What they’re saying about Tuesday night’s debate.
On television:
ABC host George Stephanopoulos: “Both candidates decided they were going to rouse partisans tonight, rouse their supporters, not worry so much about those uncommitted voters, maybe many of them in the room who might squirm when they see that kind of tension as the candidates go at each other.”
MSNBC host Ed Schultz: “I think the president had a stellar performance tonight because he strengthened his position with women and also on immigration. He had far more facts than Mitt Romney could ever put out on immigration, and in fact on a number of occasions he misstated the case where the president had been on immigration. Those were two areas he had to shore up tonight.”
Fox News host Chris Wallace: “I thought Romney’s best moments were, as Brit [Hume] mentioned, when he was just laying out the litany, and he did it effectively, of the record of the Obama administration on employment, on debt, on poverty, on median income. I thought Obama’s best moments were when he said basically Romney favors the rich. … Overall my reaction, I think it certainly stopped the bleeding of the Obama campaign and for that they’re going to be very happy.
Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., on CNN: “President Obama spent exactly no time at all speaking about any specific plans for a second term. I thought one of the most telling questions was when the voter said, ‘I voted for you four years ago, why should I vote for you now?’ Look at all the broken promises.”
On Twitter
The Atlantic magazine’s Molly Ball, @mollyesque: The candidates are approaching each other. They’re going to fight! Oh wait, these dudes are both wusses.
National Review magazine’s Robert Costa, @robertcostaNRO: Just a gut feeling, but Romney with this even-tempered, teacher-style approach is better than the testy rules guy
The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas, @AlexPappasDC: Romney and Obama really seem like they despise each other
The Wall Street Journal’s Neil King, @NKingofDC: Obama saves the 47% for the last 1% of the debate.
Real Clear Politics’ Scott Conroy, @RealClearScott: If the debates that had Herman Cain in them could go 2 hours, why can’t these?
News releases:
Frances Beinecke, president of the Nutural Resources Defense Council Action Fund: “Tonight’s town hall debate casts in bold relief the clashing priorities of the two tickets on energy policy. The Romney-[Ryan] agenda was written and paid for by the dirty fuels industry, and designed for its own benefit. The Obama-Biden agenda puts people and their well-being first, and it understands that a clean energy policy is also good for our economy. This is a contrast everyone gets.”
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. “Mitt Romney left the debate stage with another win tonight because he told voters in clear, straightforward terms how he will create 12 million jobs, deliver a real recovery and make this an American Century. In contrast, President Obama was unable to articulate how the next four years will be any better than the last – because he has no record to run on and no plan for the future. Americans across the country know that we can’t continue down this path of economic stagnation and weak leadership on the world stage. It’s time for a change, and the candidate who will bring it is Mitt Romney.”
