I think a lot of people misread the second debate, especially when President Obama and Candy Crowley together pushed the notion that Obama actually called Benghazi a terrorist attack.
Remember what Romney’s exact response was? An incredulous look, and repeated questioning to establish, “on the record”, that Obama was claiming he had indeed called it, and treated it, as terrorism from the first, and not a spontaneous demonstration that got out of hand.
I’m stealing a trope from someone I would credit if I remembered who it was. I don’t think Romney is a debater. I don’t think he’s at heart a politician of the glad-handing double-talking sort that seems to gravitate to the Senate especially.
I think he’s a predator. A predator doesn’t relish a fight with its prey. Oh, a well fed housecat may play with a mouse for a little while, for fun and for practice, or to teach a kitten, but when the time comes it’s not a long fight — the cat dispatches the mouse. A lioness doesn’t want to fight with an impala, and possibly get gored — she finds her time and makes the efficient killing stroke to the spine and brainstem.
So here’s the situation tonight: the Benghazi incident has been in the news now for a solid week, and Obama’s claims have been debunked by pretty much everyone except for a few partisans. It will be on everyone’s mind from the minute the debate starts, and it has got to be one of the questions.
I think, when it is, we’ll see that Romney has all the dates and times in his head, ready to go.
My prediction is that when the question does come up, Romney will be loaded for bear.
Update: Via a comment from SJH, here’s the American Thinker article I was remembering.
– forebearance.
Off-topic: Thought I’d share some hysterical Progressive delusion I just came across. One of my Obama-zombie Facebook connections has been evoking a sort of “reverse Bradley effect” where the American people are forced to appear racist by peer pressure (by saying they support Romney) whereas out of the public eye they will pull the lever for Obama.
Did you point out to them the rather more devastating social, professional, and even legal effects of appearing “racist”?
Or the possibility that “race” is not a factor in peoples’ votes?
You’ve got to be kidding me. Do they really think we’re back in the ’50′s? Wow, no wonder Romney is going to win by a landslide, these people are delusional. Really.
I sincerely hope & pray you are correct, for the sake of the country.
I hope that Romney wins the election, for the sake of the country.
I hope that Romney eviscerates Obama (metaphorically) tonight, for the sake of the country (Obama’s policies must not continue, and the man in the White House is not their only source), but also because I want to watch.
I believe that Obama has had the easiest time with the national press that any President has ever had, and before he loses the election and goes the way of Carter, spending his days pretending he isn’t disgraced, I want to see him utterly humiliated as he should have been, by reporters, so many times over the past 4 years.
Fast and Furious (whatever the real explanation for it is) makes Watergate look like a kid fingerpainting a bad word in kindergarten, for just one example…
Mitt Romney is a robot in disguise after all.
He is a Terminator.
The R-2012 doesn’t need weapons from the future, shape-shifting or hidden technology. Just the facts which he has been downloaded with by Skynet, or as we call it today, the Internet, along with other Terminators like the R-1980 that has prepared him for this debate.
I am sure there will come a point in the debate where Mitt Romney’s eyes glow red, his software will see the “tells” of an Obama bluff and lie (his lips are moving) then whip out his arsenal of facts right between Barack’s eyes.
As the twitching remains try to reflexively dodge out of the way the R-2012 will say, “You have been Terminated.”
The R-2012 will be seen by the moderates and independents still out there in the country as the MittBot R-2012 turns to the camera saying, “Follow me if you want to live.”
The Terminator will then walk right out of the Sanatorium to finish his mission as President of the United States to protect the future generations of the country from Judgement Day.
(Yes I know the last two movies show Judgement Day happened; however with a Time Machine in the universe of that movie it is safe to say that fate can be avoided for another 8 years or longer. Especially Barack Obama terminated to being a one term president.)
Onose! The R-2012 explosive space modulator!!! That Mormon creature has the R-2012 explosive space modulator!!!
Hehe….oh, there’s gonna be an earth-shattering kaboom alright – on election night when Sissy Matthews realizes that tingle up his leg is a cardiac event related to The Won becoming The Loser.
An apt analogy and one in which I hope Romney displays tonight.
Good observation, Charlie. Your prediction sounds on the mark.
Obama has to double talk, bulls#it, sweet talk, and flat out lie to stay in office.
Mitt Romney has to open the peoples eyes to that fact.
Lets hope America is ready to grow up.
Romney has to do one thing tonight. The Fraud won’t support himself with data or facts, only emotion. That was why he wrapped himself in the cloak of the Presidency in the second debate and responded to his Benghazi catastrope only with “how dare you challenge ME?”.
What Romney needs to do is to counter the emotional arguments by pointing out that the only thing the Fraud has on his side is the trappings of office. Everything else screams that he has been a menace to this country.
And it will also help if Romney points out that the Fraud never talks about the country, only himself, as if he is superior to the greatest country that ever existed.
Also, the very first time Obama begins to flail, Romney should ask him if he needs Bob for a “lifeline”. Phone a friend?
I agree. I think Romney is a nice guy in his personal life, but he is very, very disciplined and has a well-developed sense of right and wrong, which we desperately need right now. But I’d hate to have that laser sight trained on me- fortunately, it’s on Obama.
Is this a real debate, where both sides are asked (or expected to answer to) the same question? Because that town hall format stunk- biased questions aside, we just didn’t get the same back & forth that would occur in a Lincoln-Douglas type debate.
My currently unemployed friend who has been a happily ignorant Obama supporter and voter-for last time says she’s been watching the debates and will *definitely* be watching tonight. I’m thinking she’s watching because she’s looking at Romney and is taking a second look at Her Hero. I can’t imagine that she would want to vote for Obama again, and the fact that she’s taking steps to educate herself a little bit is a Very Good Thing Indeed.
