Overall, an absolutely excellent night for Obama tonight. He effectively tied Romney to his primary positions on every single question. He rattled him, he threw him off and he made it clear that he is lying. He outright said it, in fact. On substance, a clear Obama win. His biggest threat in my mind tonight was Libya, and it was his best moment of the debate. He exhibited real leadership, he sounded presidential. He seemed legitimately offended at the politicization of the incident, and he made Mitt Romney look petty, small, and stupid. “Check the transcript” was devastating.
Tonight Obama defended his record, and he dragged Severely Conservative Mitt back onto center stage. This is the Obama we’re used to.
Andrew Sullivan, you may step down from the ledge.
10:40 NBC Commentary “Governor Romney’s binders full of women is a phrase that will live forever”
10:39 “A different President Obama showed up tonight.”
10:38 Finally, the 47%. “If they succeed, I believe the country succeeds”.
10:37 Obama’s answer: I’m not a big government socialist, equality, opportunity
10:36 Romney’s answer: the private sector, God, and Obama’s economy sucks. He turned it into an attack.
10:35 Final question: What’s the biggest misconception about you? That’s a great question.
10:33 “Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs.” – Mitt Romney. So, so, so incredibly wrong.
10:32 I was afraid she was about to ask them if they were iPhone or Android users…
10:30 Nope, I wasn’t.
10:29 Obama wants to reduce the corporate tax rate as well, if I’m not mistaken.
10:27 Well, Romney is right about Chinese currency depreciation. But, yelling at them about it won’t really help.
10:26 Outsourcing!
10:24 Obama just tied education to reducing gun violence. YES. Much, much, much, infinitely more of that, please!
10:22 My prediction is that the party line coming out of the right wing blogs tomorrow is going to be that Candy Crowley is in the tank for Obama. Probably that the questions were plants, too.
10:22 The greatest failure involving gun violence was Fast and Furious? Really? Tell that to all of the kids getting shot in the slums of our cities.
10:21 Um, Mitt? The Assault Weapons Ban expired, buddy.
10:20 A re-introduction of the ban, and more importantly a strategy to address the causes of violence. I don’t know if that can be done, but I’m all for trying.
10:19 “Weapons that were designed for soldiers don’t belong on our streets”
10:18 Assault weapon ban. Great question.
10:17 OK folks, you can turn on Breaking Bad now, this debate is over.
10:16 The President, in the rose garden, with the terrorism
10:15 Also, Tonight Mitt Romney just threw Last Week Mitt Romney under the bus on Israel
10:14 A fantastic answer on Hillary Clinton’s responsibility. That is leadership.
10:12 Is Mitt Romney criticizing Barack Obama’s reaction to the Libya attacks? Recall that Romney gleefully turned this into a political attack before the situation had even finished playing out.
10:08 Obama had to know the Libya question was coming.
10:07 Mitt Romney is coming off as an entitled jackass. And the blind trust defense is awful.
10:05 Are we going to argue whether DREAM was introduced in the first year or not? It was introduced.
10:04 I don’t want my daughter or yours to be the victim of racial profiling.
10:03 Obama is absolutely dominating this
10:01 I’m all for high skilled immigration, by the way.
10:00 Just say DREAM, Mr. President.
10:00 Yes, yes he did
9:59 Did he just endorse the DREAM Act?
9:58 What would you do with immigrants currently here? Good question.
9:56 Tonight Mitt Romney just threw Last Week Mitt Romney under the bus on Dodd Frank and healthcare.
9:55 It’s called the DREAM Act, asshole. And you opposed it.
9:53 Every answer Obama has given, he’s included a reminder of Severely Conservative Mitt. “You should expect those are promises he’s gonna keep”. And then the real kicker: Who are you gonna believe, that guy? Or me?
9:52 Fantastic to see this guy defend his record, because it really is very impressive.
9:49 Obama nailed him to the wall with it. And now pointing out the differences between Bush and Romney in cases where Romney is more extreme.
9:48 Differences from Bush: More oil, lower taxes, less regulation.
Wait, was I drunk during the Bush administration?
9:46 Um, Mitt Romney did not name an actual reason why he is different than Bush.
9:45 Gov. Romney, whats the difference between you and Bush? Well ma’am, back to the previous question…
9:44 “These are not just women’s issues, these are family issues. These are economic issues.” Exactly right. That needs to be better understood by everyone.
9:42 On the substance, though, Romney is right that full employment will go a long way towards improving people’s situations regarding their rights in the workplace.
9:39 Romney’s answer is the “women’s issues” equivalent of “look at my black friend!”
9:37 Inequality in the workplace for women. Fantastic question. Defend your record, sir. It’s a good one.
9:36 Actually, if the President is re-elected and he does literally nothing, the deficit goes away and the debt is well on its way to being gone.
9:35 “Of course they add up” because Olympics
9:34 A brilliant answer from Obama, pointing out the impossible math, folding in Romney’s low rates, and making it plain that Romney knows full well his plan is shit. He’s baaaaaack.
9:30 Yea, no one pays 60%, sorry Mittens.
9:29 Yes. Hold him to his previous positions. Don’t let him shape shift again.
9:27 We can balance the budget by cutting taxes. Math!
9:26 Oh hi massive deficits, didn’t see you there.
9:25 He isn’t going to answer. He has no answer. His plan is bullshit, he knows, the questioner knows it. Hopefully Crowley tries to make him answer.
9:24 Romney had to know this was coming. The question is essentially “Will you cut all those things I like?”
9:23 Obama’s getting to him. Romney is getting pissed.
9:22 Obama is exactly right that wind energy is not “imaginary jobs”. Good answer. But Christ, no more “winning the future” please. It’s a god-awful slogan.
9:20 The increase in energy prices would have happened under any President. Oh and Obama? Don’t let Romney tell you to shut up.
9:20 These dudes are arguing for the same policies.
9:19 Security! I’d like to report an imminent fist fight. Yes, the two guys on stage.
9:18 Clean coal. There. Is. No. Such. Thing.
9:15 I’ve never understood this “on federal land” argument about oil drilling. Public sector oil is different that private sector oil? And for the record, the coal industry has taken a massive hit the last few years, but not because of the EPA. It’s because of Romney’s example: shale gas. Coal is not competitive with cheap shale gas. That’s all there is to it.
9:14 Jeremy now has two job offers.
9:13 Biofuels! Still a nerd
9:12 Of course it’s not the job of the DOE to lower gas prices. That’s just plain stupid. Oil is a globally traded commodity and there’s nothing DOE, EPA, Obama, or Romney can do about it
9:10 Touchdown Obama! Much, much more of that, please.
9:10 Two lies from Romney just now. Drink twice.
9:09 Number salad from Romney. He’s touting his five point plan, which has been largely debunked all day
9:07 Obama just fit his State of the Union into 2 minutes. Unfortunately this kid doesn’t give a rats ass about community college, biofuels, Detroit, and the rest. Obama needs to connect.
9:06 Mitt’s totally gonna hire that kid in 2014. Right?
9:04 Romney just promised 25% of highschool grads free tuition, along with not cutting Pell grants. What’s Paul Ryan say about that?
9:03 Pro-tip: Don’t clap into your mic.
9:02 Activist moderators!
8:55 Local NBC affiliate is leading with a story about two women (one an opera singer) getting into a fight at Trader Joes over the last cup of frozen Pad Thai. I think the debate will be something like that.
520 Chestnut 
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