Live Blog: Obama and Romney Square Off in First Presidential Debate
The Democratic incumbent and his Republican challenger address each other directly during a 90 minute exchange in Denver.
There's just one thing that's certain about tonight's debate between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney: when it's over, their respective campaigns will each claim victory.
After half a week of suddenly declaring their candidate the inferior orator (after doing the exact opposite during their conventions) in order to lower expectations for the verbal sparring match, the spinmasters will say that (insert candidate here) made a clear case for his right to spend the next four years in the White House, and clearly connected with the American people. This will be the first of three about faces this month, and the stakes of executing a perfect, Gabby Douglas-esque balance beam walk are high: Obama leads Romney among likely voters by one point in the latest NBC/WSJ poll, and four among those registered to cast a ballot.
What to watch for? Well-practiced answers -- including some zingers -- and maybe some specifics. Obama has alternated his charges regarding Romney's policy proposals: that they're too vague, that they're too conservative, and that they are conservative when he used to be more liberal as the governor of Massachusetts. Romney, on the other hand, will work to put Obama on the defensive, hitting on the slow economy recovery.
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this is the Romney i've been waiting for - the windsock of a man who now is suddenly for the low income folks and no tax cuts for richby Bill Maher via twitter 10/4/2012 1:14:12 AM -
Lehrer asks Romney if he wants to ask Obama a question about his answer.
Romney says he doesn’t want $5 trillion tax cut, but cuts for middle class.
He says everyday costs for gas, food, health care have gone up for Obama.
“The question is now to get ’em going again,” says Romney.
He says he, too, favors educational investment. -
FACT CHECK: Romney’s $5 trillion tax cut: The figure comes from an analysis of Romney’s tax plan by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center -
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#romney = jobs =money= debt reduction= #trueFreedomby ehasselbeck via twitter 10/4/2012 1:15:43 AM -
ANALYSIS: Mitt Romney’s challenge has been to prove he understands the concerns of average voters. That challenge grew greater when a secretly recorded video showed him saying 47 percent of Americans view themselves as victims and that they will vote for Obama no matter what. Tonight, in his opening comments, Romney tried to show empathy, framing the debate through the words of people who are hurting. -
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FACT CHECK: 5 million job creation claim by Obama. See the second chart here which illustrates job creation under Bush, then Obama. -
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FACT CHECK: Obama’s $3,600 tax cut: That’s the average spread over four years for a family making $50,000 per year.
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Romney's got a bigger flag pin, Game Overby Anthony De Rosa via twitter 10/4/2012 1:19:49 AM -
Boom! "Never mind." There you go, Obama. That's the OH SHIT NO DON'T GO BACK TO NUMBERS. #debateby Patton Oswalt via twitter 10/4/2012 1:20:05 AM -
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SHARE: Would you like to talk about the debate in more detail with other Boston.com readers? Share your opinion at length in our forums. -
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Lehrer notes they are past the 15 minutes allotted to the segment, but still allows Romney to rebut.
Romney once again talks about people he has met on the trail and the challenges they face.
He argues that by raising taxes on those making over $250,000, he will hurt them.
“I don’t want to cost jobs; my priority is on creating jobs,” says Romney. -
FACT CHECK: Do lower tax rates lead to more jobs? Here’s what Paul Egerman, founder of the digital medical transcription company eScription, told the Globe in April:
He estimated that tax cuts under President George W. Bush have saved him roughly $10 million over the last decade and asserted the money has helped no one but himself. “It’s not like I took the tax cuts and went out and hired people,” Egerman said. -
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It's getting heated #debate2012
Look at his face haha it's making me laugh.by MLParker_ via twitter 10/4/2012 1:25:56 AM -
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ANALYSIS: The lengthy discussion between the candidates about tax rates is going pretty deep into the weeds. There is no doubt that the questions about tax rates, and the various studies that support or doubt the theories behind the proposals, are important. But the danger for the candidates is that some voters may wonder if they are running for president or accountant-in-chief.
Putting aside for the moment the question of whether Romney is accurately portraying the impact of his plan, it seems clear that Romney is anxious to keep the conversation going. He is, as his aides often say, all about the data and what the data mean. The debate about the tax plans is only beginning. The statements of both candidates about their tax plans will be analyzed and spun from now until Election Day. -
FACT CHECK: Obama broke his promise to cut the federal budget deficit in half by the end of his first term: Indeed, Obama pledged shortly after taking office that the deficit would be halved by the end of his first term.
“Now, this will not be easy,” Obama said at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit at the White House on Feb. 23, 2009. “It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we’ve long neglected. But I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay, and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.”
The deficit in fiscal year 2009 was $1.4 trillion, meaning Obama would have had to shrink the deficit to $700 billion to keep his promise. The deficit was about $1.3 trillion in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and is projected to be about $900 billion in the current fiscal year. -
In second segment, Lehrer asks Romney to state differences on approaching deficit.
Romney says it is not economic issue as much as it is a “moral” issue.
He says it can be cut with higher taxes, less spending, or economic growth.
“The president would prefer raising taxes,” he says, which will cut growth.
Romney says he favors less spending and more growth. -
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Romney says "Obamacare" is on deck for the chopping block then says he uses the term with respect. "Romneycare," of course, is frequently used as a term of derision to describe the 2006 Massachusetts law Romney signed. -
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Doktorphil, Romney has explicitly pledged not to cut the mortgage interest deduction for middle-class families.
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