Obama: "too polite" on "bad" debate night

[No Elephants]

Obama: "too polite" on "bad" debate night



WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - <snip>

"I think it's fair to say I was just too polite," Obama said on the "Tom Joyner Morning Show" radio program. "But, you know, the good news is that's just the first one. ... I think it's fair to say that we will see a little more activity at the next one."

<snip>

"It's not the first time I've had a bad night. But I think what's important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven't changed," Obama said as he sought to play down the overall impact. "You know, Governor Romney went to a lot of trouble to try to hide what his positions are."

<snip>

"We heard from President Obama that he believed he had a ‘bad night' during the first debate, but in reality, he's had a bad four years and the American people suffered because of it," Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Wednesday, Romney has pulled ahead of Obama in the race for the first time in more than a month and leads 45 percent to 44 percent among likely voters.

<snip>

Asked flat-out whether his debate performance had handed the election to Romney, Obama said, "No."

<snip>

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Peter Cooney)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/11/us-usa-campaign-obama-idUSBRE8991QJ20121011

Too polite.

All righty then.

[Enthusiast]

1. Too polite?

Subservient was more like it.

He looked down as Romney took him over the coals for his "destructive policies" and how they ruined the nation. The President gave every indication from his body language that he agreed with Mitt's appraisal and he meekly promised to do better in the future. Will that get me kicked off?

[No Elephants]

2. I don't think

it will get you kicked off, but I don't really know.

Ronnie Deutsch speculated that his advisors had told him not to dignify Romney--not to bring him up to Presidential level-- by engaging with him. And, above all, not to jeopardize his significantly greater likeability numbers.


Read somewhere that a professional group of "debate preparers" said that they thought they had prepared Obama one way, but that he behaved a different way during the debate. They speculated that his campaign peeps changed the game plan.

It's an enigma, is all I can say.