Make predictions for tonight’s presidential debate here
Tonight is the first of three presidential debates and it is by far the most eagerly awaited one.
To begin with, it’s the first time the two major presidential candidates have been on the same stage. Second, what happens tonight may well set the stage for the next two clashes, and the election. Obama is ahead now, but debates can be game-changers (although they’re usually just the opposite).
Some Romney advisors, such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have been crowing that their man will come armed with zingers that’ll make a Jay Leno monologue look a Quaker Sunday service.
Others, such as vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan, have been downplaying expectations. That puts the Romney camp on both sides of the question — just like their candidate has been, on just about ever major issue.
Obama’s crew have been lowering his expectations. They say Romney is far more experienced in debating, especially in this election cycle.
Give us your analysis on what you believe is going to happen, how and why.
What surprises do you see in store?
Who will spring the Ronald Reagan line, “There you go again . . .” first? Will one guy accuse the other of being “a card-carrying member of the ACLU?”
Put your thoughts in the comments below.
October 3, 2012 - 8:00 AM
My prediction for tonight’s debate? I bet I won’t be watching.
Whoa!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/02/video-surfaces-obama-in-2007-suggesting-racism-slowed-aid-to-post-katrina-new/
Whatever Chris Christie said.
I suggest that this Rep woman from Illinois running for State Senate should be included in the debate. Greatest quote ever!
“Obamacare Summed Up in One Sentence”
From a video posted on you tube that shows Dr. Barbara Bellar speaking at a Women for Romney/Ryan rally last month:
“So let me get this straight. This is a long sentence.
We are going to be gifted with a healthcare plan that we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don’t, which reportedly covers ten million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for sixteen thousand new IRS agents,written by a committee whose chairman doesn’t understand it, passed by congress, that didn’t read it, but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief,who didn’t pay hos taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benifits take effect, by a government which has bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and financed by a country that is broke.
So what the blank could possibly go wrong?”
You are a good baiter Dan. I know you’re too smart to believe what you wrote is true.
Prediction: Obama will be an empty chair tonight. He’ll blame/deny/blame his way out of each corner. At the end, Romney will be the victor and the MSM will declare Obama as the clear winner.
Romney is “more experienced in debating”?
These aren’t really debates. I don’t know if I’ll even bother watching…it’s all canned, rehearsed, and pre-packaged boilerplate. Even the jokes are non-spontaneous.
My prediction is that, no matter what happens tonight, the decided voters will all say their candidate won. I also predict that Romney will continue to tell us he is going to help us but he will not give us any specifics.
Mitt will try to be a moderate and a nice guy with lots of smiles. This is his last gasp to pull in independents who do not fall for the RW crap. Accordingly, Mitt will try to flip and he will flop. He will finally come up with some basics on his tax proposals which will essentially say that he will have revenue neutral tax changes but broaden the base. (Remember, broaden the base means stick it to the middle class more; the only way his plan can be revenue neutral).
Obama will seek to remain cool, calm, and collected as a President should be. He will counter Mitt but not attack him. He will let Mitt trap himself on his own flip flops.
Mitt gets frustrated, sweats, and comes across as someone with no backbone, no credentials; just a cardboard cutout of a man that will say anything to be president.
Christie really thinks precanned “zingers” are going to move the needle for Rmoney? The man demonstrates the maturity level of a 4 year old.
I don’t see a point in this debate. Obama, will stay on his path of being forthright with his plans for the country as a whole, and Romney, will lie, and deny all that he has said up to this point. Romney, will continue to hide all of his true plans until the point of no return. I think if you know how to search for the unbiased truth in the issues at hand, there isn’t any reason to listen to Romney, much less vote for him. Good luck to Obama, I am sure he knows how to handle a bully like Romney.
Well, all Rmoney has had to do so far is stand on stage looking millionaire-ish in his $10K suits and $500 haircuts, while intellectual giants like Bachman and Perry flailed haplessly around the stage. I guess that’s debate “experience” of a sort, but he’ll have to do better than that tonight.
“all Rmoney has had to do so far is stand on stage looking millionaire-ish in his $10K suits and $500 haircuts”
You know Obama is a millionaire as well, right?
Yes Henry, he is – not as rich as Romney but he has plenty of cash. My point wasn’t that Obama is poor. My point was that more is going to be demanded of Romney tonight than has been previously in the primary “debates”.
I’d also say that the only non-millionaire president we’ve had in a while is Bill Clinton.
Obama is a self made millionaire. Romney, was born with it. Only a one-sided individual such as Romney could say, “borrow money from your parents”, when asked how students could afford college after he takes all the help away from them. Only a person so out of touch, and so apparently ignorant to the everyday struggles of lower and middle classes could utter some craziness such as that. Obama, did not make his money by exploiting Chinese labor, and on the backs of hardworking Americans. Obama pays his taxes. How about Romney? In a perfect world Romney will end up in prison for tax evasion, and money laundering.
