October 22, 2012

 

ROMNEY AND OBAMA REMAIN SEATED (FROM LIVE BLOG)

  1. PRE-SHOW:  Katherine Schwarzenegger, along with sometime co-host Chris Jacobs, gave a preview on the debate on Entertainment Tonight, Hollywood style.  She must be a “contributor” to the show; they’re a dime a dozen. 
  2. . . . She looks just like her mother Maria.  She’s got the looks and the dangling hair, except her tresses are dark.
  3. . . . “The debate tonight may decide the election,” she predicted.
  4. . . . Brilliant.
  5. . . . Jacobs mentioned he had been traveling on a bus with Sarah Jessica Parker, Alfre Woodard, Valerie Jarrett and others on the Obama team and each had something positive to say about the current president.
  6. . . . Some clips were shown of this past weekend’s “Saturday Night Live.”  They’ve nailed it with the new actor (Jay Pharoah) who plays President Obama – He’s terrific and makes the man a funny character, which is hard to do because he’s not but it’s a good move by the producers to replace Fred Armisen who never really got his impersonation right, if you ask me.
  7. IT”S SHOWTIME.    
  8. Seems more civilized to see the two men sitting down and acting calmly, more so than last week when they both -- with mikes in hand -- stalked the stage and each other like talk show hosts itchin' fer a fight.
  9. . . . They’re in Boca Raton, Fla., for this one.  At Lynn University.
  10. . . . “At the Boca, Boca Cabana . . . “
  11. . . . Red and blue-striped tie for Mr. Romney.  Is he appealing to both kinds of states?
  12. . . . Obama blue tie with little blue dots on it. 
  13. . . . Both of the candidates look nice.
  14. . . . Obama seems to be telling Romney that he's got that "Romnesia disease" he spoke about on the campaign trail while the president was in Virginia last weekend. 
  15. . . . He's (Obama) saying Romney keeps changing his mind about a lot of issues.
  16. . . . The argumentation has been resurrected from Debate #2:  Interrupting, taking over, talking over one another, more.
  17. . . . Romney is listening to Obama's rebuttal and he's sort of smirking, acting patient while his opponent talks on and on, seemingly rolling his eyeballs.
  18. . . . Moderator Bob Schieffer took hold to change the subject to Syria.  So he's got control . . . for now.
  19. . . . "What's going on in Syria is heartbreaking," said the president.
  20. . . . "We must know who we're helping [in Syria]," Obama insisted.
  21. . . . Romney:  "We don't want to get drawn into a military conflict there."
  22. . . . "We need to find responsible parties in Syria to deal with," Romney sorta said.
  23. . . . Romney said he was afraid that Obama was siding with the U.N. and other parties and not taking matters on himself.
  24. . . . The split-screen survives;  however, on the Web on ABC they offer down below on their homepage the "raw feeds" of each of the candidates' cameras so you can see them separate and alone and not split up.
  25. . . . Other nets may be doing this but I just compared the visual coverage between the Big 3. I can’t watch and monitor every TV station in the universe, forgive me. 
  26. . . . Romney doesn't have different ideas from what the administration is doing in Syria so his position is about the same, says Obama.
  27. . . . Obama seems to be showing his experience and understanding of foreign policy.
  28. . . . The lighting looks impeccable.  There's an art to that.  Kudos to the network engineers who slaved to make things right.
  29. . . . Romney seems more philosophical about foreign policy rather than practical.  Obama seems practical.
  30. . . . Overall, it's pretty boring so far.
  31. . . . Romney's numbering his talking points:  Numbers 1-5.
  32. . . . Obama says he's reformed education and pledges to continue doing it in a second term.
  33. . . . Romney says this kind of education reform won't help.
  34. . . . This is all in relation to developing small businesses in the country and it's a reflection of how America is regarded in the world.
  35. . . . Let me speak and respond, said Romney to Schieffer. 
  36. . . . Romney's proud of what he's done in Massachusetts to the schools.  The Reps and Dems up there came together and became bi-partisan.
  37. . . . "Where are you going to get the money?" asks Schieffer of Romney about making all the changes he proposes. 
  38. . . . Romney told Schieffer to "come on our website" for an explanation.
  39. . . . "Tax cuts by closing deductions" -- that's what Obama says Romney wants to do.
  40. . . . "We can't spend so much money on military, tax cuts, closing loopholes in deductions and deal with the deficit," insists Obama.  We need strategy with the budget.
  41. . . . The deficit is a national security concern.
  42. . . . Romney says he's a budget balancer.  He's been all that in Massachusetts.
  43. . . . Romney's worried about the services shrinking:  the Navy, the Air Force. 
  44. . . . The highest responsibility of the president of the United States is the country's defense.  He's against the cuts
