Romney-Obama Debate Part II

Greetings to All,

Before the debate at Hofstra on Tuesday night I had a bit of a discussion with a few coworkers about the questions to be asked at tonight's debate.  The primary topic we discussed was how many of the questions posed to the candidates would be from voters who were not really undecided but were democratic "plants".  Generally the consensus was that around 25% of the questions would definitely have a left leaning tilt based on the general political outlook of the undecided voter.  So assuming an over/under of 25% lets see how good our predictions were:

 Question #1:  Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment.
What can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?

I viewed this question as fairly neutral though I would put this voter as slightly more to the left.  One curious aspect of the question was that he identified himself as a college student but did not identify his major.  Was he an art history major or was he a computer science major.  The correct field of study makes all the difference in initial job searches. 

Summary:  Neutral

Question #2:  Your energy secretary, Steven Chu, has now been on record three times stating it's not policy of his department to help lower gas prices. Do you agree with Secretary Chu that this is not
the job of the Energy Department?

I had a hard time deciding with this voter and the question.  One obvious point is that he is upset with the current price of gas and he wants to blame somebody.  He appeared to be upset with the President since he can't really blame Romney for this particular issue.  Even though  the question was probably a dig towards Obama I would put this voter more towards the left as well.  The "tone" he expressed during the question gave me the impression that he believed that it is the job of the Energy Department (and the Federal Government) to control the price of gas.  Obviously policies and regulations do affect the price of gas at the pump and the Obama administration has not helped in this area especially with the Ethanol mandates currently in effect.

This question also got one of the most heated responses from the candidates.  I especially liked the blatant lie told by Obama that coal production was up since he has taken office and the reason gas prices have more than doubled since he took office was due to the recession in 2008 and the "low" gas prices at that particular time.  I guess he believes that the current cost of gas is the new normal as Candy Crowley insinuated.

Summary:  Neutral

Question #3: Governor Romney, you have stated that if you're elected president, you would plan to reduce the tax rates for all the tax brackets and that you would work with the Congress to eliminate
some deductions in order to make up for the loss in revenue. (I did not include the list of deductions)

This question was fairly impartial.  I believe she was genuinely concerned about losing the home mortgage deduction and she wanted some reassurance from the Gov. that he did not intend to reduce or cut this deduction for middle class taxpayers especially since this one deduction is generally large enough to put most homeowners over the standard deduction.  I didn't really get a read on whether this voter leaned one way or the other.

Summary:  Neutral

Question #4:  In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?

Leftist Voter and Leftist Question.  The 72% gender pay gap has been debunked so many times I don't know where to start.  However it is one of those talking points that the far left continues to repeat over and over again in the hopes to make it true.  I'm surprised that she didn't ask the president if we should apply the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".  Claiming this voter is undecided is about as ridiculous as thinking that the Mets still have a chance to win the World Series this year.  This voter would vote democrat even if the candidate was Comrade Stalin or Castro.

Summary:  LEFT

Question #5: Governor Romney, I am an undecided voter, because I'm disappointed with the lack of progress I've seen in the last four years. However, I do attribute much of America's economic and
international problems to the failings and missteps of the Bush administration.  Since both you and President Bush are Republicans, I fear a return to the policies of those years should you win this election.  What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

I can say without a shadow of doubt that this voter is a leftist statist democrat.  I seriously doubt she is undecided.  The question was an obvious ploy to tie Romney to Bush.  Whenever she used the word Bush or Republican in her question you could see the hatred on her facial expressions.  No need to say anything else.

Summary: LEFT

Question #6: Mr. President, I voted for you in 2008. What have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in 2012? I'm not that optimistic as I was in 2012(2008). Most things I need for everyday living are very expensive.

I actually believed this guy.  I believed he did vote for Obama in 2008 and that he is having second thoughts about doing it this time around.  I think a fair amount of democratic voters believe he is undecided as well due to the hate tweets directed at him.  Those tweets generally put forth this idea:  "How dare an African American not vote for the great one."  I'm wondering whether Candy Crowley knew if he was African American before she called on him.  I bet Candy was hoping that Obama would have provided a much better answer than he did.

