My apolitical coworker's comments about the debate lifted my spirits today

[BlueStateBlue]

My coworker commented to me this afternoon that after seeing the debate last night, she and her father decided that even though they have not voted since 1996, they have to vote this year because Romney is so scary. They'll be voting for Obama. For what it's worth, political discussion at my office is practically non-existent.

I don't think Romney "won" anything with undecided voters. I think he got played like a fiddle.

[Indpndnt]

1. Agreed. Willard didn't 'win' anything. He came across as an arrogant bully without self-control.

Nobody wants that in a President.

[barnabas63]

2. Interesting..

...I suspect that Romney will see a modest, possibly short-lived bounce from the debate. How do you think, though, he "got played like a fiddle?"

[BlueStateBlue]

11. I think President Obama went in with a strategy last night

I think he decided to give Romney plenty of rope to hang himself. He stayed low key (admittedly a little too low key for my taste), and Romney took the bait and spewed lie after lie. Now the fact checking has kicked in and the overall message is that Romney's a liar. The good guys got tons of footage to use against them in ads, and plenty of ammo to nail him to the wall in the final debate.

The energy the president has shown on the campaign trail before and after the debate tells me that his subdued tone was no accident. He wasn't unprepared, that debate was a sacrifice fly.

[barnabas63]

14. There is a definite blowback starting....

the Sesame Street issue & Mitt's "alpha-male" Mel Gibson performance turned off a lot of people

[Beartracks]

26. Also made me think of Tom Cruise...

=====================

[LiberalFighter]

20. Yes, his energy level was fine before and after the debate.

A person doesn't normally swing that fast from one level to another. Romney probably does though.

[NCLefty]

3. The way he stepped on the moderator was pretty off-putting to me

but I already had negative feelings toward him. I had wondered if independents/undecideds viewed it the way I did though. Good to hear

[barnabas63]

7. I doubt Rmoney helped his gender gap much...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brenda-peterson/mitt-romney_b_1940508.html

[Beartracks]

25. I hear he lost the bird vote. lol n/t

[gkhouston]

10. +1. If he'd been that way only to Obama, you could maybe write it off as being "competitive".

Treating the moderator like shit? That's just an asshole.

[Cha]

15. Exactly, gkhouston.. have ya'll seen the Vid that DNC made Last NIght,

titled "What A Guy"?

[gkhouston]

21. Yes. That was fast work. n/t

[Frustratedlady]

29. Great video, but it also shows how Lehrer was at a disadvantage

He is diminished by being below the debaters. Mitt is bad enough about stepping on people below his status, but this made it even easier.

[Cha]

30. I know.. that was weirdly surreal

I wonder if there will be any changes in further debate positions for the moderators so someone like mitt romney won't use his high horse to trample them?

[freshwest]

4. Thanks for reporting - but be sure they're registered and up to date on how to vote. There have...

Been many changes since 1996, requirements, time limits and polling places.

[BlueStateBlue]

12. She assured me that they are both registered

But I will be sure to get 2 copies of the voter registration form onto her desk first thing tomorrow morning, just in case.

[freshwest]

18. It may be too late to register. And if you feel comfortahle with it, tell them to check locations.

Of course I'm not in your area, but I saw a video here saying that registration in most states ends on October 7th. And we know there are prohlems...

Good story and thanks for keeping on it.

[BlueStateBlue]

19. Here in NJ, they can register up to 21 days before the election. I'll have forms for her in the am.

[freshwest]

22. Plus two in NJ! WTG!

[gkhouston]

24. They may be able to get some information using canivote.org.

I'll admit that I've already check my registration twice, even though I voted in this year's primaries and local elections.

[madaboutharry]

5. Tomorrow, tell her to make sure

They are registered.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Make sure they get registered!

They may think it's a guarantee that they're on the rolls.

[BlueStateBlue]

17. Absolutely will do. Especially since she lives in a republican-held congressional district. n/t

[BenzoDia]

8. I agree with this. As much as I wanted to see Obama nail Romney, I think a lot of people

were probably turned off by his overly aggressive performance.

Romney has a big empathy problem and his attitude last night didn't help that.

[struggle4progress]

9. To me, Mitt always seems phony as a $3 bill

and after only a few minutes of the debate, I was wondering why anyone would ever vote for Mr Plastic Face

[The Wielding Truth]

23. He's like the guy who has to sell that water purifier or used car or investment program.

Spilling out everything that he thinks you want to here and he knows it's bunk.

[Tx4obama]

13. Great news! :) n/t

[Brother Buzz]

16. Better slip them a couple of voter registration applications Stat

I'm pretty damn sure they have been dropped from the rolls

[Pirate Smile]

27. Did she say what exactly it was that Romney did that scared them? Just curious.

[courseofhistory]

28. In his usual condescending way

he let Leher know he would chop Big Bird's head off also. I read a body language expert said if you turn the sound off on the debate and watch Romney's actions, he is behaving manically and too aggressively. I think many people felt that way. Obama couldn't respond because he kept repeating blatant lies. To his credit Obama did say that just 5 wks before the election he is changing his $5T tax cut prior statements. But it got lost in all the manic behavior of Romney.

This is also in line, I feel with his wife's concern for his mental health if he becomes president. I have a feeling he does some of this sort of behavior in private.

[treestar]

31. I'm thinking the no-drama style is coming into its day

We've had a society that rewards people for demonstrating "fire in the belly" and seen what trouble they cause, and starting to look askance at that because it can be displayed for its own sake with no substance under it.