The 'pundits' are all saying that Romney 'won' the debate; but let's remind ourselves:
1. 'Pundit' is a word used by people who can't spell 'charlatan'.
Dick 'I've Never Been Right About Anything' Morris is a 'pundit'; George Will is a 'pundit'; David Brooks is a 'pundit'; Chuck Todd is a 'pundit': if those jackasses told me it was raining outside, I'd slap on the Coppertone.
2. The 'pundits' and the media as a whole were desperate to make this election appear 'close'; they need to create the impression of a 'tight' race. Otherwise they're irrelevant and advertisers aren't going to be prepared to pay top dollar and viewers won't tune in.
For the last week, many of us have been predicting that the media would call this one for Romney. The media were desperate for Romney not to fall flat on his face.
As long as Romney didn't go Full-Metal-Taxi-Driver-psycho and start raving about The Illuminati and bugs under his skin and KGB agents hiding in his magic underpants, the 'pundits' were always going to crown Romney the winner.
It was either that or pack their bags and go fishing until November.
3. The 'pundits' scored Gore the debate 'winner' over George W. Bush; all the polls taken post-debate had Gore winning by double-digits...but a week of mockery, ridicule and 'fact-checking' took the shine off that.
4. The 'pundits' are talking about Romney 'taking command', 'dominating' and 'taking the fight to The President'. Oh, yeah?
What I saw was a frantic Romney desperately trying to get out all his memorized talking points and 'zingers' before he forgot them...but he might just as well have. He seemed petulant, abrasive, bullying and egotistical and more besides, none of it good. What he didn't seem was presidential.
5. Most damaging of all, to my mind, were all the gifts that Romney gave to Team Obama.
He told so many lies and contradicted himself and his most recently held 'positions' so often that he gave Team Obama enough material for a month's worth of powerful TV ads.
Remember, the Obama team are very, very good at using Romney's own words to make him look like the lying, spinning, unprincipled opportunist that he is. And that's without even taking into account all the things that are going to drive his 'base' (never the most mentally stable of demographics) completely batshit insane.
The first 24-hours after a debate is a time of febrile claims, counter-claims, wild assertions and blatant and shameless falsehoods. Reserve judgement for a few days.
Concentrate on getting the vote out; ignore the 'pundits' like you ignore the crazed, shouting winos downtown. When 'pundits' (or winos) piss their pants, it isn't a sign that President Obama is in trouble: it's a sign of poor bladder control.