Obama Clear Winner in Second Debate
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

NEWS ANALYSIS

PHOTO: Courtesy/Afro American Newspapers

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - When President Obama and Governor Romney squared off for their second debate at Hofstra University in New York, Mitt Romney was the same Mitt Romney seen in the first debate.  He was aggressive, condescending, and continued to try try to pass off his stump speech goals as real plans and policy.

In this second debate President Obama was focused, engaged, assertive, and he refused to allow Governor Romney’s misstatements, miscalculations, and baseless assertions to go unchallenged.  By challenging Romney at every turn and clearly presenting his perspective on issues such as  job creation, taxes, and foreign policy, President Obama clearly won the second debate.

In the analysis of the past debates, the first presidential and VP, there was too much focus on style and very little attention to substance.  The Newsday headline after the first presidential debate was “Mitt Romney wins the first debate by being smoother than Barack Obama.” In its analysis of the Biden/Ryan debate the Washington Post stated, “…Biden risked appearing rude and creating an unhelpful subplot with his constant interjections and scoffs. And it was grating at times.” 

It’s analysis of Ryan was, “Ryan defined the term “steady.” He didn’t get flustered by Biden’s constant interjections, continuing to make his points and not allowing himself to be cut off.  An analysus of the second presidential debate by an ABC affiliate called it a draw.  According to ABC News 50, “most are speculative as to crowning anyone the “winner” for tonight. Both candidates defended their views with passion and ease…As experts review talking points, gestures, and body language we will have to see who won the debates tonight.

In all of this analysis it is important to remember that these are not a high school or college debates.  Teams of students do not randomly pull issues out of hats and defend positions that do not necessarily represent who they are and what they stand for.  The issues being debated are real and have serious impacts on the lives of real people.  The public needs to see passion from those who are vying for the highest offices in the land.  When a candidate materially misrepresents the facts he should be scoffed at and ridiculed.  Lies have no place in the debate on the future of this country.

As pundits and commentators discuss who was smoother, who was steady, and who did or did not get flustered; how about spending more time focusing on who told the truth?  How about examining whether or not the arithmetic actually adds up and is Iran really a nuclear threat?

In this second presidential debate the President did play fast-and-loose with some of the facts.  According to FactCheck.org:

• Obama claimed Romney once called Arizona’s “papers, please” immigration law a “model” for the nation. He didn’t. Romney said that of an earlier Arizona law requiring employers to check the immigration status of employees.
• Obama falsely claimed Romney once referred to wind-power jobs as “imaginary.” Not true. Romney actually spoke of “an imaginary world” where “windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”

The President’s statements were not nearly as egregious as Romney’s. Romney went well beyond exaggeration into substantive mispresentation of the facts and changed previously stated positions. According to FactCheck.org:

• Romney questioned the president’s claim to have spoken of an “act of terror” the day after the slaying of four Americans in Libya. The president indeed referred to “acts of terror” that day…

• Romney said repeatedly he won’t cut taxes for the wealthy, a switch from his position during the GOP primaries, when he said the top 1 percent would be among those to benefit.
• Romney said “a recent study has shown” that taxes “will” rise on the middle class by $4,000 as a result of federal debt increases since Obama took office. Not true. That’s just one possible way debt service could be financed.
• Romney claimed 580,000 women have lost jobs under Obama. The true figure is closer to 93,000.
• Romney claimed the automakers’ bankruptcy that Obama implemented was “precisely what I recommend.” Romney did favor a bankruptcy followed by federal loan guarantees, but not the direct federal aid that Obama insists was essential.
• Romney said he would keep Pell Grants for low-income college students “growing.” That’s a change. Both Romney and his running mate, Ryan, have previously said they’d limit eligibility.

As a side note, it is important to recognize that for all of the issues that were covered in the first three debates, “poverty” has not been addressed by either side.  Romney mentioned the word “poverty” once in the first debate and twice in his second debate. Many believe that the President is intentionally ignoring the term because of its racial stereotype and he’s running a de-racialized campaign. Talking about unemployment outside of the context of poverty is ignoring the real problem and avoiding the real solution.

With that being said, this past Tuesday night at Hofstra, President Obama was assertive, commanding, focused, engaged, in control, and most importantly right on most of  the facts.  If facts still matter (and I believe they do) President Obama was the clear winner of the second debate.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program "Inside the Issues with  WilmerLeon," and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C.  Go to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,  www.wilmerleon.com , email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..orwww.twitter.com/drwleon