Obama: Guy On Stage Was Not The ‘Real Mitt Romney’

[ProSense]

Obama: Guy On Stage Was Not The ‘Real Mitt Romney’

President Obama accused Mitt Romney of dancing around his own positions in Wednesday night's debate at a rally in Denver, Colorado Thursday morning, saying that the man on stage with him during the debate was not "the real Mitt Romney."

"When I got on to the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney," Obama said. "The man on stage last night does not want to be held accountable for the real Mitt Romney's decisions…for the last year."

Obama continued: "So Gov. Romney may dance around his positions, but if you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth… So here's the truth: Gov. Romney cannot pay for his $5 trillion tax plan" without blowing up the deficit or burdening the middle class, he said.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-guy-on-stage-was-not-real-mitt

Mitt?

[Brother Buzz]

1. Perhaps the truth lies in Mitt's tax returns

I'm just saying.

[jberryhill]

12. Can the truth lie?

[FailureToCommunicate]

22. The tax returns lie with Charlotte

[flamingdem]

2. It is difficult to respond to someone who changes his positions on the spot!

Thus, the caution displayed by Obama. He could have wasted much time responding all the new garbage being spewed and looked confused, angry -- also he might have supplied sound bites to the next round of hate ads.

[Cali_Democrat]

3. Romney basically tried to come with a new tax plan to the debate

Craziness.

[tularetom]

4. I agree but why is he saying this now?

And why the fuck didn't he say it last night?

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Because it would have bogged down into "yes it is, no it isn't"

and the adults watching would have demanded that the "children" quit it.

[tularetom]

9. Nope I think it would have thrown Romney completely off track

And possibly restored some balance to the fustercluck that was that "debate".

Romney doesn't respond well when he is challenged and if the President had made that statement verbatim last night he would have forced Romney onto the defensive and the tone of the entire evening would have changed. He didn't have to seem "angry" or "unpresidential" all he had to do was make that one simple remark.

Monday morning quarterbacking is waste of time of course but it really sucks when the Sunday quarterback is the one doing it.

[Horse with no Name]

18. I don't think so

Romney went on stage to deliver a performance...and he delivered it. Nobody was going to get in his way with the truth or any such nonsense. He was ready to steamroll ahead. I watched a debate that was the same kind of shit the other night between Sadler and Cruz. No questions ever answered, challenges went unnoticed and the only thing that happened at the end of the day was, the republican said what he went to say...and the performance was delivered.

These new "debate" tactics need to be studied....seriously and if rules can't be put in place to stop the tactics, and moderators can't be bothered to moderate--then debates need to go the way of duels.

[tularetom]

20. Romney did what he did because he was allowed to

How can anyone say what would have happened if Obama had made the remark about the two Mitt Romney's?

Obama didn't try to stop him. Poor old Jim Lehrer didn't try to stop him. Everybody just let him babble.

You are right on target about the future of debates. If republican candidates are going to treat them as an opportunity for a monologue, and if the Democrats and moderators are just going to stand there and let it happen, debates may as well just be discontinued.

[kardonb]

69. nope...

The president was the adult in the room ! Mittens was a loudmouth , rude Pinocchio , unbelievably arrogant and disrespectful .

[bigtree]

13. that's what critics are missing here

. . . those types of attacks are put into their equalizing basket and dismissed as campaign rhetoric. Moreover, it isn't as if the President was going to win over voters by using his introductory debate to posture as some kind of desperate attack dog. His strategy was to present his OWN agenda without the distraction of being the one to prove Romney a liar in that debate, The press is all over the substance of their remarks and it just isn't necessary or even prudent for Obama to allow himself to get played out of position by Romney's obvious lies.

And critics forget that the burden was on Romney to launch desperate-looking attacks. The challenge for the President was to appear ABOVE the ignorant fray and represent his own position and character in this introductory debate without looking like just another attacking politician. The focus was on 'undecideds' and Romney did little except, perhaps, bolster his base. he loses, in the long run, because there will be a steady rain of accountability from where it is most effective: from the press. Pres, Obama is correct in making them the down-and-dirty arbiter of the facts in these encounters.

[tularetom]

42. Obama's campaign has stated that he will be more assertive in the next debate

So you must disagree with that because that more or less means that he will be playing into Romney's hands.

Or he was right to do what he did last night AND he will be right to do the exact opposite in the next debate.

Face it, for whatever reason, the President was caught flat footed last night. He can't come out and admit it but he was. Trying to excuse by his unpreparedness by saying it was part of some grand strategy looks amateurish and not worthy of him.

