{"id":4038,"date":"2012-10-03T15:28:12","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T20:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/?p=4038"},"modified":"2012-10-03T15:35:21","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T20:35:21","slug":"my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not worried about tonight\u2019s debate \u2014 not because I don\u2019t understand the stakes or because I\u2019m overconfident regarding Mitt\u2019s performance, but because I feel like I already know what will happen. \u00a0For those who can\u2019t watch tonight or have to go to sleep early, here\u2019s my pre-debte, post-debate assessment.<\/p>\n

Mitt did well<\/strong>: The experience of twenty-plus primary debates served him well. \u00a0He had a good case to make, made it well, and landed several serious blows on the President, including a one-liner or two that will have enduring life on YouTube. \u00a0For those who\u2019ve had their opinions colored primarily by Obama\u2019s (and the Media\u2019s) relentless demonization, they saw more than enough to reconsider. \u00a0Mitt won the debate. \u00a0Not by much, but he won.<\/p>\n

Obama was eloquent on defense<\/strong>: \u00a0Turns out that Obama doesn\u2019t have to rely on a teleprompter \u2014 a lesson John McCain learned in 2008. \u00a0The President didn\u2019t do as well in 2012 in 2008, but primarily because he has an actual record to defend. \u00a0His answers on Libya were incoherent. \u00a0But few politicians are better at division and distraction than Barack Obama, and he certainly scored enough points to cheer his base.<\/p>\n

There were too many questions on process and not enough on substance<\/strong>: \u00a0The Middle East is on fire, our troops are dying at the hands of our supposed allies, the economy has slowed to a crawl, and we spent entirely too much time talking about speeches, alleged gaffes, and campaign minutiae.<\/p>\n

The polls won\u2019t change anytime soon<\/strong>: \u00a0In a debate, the tie generally goes to the challenger, and this wasn\u2019t a tie \u2014 Mitt did better. \u00a0But will his edge show up in the polls? \u00a0As Katrina Trinko reported in NRO<\/a>, the media polls are likely to over-weight Democratic voters:<\/p>\n

Republican pollsters John McLaughlin and Jim McLaughlin argue today that the skewed demographics of voters in most polls mean that Romney won\u2019t pull ahead in swing states:<\/p>\n

Tonight Mitt Romney could give the most effective debate performance since Ronald Reagan out debated President Carter, or even since Abraham Lincoln showed up Stephen Douglas, and Mitt Romney will still lose the post debate swing state polls. Why? Because the voter samples that the media pollsters will call are already stacked to favor Democrats over Republicans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The election remains close<\/strong>: I think I\u2019ll be saying this until election day.<\/p>\n

How well will this pre-debate, post-debate assessment hold up? \u00a0Check in after the debate, and we\u2019ll grade my prediction.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not worried about tonight\u2019s debate \u2014 not because I don\u2019t understand the stakes or because I\u2019m overconfident regarding Mitt\u2019s performance, but because I feel like I already know what will happen. \u00a0For those who can\u2019t watch tonight or have to go to sleep early, here\u2019s my pre-debte, post-debate assessment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[85,195,700,23],"class_list":["post-4038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-barack-obama","tag-debate","tag-election-2012","tag-mitt-romney"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm not worried about tonight's debate -- not because I don't understand the stakes or because I'm overconfident regarding Mitt's performance, but because\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I'm not worried about tonight's debate -- not because I don't understand the stakes or because I'm overconfident regarding Mitt's performance, but because\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The French Revolution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-03T20:28:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-03T20:35:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/files\/2012\/10\/Debate.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David French\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David French\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/\",\"name\":\"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-03T20:28:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-03T20:35:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#\/schema\/person\/f43f371002577b726bcd36151f976bf6\"},\"description\":\"I'm not worried about tonight's debate -- not because I don't understand the stakes or because I'm overconfident regarding Mitt's performance, but because\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/\",\"name\":\"The French Revolution\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#\/schema\/person\/f43f371002577b726bcd36151f976bf6\",\"name\":\"David French\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d52dc83e07a1e8737410776f410512e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d52dc83e07a1e8737410776f410512e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David French\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/author\/davidfrench\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment","description":"I'm not worried about tonight's debate -- not because I don't understand the stakes or because I'm overconfident regarding Mitt's performance, but because","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment","og_description":"I'm not worried about tonight's debate -- not because I don't understand the stakes or because I'm overconfident regarding Mitt's performance, but because","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/","og_site_name":"The French Revolution","article_published_time":"2012-10-03T20:28:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-10-03T20:35:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/files\/2012\/10\/Debate.jpg"}],"author":"David French","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David French","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/","name":"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-03T20:28:12+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-03T20:35:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#\/schema\/person\/f43f371002577b726bcd36151f976bf6"},"description":"I'm not worried about tonight's debate -- not because I don't understand the stakes or because I'm overconfident regarding Mitt's performance, but because","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2012\/10\/03\/my-pre-debate-post-debate-assessment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My Pre-Debate, Post-Debate Assessment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/","name":"The French Revolution","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#\/schema\/person\/f43f371002577b726bcd36151f976bf6","name":"David French","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d52dc83e07a1e8737410776f410512e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d52dc83e07a1e8737410776f410512e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David French"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/author\/davidfrench\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}