The art of political etch a sketch we were warned we would see appeared tonight

[Samantha]

I was not going to watch the debates but changed my mind at the last moment. What I saw stunned me. Mitt Romney talking fast and furiously, over his limit, over the moderator, and even chronically interrupting President Obama's two minutes. His goal was to totally usurp as much time as possible in order to control the debate. In that regard, he did suck up more than his fair share of time allotted during this Presidential debate. By doing so, he blocked many of the controversial subjects that have been discussed during the campaign from airing tonight. In other words, that was simply Romney being Romney -- taking more than that to which he was entitled through slight of hand and other hocus pocus.

Fast and furiously, Romney spewed word bullets into the political air which apparently impressed many political pundits. But when one pushes all of Romney's words into a pile and starts inspecting the heap, what is there is absolutely nothing compared to his known positions on certain issues. In other words, what we have is an unmitigated pile of political bullshit.

When the glare of the cameras and the noise of the crowd fade from this night, and objectivity returns through analysis of the words as opposed to the speed of the delivery, the realization will set in that once again, Romney was Romney. He lied his way through the night, enumerating changed positions each time he spoke. It was the epic dawning of the etch-a-sketch moment we were warned would come into play when the challenger entered the literal Presidential contest.

Though none tonight called it that in the commentary I heard, I do believe when the new day dawns and the fact-checkers return, the true long-lasting impression will be crystal clear. In this first round of debates the challenger on stage was merely the political chameleon we were warned would appear.

[regnaD kciN]

1. So, when will that be...?

When the glare of the cameras and the noise of the crowd fade from this night, and objectivity returns through analysis of the words as opposed to the speed of the delivery, the realization will set in that once again, Romney was Romney.

Sorry, but the narrative has already been written. Any "analysis of the words" will be merely akin to pointing out that Al Gore never said that he "invented the Internet." To this day, most people (including many Democrats) believe that legend as well.

[Samantha]

3. I disagree -- all we have had so far is knee-jerk reaction

That does not constitute a literal narrative yet to be written. Stay tuned.

Sam

[CakeGrrl]

7. In the campaign ads.

The Obama campaign has not now nor have they ever had reason to think they'd get help from the MSM. But now they have a fresh set of soundbites of Romney flat-out contradicting what he's campaigned on for months.

[Samantha]

8. And that is a thing of beauty - the bounty Mitt threw out there for the public to devour

Thinking just of all the ads we have seen to date, the public performances given by Romney, the leaked words from his addresses to sponsors, they all are in direct contradiction to the positions presented by Romney in his debate performance.

I just fired off an email to The Washington Journal labeling his presentation as the Glaring Elephant in the Room on the debate floor. It was the new populist Mitt Romney. Not the severely conservative candidate he previously described himself as, but the new champion of the middle class. Right....

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[Samantha]

9. Hi regnaD kciN - just wondering if you are listening to the narrative today n/t

[renate]

2. "epic dawning of the etch-a-sketch moment we were warned would come into play"

I also especially liked your line about Romney "taking more than that to which he was entitled."

[Samantha]

4. I am glad you liked that line because I consider that to be the essence of Romney

He ALWAYS takes more than his fair share and disguises "the take" with a slight of hand ... even on his tax returns!

So I do believe that all we saw tonight was Romney being Romney and morphing into his etch a sketch moment as was predicted by one of his own campaign organizers. When reduced to its lowest common denominator, his conduct tonight was to be expected, with the only unknown being the exact moment it would erupt.

Sam

[JusticeForAll]

5. Bing bing bing! You posted exactly what I was going to post

The Romney campaign shook up the Etch-a-sketch board and began drawing again.

How many more times will they shake the board and further confuse people as to what their policies were.

When you have no policy or an agenda based solely on evil, obfuscate....

They did it quite well tonight.

Thanks for your post - very insightful.

[Samantha]

6. I am so happy to see your post, JusticeForAll

Kind of felt like I was out there on a limb by myself and turned around and saw you hanging there too. Feel free to elaborate on any points you think I missed.

It will be interesting to see the commentary in the next two days or so. Personally, I don't see Romney as having changed a lot of Independents' minds, do you?

Thank you for posting on my thread.

Sam

[WinkyDink]

10. Of COURSE, it was all BS! But that isn't what people's impressions registered!

[Samantha]

11. I am finding today that more and more sources are focusing on the content

zeroing in on the lies rather than the presentation. So I think you are correct (as of last night) in your last sentence, but most of that was knee-jerk reaction. Today, we seem to have a more thoughtful commentary on the substance. Overall, I do not believe Romney will attract the majority of the independents or undecideds as a result of his debate performance last night.

Thank you for posting on my thread.

Sam