Summary:  Neutral 

Question #7: Mr. Romney, what do you plan on doing with immigrants without their green cards that are currently living here as productive members of society?

This undecided voter who just happened to be of latin decent actually states her position in her question.  She basically let us know that she is for amnesty and illegal immigration provided that individual is a productive member of society.  I guess it is OK if I don't pay my taxes provided I am a productive member of society.  It is OK to steal if your a productive member of society.  This is the old leftist rule that their is no wrong or right just varying shades of gray.

Summary:  LEFT

Question #8: We were sitting around, talking about Libya, and we were reading and became aware of reports that the State Department refused extra security for our embassy in Benghazi, Libya, prior to
the attacks that killed four Americans. Who was it that denied enhanced security and why?

I am going to go out on a limb and say that his voter may have been leaning for Romney however was the question towards the political right.  If Obama was a republican incumbent would the question have been asked any differently and the answer is no.  Even Candy Crowley couldn't keep this question out of the discussion or she would have been destroyed by the pundits so the question was going to be asked no matter what.

The big surprise was that the President actually trapped himself by lying about stating he called it a terrorist act on day one.  If you notice when Romney was dumbfounded that Obama actually made that statement and then reconfirmed it.  Romney actually had to ask a third time.  Obama then realized he goofed and his only response was "please proceed governor"

Summary:  Neutral (was leaning right but the question did try to steer the responsibility towards the State Dept instead of the Presidency so went back to Neutral)

Question #9: President Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. What has your administration done or planned to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?

I got a sense that this voter was leaning left/Obama and whenever you bring up gun control and ask what is being done to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals you immediately assume a left leaning individual.  But then what a great opening for Fast and Furious and immediately my wishes were answered.  I'm sure Candy Crowley didn't want FNF brought up during the debate.  I am surprised she let that question through.  FNF is one of the reasons gun control questions are brought up less frequently in this election cycle.  The MSM wants that story to disappear.

Summary:  Neutral

Question #10: The outsourcing of American jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy. What plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the United States?

I'm going to quote Romney on this one, "Government does not create Jobs."  This is generally a left leaning question but is a question that does get asked by many Americans.  We do need to make sure China plays by the rules and actually we do not need the government for this.  We can simply choose not to buy products made by the PRC.  Wow what a concept! 

Summary:  Neutral

Question #11: Hi, Governor. I think this is a tough question. To each of you. What do you believe is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man and a candidate? Using
specific examples, can you take this opportunity to debunk that misperception and set us straight?

Didn't get a feel for this voter but it was a fair question to ask for an undecided voter to either candidate so I am not going to lean one way or the other.

Summary: Neutral

THE FINAL SCORE

Three out of eleven questions were from obvious left leaning Democrats who in my personal opinion would have very little chance to vote for Romney.  Their questions were straight out of the democratic playbook and claiming that these three voters are undecided is simply dumb.

Therefore 3/11 = 27.2 %  (Man I was glad I took the over)

I tried to stay on target and analyze the questions and not the answers of the candidates but I apologize since I did interject some of the candidates answers.

Some other random thoughts for discussion:

If the debate was tilted toward the left and in favor of the Democratic candidate and the consensus is that the two candidates tied does that mean that Romney actually did win the debate?

Sununu states that Obama lives in his own world.  Wow.  I use to kid my brother that he lived in his own world.  I called it Billy World.  His name is Bill. 

I just loved the Marine Vet on the Fox focus group especially when he dropped the BS Bomb.  It is only a matter of time before someone drops the F Bomb.  Is it time to create a delay/dump for the focus groups to prevent foul language on the airwaves?  Not really.  Also Frank Luntz compared one of the voters in his group to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Loved "Ruths" statement that her lack of decision was to vote for Romney or not vote.  Voting for Obama wasn't even in the cards!

Wow this was a long post.  Until next time I will leave you with this Franklin Quote.

The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it.

You have to catch up with it yourself.