you could see his utter enjoyment in his smirk, no doubt laughing to himself about how he bamboozled the president.
the grin was un-nerving, orangish-red, and sinister. his face was caked white (to remind the audience) and so the lips looked flushed.
and team romney used the debate format to their advantage.
all questions asked the candidates to compare their own ideas to those of their opponent's. i believe this explains romney's 180 degree flips on all previous policy statements. with this strategy, romney could nullify all of obama's answers, pull the rug out from under his feet, make him look ill-prepared, goad him into a heated response.
it is difficult to debate a pathological liar. the things they say and expect you to believe are absurd. so absurd you're caught off guard. it is difficult to respond to such nonsense. responding legitimatizes the lies.
obama looked perturbed to me, annoyed, and perhaps insulted.
as i watched the debate i knew that americans would view romney as aggressive and obama as weak. i knew the pundits would interpret the event that way too.
what i wanted obama to say was something on the order of, "governor romney, you owe the public, whose votes you are asking for, some honesty". i knew he wouldn't and couldn't but i have the urge to slap others who lie to me.