President Obama came on strong from the beginning of the third and last Presidential debate, while Romney avoided answering questions and seemed nervous and cautious. Here’s a round up of reaction on Twitter:
Ed Henry @edhenryTV Obama seems more comfortable weaving his way around world — Romney appears to be watching every word carefully to avoid gaffe, v cautious
jmartpolitico @jmartpolitico Mitt seems nervous out of gates
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Jim Acosta @jimacostacnn Obama did come out swinging. #CNNDebate
Laura Rozen @lrozen Obama sounding a bit more sure footed so far……Romney like he memorized the map of MENA
Scott Conroy @RealClearScott Romney asked lay-up question on Libya. Doesn’t answer it.
Arlette Saenz @ArletteSaenz Obama: When asked about our greatest geopolitical threat, you said it was Russia…The 80’s are now calling us for their foreign policy back
Ed Henry @edhenryTV Obama zing on Russia: The 1980’s wants its foreign policy back
jasoncherkis @jasoncherkis Looks like we are getting the Obama from the second debate.
Major Garrett @MajoratNJ Significantly, Romney does not describe what new U.S. strategy should be in Libya, Syria, Mali, Egypt or region.
Marc Ambinder @marcambinder Romney wants to let the Arab world fight terrorism on its own, but would leave more troops in Iraq
Philip Klein @philipaklein This is not the same Mitt who wanted to double Gitmo.
John Heilemann @jheil Romney very soft on Libya.
Keith Boykin @keithboykin CNBC web poll: 63% say Obama won the debate. Only 33% said Romney. pic.twitter.com/VSIJiJmM
Henry C.J. Jackson @hjacksonAP Carville on CNN says this was a “rout” for Obama.
Chuck Todd @chucktodd POTUS controlled the tone and tenor of the debate, came armed with a ton of zingers. And Romney simply let him do it.
John Weaver @JWGOP Romney wanted to look presidential. Agreeing with the President seems like an odd way to do that.
Taegan Goddard @politicalwire Romney is out of his league whevever they get back to national security. It really helps to be president for four years.
david carr @carr2n Romney sounds more like Obama’s running mate than his opponent tonight. Etch-a-Sketch protocol in high effect.
attackerman @attackerman Unless Romney draws some distinction with Obama now on Iran, he’s basically unilaterally disarming.
jasoncherkis @jasoncherkis1m First debate where Romney doesn’t sound prepared.
Josh Dorner @JoshDorner Obama dial test line for women on CNN has been bumping along the top all night. Line among men has also generally been strong too.
Brian Fung @b_fung Romney’s embrace tonight of Obama’s decisions a clear case of Romnesia. Ryan last week: Obama’s FP is “failing, unraveling”
Robert Schlesinger @rschles CNN’s John King: Debate coaches would say president won this on points.
Eli Lake @EliLake Obama won this debate. #debate2012
Don Lemon @DonLemonCNN Kids, when u hear old folks talk about experience, this is what they mean. It’s hard to compete w/ having been there. #Debate2012#CNNDebate
Amy Davidson @tnyCloseRead Obama won. Without the flash of the second #debate–but solidly, in every section.
Henry C.J. Jackson @hjacksonAP Carville on CNN says this was a “rout” for Obama.
David Firestone @fstonenyt Romney’s worst debate of the three. He was basically treading water, simply hoping not to drown.
Mitt Romney did a good job repositioning himself from The Other Mitt by copying most of Obama’s ideas on foreign policy. If the public buys that, it might help him as the policies he’s had up until today were not attractive to most voters. In spite of his memorized talking points, Romney was out of his element on the subject of foreign policy. He looked nervous and he refused to answer questions with specifics, using a pivot to domestic policy or the Middle East in general to avoid laying out his policies. Mitt Romney spent the debate agreeing with President Obama.
The President was strong, articulate, knowledgeable and confident, as his record indicated he would be.
The CBS flash poll of uncommitted voters agreed, with 53 percent saying Obama won and 23 percent saying Romney won. 71 percent of the CBS poll also think Obama is trusted to handle an international crisis and only 49 percent say that about Romney. That’s a bigger win than Romney got with the same group in the first debate. CNN’s poll of likely voters had 48 percent for Obama and 40% for Romney. Swing state voters with PPP agreed that Obama won 53-42, and are planning on voting for Obama 51 percent and Romney 45 percent.
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