  45. IRAN. 
  46. . . . "Sanctions. Economy (Iran's) in shambles." -- Obama.
  47. . . . "We shouldn't take premature military action in Iran," says Obama to Romney and his plan.
  48. . . . Crippling sanctions were the #1 of seven points Romney made when he was over in the Middle East a while back.
  49. . . . He's calling off the numbers now, like a football coach.
  50. . . . "The clock is ticking.  We're not going to allow Iran to engage in negotiations that will go nowhere," says Obama.
  51. . . . No more dilly-dallying. 
  52. . . . Romney:  "It's essential for a president to show strength.  Sanctions need to be strengthened."
  53. . . . "The biggest ‘whopper’ of this campaign," said Obama in response to what Romney said about sanctions and enforcing them.
  54. . . . JUST ASKING.  Does Burger King still sell the whopper?  Boy, that was one hell of a burger.
  55. . . . "We're four years closer to a nuclear Iran," says Romney.
  56. . . . Obama is talking about his travels (travails?) in response to Romney accusing him of not visiting Israel on one of the trips.
  57. . . . Romney:  "I don't see our influence growing around the world in part because of our economy back home, because of the tension with Israel . . . "
  58. . . . "Governor," Obama says condescendingly, and then he knocks down what his opponent’s recently said by pointing out his flip-flops on the subject of foreign policy.
  59. . . . ‘Romnesia’ raises its ugly head again.
  60. AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN.
  61. . . . "We're gonna be finished by 2014," promises Romney about Afghanistan.
  62. . . . We realize what's happening in Pakistan and it's important to the region and to us. 
  63. . . . A Pakistan that falls apart would be very dangerous.
  64. . . . Obama:  We're in a position that we can transition ourselves out [of Afghanistan].
  65. . . . Obama:  "But Americans feel that we need to do some nation-building here in this country."
  66. . . . Obama referred to wife Michelle as the "first lady" for the good work she's been doing for veterans.  I guess he didn't want to get too personal on such a serious topic.
  67. . . . Schieffer is doing a good job of moderating and moving things along.  He's a friendly-sounding type of guy and relates well to the candidates.  He doesn't act adversarial.  He’s had a lot of experience in the business.
  68. . . . Romney on Pakistan:  "We can't walk away from Pakistan but they need to be working on becoming a civil society."
  69. . . . Romney:  "We need to go after people who become a threat to this country."
  70. . . . NOTICED:  NBC and ABC do the split-screen with a white line; CBS makes the dividing line blue-ish perhaps to blend in more and not be so distracting.  Give that network a gold star. 
  71. . . .  "If I'm president America will be very strong," insists Romney.
  72. . . . NOTED.  Romney should have said "when" I'm president.  It sounds more positive and assertive for a candidate.  They all do it that way.
  73. . . .  I guess it was just a slip of the tongue.
  74. . . . A lot of politicians slip on their tongues.  They oughta keep their mouths shut more often.
  75. . . . Romney:   "I want a great relationship with China but that doesn't mean they can run all over us."
  76. . . . Obama agrees.
  77. . . . Romney gives an example of bogus products made in China that were sold back to the U.S. 
  78. . . . This can't go on.
  79. . . . It translates to keeping jobs at home.
  80. . . . Romney mentioned that he cared about Detroit.  His dad was the head of an auto company in Detroit. 
  81. . . . Good God, everybody in his family has had an important job and made money.  He seems connected.
  82. . . . Investing in companies is not the way to go, insisted Romney, making a reference to the botched Solyndra investment that Obama's administration made.
  83. . . . "You're air-brushing," accuses Obama.
  84. . . . Is that like blow-drying?
  85. . . . Obama:  "One step forward, one step back."  (It’s usually two steps back, isn’t it?)
  86. . . . Romney:  "I want to go forward but I certainly don't want to go back [to failed policies], sez Romney.
  87. CLOSING ARGUMENTS . . . er, COMMENTS.
  88. . . . Obama first. 
  89. . . . “We've been through tough times but we always bounce back.”
  90. . . . Romney now.  He's optimistic about the future, wants to see peace.
  91. . . . Romney promises more take-home pay and 12 million new jobs.
  92. . . . America's gonna come back and for that to happen we have to work across the aisle.
  93. . . . Washington is broken.  (Easy for him to say)
  94. . . . Schieffer quotes his mother during his sign-off (as he has often done before):  "Go vote.  It makes you feel big and strong."
  95. . . . He’s folksy.
  96. . . . Romney's whole family comes out on the stage.  Just Michelle comes out for Barack.  Where are the girls? 
  97. . . . They need a bigger turnout.


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