(The Verge)- This debate was in no way as fiery as its previous one. I say this because I truly believe it. There were a few elements about atmosphere of this debate that one could probably say were a little hostile, but not nearly as close as they were at the one that was previous to it. The candidates were sitting at the table with the moderator and ready to debate and the only thing I could think of were all of the polls that were saying, “Oh.. whoever wins this debate could basically win the election,” I was starting to really get annoyed with that. And that’s when the debate began.
Question one was on Libya, and my ears perked right up. I was shocked that this was the first question because I knew it was something that Obama probably didn’t want to talk about. Oops, did I say that out loud? Anyway. I knew that this was going to be something brought up because the debate was on foreign policy (or was it?). The first thing that I noticed was that when Romney was providing his first response, it literally looked like Obama was sitting there taking pointers from Romney. Now maybe I am reading a little too much into it, but that’s just the impression I got. The second one, was that Romney came out strong with facts. Every other word was a statistic, and this hits home with voters.
Obamas response was interesting. He mentioned something about “…changing the middle east,” this struck a chord with me. I cant seem to understand why he would want to change the Middle East when they aren’t even function as they are now. They need to be able to actually function before you can change them; with all do respects Mr. President.
After watching Romney on the debate stage fighting for his life for president, I really began to see how aggressive he was. Seeing him in this third and final debate made me realize that his debate style is second to none. Just when you may think that Romney was hoping off the subject for a second (which I have to say, I thought he was here for a little bit), he jumped right back on it and this was very evident.
When speaking further about other issues of foreign policy, it seemed like Romney was getting off foreign policy and speaking domestically. It was a little bothersome at first, but then I realized what he was trying to do: bring everything back to home. There were a couple of times when he said things like, “here at home…” This is the sign of a master magician when debating: Romney’s prose was excellent here, making the complex subject of foreign policy, relatable to the American voters and people.
If I do say so myself, I thought the moderator was bad. I feel like after watching all of these people moderate these debates, I could probably be better than them. A senior journalism student to moderate the next debate: imagine that. We can debate whether or not the moderator was good, but one thing is for sure. Schieffer looked like a candy cane with that tie. Come on, I know they just started showing Christmas commercials, but this is way too soon.
I have been finding myself talking about how Obama has been on an apology tour for almost half of his term. I don’t know why he feels like this is necessary, but in my opinion, there is never a time when America should apologize for protecting its national security and its policies. When Romney was commenting on this during the debate, he was speaking the harsh truths that Chris Christie said he was going to, and that the American people needed to hear.
Over all, this debate was on foreign policy, and a lot of it was brought back to home. As I previously made the assumption that I thought this was on Romney’s agenda for a good reason, a political analyst confirmed it when the debate was finished. Another thing of popularity in the spin room was the chatter about how Romney was supposedly taking Obama’s “Commander in Chief” test. The debates for Romney have been very good while the rest of his campaign has faced many challenges. Now I don’t know what Obama is talking about when he talked about his “Commander in Chief” test, but I think Romney is doing a swell job on his road to the White House and this debate was just another testament to his strengths and character as a leader. After all, what campaign or ticket doesn’t face challenges when they are on the road to the White House? Actually, what President doesn’t face challenges while they are IN the White House?
While I am sure most people will be voting on facts and who they think will be best qualified for the job, I am sure that they wont be voting on American flag pin size, as my brother said he would be. In this case, Romney was the winner. As November 6 gets closer and closer we can only hope that everyone uses their power to go out and vote.