[bigtree]

48. meh

that says zero about what I've written here . . .

[tularetom]

55. What you have written here is a well crafted apology for the president's lack of preparation

and you can "meh" all day about it, but the fact is, he was simply not into that "debate" last night. If he had been, he could have permanently derailed the Romney campaign on three or four occasions.

The opportunities were there. Romney left himself wide open but the President failed to take advantage of them. He wasn't acting "presidential", he was asleep. And he sure wasn't playing 12 dimensional chess.

It isn't the end of the world. I think the president's campaign organization realizes he screwed up and fully intends to correct the situation over the next few days or weeks. But let's not pretend that last night's lackluster performance was part of some intricately prepared rope a dope strategy.

[bigtree]

56. meh. 'apology'

. . . disagree with you and it's an 'apology.'

You lose the argument right at the point where you make that insult. False premise (chess), false assumption (rope-a-dope), false argument (President failed).

[gkhouston]

52. Given the back-and-forth over the $5 trillion, I agree.

Obama even pointed out once that Mitt was saying something different from the position he'd held for the last 18 months and Mitt just gave him a "who farted?" look and barged right ahead with his lies.

[JNelson6563]

40. I'll take "Because he's smart for $500 Alex"

[Arkana]

43. Because last night he had no idea that Romney was going to try and win

by pretending to be a liberal?

[CakeGrrl]

51. Because it would've devolved into a pissing match

and lowered the President's status as the MSM - and please don't think they would've done otherwise - would've turned THAT outcome into a Romney advantage.

ANYTHING that happened last night would have been spun for Romney.

Today?

He lied. On camera.

To be played over and over.

To be trumpeted at campaign rallies.

To be put up against fact-check sites.

To be played in battleground ads.

I wonder how he'll do in the second and third debates now that he's proven himself to abandon his platform in the blink of an eye?

[tularetom]

58. He'll continue to lie of course he was allowed to get away with it last night

And next time the president will be under tremendous pressure to call him a liar to his face. No more "acting presidential", no more rope a dope strategies, no more cute remarks to friendly audiences, he'll have to call the liar out. He can no longer avoid a confrontation.

[JohnnyLib2]

5. He's coming back strongly in Denver. Next stop: Madison, Wisconsin later today.

He's gaining back yardage already......

[liberaltiff]

7. That's the Obama I know!!

I wish that fired up, ready to go attitude was present at the debate last night! I know our President is a smart man, and Romney only fired up his own base after is fictional debate, but don't you just hate the smiles and look of satisfaction on the conservatives faces today!!

[renate]

50. yes I do

And welcome to DU!

[Texin]

8. Why didn't he say that LAST NIGHT?

A little late, isn't it?

I am in full expectation that the polls are going to just keep getting narrower and narrower. Obama could have put this thing away last night, but he let Mitt dance all around him. Robert Parry said it brilliantly in his column. He just stood there and let Mittens keep lobbing those lies around like basketballs through a hoop without so much as a single (successful) comeback. He's the President of United States and he let this guy walk all over him and Leherer to boot. Unbelievable.

[Skidmore]

15. Mitt was pulling stuff out of his butt so quickly that short of telling him to STFU there was little

point in doing more than letting him pile up his lies. It was much better than falling into the trap of trying to sort them out in real time. Romney tripped all over himself last night trying to look like a know-it-all and he managed to make himself look undisciplined at the same time. I don't want that asshole anywhere near the button that blows up the world.

[OneGrassRoot]

23. Well said, Skidmore. :) n/t

[Voice for Peace]

34. yes. he really gave a poor impression, although there are dickheads who like that kind of aggression

the instant response video this morning said a lot "what a guy"
pushy, know-it-all, which gets interpreted as confidence, and passion
but once fact-checked, his passion appears mere megalomania,
not vision.

He is too frantic, manic. Obama's remarks today were
so funny, about the 2 mitts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalomania

[freshwest]

45. +1

[siligut]

68. Frantic, manic and psychopathic

Mitt was just expressing his delusions of grandeur.

[BlueMTexpat]

25. President Obama looked like an adult

next to a smarmy yapping entitled bully who was totally unconstrained by facts or truth, let alone simple courtesy. IMHO, Mittens confirmed every bad thing that has come up about him.

I'm for the adult, not the bully.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. I love what you said.

That's how I saw the debate, too. I watched it on CSPAN after I watched the pundits on msnbc stroking out, and I couldn't get why they were so beside themselves.

