First Debate Beatdown

Mrs. X and I opted to watch the Reds and Cardinals last night rather than the debate, but I did have a comment page open on it and I read a few post debate analyses afterwards. Nearly everyone seems to be of the mind that Mr. Romney soundly defeated Mr. Obama in the debate.

The still pictures I've seen (and the small amount of video I caught while eating breakfast) showed Mr. Romney being quite agressive, hitting with a lot of facts and numbers. Mr. Obama also used a lot of facts and numbers, but was seen as looking very uncomfortable, shifting around a lot, and coming across as rather professorial. Being professorial isn't a bad thing in a job like the Presidency, but it is not the best quality in a debate. Animation and action always give the best impression.

Even the instant audience polls that CNN does showed a belief that Mr. Romney defeated Mr. Obama. Whether that translates into votes remains to be seen, but nearly all the pundits think that Mr. Romney will see a small bump in the polls over the next few days. That will probably dissapate by the time of the second debate.

The big question is how this will set up the final narrative. If Mr. Romney continues to do well and does well in the remaining debates, this debate will seen as the launching pad where he took over. However, if Mr. Obama rights the ship and fights Mr. Romney to at least a draw in the second debate, the narrative will be that Mr. Obama took a hard punch but got off the mat and faught back, relaunching him in his quest for a second term.

Less than five weeks to go.