Fred Kaplan reviews last night's presidential debate.
The snap polls all seem to be saying that Obama won. Some say by a little, some say by a lot. I'm curious as to how many Americans have the capacity to say, "My guy lost."
I thought Romney lost points on substance — the things he said — but really lost on appearance. He looked frantic at times with a thin veneer of Flop Sweat and I don't think he made much of a case that his foreign policy would be all that different from Obama's. I think it would be. His advisers are mainly guys who think the Iraq War was a great idea, executed with uncanny precision…and some of them (like John Bolton) seem way too eager to pick a war, any war. On the other hand, Obama seemed a bit too defensive at points where Romney was changing the topic to the economy.
I don't know if either man changed anyone's vote but I do know they didn't change mine. That's because mine went into a mailbox last Thursday.
In several years past, it was inconvenient and close to impossible for me to get to the polls on Election Day so I signed up for absentee voting. It makes things easier and has the added advantage of "ending" the campaign for me earlier. The presidential race doesn't matter a lot in my state. If Obama isn't going to carry California, this thing will be over long before the polls close out here. But we have a lot of propositions and the supporters of many are bombarding us with advertising. I studied the propositions, made my picks, sent off my ballot…and now I don't have to pay attention to the commercials and mailers. It feels so good.