The Final Debate of 2012

Overall, last night's debate between President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney seemed a bit unproductive to me. I didn't really hear anything from either candidate that I haven't heard before. And although the debate was supposed to focus on foreign policy, domestic issues were often brought up by both candidates, in what I assume was an effort to spew one last round of campaign rhetoric.

The thing that really surprised me though was that Romney didn't really grill the President over the recent Libyan terrorist attack that left four Americans dead. There has been a lot of controversy over whether or not the Obama administration covered up facts surrounding this tragic event. The stage was set, but for some reason, Romney failed to push the issue. Along the same lines, Romney conveniently left out any mention of the "Fast & Furious" controversy. What impact this would have had on undecided voters is anyone's guess.


The biggest problem I had with this, and previous debates, is that both candidates consistently present conflicting arguments on almost any topic. If one is telling us the sky is blue and the other will say that it's red. Well, they both can't be right! I often feel like I've got to have a fact-check website at my fingertips while watching these things. I can certainly understand why there in no love for politicians. I can understand the contrasting ideologies to some degree, but wouldn't it be nice if we could at least keep the facts straight?

In predictable fashion, supporters from both sides feel that their candidate won last night's debate. I think both men had their moments. And as expected, the usual suspects immediately lined up behind their guy. MSNBC blowhard Chris Mattthews, even took an opportunity to throw out the race card after the debate by saying:

"I think they hate Obama. They want him out of the White House more than they want to destroy Al Qaeda. Their No. 1 enemy in the world right now, on the right, is their hatred, hatred for Obama. And we can go into that about the white working class in the South and looking at these numbers we're getting the last couple days about racial hatred in many cases … this isn't about being a better president, they want to get rid of this president.."

Could Matthews' comments be because he has lost the "thrill that ran up his leg" in 2008 and he's worried that his man (Obama) could possibly lose this election? Nonetheless, I find the racial accusations reckless and offensive. Republicans often disagree with Democrats and vice versa. There are a multitude of reasons why but it very seldom has anything to do with skin color.

Since Obama has slipped in recent polls, the President probably felt the need come out aggressive last night. And that's the exactly way I saw him. Although, I had issues with some of his statements, I did think that he appeared strong and confident, which is quite the contrary to the first debate. However, at times, I thought Obama appeared condescending and arrogant. I thought his "horses and bayonets" comment was a misguided attempt to illustrate that his challenger had limited knowledge of our military. But the President's comment lost air when it was revealed that the Marines still use bayonets and the Army still uses horses, in Afghanistan for example.

 Romney on the other hand, surprisingly came off as a bit soft. I really thought that he would have went for the throat, as many conservatives feel that Obama has been very weak on foreign policy. Romney did get in an occasional jab, for instance, when he commented on Obama's Middle East "apology tour".

As for the moderator, I thought Bob Schieffer did a good job. Although I'm no fan of CBS, I always thought of Schieffer as knowledgeable and fair. He was far better, in my opinion, than the moderators of the previous two debates.

On a lighter note, I always get a kick out of how the opposing candidates greet each other after the event. They shake hands, exchange pleasantries and then greet each other's families like they're catching up at a reunion on Walton Mountain. Of course, this is right after the two guys spent the last hour and a half verbally browbeating each other. It just seems funny to me. Kind of like the way MMA fighters touch gloves and then immediately try to dislocate each other's head.

So, what does it all mean? Will any of these debates influence the outcome of what many consider to be the most important election of our lifetime? From Obamacare to the inevitable appointment of one or more Supreme Court justices, the next four years will likely have some serious ramifications on our future. Who you choose to vote for is your business. All I can suggest is this..... Try to filter through as much of the bullshit as possible, then vote for the candidate who you truly believe can best lead our country......

kw