The angry black man is so 2008

[cthulu2016]

Obama was bending over backward to be quiet and calm and non-confrontational... which was fine for 2008.

It was, however, ridiculous for a sitting President of the United States of America.

Was he trying to allay the fears of people who think he is a Muslim terrorist? C'mon... those people are not in play. Who cares what they think?

Nobody... NOBODY who is a persuadable voter thinks or even fears or can even imagine that Obama is a violent hot-head.

The only racial stereotypical issue in play in this election is that Obama is not up to playing in the big man's game... that the levers of power are alien to him and he cannot get things done... a nice guy but is not forceful enough to be effective. That he does not command respect in the halls of power.

That has been the Romney/Republican campaign all year so it's not exactly a surprise.

Just listen to these bastards today. They are merely amplifying what they have been saying all year. Obama is lazy and weak.

The racial subtext of the Republican campaign is, and has been all year, not that Obama is a street thug, but that he is an affable non-entity afraid of confrontation.

No angry... weak. Not up to confrontation.

Obama needed to be in command. In control. Confident. Self-assured. He didn't need to put Romney down, but merely to make Romney look small in comparison... a pretender.

Yes, I am frustrated. The need for Obama to be in control of the debate, to manifest that he is the leader of the nation and wears that mantle comfortably, was so fucking obvious that it is unthinkable that anyone could have failed to understand the dynamic.

[DJ13]

1. I believe Obama has lived his whole life as a non confrontational person

I dont know what might have caused it, but even in 08 his style wasnt to directly confront his opponent(s) in a face to face debate.

As fiery as his speeches can be, he seems afraid of direct confrontation.

That might also explain his tactic of concessions before negotiation with conservatives in Congress.

[ananda]

6. It's almost as though he has some kind of Stockholm or abuse syndrome.

It shows up in his willingness to become more Reeplike.

Last night, it was the moment when he caved on SS.

I should add: he really means it when he says we need
to make our activism known to him. He needs to know
for sure how much we care about SS and Medicare!

[treestar]

2. You could be playing with fire there

If you had any real say as campaign manager. Don't underestimate white racism. We've seen black executive syndrome for nearly four years now.

Neither of the candidates are "timid" and they are both "forceful." I don't get this admiration of Rmoney as "forceful" and "in charge." He was running his mouth like an idiot, not being "forceful and in charge." He can't even participate fairly in a debate of this level. Even McCain and Palin didn't disobey the rules and try to run roughshod over others. That's not an admirable trait.

[HipChick]

3. As a Black Man today in this country

If he is still living with the 'Angry Black Man' stereotype...they live with this daily, President Obama on a much bigger scale

The RW has been baiting with Rev Wright video in previous days..

[Solomon]

4. clearly you underestimate the extreme discomfort

that a lot of whites would feel regarding a black man calling a white man a liar in front of the whole world. It's okay for a white man to do that to a black man as we have already seen. Not so the other way around.

Try walking in our shoes. There are some things you just know are not gonna fly, no matter how true or appropriate. Rev. Wright spoke the truth, and look what happened to him.

Very easy for a white person to say what he should have said. Obama knows better.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. This^^^^^

I would add that other posters are also correct: Obama is not an agonistic rhetor by temperament. I think that's a good thing.

[cthulu2016]

7. As a white middle-aged suburban male in a swing state

I cannot possibly be expected to know how white suburban swing voters think. Thanks for correcting me.

[gkhouston]

8. It's not just about the swing voters. Romney needs to energize his base. "Angry black man" would

get them to the polls in a way that "policy wonk black man" never would. Yeah, the backwash is never going to vote for the President, but Romney's not doing a good job of securing their vote. Even the Ryan pick didn't gain him more than it cost. Romney desperately wanted a damaging video clip of the President looking angry, and he didn't get it... and in his attempts to provoke an angry response, he lied repeatedly and abandoned positions he's previously held. It was a risky strategy and I think we'll see that it ultimately failed. It would have been worth it if he'd gotten an angry quote that would dominate news cycle after news cycle for the next month. Instead, many are openly discussing Romney's mendacity and rudeness.

[HipChick]

9. Thank you for your post...this is what I have been saying all day

[JI7]

11. yup, you think a Black Person as Stupid as Bush could become President

that Obama had to be as good as he is to be considered while standards for white guys are so low. look at fucking romney. fucking criminal. what if a black guy had a record like romney in business, you think they would be taken seriously as a candidate for President.

[Indpndnt]

14. I guess you forgot Obama was first a State, and then a U.S., Senator. You hated that, right?

So much so that you forgot? And he became simply a "community organizer?"

But, please, go on.

[Raine]

10. I trust Obama enough to let him be the Obama he feels he is comfortable with being ...

Let Obama be Obama, he's smart, he knows what he's doing.

[nyquil_man]

12. I would have liked to see more of an open discussion, frankly.

To me, that was Obama's biggest mistake. He hardly spoke to Romney at all. If this is how Romney is going to do it, the President's got to be ready to jump in there any time Romney takes a breath. And he's got to be ready with a concise response or a pointed question.

Mitt's approach is scattershot. Say a bunch of things quickly, follow it with a couple of platitudes, hope nobody noticed. The "Big Bird" comment reveals how hollow his ideas really are; cutting PBS subsidies won't accomplish anything other than making right wingers happy. Romney's glass jaw is his lack of detail.

If Mitt's over there saying, "I'm going to do X, Y, Z. Aren't rainbows pretty? Freedom is what all mankind desires," Obama's got to jump in before Romney gets to Y.