[BlueMTexpat]

29. Blue, I believe that we are kindred spirits!

[Blue_In_AK]

31. We do have that "blue" thing in common.

[tblue37]

60. Me, too. Can I be in your club? I have the "blue" and I also think Romney looked like an

unpleasant, hyped up bully last night--especially the way he steamrolled right over Jim Lehrer.

[Blue_In_AK]

61. Blue is a "cool" color, after all.

Of course you can join.

[Voice for Peace]

35. yes: the peacemaker, not the warmonger

[freshwest]

46. That's how I've interpreted this all along. Bravado is for fools, work quietly and get it done.

[ailsagirl]

47. You nailed it. Nitt looked like a spoiled brat who wouldn't give up the spotlight

[Cha]

10. K^R

[hughee99]

11. It sounds like the guy on stage was not the real President Obama either.

This is the sort of stuff he should have pushed last night to Mitt's lies.

[Hutzpa]

14. That's because he was dealing with this guy

?w=655

[liberaltiff]

17. lol ^

You are right

[fugop]

16. President Obama at his best

That's the thing. President Obama isn't at his best in these crappy debate formats. Put him out there though, talking to real people, and it's all stellar.

Here's hoping he comes back strong at the town hall debate. I knew Romney would do well in last night's format, but I find it hard to picture him connecting to people one on one. But who knews? I thought he looked like a bully last night. Reminded me of how all the men in my family "debate" at the dinner table, i.e., "If we disagree, I'll just talk louder and louder so you can't put forward an argument and then I WIN!"

Except, it's a grand illusion, because they rarely persuade anyone. Instead, most of us eventually just wander off and let the blowhards blow at each other. That's what Mitt reminded me of last night.

[StarryNite]

19. I think that was the real Mitt Romney last night....

a lying sack of shit who thinks he's entitled to calling all the shots. Can you imagine how that would fly with other world leaders? Or Congress?

[Rob H.]

27. Agreed 100%

A friend of mine was down after the debates and I told him I thought Romney came off as an asshole for all the know-it-all grandstanding and interrupting he did, not to mention that he agreed to the rules set forth and then promptly ignored most of them. "A lying sack of shit who thinks he's entitled to calling all the shots" sums him up perfectly.

[jonesgirl]

21. Who the hell was that old moderator anyways? I've heard him talk in favor of Romney many times

on tv. He set the tone for the debate last night, all in Romney's favor! When he spoke to Romney he would say, "would you like to attack "him" on what he just stated?" Then he lost control of Romney by allowing him to babble on and on!
When he spoke to Obama, he would say, "what's your response to that Mr President?" Or "is there anything you want to say about THAT Mr President?"
He kept our President in line, but let Romney run away with it!
Isn't it a coincidence that the moderator is affiliated with PBS, and Romney, out of the blue, said he would do away with Big Bird?? Where the hell did THAT come from, and why?
Can we protest to get a bipartisan real person as moderator?

[politicaljack78]

33. That was Jim Leher

Formerly of the McNeil-Leher Newshour on PBS. He is nonpartisan and unfortunately he was steamrolled by Pinocchio last night like he was a member of the 47%. I think Pinocchio listed Big Bird as part of that 47% as well.

[barbaraj]

41. Big Bird

He used the exact line during his primary run. When asked by a little boy with autism, what he would do to help disabled kids, Romney replied that he would throw research to the scientists, but give "no free stuff", and then went into the Big Bird ramble, "I like Big Bird, but I'm not going to borrow from China to pay for it", same line, the little boy could be heard saying in a soft voice "big bird". It was very sad that he could not direct an answer to the child.

[underoath]

24. I was confused on who BOTH of the men on that were.

[jonesgirl]

26. I loved the way Mitt batted his eyelashes and flashed that smurkie grin on his face every time

he finished talking. I guess Palin was right...dogs CAN wear lipstick.

[Voice for Peace]

36. !

[clydefrand]

30. Do you think that Obama

wanted Romney to show what he really is so that he can use Romney's comments in ads later?

[Voice for Peace]

38. not necessarily intentional, but fruitful.

It seemed to me that Obama recognized quickly that Romney
was unusually "perky" and lying so profusely and assertively
about everything Obama has been saying.. his instinct was
to stay centered, don't become defensive, let him blather
on and on.

Obama must have been confident that everything false
that was coming out would be widely fact-checked.

I do think Mitt was on some a.d.d.medication.

