A reminder from Keith O

[alsame]

[IMG][/IMG]

[TroyD]

1. That would be true if Obama had debated very well

And the media were still trying to spin it as 'close'.

But in this case you have huge numbers of Obama supporters and Democrats who are giving concerned reviews.

[alsame]

5. It's not just about the debates. The media,

all of them, want the eyeballs and the CU ad money.

It's important to remember that they, including 'liberal' MSNBC, have their own agenda during any election cycle.

[TroyD]

7. I know that

But we can't blame this all on the media and pretend that's all that's at work here.

[skeewee08]

2. Also there are 3 more debates

this is just the first quarter there are 3 more quarters & the fourth quarter is what counts....

[TroyD]

3. 2 Presidential & 1 VP I believe

I don't think there are 3 more Presidential.

[Mike Daniels]

6. Last debate (foreign policy) will also be competing against NFL

That was supposedly going to be the one debate Romney would be weakest at compared to Obama. Losing a significant part of the potential voting audience to a competing show isn't helpful.

On the flip side, that debate may be moot anyway depending on how many undecideds still remain at that time.

[dragonlady]

11. The ads for Obama in the last two weeks

will replay the most important points for the football fans.

[deminks]

4. They make money by stirring the embers. More outrage, more ad buys. Thus Tweety's breathlessness.

[Savannahmann]

8. Gang, its past time to get serious.

We are in the fight of our lives, the fight for our nation. Our enemy is well financed, and relentless. We got slapped around last night, and now we're trying to console ourselves that it wasn't really that bad, and it's all spin to make the race look closer than it really is.

Guys, that attitude that our victory is guaranteed, will see Romney in the White House. Forget Big Bird, we'll be lucky to save anything of the effort we've made for the past sixty years. Romney Ryan will destroy this nation. Yet we are trying to console each other that the loss of the debate doesn't matter. When are we going to get serious?

[Overseas]

9. I guess that's why Jim Lehrer was pretending he could get specifics from lying Romney and kept askin

the same question over and over.

Instead, Lehrer should have posed question after fresh question on domestic policy-- from women's rights to environmental protection.

[treestar]

10. And if he were still on TV

he would not be saying that. He'd be trashing Obama too. Rather than Rmoney. but at least coming from him, we know it is true. He's like admitting it.

[PoliticalBiker]

12. Exactly Right

It is in the best interests of the media if a well-ahead president is taken down a notch or two at a debate because they can now tout the *closeness* of the race... even when perhaps it isn't.

On the debate tho, if you look at the history of first debates for the incumbent, they have not gone well for the sitting president
Reagan/Carter, Bush/Clinton, Bush/Kerry... they were all losers for the imcumbent, so it's not necessarily a bad thing.

What will be telling is if the lackluster performance continues to the next debate(s)