By Joni Halpern
It was almost as if he had been sleeping at some points during the debate. Here he was, Barack Obama, one of the greatest public speakers among all presidential candidates in our history, with his head down, his lips tightly closed and skewed a touch to one side, his expression uncomfortable and disengaged.
Across from him was the affable, smiling challenger, Mitt Romney, who spoke in simple terms with very few filler-words, treating the debate as if he and Obama were old Senate buddies having a brandy while sitting across from each other in overstuffed chairs in front of a fire.
Obama supporters were deeply depressed by his performance in that first debate of 2012. Various polls concluded that 46% to 72% of the debate audience thought Romney had won, with only 22% to 25% awarding the win to Obama. Democrats were in free-fall, worried that their champion might not be up to the task of winning against a smooth-talking, intelligent opponent with no presidential track record to pick on.
By Joni Halpern
It was almost as if he had been sleeping at some points during the debate. Here he was, Barack Obama, one of the greatest public speakers among all presidential candidates in our history, with his head down, his lips tightly closed and skewed a touch to one side, his expression uncomfortable and disengaged.
Across from him was the affable, smiling challenger, Mitt Romney, who spoke in simple terms with very few filler-words, treating the debate as if he and Obama were old Senate buddies having a brandy while sitting across from each other in overstuffed chairs in front of a fire.
Obama supporters were deeply depressed by his performance in that first debate of 2012. Various polls concluded that 46% to 72% of the debate audience thought Romney had won, with only 22% to 25% awarding the win to Obama. Democrats were in free-fall, worried that their champion might not be up to the task of winning against a smooth-talking, intelligent opponent with no presidential track record to pick on.