[Glitterati]

32. Ummmm, Obama......why didn't you point that out LAST NIGHT?

Good lord! NOW he calls him on his bullshit?

A day late and a dollar short.

[WinkyDink]

37. Timing is everything, Mr. President. LAST night was the time.

[Voice for Peace]

39. no, apparently it wasn't.

He's come a long way no thanks to our doom and gloom.
Let's stay with hope.

[RBInMaine]

65. So then don't hit Romney now over the lies? Now THAT would be STUPID. & there's 2 more debates.

[Initech]

44. We need to come up with a "The Real Mitt Romney" parody ASAP!

[siligut]

49. We've known Mitt is a sociopath for months now

Did president Obama really just realize it last night? Or maybe he is just trying to wake-up the rest of America.

[CakeGrrl]

53. That would be the latter.

It's boggling to think that after all the times the President has done an end-around the punditry and the blogosphere to get where he is with the record he's amassed in the face of an unprecedented amount of opposition and hatred, that people still think that this Harvard Law Review scholar just fell off the turnip truck.

[siligut]

59. Everybody knows Obama tried to work across party lines

Mitt was mocking him about how America needs a president willing to work across party lines, with that sneer and overt schadenfreude. Mitt went at him with a dirty bomb and our President parried with nary a flinch. I want to see Willard's dream of becoming president broken, it is the only way to stop him and I think Obama can do it.

[Maineman]

54. I might have solved a mystery. Why do Republicans lie so much?

Because they all watch Fox News (cable) only. I have to wonder if they even know they are lying. They often act as if they believe the lies they are spitting out.

[DemKittyNC]

57. I finally got to see the debate

from last night. I had to work and couldn't get off and then had school today.

I think President Obama did a great job. All I am hearing today is that Mitt the Twit just lied then entire time. How is that going to be looked upon positively by anyone other then the brain dead drones that follow this fool? I forgot which famous person said this as I am not to good with history or names but the saying goes, "Never interrupt your enemy when they are making mistakes." I believe this is the strategy that President Obama was using last night. Rmoney came off as being rude, hyper, out of control and people saw through his lies and his clown act of pulling "facts" and so called "plans" out of his ass last night. We had a discussion about the debate in school today. I couldn't follow it to well since I did not have a chance to see it till now but pretty much everyone in my class agreed that Rmoney was a pompous jerk who just thinks he is DUE to become President / he doesn't have to earn it by earning the people of America's respect.

[patrice]

66. +1! & President Obama also really did get a couple of pretty good zingers in and he worked Rongny's

math over a couple of times and he shined the light very brightly on how Rongny was saying only "CURRENT" Medicare recipients can expect no changes in Medicare.

President Obama was not entirely passive up there; I think some people were concerned that he didn't go after EVERY lie Rongny said, which would have been everything that came out of his mouth.

I think you are right too, anyone who hasn't been into the politics as deep as some are probably saw Rongny as a rude bully and if that didn't bother them much, they'd see the whole debate as pretty even between the two guys.

The only ones who would have seen Rongny's behavior as positive were people who either fully support or are leaning toward him anyway AND THE MEDIA who want the the whole campaign season to be a horse race all of the way through, in order to boost their viewership and ratings, 'cause more people will tune-out if there's a pretty clearly defined difference so they make their minds up and stop following it all on tv. So some media personalities have a way of looking at how Rongny behaved last night and then speak about it in glowing terms, in order to make him look better compared to the President than he actually is.

[bucolic_frolic]

63. This is a good attack on the Fake Mitt

It's like Mitt was the guy in Clint's chair

All pointing subliminally to the idea

that Mitt is a fake

Which he is ... this is powerful stuff

[William769]

64. Kick & recommended.

[deaniac21]

67. That's the ticket!

[VOX]

70. Obama's debate-prep should have included the scenario of rMoney lying his ass off...

Mittens was slumping in the polls, that 47% business was a mega-gift for Democrats, etc. One doesn't have to be a master strategist to figure, how's Mitt gonna resurrect himself...possibly by going all warm and fuzzy and running to the center? (Which was precisely what he did.)

Hopefully, Obama will be on his game next round, and nail Mittens to the floorboards. It'll be tougher, since rMoney now has established this fake nice-guy persona in the eyes of those easily swayed. The potential media criticism of, "Obama's being mean, etc." -- which was trying to be avoided last night -- just moved closer to the foreground for the next time.

All that said, I want my guy "O" to swing the hell away!

[montanto]

71. What guy is the real mitt romney? no one knows