Romney blows it during debate

[Townsend]

President Obama does this with 12 minute answers to simple questions.  On CNN this morning they were talking about how difficult the debates may be for President Obama because he is limited to only a couple of minutes for an answer.  This has always been a problem for him going back to the 2008 election.  When he doen't have an answer he will talk until people get tired of listening, and sometimes people even think he has answered their question.  That, or they faint.  Whichever comes first. He doen't like to answer anything that he doesn't already have prepared remarks or a 2,500 word stump speech for.

The questions should be posted on screen and the moderator should force the debaters to answer.

I'd imagine we'd have very different candidates to choose from if this had been in practice over the last 30 years.

[Gaspar]

The questions should be posted on screen and the moderator should force the debaters to answer.

I'd imagine we'd have very different candidates to choose from if this had been in practice over the last 30 years.

I would love to see a debate like that!

[Townsend]

I would love to see a debate like that!

The embarrassments we've witnessed with a large group of candidates would've actually been helpful.

("Welp, he/she's out")

[Teatownclown]

Presidential debates are an integral part of a healthy democracy. Unfortunately, tonight's debate will be moderated and controlled by a private company which is stifling it. Since 1988, the Commission on Presidential Debates, created by the Republican and Democratic parties and funded by the largest corporations , has "exercised a monopoly over the presidential debates", including topics of debate and which candidates are included.
This year, the secret contract negotiated between the Romney and Obama campaigns and approved by the CPD has angered media watchdogs even more, after the CPD announced the unprecedented decision to share the topics of the debate with the candidates ahead of time.
18 pro-democracy groups have demanded the CPD begin a major overhaul and 2 corporate sponsors have pulled support for excluding third party candidates. Longtime watchdog George Farah, founder of Open Debates, explains:
"The Commission on Presidential Debates undermines our democracy. Because of the Commission's subservience to the Republican and Democratic campaigns, the presidential debates are structured to accommodate the wishes of risk-averse candidates, not voters."
Watch George Farah's interview on Democracy Now and learn how the debates have become 'a fraud perpetrated on the American people", as described by the League of Women Voters which moderated the three televised presidential debates prior to 1988.

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/3/ahead_of_first_obama_romney_debate

shot of tequila every time the word "socialist" comes up.... except for Conan. His word will be "class."

[RecycleMichael]

I love the debates. The back and forth arguing of both sides of the issues...and that is just Mitt Romney.

[nathanm]

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/02/obama-speech-jeremiah-wright-new-orleans

Try the Daily Beast. Not everyone there has lost their mind.

[Teatownclown]

I love the debates. The back and forth arguing of both sides of the issues...and that is just Mitt Romney.

Mitten's big line tonight:

"You know Mr. President, if you lose to me you lose your job and get thrown out of your house."

[Gaspar]

Mitten's big line tonight:

"You know Mr. President, if you lose to me you lose your job and get thrown out of your house."

That would be rough, especially since the last guy he bought a house from in is jail.

[Conan71]

Mitten's big line tonight:

"You know Mr. President, if you lose to me you lose your job and get thrown out of your house."

"Mr. President as someone who has fired thousands upon thousands of Americans, I'd like to fire you next!"

[Gaspar]

"If terrorists attack and kill, I will stay in Washington and do my job. I won't run to Las Vegas to party with Beyonce."

[Gaspar]

How about
"Excuse me, but do you really want to take credit for that statement? Or shall we blame your teleprompter?"

[nathanm]

"If terrorists attack and kill, I will stay in Washington and do my job. I won't run to Las Vegas to party with Beyonce."

If you really think that getting the Libyans to reject the extremism all on their own without bombs raining down on them from our war planes is a foreign policy failure, I don't even know what to tell you. Most countries do not appreciate it when we meddle. By standing back and giving them a chance to get things right on their own, we build more solid relationships for the future. I know you prefer Bush-style diplomacy, but perhaps one of these days you'll recognize what a failure it was.

[Gaspar]

"Never in my life have I EVER referred to the private sector as "the enemy."

[Gaspar]

"If I have an off mic comment for a Russian leader .. it will be to convey our strength, not my weakness."

"As President, I will not use taxpayer's money to bribe companies into breaking laws I approved of and voted for."

"I have not sought, nor would I accept the endorsement of Hugo Chavez."

"As president I would work to lower the number of poor Americans, not rich ones."

Freekin target rich environment.

[Townsend]

"I saw my father march with Martin Luther King." (Romney's campaign later admitted that they didn't march on the same day, or in the same city)

"My sons are all adults and they've made decisions about their careers and they've chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard. One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

"You sit down with your attorneys and tell you what you have to do, but obviously the president of the United States has to do what's in the best interest of the United States against a potential threat." --on whether he would consult Congress about invading Iran

"I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." (Romney's campaign later said he'd been hunting twice, once when he was 15, and once in 2006 at a Republican fundraiser

and

"I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will."

"Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.' It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba." --invoking a phrase that translates to "Fatherland or death, we shall overcome," which Fidel Castro has used to close his speeches for years, and which is associated with Cuban oppression

"Well, the question is kind of a non sequitur, if you will. And what I mean by that -- or a null set." --after being asked during a Republican debate whether is was a mistake to invade Iraq

"I'm happy to learn that after I speak you're going to hear from Ann Coulter. That's a good thing. I think it's important to get the views of moderates." --right before Coulter called John Edwards a "friendly fellow"

I don't have high hopes for either side.