30 minutes to go bros!
My predictions for tonight:
1) Obama has set the bar so low on debating that there just is no way the media won't be falling all over themselves looking for any excuse to declare him the victor. Expect the following:
"THIS IS THE OBAMA WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR"
"OBAMA IS BACK"
"OBAMA DESTROYYYYYS ROMNEY"
"A HISTORIC TURNAROUND OF EPIC PROPORTIONS"
"OBAMA BACK IN THE FIGHT!"
This will happen if Obama performs slightly worse on the merits, or ties Romney or edges him out by a little bit. The only way the above isn't said if it's a run away, undeniable, historic win by Romney.
2) All though this is a foreign policy debate (at least that is my understanding) I dont' see how the Obama campaign wont try to turn women off of Romney, who Romney has basically gained to be now even with. I expect the way they do this is to try and portray Romney to be "insensitive" and also "brash" when it comes to the world stage. Maybe focus on military wives that would suffer under Romney's policies.
3) Romney will obviously frame Obama as ineffective and always trying to shirk responsibility with regards to the libya incident as well as other matters pertaining to foreign policy
4) The moderating has taken it upon herself to "edit" the pre-screened questions to her liking. This kind of defeats the purpose of having this debate in this specific area of the country (which is I guess an area that is a microcosm of the united states). With Candy's edits she may as well just make the debate all about her rather than the people that should be able to ask what they wish. (within reason)
5) This type of format traditionally favors obama, who is a good soap box speaker and good at relating to the proles. A lot of people expect to see a more aggressive Obama, but keep in mind that this type of format can handcuff you a little, as you aren't going one on one with your opponent as much as you are trying to answer questions from the audience and THEN get your jabs in. As such, Obama has to find a way to be aggressive while also juggling answering the audiences questions.
So what do both sides need to go in order to book this as a win?
Romney has been gaining in multiple demographics and states in the last few weeks. He has momentum and obviously Obama needs to kill it. A small victory probably won't kill Mitt's surge. At the end of the day, voters have had 4 years to make up their minds on Obama. If they aren't there yet there isn't much more Obama is going to be able to do to win them over at this point. He needs to hit Romney with a sledgehammer and make him entirely unpalatable. (I personally don't see that happening)
If Romney can come out of this debate as the clear winner, who knows how that will change the field. Look at what the last debate did. Going 2-0 would probably be huge for romney and may help him to consolidate his gains even further.
*Note: I am not going to be debating my OP, debate starts in 15 minutes.
My predictions for tonight:
1) Obama has set the bar so low on debating that there just is no way the media won't be falling all over themselves looking for any excuse to declare him the victor. Expect the following:
"THIS IS THE OBAMA WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR"
"OBAMA IS BACK"
"OBAMA DESTROYYYYYS ROMNEY"
"A HISTORIC TURNAROUND OF EPIC PROPORTIONS"
"OBAMA BACK IN THE FIGHT!"
This will happen if Obama performs slightly worse on the merits, or ties Romney or edges him out by a little bit. The only way the above isn't said if it's a run away, undeniable, historic win by Romney.
2) All though this is a foreign policy debate (at least that is my understanding) I dont' see how the Obama campaign wont try to turn women off of Romney, who Romney has basically gained to be now even with. I expect the way they do this is to try and portray Romney to be "insensitive" and also "brash" when it comes to the world stage. Maybe focus on military wives that would suffer under Romney's policies.
3) Romney will obviously frame Obama as ineffective and always trying to shirk responsibility with regards to the libya incident as well as other matters pertaining to foreign policy
4) The moderating has taken it upon herself to "edit" the pre-screened questions to her liking. This kind of defeats the purpose of having this debate in this specific area of the country (which is I guess an area that is a microcosm of the united states). With Candy's edits she may as well just make the debate all about her rather than the people that should be able to ask what they wish. (within reason)
5) This type of format traditionally favors obama, who is a good soap box speaker and good at relating to the proles. A lot of people expect to see a more aggressive Obama, but keep in mind that this type of format can handcuff you a little, as you aren't going one on one with your opponent as much as you are trying to answer questions from the audience and THEN get your jabs in. As such, Obama has to find a way to be aggressive while also juggling answering the audiences questions.
So what do both sides need to go in order to book this as a win?
Romney has been gaining in multiple demographics and states in the last few weeks. He has momentum and obviously Obama needs to kill it. A small victory probably won't kill Mitt's surge. At the end of the day, voters have had 4 years to make up their minds on Obama. If they aren't there yet there isn't much more Obama is going to be able to do to win them over at this point. He needs to hit Romney with a sledgehammer and make him entirely unpalatable. (I personally don't see that happening)
If Romney can come out of this debate as the clear winner, who knows how that will change the field. Look at what the last debate did. Going 2-0 would probably be huge for romney and may help him to consolidate his gains even further.
*Note: I am not going to be debating my OP, debate starts in 15 minutes.
