What I heard before the first debate was that, historically, the first debate is the one that most influences voters. After that, there is little effect unless one candidate commits a major gaffe like Ford did with his comment about no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.

It strikes me as odd that such a large percentage had no opinion. Noncommittal due to prejudice, unwillingness to admit their guy lost?

I’d hazard a guess that it was noncommittal as in “who gives a flying fig.” Let’s face it they both suck. The debates are just a pre arranged beauty pageant and I haven’t met a single person that thinks either of these guys are going to improve the American peoples’ outlook. It’s hard to be enthusiastic for vanilla and french vanilla when you would prefer something other than those two options.

My observation was that it was a draw. That is a positive for the President given hie earlier performance but it is also a positive for Romney. Romney is less well known to the general public than the President and any chance he gets to be on an equal footing with the President will likely make attempts to cast him in a negative light be less effective. Unless there is some major slip-up by Romney on Monday, the movement that we have seen in the polls over the last three weeks is likely to continue. This does not look good.

Actually, as I posted a couple of days ago, I live in Northern Virginia in a county that has been R for a half century, but voted for the President in 2008, A drive around the county two days ago saw dozens of signs for Romney and none for Obama. That on top of the event here that attracted 15,000 people to see Romney earlier this week leads me to believe that the energy is on Romney’s side. If Obama cannot cannot generate more interest in this county, which is a bedroom for DC, he cannot win this state.

Isn’t the only issue whether winning a debate leads to more votes on Election Day?

As we saw with Bush winning a 2nd term, Americans really like being lied to. And that is all Romney did in the 1st debate. I thought Obama was not challenging Romney and his lies because it was so obvious. However we apparently live in a nation of idiots. So much so, that the nation is no longer recognizable.

Even after the press has pointed out Romney simply lied, idiots claim he won the debate. Debates are supposed to be about facts and the truth. Not virtual reality of who is the biggest playground bully.

Lost in the triviality of “Who won, who lost?” is the reality of the “Debates”, the “campaigns”, and the “election”.

Naught but blue smoke and mirrors to deflect our (deficient via ADHD) attention from the truth which could make us free.

The state of our union is crumbling.

The government is terminally corrupt, dominated by rich old men of the MIC, who pull the strings of puppet politicians.

The “campaign”, including the travesties of the contrived and scripted “Debates” and media stooges whoring for their corporate masters, has been corrupted by the same evil.

The “election” with no choice beyond tweedle dee and tweedle dum is a sham.

Corruption has subverted what our forefathers built so thoughtfully and protected at the cost of sweat, tears, blood, and treasure, into a new parody, a grotesque montage of self serving greed, injustice, and warmongering, threatening our world and beyond, our environment, with unconscionable degradation.

There is a way out, and it cannot be found in the Republocrats and Rombama.

Only the grassroots movement, fueled by social media and free of corporate influence, of a new third party can lead us out of this wasteland.

Rocky Anderson and the Justice Party have solutions to the serious issues of our decline.

http://www.voterocky.org/solutions

http://truth-out.org/news/item/10766-a-road-less-traveled-presidential-candidate-rocky-anderson-speaks-candidly-on-the-crumbling-state-of-the-union

Obama stopped the bleeding with his narrow win. RCP has this tied this morning , last evening it had Obama ahhead for the 1st time since the before the 1st debate. The wind is now calm and not at either candidates back. This is going to come down to who has the best ground game in OHIO. If i were Obama with a Reptile and tea party guy as Gov. I’d be worried. The GOPT has managed to steal two elections down below 1.25% and I’m sure they’ll manage again if given the opportunity. Obama is to blame if he loses. Had he showed up to the 1st debate ready and properly briefed he’s have this running away now. Now he has to pray his retarded base as he calls us shows and that isn’t such a sure thing after four yrs. of abuse, or is it?

So a fool can lose the Presidency, I was beginning to think GW had proved it wasn’t possible.

And since Mitt now owns the voting machines, it won’t matter whatever Obama manages to say in any of the debates:

Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney and his wife, son and brother are major investors in an investment firm called H.I.G. Capital. H.I.G. in turn holds a majority share and three out of five board members in Hart Intercivic, a company that owns the notoriously faulty electronic voting machines that will count the ballots in swing state Ohio November 7. Hart machines will also be used elsewhere in the United States…. In other words, a candidate for the presidency of the United States, and his brother, wife and son, have a straight-line financial interest in the voting machines that could decide this fall’s election.

Does the Romney Family Now Own Your e-Vote?
http://truth-out.org/news/item/12204-does-the-romney-family-now-own-your-e-vote

I rather like Rocky better than Ms. Stein, but he is not on the ballot here.

Thirty-eight percent thought Romney won the second debate. What the hell were they drinking, Sterno?

Romney told a litany of lies in the first debate, the worst of which accuses the president of stealing money from Medicare to pay for Obamacare. Obama and the Democrats need to call Romney out, and pronto, on this one. The same lie is being repeated by Pete Hoekstra in his campaign against Debbie Stabenow.