Decisive under pressure? The president has not learned that skill because he sees his own apparent success as the ultimate criterion, which is possibly the highest from of incompetence. To him, the only form of success is political success. The pressure is on the incumbent tonight, and he will be frightened, because he has no experience with and no understanding of the decision making process that has made his challenger a truly successful man. Preparation-wise, the best he can hope for is readiness for being surprised, what a deal!
In these circumstances, Romney might give the impression of acting as a predator, while in fact only performing the duty of debunking of a superficial placeholder.
Think about it – the Bush/Cheney regime lied about weapons of mass destruction for years, promising that the evidence would be found. For conservatives to be attacking the Obama Administration for not instantly knowing everything that ocurred is the hight of hypocracy. The FBI has confirmed that the video was the cause of the anger, but are still investigating.
*face palm*
Are you suggesting chemical weapons were not found in Iraq in any quantities?
Better check first before answering…google can be your friend and keep you from looking (more) foolish.
Yeah, the Bush Administration started that in 1998.
Hank is basically peddling the “Bush did the same thing, so that makes it OK” spin. But Hank, I thought the whole point of obama was that he would NOT do the same bad things that Bush did? You guys may as well get a new slogan to replace hope and change, like “vote Obama, he is only slightly more crappy than Bush”.
Hope you’re right, Charlie! Really do!
But, once again, Romney will be double-teamed. And this moderator has a loooong history of favoring Democrats. Want to start a pool? How many more times Bob interrupts Romney than Obama? How many more minutes Obama gets? You think *Candy* was in Obama’s corner? Go look back at Steve Green’s “Hair of the Dog” for the past four years and check out the “Bob bits”.
@Charlie Martin I believe you may be referring to a blog from American Thinker, dated 18 October, by Sally Zelikovsky. Will be interested to see if she nailed it when so many think Romney blew it.
Bingo! Thanks!
Lordy, can you imagine having a record like Obama’s and having to go on national TV and defend it?
Few have the level of gall to do that with a straight face.
Mitt also needs to hammer home (again) the Fast & Furious fiasco. That does fall under foreign policy, as well as being an attempt at domestic 2A rights trampling.
My favorite topic is asking Obama what he meant when he told Mevedev to tell Putin to hang tight until after the election when “he’d have more flexibility.”
I agree with you on that. Romney s a predator, and Obama is seeing what Newt and the rest faced.
Guys like Romney are painful to work under unless you have your fecal material packed tightly into a cubic inch-sized box with a handle on it. I always thought Cheney was the same way in that they both seem to have a very low threshold for bullsh!t.
Am I the only one who thinks a businessman who’s done business around the world might just know a little bit more about foreign policy on a practical level, than some yahoo with a (snicker) Nobel Peace Prize who goes around apologizing to his country’s enemies?
No.
IF Obama recognized it as a terrorist attack from the get-go (according to himself)….that means he flew off to Las Vegas fundraiser directly on the heels of a Sept 11th terrorist attack and assassnation of a U.S. ambassador.
I remember how angry he acted in the last debate, claiming his administration NEVER politiced national security. If only he had ever gotten angry like that at this or any of the other terror attacks during his 4 years as Commander in Chief!!!!
Not to mention the fact that he allowed numerous members of his team to go out and claim the exact opposite for days on end after the fact. Lie, cover-up, or pure managerial incompetence…doesn’t really matter. It’s just more proof that this job is WAAAY to big for him.
I just want Romney to ask Obama one question. What are the names of the Americans that died in Bengazhi? If he doesn’t know all 4, he loses the debate and maybe the election.
Samuel Johnson had a phrase, “talking for victory”. He liked to do it in conversation, and was very good at it. But I think it will aptly describe tonight’s debate: Obama will be talking to survive, Mitt will be talking for victory. And I fully expect him to apply the killing stroke. (Speaking purely metaphorically, of course.)
The look on Romney’s face when he was reacting to Obama’s definitive “Yes, that’s what I said in the Rose Garden” was unmistakable. I’m sure every one of his sons recognized it immediately from whenever they tried to bullsh!t the old man in the past. Obama understood it, too. That’s why he insisted that Romney move on. He knew he was looking into the face of the Grand Inquisitor, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit. I believe Romney will come into tonight’s round three loaded for bear. Bob Schiefer better wear a splatter guard if he wants to stay clean.
Romney should come into the debate tonight loaded for snake, not bear.
Obama will have a trap or two prepared that low information voters will find plausible. He will also use zingers to score “points” with those same people.
i think you’re correct, charlie, except you underestimate the depth of media corruption. i bet the question will not come up at all.
i’ll be happy to lose this bet, but still…
Romney has the set-up to tear Obama apart on this issue. It is there for all to see.
Is Obama so arrogant that he does not realize the position he is in? Or is he working hard on a way to combat his position?
If Obama comes across too much like “it depends on what the definition of is is” he loses. Trying to get out of his poor position by using lawyerly uses of the language is distinctly unPresidential. It will show him to be lacking in leadership skills.
It will be very interesting to see how Obama plays this one. I don’t see an easy way out for Obama. Perhaps it is a lack of imagination, but it looks like he has been caught lying about the cause of death of an Ambassador.
My hope:
When Schieffer inevitably interrupts Romney to advise “OK, well let’s move on…”,
Romney will say “I’m sorry; I’m still talking”
Schieffer : ” Gosh we have time constraints…”
Romney : ” I don’t think you heard me; I’m still talking. Would you like to join us over here while I finish?”
These moderators are dying to appear witty and telegenic, and most of all, on camera.
.