David Gergen on CNN - President Obama thrown off his game because Mitt Romney was "flat out lying"

[Fuddnik]

16. Well, Obama got roped.

I've prepped candidates for debates before.

I've sent them out on stage, armed to the teeth, with records, stats, numbers, and polls. I've video taped them down to the nuance and hand gesture. But you put that preparation to work and the opposition comes out with verifiable lies, not out of left field, but out of the universe, and it will completely blow your preparation. There's just no way to predict how low a Republican will go.

Maybe it's the rules of decorum, but I sat there and watched Romney tell lie after lie after lie, and never got called for it. Obama left all the meat on the table. Romney was flummoxed by the second question, and they let him get away. He should have been finished for good last night.