What you saw last night wasn't a debate, even though it was advertised as such.
It was a presidential mugging.
Romney sucker punched President Obama with one outrageous lie after another, then steamrolled him all night with an unflinching display of disdain and arrogance the likes of which has rarely if ever been seen in a presidential debate.
This was a bully with a plan.
The country was given a master class last night in how CEO's operate in the real world.
They don't have to bother with silly, inconvenient things like facts, they only care about results and they will do anything or say anything the situation calls for to obtain those results.
If they want to hunt down a gay kid with long blond hair, forcibly hold him down and cut his hair off while he cries, they will do it, just because they can, and probably because they enjoy doing it.
Debates are supposed to be forums where rhetoric and logic are the weapons of choice, so why do so many people think this lying bully was the overwhelming winner last night?
The reason is simply that this guy had the temerity to take on a sitting president in hand to hand combat and went for his jugular without flinching, and looked like he enjoyed doing it.
These supposedly civilized, high minded debates are really just an elaborate costume party for the real blood sport that lies just underneath its facade.
I don't think President Obama did as poorly as many people do, but he is going to have to find his own, unique way of blunting Romney's future attacks. As we all know, this president is a guy with his own unique skill set, and I'm sure he will figure out what he needs to do before the next debate.
This man did not become president by accident. Getting elected with a name like
Barack Hussein Obama in a country with our history was the greatest high stakes, high wire act ever. This is a guy who can take punches and deal with adversity with more adroitness than any politician in our lifetimes. He's not going to go cry in the corner, he's going to figure out what he needs to do for the next debate.
Unfortunately, the bully often wins the first encounter. The true test for Romney will be when they meet again.
I'm putting my money on Obama.