I didn’t watch the second Obama-Romney debate live, but it seems Obama did a lot better than he did in the first one.
Clearly he knew as well as anyone that he screwed up in the first debate, and that he had to be more forceful. He did what he needed to do.
This time he didn’t let Romney’s lies (and there were plenty in the first debate) go unchallenged.
This time Obama took head-on Romney’s infamous “47 percent” remarks to wealthy donors.
While there are legitimate questions to be raised, in the wake of the Benghazi consulate attack, about adequate security and about the administration’s shifting explanations of what happened, Romney found himself being called out by the debate moderator for claiming that Obama waited two weeks before calling what happened in Benghazi an act of terror.
Here is what Obama said the next day in response to the Benghazi attack:
No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.
Now some Romney supporters are claiming this wasn’t a direct reference to the Benghazi attack. You be the judge.
Finally Romney deserves some credit for coming up with the memorable phrase “binders full of women” in the course of bragging about his affirmative-action hiring as governor of Massachusetts.
It didn’t take long for the on-line world to pounce on this in its various ways:
Hey, what else is the Internet for?
Update: Romney’s reference to “binders full of women” came in the course of not answering a question about pay equity for women.