How Could Obama Play Like That?!

How could Obama play like that?! He came out terribly in the debate with Romney. Romney’s advantage was simply overwhelming.

I was a correspondent for TVP* in the U.S. when Barack Obama was fighting for the White House for the first time. And I am in a shock after having watched his debate with Mitt Romney. How could Obama play like that?! I’m using here the gentlest word I can. The thing is that one can say a lot about Obama but not that he’s a poor speaker or that he can’t talk and appear in a debate. He came out terribly!

The problem is that the expectations for him were so obvious and huge that even if he came out “just” not bad in the squabble with Romney, it would be a defeat. It’s really hard to assess what has happened. Over 80 percent of Americans hold the view that Romney came out much better than they expected. And over 60 percent believe that Obama came out much worse than he was expected to. I was at many of Obama’s rallies, either in a small primary school in Ohio or at the stadium in Los Angeles. He was always sensational. Irrespective of whether he appeared in front of an audience of tens of thousands or 200 people, he knew how to behave in every situation. Suddenly this man turns out to be helpless against Romney, a politician regarded as plastic, the one who can’t make anyone take to him and who lacks any great emotional depth.

Since 1984, when the research was first conducted, nobody has won the debate with an advantage like the one Romney gained over Obama. Kennedy — who won minimally in the debate with Nixon or even, as some claimed, tied — gained little advantage later in the election. Romney’s advantage was overwhelming this time. We should remember that in the election struggle in the U.S., just a few percent of voters actually matter. The result will depend on the persuasion of the residents from six states. Maybe the debate determines the result. I think Obama’s future failures in the debates may spell his failure in the race for presidency. The campaign will surely be very interesting.

Piotr Kraśko – journalist and the head of “Wiadomości” [the main news program on TVP1] in TVP1, correspondent of the TVP in the U.S. in 2005 – 2008.

*Translator’s note: TVP is a popular, public Polish television station.