The consensus analysis from this morning's news shows is that Romney lied...

[brooklynite]

...and that Obama didn't do anything about it.

Therein lies the problem

[6000eliot]

1. Why is it up to him?

If we know he lied, why would we turn around and vote for him?

[justiceischeap]

2. That is incorrect, he pushed back several times on the $5 trillion tax thingy

and Romney continued to lie. At some point you have to wonder when President Obama starts looking bad for pushing back. If the person you are debating tells a lie every time you refute him or her, what can be done? Seriously? What can you do? You end up looking like you don't know what you're talking about.

[seabeyond]

3. romney lied and obama answered the question for the american people that were there to be informed.

not a bad thing.

you cant when with a liar. it is a consistent back and forth, unless a third person is going to call out the lie and stop the back and forth

how petty would obama look spending all his time challenging the lie and romeny lie some more. then obama is tainted with being "angry" "argumentative" right there with romney.

i know this. i see it enough on du. when i address a poster that lies and misrepresents, and my intent is solely to present reality adn truth, i am tainted right along with that poster.

i do not get praise for going after the lie.

[annabanana]

4. Fact checkers, Dig In!. . .n/t

[lunatica]

5. How is universal acknowledgment that Romney lied saying he won?

No one is even pretending that he didn't spit out one lie after another at rapid fire intervals. How can anyone call someone on a lie when ten more follow it in rapid succession?

Obama did the right thing to simply tell the truth and rely on his record. The fact checkers will be doing their job.

[porphyrian]

6. People expected the President to say Romney was lying. Better to let people find out elsewhere. n/t

[JoePhilly]

7. Mitt's performance pushed my wife over the edge.

She was never going to vote for him ... but now she hates him with a white hot passion.

And with each lie he told, she got angrier.

If she's like other women, Mitt's "win" might be very short lived. I can imagine a significant amount of blow back.

[PRETZEL]

11. My very apolitical wife

was seething by the end of this. She kept calling bullshit on Rmoney all nite and sided with the President on every turn.

It was actually quite amusing.

[Kber]

13. My apolitical husband had the same reaction!

He was absolutely astounded that Romney could change his positions on policies he's advocated for the bast 18 months.

[JoePhilly]

17. Same here ... she got a concentrated dose of Mitt's lying. I found it funny.

[kurt_cagle]

8. Debating a Ouija Board

I have a slightly different take than most. I don't think that Obama did well on the debates, but that a big part of that was the fact that the man who he was planning to debate against never showed up.

Obama's a deep thinker, but not necessarily a fast one. He's a fairly classic introvert. He came in expecting to debate the Tea Bag Mitt, and instead he got Mr. Moderate. Romney is an extrovert - he's a salesman, someone who talks fast, thinks shallow, is far less concerned about facts or accuracy and far more concerned about making the sale. About 30 minutes in, it was obvious to me that Obama realized he was in a no win situation - get aggressive and get painted as the Angry Black Man, appeal to the (non-existent) moderator and be seen as a rule's lawyer, or simply let Romney rant and hope to mine the situation for sound bites after the fact.

Romney gained a little ground after the first debate. Good - it will make Democrats a little less complacent. He did so by repudiating his positions from the last six months, by throwing his VP under a bus, and by making some pretty major mistakes of his own (Big Bird is going to hurt him - Big Bird is waiting in the alley beyond 123 Sesame Street with a large lead pipe.) Romney's going to be seen by undecideds (which are admittedly thin on the ground right now) as attempting to pander, and he may have lost some of his base last night as well.

I don't think this was Obama's strategy initially, but I don't think the evening turned out as badly as some here paint.

[Tigress DEM]

9. 2nd debate Obama leads, "Independent sources say Romney has a 98% Truth Deficit. His OWN Facts"

Rich people can do that, you know. Hire people to tell them what they want to hear, but when you sit in the Oval Office, only the Actual Facts will get the job done for the American people.

Robme was successful in MA with an 82% or was it 87% DEM legislature. COULD it be that having a NON-Obstructionist party in the MAJORITY was MORE of a factor in Robme's success than Robme's lame ass governing?

I'm just saying.

[arthritisR_US]

15. That is a very important point that is so

overlooked. Astute, and I thank you for making it!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

23. That was the response I would have made as well

i recognize that President Obama probably didn't have time to give that sort of response but, yeah, Mitt didn't have to contend with a legislature determined to see him "fail" like President Obama has. When was the last time that a Republican President had to deal with an obstructionist Democratic Congress like this. For crying out loud, even after Bush stole the Presidency from Al Gore, Democrats in Congress didn't declare that they wished to see him fail nor did they declare war on Bush and filibuster everything to death. President Obama probably would've been able to do more if the GOP weren't bent on obstructionism- but I gather that that would've been pretty hard to delve into seriously even though it is true IMHO.

[On the Road]

10. If That is the Consensus People are Hearing

that is the best possible framing of the debate. I am delighted -- everyone last night seemed completely oblivious to the content and focused on the style.

[moondust]

12. Once you start calling out a compulsive liar

you're likely to get bogged down in the muck and have time for little else.

[TwilightGardener]

14. Obama needs to make his own case--not follow Rmoney's lead all night

and get mired in point-for-point corrections. Then he's playing Mittens' game.

[fugop]

16. Let's hope that's the portrayal we get on SNL

Mitt Romney, Liar, Liar.

I sure hope that's how SNL portrays it.

[FSogol]

18. The media is not doing its job and it is all Obama's fault, right?

[Quantess]

19. Obama better step up his game.

They have 2 more debates...

[JPZenger]

20. Obama was told not to hurt his likeability

On Morning Joe this morning, the commentators were told by Obama's staff that their primary concern going into the debates was to maintain Obama's likeability, which they consider his strongest asset. Therefore, he purposefully was told not to hit back too hard.

There will be plenty of time for return jabs in the coming weeks. Biden is ready for a knockout.

[jwirr]

21. My daughter just watched the last 30 minutes of the debate and said that the President did not

look the same as the one from 2008. She said he looked defeated. I have not watched so do not know.

[beac]

22. I spoke to a very elderly woman today who couldn't stay up to watch the debate.

However, like many older folks for whom 9pm is past bedtime, she's up at the crack of dawn every morning watching the TV.

Her anaylsis of the debate she didn't watch? "Romney lied."

This is what she heard on the morning shows and what many other seniors heard this morning.




I'm sure FOX news viewers heard otherwise, but they were never going to vote for Obama anyway.