Romney will not touch Obama like he did Perry in the primary debates.
Romney will say “I’m happy to have that discussion” at least 10 times without elaborating or answering the question asked by the moderator.
over/under how many times “Reagan” is mentioned by either candidate: 26.
Pistol Pete stepped in @ #2 exclaiming “Whoa!” and linking to a page with an Obama video.
So the Republicans are countering the video of Romney privately divulging his feelings that half the country is beneath him with a video of Mr. Obama publicly stating that he wants people of all races treated equally by the government?
The only people the Obama video will have an effect on are unbalanced bigots (either racial or religious) who wouldn’t have voted for Mr. Obama anyway.
I think the more important question is what color Mitt will be at the debate. Will he still be pandering for the Oompa-Loompa vote?
http://i.imgur.com/6Wmvr.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mk1CCVhBbXY/UFx2gEmm8OI/AAAAAAAABXQ/-iFGTh17orI/s1600/a-MITT-ROMNEY-640×468.jpg
Maybe Mitt will wear his Michigan Police Uniform and try to arrest Obama.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/seth-macfarlane-obama-penis-debate-romney_n_1935838.html
Not that this counts as a prediction…
Maybe obama will be asked about this?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/car-company-us-loan-builds-cars-finland/story?id=14770875#.UGsHqE3A-JM
For those keeping score from the last debate:
http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/02/the-6-biggest-lies-obama-told-last-time
RJB, maybe obama will have the Missouri police try to round up Romney for telling ‘lies’ again?
I’d give the advantage to Romney because he’s the challenger and Obummer won’t have his teleprompter.
Media squawking about how this debate is a chance for Romney to “define himself.” He’s had ten years to convince the voters he has a soul, one more night won’t make any difference.
I predict that I’ll be watching baseball.
Marked Man – That’s what I like about your RWers, you love to keep bringing up old things that have been proven wrong. Accuracy and truth never slows you guys down.
Henry,
Re: 10:49 am…
Lol…
Yea.. but.. umm.. his millions are not worth as much as obama’s millions…
The real question is will the moderator (or Romney) allow obama to drone on for 10 minutes per question without really answering?
and
Will obama be the Harvard law guy or the “southern” preacher guy?… my guess is the Harvard guy.
Pistol Pete needs to get back on his meds.
I just hope there is some substance to it.
I also predict that neither man will tell us this truth — that the president has limited ability to affect the economy. And both men will exaggerate the potential economic growth in the U.S.
@29 Umm, mike O, there are time limits.
Another Republican comes to his senses. Maybe Romney has been good for something!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-world-were-actually-living-in.html?ref=opinion
“The one area where Romney could have really challenged Obama on foreign policy was on the president’s bad decision to double-down on Afghanistan. But Romney can’t, because the Republican Party wanted to triple down. So we’re having no debate about how to extricate ourselves from our biggest foreign policy mess and a cartoon debate — “I’m tough; he’s not” — about everything else. In that sense, foreign policy is a lot like domestic policy. The morning after the election, we will face a huge “cliff”: how to deal with Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, without guidance from the candidates or a mandate from voters. Voters will have to go with their gut about which guy has the best gut feel for navigating this world. Obama has demonstrated that he has something there. Romney has not.“
Seems the Brits might not be enamored of Romney either:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/03/ed-miliband-thanks-mitt-romney-for-his-north-korean-greeting_n_1934887.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics
““You may have noticed that doing this job, you get called some names – some of them nice, some of them not so nice,” he said.
“Let me tell you my favourite – it was when Mitt Romney came to Britain and called me ‘Mr Leader’. I don’t know about you but I think it has a certain ring to it myself, it’s sort of halfway to North Korea.
…”I desperately hope Obama will win,” he said.“
Who says money can’t buy you love?
“Billionaire private equity mogul Peter Peterson is investing millions of dollars in a new Washington-based campaign for austerity, planning to blanket the airwaves after the election to bolster the case for a “grand bargain” in Congress’ lame-duck session that would slash Medicare and Social Security spending in exchange for new tax revenue.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/austerity-war-peter-peterson_n_1937089.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
“A devastating new report that found homeland security officials have wasted perhaps billions of dollars on intelligence-gathering complexes known as fusion centers that haven’t detected a single terrorist threat, even as they invaded citizens’ privacy, could present another political headache for one of their biggest advocates: Mitt Romney.
Romney played a pivotal role in promoting the establishment of these counterterrorism centers across the country to “connect the dots” and stave off another 9/11… In his role as chairman of a national task force on intelligence sharing, the then-Massachusetts governor used his bully pulpit to call for a nationwide network that would meld together local, state and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to detect threats.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/mitt-romney-homeland-security_n_1935308.html?utm_hp_ref=politics