I mean, you've got to be kidding me. After four years of constant right wing obstruction - yet, despite that, a real recovery with real improvements in the numbers...then, after the bizarre, someone-needs-to-run mess of the Republican circus called the primaries, the disaster of Mitt European trip (the endless MittShambles), the 47% video - the weekly gaffes, the snoozer of a convention (starring the indescribable rant at a chair), You People, dogs on a car, windows on a plane...and then a high energy Dem convention which pushed the good guys to an overwhelming forecast for victory......

******one 90 minute debate that consisted of the worst debate moderation in history and an unprecedented lie-fest with an admittedly lower energy than optimal president (though with no lies and no gaffes) - think of that - 90 minutes******

And the numbers tank something far less certain - at a rate far too rapid and deep for just that 90 minutes....

followed by an asskicking of Ryan by Biden, and then another asskicking of Mitt by the president.....

And the numbers hardly move from the "nearly tied" zone.

It just makes no sense....surreal is actually way too mild and ineffective a word for it...are there that many Americans with their heads up their ass? So easily fooled?

And this isn't being a concern troll - I still believe president Obama will be reelected...but, really, it should just not, not be this close - that is what is utterly surreal to me.

Many of us here watched the debate, and saw Romney get stomped far worse in the debate than how Obama was impacted in the first debate. In that one, it was more of a laid back, presidential style vs an alpha assault on both moderator and Obama by Romney, but there were no Obama misstatements or mistakes. Yet.....look at the following spin - and, yes, sadly the spin, much of it hand wringing from the media on so-called "our side", probably impacted the polls to a degree.

Last night Romney's "performance" was far worse than what happened to Obama in the first debate - misstatements, clear errors, lies, an utter knock out. Obama's performance was nearly perfect pitch. He destroyed Romney AND looked presidential - both in terms of intellect and leadership.

And what do we wake up to today? A very, very few "Obama slight winner", slew of "the debate was a draw, and both were unlikable", and yes, a few "Romney won on substance".

Yes, the media is part of the corporate bubble - they are in it, a part of it, and very well paid by it. There are many, many factors working against Obama's reelection for a myriad of reasons. He should be smoking Romney in the polls - but the gullibility and laziness and apathy of so many Americans brings us to this media-salivating moment of a "horserace".

Horse Shit, I say. Not sure what to do about it...but some sort of fix is definitely playing out before our eyes. And the reaction to last night's debate just cemented that fact.

edited- sample of titles of articles post-debate, from RCP.

REAL CLEAR POLITICS WEDNESDAY
Candidates Tangle in Fractious Debate - Hook & O'Connor, Wall St. Journal
President Obama Turns It Around - Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Obama's Record Wins It for Mitt - Again - David Harsanyi, Human Events
Obama Bares His Teeth - Frank Bruni, New York Times
Not the Game Changer Obama Needed - Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard
Moderator Helps Obama Rebut Romney on Libya - Julian Pecquet, The Hill
Yes, Obama Played Politics With Libya - Jonathan Tobin, Commentary
Why Crowley Was Out of Line - Mickey Kaus, The Daily Caller
Obama's Best Debate - Ever - Steve Kornacki, Salon
Improved Obama Won't Halt Mitt's Momentum - Toby Harnden, Dly Mail

Second Debate a Split Decision - USA Today
Mr. Obama Comes Back - New York Times
Romney Wins on Points - New York Post

"They" as in politicians, the MSM - TV in general. She no longer cares and no longer watches - and I am on my way there.

We were raised to believe that the truth is important. We were raised to believe that people collectively and individually are important - all people, despite any parameter/descriptor you want to place on them.

Since 2000, it has become clear that the truth no longer matters, that people no longer matter (unless you have loads of money and can do something for them). It has become only about winning and losing, power and greed, at absolutely any cost. And it makes us sick to behold. Maybe it was before that, maybe it was always like that, and only age and experience and bumps and bruises along the way really open one's eyes.

This is what a few weeks at the beach and limited exposure to news does to you, I guess - a reevaluation of where things stand. We did watch the debate - which can't hold a candle of course to the reaction to the endless, seemingly drug-addled lies of Romney, which are now lauded everywhere. We've peered at a few newspapers and I've scanned the web for sanity. Of course, there remains sanity and hope here on DU - we share values, and we see those values increasingly under attack. But just scanning pundits and polls, the number of absolute mind-numbing suckers in this country are out of control.

But here at the Outer Banks, where one is face to face with the wonders of nature every day, where personal values can be examined and confirmed, it also becomes clear where those values are not....if I think of the state of the world in general, of how people are treating each other, how governments treat their people, the deaths and injustices due to religious fanaticism, the lust for power, the throwing of people under the bus so that the wealthy can maintain and even grow every cent. It takes the breath away. Again - has it always been this way? Now and then, yes....so once again, maybe it is just when one chooses to "go there" and think about it.

Have I lost hope for all humanity in general? There will always be pockets of hope, great deeds being done, fine people - but on balance, the trajectory of our species is not promising - and I do think that the earth is getting quite fed up with us anyway, to tell the truth.

I feel really lucky - to have the wife and daughters and pets that I do, to have stimulating hobbies and interests, to be able to become just a bit more isolated, as seems to be my own trajectory. I also feel lucky to have found DU, to be able to share my "bad days" (which this clearly must be one) with you.....

I am searching for the trigger that will reverse all of this. When Obama wins, I suspect we will see four more years of total blockage of his and Dem's ideas. What is it that will change the process, wake and shake things up and prove my fears and worries to be unfounded? And in the rare chance that Romney somehow becomes president - help us all. We will need it even more.