This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/04/romney-obama-struggle-presidential-debate
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Romney and Obama both struggle with style and substance during first debate | Romney and Obama both struggle with style and substance during first debate |
| (6 months later) | |
| Top zinger | Top zinger |
| Romney: Any challenger running for the White House knows that he needs to get in his "zingers" – those one-liners that play well on TV and stick in the mind. Romney had plenty in the bag and used them well, talking of "trickle-down government" and charging that "under the president's policies, middle-income Americans have been buried; they're just being crushed". | Romney: Any challenger running for the White House knows that he needs to get in his "zingers" – those one-liners that play well on TV and stick in the mind. Romney had plenty in the bag and used them well, talking of "trickle-down government" and charging that "under the president's policies, middle-income Americans have been buried; they're just being crushed". |
| Obama: While the president generally struggled to get his "zingers" across, over-larding them with too much detail, he did get in a pithy dig about Romney's vague budget proposals which he claimed didn't add up. "It's math. It's arithmetic," he said, wondering sardonically later in the debate whether the Republican nominee was keeping his plans "secret because they're too good?" | Obama: While the president generally struggled to get his "zingers" across, over-larding them with too much detail, he did get in a pithy dig about Romney's vague budget proposals which he claimed didn't add up. "It's math. It's arithmetic," he said, wondering sardonically later in the debate whether the Republican nominee was keeping his plans "secret because they're too good?" |
| Main attack line | Main attack line |
| Romney: In a debate devoted to the economy and domestic government, Romney pressed home his case that Obama was hurting the middle class. He went for the emotional jugular, talking about a woman he'd met in Dayton, Ohio, out of work since May, who asked him: "Can you help?" He also memorably attacked Obama for investing $90bn on "green energy" – a phrase delivered as a pejorative. | Romney: In a debate devoted to the economy and domestic government, Romney pressed home his case that Obama was hurting the middle class. He went for the emotional jugular, talking about a woman he'd met in Dayton, Ohio, out of work since May, who asked him: "Can you help?" He also memorably attacked Obama for investing $90bn on "green energy" – a phrase delivered as a pejorative. |
| Obama: Kept returning, effectively, to the hole in Romney's budget. Add $5tn of tax cuts to $1tn extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich and $2tn of extra defence spending "that the military hasn't asked for", and you've got an $8tn gap that ordinary Americans will have to make up. Romney denied the figures, but the charge of irresponsible economic planning could stick. | Obama: Kept returning, effectively, to the hole in Romney's budget. Add $5tn of tax cuts to $1tn extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich and $2tn of extra defence spending "that the military hasn't asked for", and you've got an $8tn gap that ordinary Americans will have to make up. Romney denied the figures, but the charge of irresponsible economic planning could stick. |
| Stylistic strength | Stylistic strength |
| Romney: Came across as relaxed and on top of his material. Made an effective final statement, delivered direct to camera, in which he promised to help create 12m new jobs, block Obamacare and keep America strong. | Romney: Came across as relaxed and on top of his material. Made an effective final statement, delivered direct to camera, in which he promised to help create 12m new jobs, block Obamacare and keep America strong. |
| Obama: Showed only occasional flashes of his legendary oratorical skills. In an echo of the support he drew at the Democratic national convention last month from his Democratic predecessor in the White House, Obama seemed to gain in stature when he alluded to Bill Clinton. Under Clinton's approach to the economy, he said, "we created 23m new jobs. We went from deficit to surplus, and business did very well." | Obama: Showed only occasional flashes of his legendary oratorical skills. In an echo of the support he drew at the Democratic national convention last month from his Democratic predecessor in the White House, Obama seemed to gain in stature when he alluded to Bill Clinton. Under Clinton's approach to the economy, he said, "we created 23m new jobs. We went from deficit to surplus, and business did very well." |
| Stylistic weaknesses | Stylistic weaknesses |
