take as long.

8) This question actually comes from a brain trust of my friends at Global Telecom Supply in Mineola yesterday. We were sitting around talking about Libya, and we were reading and became aware of reports that the State Department refused extra security for our embassy in Benghazi, Libya, prior to the attacks that killed four Americans. Who was it that denied enhanced security and why? 

Here, Romney does score some large points, but because the president was first up on the question, he got to deflect a lot of the rhetoric by taking responsibility for the mess.

However, Romney blew any advantage he could have had here by completely misquoting the president and being corrected by the moderator: 

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah, I — I certainly do. I certainly do. I — I think it's interesting the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack, he went in the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror. You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration. 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please proceed. 

MR. ROMNEY: Is that what you're saying? 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please proceed, Governor. 

MR. ROMNEY: I — I — I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror. 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Get the transcript. 

MS. CROWLEY: It — he did in fact, sir.

So let me — let me call it an act of terrorism — (inaudible) — 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy? (Laughter, applause.) 

MS. CROWLEY: He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take — it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that. 

MR. ROMNEY: This — the administration — the administration — (applause) — indicated that this was a — a reaction to a — to a video and was a spontaneous reaction.

You read that correctly: the only time in the entire debate, the audience applauded because Barack Obama has been vilified on the right for something he didn't do, and Romney showed his ass and got it spanked.

9) President Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. What has your administration done or plan to do to limit the availability of assault weapons? 

This was a stupid question, full stop. While it's true that the administration could do more, should do more, it's Congress that's forcing this issue to be raised by letting the Brady ban expire. It's an obvious answer for Obama to make but he did include a great line:

But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets.

Here's where Romney makes a smaller but noticable blunder: he says automatic weapons are already banned, but the fact is those weapons have been used repeatedly in mass killings over the past four years, and they were purchased legally.

He did bring in Fast and Furious, but by now he's so garbled and mangled his overall message that no one caught it.

He also dissed single parents, altho he does try to pave over this disgusting "family values" moment in what can only be described as a patrician attempt to smooth feathers. His recent bump in support has come from "waitress moms." He just lost them.

And then the president zinged him again: "[F]irst of all, I think Governor Romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was against it."

10) The outsourcing of American jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy. What plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the United States? 

And Romney, who was given this question, ducked it by hiding behind China's currency manipulations. Nevermind that Bain has taken advantage of those manipulations -- and here, the President could have, should have, made a better linkage to Bain, but he was pressed for time so shorthanded it -- and nevermind that under Romney, there would be even more outsourcing because he'd allow for even more expatriation of earnings. Under the President, China's currency has actually risen as China has gradually untied the yuan from the dollar.

This is good news, but it's also bad news for us. It means China feels secure in its world leadership position now.

11) What do you believe is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man and a candidate? Using specific examples, can you take this opportunity to debunk that misperception and set us straight? 

"If you wewe a twee, what kind of twee would you be?"

WTF?

Well, I mean, I guess they can't all be hard questions...

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)