Round 2

Mostly obviously, Romney's perfomance continued to undermine the Democratic strategy of casting him as a dangerous extremist. As in the first debate, the former Massachusetts governor presented himself as reasonable and focused on the audience's concerns, and particularly the insecurity brought on by a sluggish economy. But unlike the first debate, this was no clear-cut Romney win. In fact, after the first 30 minutes, Obama so lackluster in the first debate delivered a forceful, presidential performance that sometimes dominated the stage. The apex came in response to a question about why requests for added security at the American mission had been denied before the deaths of four diplomats, an issue Romney has been trying to capitalize on for weeks. Without directly answering the security-denial question, Obama forcefully said the responsibility was his. He then attacked Romney for suggesting that he as president would play politics with American lives at stake, angrily calling it offensive and leaving Romney with no effective response.In the end, each candidate achieved what he needed to do, with early reaction suggesting either a split decision or an Obama win. Political activists and national journalists on Twitter, who almost universally saw a Romney win in the first debate, were divided this time, as was wider commentary.  One thing that was different fron the last debate is the layout. In this debate there wasn't two podiums, instead there were only two chairs so Obama and Romney were free to stand up. This layout was a way to foucus on Obama's and Romneys body language to see how they react from behind a podium or a desk. The fact the the layout has changed from the first debate brings more attention to Obama and Romney and this attention brought more viewers. Instant polls by CBS and CNN both found an Obama victory by 7 points.Monday's debate is the last major chance for Romney and Obama to be seen by millions of voters before Election Day. More than 60 million viewers watched each of their previous two encounters.If recent history is any guide, it is anybody's guess as to how the third face-to-face session will play out. 

Obama Is Ready For Round 2

In a recent ABC interview with Diane Sawyer, President Obama discusses his strategy for the upcoming second debate next week. First Obama goes on and admits to America that his performance was great and does the humble thing by saying “Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It's not the first time,” Which is a good thing for him to say so we know that he realized it and can learn from it. As the interview continues, Obama reassures voters that the first debate is just that, the first debate and that there are four more weeks to go. In the interview Obama acknowledges that he didn’t represent the ideal image democratic voters expected from him by saying, "If you have a bad game you just move on, you look forward to the next one, and it makes you that much more determined," he said, comparing the political face-off to a sports game.  So what is Obama’s new approach? Well for starters, Obama plans on a tougher approach and to make sure the American people see his consistency on the issues at hand. Sawyer asked the President whether it was possible his performance had handed the election to Romney, Obama said, “No.” “What’s important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven’t changed,” he said. “You know, Governor Romney went to a lot of trouble to try to hide what his positions are.” In this interview it reassures the voters that Obama isn’t giving up and that he wants to continue being presidents and how the next debate will have a little more activity.   

Presidential Debate #1

Millions of people were glued to their televisions at home to watch the first 2012 presidential debate and I, of course was right there glued to my television.  Everyone around the world had their own view on who will win the debate and most of those people believed that it would probably be Obama because he is a good speaker. Many assume that Romney would be his normal image of being too aggressive, inconsistent, and less likable. Before the debate starts you see how the stage has been set up in Denver. There are only two podiums that almost in a way mimic a battle of two enemies about to go to war. Below the stage is the audience and even the moderator Jim Lehrer who you would think would be on the stage too, but is placed below to keep the main focus on the two opponents.

            Finally the debating candidates arrive to the podium walk to the middle of the stage to shake hands and exchange smiles that is seen before every debate to show that they are friendly towards each other even if they do not have the same beliefs. Both candidates dress very nice with Romney in a red tie to represent the Republican Party, and Obama in blue to represent the Democratic Party. Lehrer asks a broad question about the differences in the candidates’ jobs plans. Obama answers by thanking his wife for 20 years of marriage. “I just want to wish, Sweetie, you a happy anniversary and let you know that a year from now, we will not be celebrating it in front of 40 million people,” he says. The crowd begins to laugh because they seem the image of a charming Obama with a sense of humor. Romney response also received laughter when he congratulated the president about his anniversary and says, “I'm sure this was the most romantic place you could imagine, here with me.” As times goes by questions are being asked and punches are being thrown (not literally) and the viewers at home are getting a sense of who is winning in the debate from Romney and Obama’s body language. Romney is more animated, more dominating, more excited. Obama is in a daze, with less eye contact, as if he has lost of his natural charm. There are strategic reasons for this. Obama is winning in the polls so he doesn’t need to dominate. But what he does need to keep voters reassured about what changes can be made in the future. However this did not happen. After more back and forth time finally runs out and the debate ends with a friendly handshake to show the voters that they are nice guys even after the debate and family men to represent America.

There’s An App For That!

With technology consuming most of our population now of days, I begin thinking about how the political campaigns are trying get young adults to vote. I have come across certain social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pintrest.  So I decided to do some investigation about if there was an apple app about the political campaigns.  Surprisingly there isn’t one that informs you about their political views, but there is an game app of the two candidates using a number of blunt electioneering weapons, including the aforementioned microphone, a foam hand, a Red, White and Blue ice cream cone, and the Constitution of the United States of America.  With any game the number of times you win you unlock a number of different outfits for Obama and Romney to wear, such as an eyepatch, a clown nose, or a "sweet mustache." There are also several clever power-ups that will help you in battle: Activating "Health Care" means you can't be knocked downEven though it is all fun and games there is a purpose, prominently displaying a voter registration button on its homescreen and linking to other voting resources. The neat thing is that the app regularly tallies which candidate players select and displays a realtime running vote total and so far, about 65 percent have chosen Obama.