Presidential Debate: Obama Bares His Teeth

After his flop in the first debate, everyone was waiting to see Obama’s performance. One of his main advisers, Robert Gibbs, had predicted that Obama would be very assertive, which wasn’t difficult considering how distant and even absent-minded the president appeared during the first debate — a debate that profoundly changed the dynamic of the campaign.

The mood was completely different during the debate on Oct. 16. The podium where the Democratic president seemed to be hiding while he took notes, incapable of reacting to Mitt Romney’s dynamism, was gone. The setting was large and open. The candidates could pace up and down at their leisure to approach the “real Americans” asking “real questions.” According to the excellent moderator Candy Crowley, the candidates had not heard the questions before.

The two candidates were not discouraged, exchanging congratulations on the quality of the questions. (“That’s a very good question, thanks!”) They never actually answered these questions. What could the student, who was worried about his future after graduation, have thought when he heard the two candidates pitch their economic plans? This is definitely how the game is played, but there’s no doubt that it’s disconcerting.

Obama Moves in

What a change of tone! Smiling but determined, the worn-down candidate from two weeks ago was nowhere to be found. Obama wasn’t letting anything go.

And he probably had some banana peels in his pocket to slip under Romney’s well-polished shoes. For example, the Republican candidate wants to revive coal production — but why did he stand in front of a coal mine when he was a governor and say, “This plant kills”?

Likewise, Obama didn’t hesitate to recall his opponent’s tax rate or comments “behind closed doors,” which stigmatized 47 percent of Americans as “victims who refuse personal responsibility.” Mitt Romney responded to this at the very end of the debate by saying, “I care about 100 percent of the American people,” and cited his faith and charitable work in his church.

Attacked for his weakness on the economic war with China, Obama pointed out that Bain Capital, Romney’s company, invested in China and that his Republican opponent was opposed to all protectionism, while Obama had raised customs taxes on imported Chinese tires. This might seem anecdotal, but during the first debate, Obama never offered such a direct response to Romney.

Romney’s Firm Defense

Nevertheless, Romney didn’t just watch the Obama train pass. He was very firm on the energy question, insisting on the necessity of increasing oil production and exploration everywhere, including Alaska.

Several times he questioned Obama’s neglect of Keystone XL, the giant pipeline project that would carry crude oil, which is catastrophic for the environment, from Canada to various American refineries.

Finally, he mocked the federal actions against private companies in the Dakotas, which were forced to stop the production of shale gas after the death of “20 to 25 birds.” After the Big Bird incident, Romney seems to really have a problem with feathers.

Romney didn’t give Obama a break on his record, recalling his unfulfilled promises and the disappointment they caused in the United States. “He’s great… as a speaker and describing his plans and his vision. That’s wonderful, except we have a record to look at.”

He stayed on the path that he carved out during the first debate, trying to outline the traits of a candidate with reasonable opinions on the economy and immigration — immigrants are essentially good for our country — and women’s rights.

In this area, it’s obvious that Mitt was a little shaky. Responding to a question about equal pay for women, he pointed out that as governor of Massachusetts, he was upset about the lack of women in his cabinet, and as a result, he hired women. Obama was at ease talking about his daughters, mother and grandmother, but above all, he pointed out that the first law passed under his administration was in support of equal pay for men and women.

Obama can’t afford to lose female voters; he clearly needed to convince them during this debate.

Heated Exchange on Benghazi

It was during the discussion of foreign policy that the tension between the two candidates became more palpable. For months, Republicans have been looking for a way to demonstrate Obama’s weakness and his lack of force and manliness. The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi offered them a great opportunity and started one of the most heated exchanges during the debate.

Romney’s arguments are known: The Obama administration took several days to recognize the terrorist attack and was not able to protect the consulate. Romney said it in his current slogan: You can’t “lead from behind.”

Obama’s response was scathing and right on target. He pointed out that he refused to use the death of an American ambassador for political purposes. Also, the day after the attack during an address in the Rose Garden, he called it “act of terror,” which did not minimize the scale of the event.

In the hours that followed, the usage of the word “terror” and not “terrorism” would be heavily discussed. (Fox News had already started to talk.) But in front of the audience, Romney seemed at a loss facing Obama, who had reaffirmed his caliber as “commander-in-chief.”

It was certainly the strongest moment in the debate. If it’s difficult to determine the winner, the first polls gave Obama the victory, and it’s clear that the Democratic president balanced out the debates. Proud of his record and able to attack Romney, he rallied his troops. Will this be enough to turn the tide in a campaign that seems to be slipping away from him?