| Romney: In a generally polished performance that made Obama look stuttering and insufficiently prepared, Romney continued to suffer from physical traits that render him wooden on camera. He has a way of holding a half-smile on his face while listening to his opponent that appears perilously close to a smirk. | Romney: In a generally polished performance that made Obama look stuttering and insufficiently prepared, Romney continued to suffer from physical traits that render him wooden on camera. He has a way of holding a half-smile on his face while listening to his opponent that appears perilously close to a smirk. |
| Obama: Somebody needs to have the courage to tell the president – and surely they will before the next debate on 16 October – that he has to stop staring down at his notes while Romney is speaking. Hasn't he heard of split-screen TV broadcasting? It made him look sullen, grumpy and at worst disengaged from his challenger. | Obama: Somebody needs to have the courage to tell the president – and surely they will before the next debate on 16 October – that he has to stop staring down at his notes while Romney is speaking. Hasn't he heard of split-screen TV broadcasting? It made him look sullen, grumpy and at worst disengaged from his challenger. |
| Missed opportunity | Missed opportunity |
| Romney: Didn't miss much. He'd been so well prepared for this occasion – honing his lines in lengthy dummy runs with aides – that he packed it all in, from pithy attacks on Obamacare and the president's job record, to a namecheck of "our creator" to please the religious crowd. He also made sure not to repeat the gaffe in his convention speech in Tampa in August, when he forgot to thank America's military heroes. | Romney: Didn't miss much. He'd been so well prepared for this occasion – honing his lines in lengthy dummy runs with aides – that he packed it all in, from pithy attacks on Obamacare and the president's job record, to a namecheck of "our creator" to please the religious crowd. He also made sure not to repeat the gaffe in his convention speech in Tampa in August, when he forgot to thank America's military heroes. |
| Obama: The Obama re-election campaign has been running TV adverts in key swing states for weeks now reminding voters of Romney's comments at a private fundraiser that there are 47% of Americans who are "dependent on government". But there was no mention of the remarks during the debate. Pundits were amazed. "Seriously, Dems, can you believe that Obama never used the 47% video? Incredible!" tweeted political analyst Larry Sabato. | Obama: The Obama re-election campaign has been running TV adverts in key swing states for weeks now reminding voters of Romney's comments at a private fundraiser that there are 47% of Americans who are "dependent on government". But there was no mention of the remarks during the debate. Pundits were amazed. "Seriously, Dems, can you believe that Obama never used the 47% video? Incredible!" tweeted political analyst Larry Sabato. |
| Fact check | Fact check |
| Romney: Was blatantly creative with the truth at a number of important points. He accused the president of doubling the annual national deficit, which has in fact hovered around the $1.2tn that Obama inherited. The Republican nominee was misleading when he blamed Obama for cutting $716bn from Medicare spending on health care for older people – those savings were agreed with health insurance providers and hospitals as part of the negotiations over Obamacare. He said about half the green energy projects backed by federal grants had closed, when only three of the 26 award-winners have perished and others have prospered. | Romney: Was blatantly creative with the truth at a number of important points. He accused the president of doubling the annual national deficit, which has in fact hovered around the $1.2tn that Obama inherited. The Republican nominee was misleading when he blamed Obama for cutting $716bn from Medicare spending on health care for older people – those savings were agreed with health insurance providers and hospitals as part of the negotiations over Obamacare. He said about half the green energy projects backed by federal grants had closed, when only three of the 26 award-winners have perished and others have prospered. |
| Obama: Didn't tell the porkies that Romney did, though he did stretch the point on occasion. Obama referred several times to the Republican candidate's plans to make $5tn in tax cuts – a figure that was deduced by the independent Tax Policy Center but over 10 years. Romney has promised to offset the cuts by ending tax loopholes and deductions, though he has been very slippery about stating precisely how he would make up the revenue losses. | Obama: Didn't tell the porkies that Romney did, though he did stretch the point on occasion. Obama referred several times to the Republican candidate's plans to make $5tn in tax cuts – a figure that was deduced by the independent Tax Policy Center but over 10 years. Romney has promised to offset the cuts by ending tax loopholes and deductions, though he has been very slippery about stating precisely how he would make up the revenue losses. |
| guardian.co.uk today is our daily snapshot of the top news stories, sent to your inbox at 8am |