The second debate
between the incumbent President Barack Obama and the former governor of Massachusetts
Mitt Romney was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York last night.
The format was that of a “town hall” which favors direct confrontation between
the candidates. It gives them the opportunity to walk around the stage and address
a group of 80 undecided voters directly. The questions were chosen by the
Gallup Organization, neither the candidates nor the Commission on Presidential
Debates had access to them in advance. The moderator was Candy Crowley from CNN
state of the union, who in my opinion did a better job than Jim Lehrer, especially
considering this was one of the most aggressive debates ever.
Both candidates
arrived at Hempstead under a lot of pressure. Gov. Romney had to battle not
only his opponent, but the massive expectations he generated after his
performance in the first debate, where he clearly outwitted an uncomfortable
Obama. According to a CNN/ORC
International poll, 67% of registered voters surveyed said the republican
candidate won, whereas only 25% called it for the President. Pressure was high at Obama camp as well;
another loss would further increase the momentum Romney achieved in Denver and
tighten the gap just 3 weeks from the election.
The unemployment rate
(currently at 7.8%) was one of the topics the candidates focused on. According
to Romney, his 5 point plan (energy independence, opening up trade, balanced
budget, training programs and championing small business) would create 12
million new jobs in 4 years. To which the president responded saying: “he has a
1 point plan, having folks at the top play with a different set of rules” this
response is by no means new or improvised, the President has tirelessly
repeated this throughout the campaign, difference is he delivered it at the
right time and with the confidence he lacked in the first debate. His strategy
was to call Romney on all his lies. This was followed by another highlight: “We
haven’t heard from the Gov. any specifics other than Big Bird” he has a good
point there, jokes aside Romney has never explained with detail what loop-holes
he wants to close to lower taxes and balance the budget, considering he plans
to spend 2 trillion more on the military (according to Obama, fact-checked by
Pulitzer Prize winning website Politifact.com).
Throughout the campaign,
Governor Romney has been forced to move across the political spectrum, from the
extreme right (trying to get Tea Party members on board) to the near center
(where he is right now). Problem is he’s bound to contradict himself
eventually. And that he did when the topic of immigration was introduced. “This
is a nation of immigrants, we welcome legal immigrants in this country” he said,
problem is he offers no real pathway to citizenship for those already living
there, people who pay taxes, and pledge allegiance to the flag. He’s been known
to support part of the Arizona immigration law which according to critics encourages
racial profiling. Granted he remained ambiguous in his comments and never went
as far as calling the most controversial part of the law “a model for the
nation” as President Obama said, he did support employment verification of
legal status. This doesn´t seem so bad, in itself it’s not necessarily inhumane,
however, it’s only part of his plan called “self-deportation”, a strategy
designed to make the lives of illegal immigrants so miserable that they’ll have
no other option but to leave. This should cost him whatever he had left of the Hispanic
vote, which has proven to be essential to win federal elections. Something
similar happened when discussing a weapons ban. He’s expressed the need to
enforce existing regulations; however, we all know he’s changed his mind on
this topic when trying to gain the NRA’s favor. It’s not that he’s a bad man, not at all.
I believe he has America’s interests at heart, there’s just little place for
his own convictions (whichever they may be) when he has to answer to extremists
within his own party. He’s a good politician and his performance wasn´t very
different from what we saw in Denver. This time around however, the President
brought his A-game and won by a considerable margin. CBS News’ instant poll
said Obama won 37% to 30%. CNN called it 46% to 39% in favor of the President
as well.
Part of this may have to
do with his closing statement in which he finally mentioned Romney’s comments
on the 47%. "Think about who
he was talking about" Obama said. And this includes veterans, seniors,
immigrants, etc. He saved the best for last and it paid off.
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