Why did President Obama hold back last night?

[upaloopa]

I saw him tighten his lips a lot last night when Romney told his lies. Also when Romney bullied moderator he did the same. Was Obama letting the world see what an ass Romney is? It was almost like the President was holding back for some reason.

[Vietnameravet]

1. Probably bad advice from his advisors...they admit that now..that is why they are changing..

[Scootaloo]

2. Well, the way I phrased it...

Romney is throwing himself down a steep hill. Why kick boulders after him? Pretty much, yeah, Obama was letting Romney hang himself with all that rope. If he had done what many DU'ers wanted, and debated every single nugget of bullshit out of Romney's mouth, the debate would have bogged down, and Obama would have looked like he was weak and on the defensive.

I'm not sure DU'ers quite understand the format. You have six fifteen-minute segments (in theory... ) and you just can't spend hours countering every smudge of horse shit spewed by your opponent. You lave the most egregious lies for later, and address salient points.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I think he didn't want to get into a big pissing contest with Mittens

but had rather let Mittens spew his lies and let the campaign address them afterwards - which is exactly what's happening right now. I think he just wanted to get past the pundits and present his own ideas and not waste time arguing with Romney. Maybe wanting to let the world see what an ass Romney is - and he really did act like an ass - was part of the strategy.

Obama is getting a lot of flak for not having been aggressive enough in calling out Romney's bullshit. Maybe so. But I think he might have had a different goal in mind. I also think he'll handle the next debate a bit differently.

[oswaldactedalone]

4. Tried to appear Presidential and above the fray.

Too focused on likability and not being called an angry black man. So many openings that he let slide. Rmoney was way better prepared and kept no powder dry.

[JaneQPublic]

5. Dan Rather's theory...

He was on MSNBC's "Now with Alex Wagner," where he speculated that perhaps President Obama had begun celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary before the debate..." and after everyone gasped, Dan added "...with a glass of champagne."

Alex quickly remarked "I'm glad you explained what you meant by 'celebrating their wedding anniversary'!"

[Erose999]

6. He was not prepared for the re-emergence of the "Massachussetts Moderate". He had prepared to debate

the Mitt Romney in the "47% video" and was thrown off his game by a flip flop he was not expecting. Romney of late has been milquetoast in personality and far-right in policy. Last night he showed a venal personality with a moderate platform.

The president did alright though, he treaded water and didn't make any embarrassing gaffes or lose his cool. And now people are talking about Mitt Romney, which will ultimately lead them to the fact checking etc.