Someone's finally said it: Romney's angry style cost him the debate.

[pnwmom]

No, he wasn't Presidential. No, he didn't "dominate" the stage. He just acted like the out of control prick we've seen before (for example, in the primary debates with Gov. Perry).

http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/opinion-mitt-romneys-attack-style-cost-debate/story?id=17496126#.UH8k1o73AiE

SNIP

But anger can also be extremely off-putting. Occasional anger, after all, can be interpreted as strength, while constant anger is usually read as contemptuous smugness. And that's precisely why I think that, in the end, Romney lost the debate. He overplayed his hand, attacking Obama with a previously unseen virulence, and eventually lost his manners.

Similar to what happened when he faced Rick Perry during the primaries, Romney got pushy, interrupting the President repeatedly, and even coming close to physically reaching for his opponent. That may have worked with a man like Perry, but it sure didn't work with Obama, who's not only the President but also generally a very well liked man.

By invading Obama's personal space, Romney wanted to appear strong -- he wanted to appear presidential. However, in his efforts, he managed to convey the opposite. And this will prove to be particularly damaging with yesterday's key demographic: women. Whichever advisor told Romney that the über-macho, domineering attitude would be appealing to women, should be fired immediately (along with the poor misguided soul who briefed Romney on Libya).

One last thought: I agree with the consensus about the quality of the debate. There's no question that this was the best, most spirited debate in decades. But it should come as no surprise. After all, these are two intellectually remarkable men vying for the presidency. Many countries would love to have that same privilege.

[flamingdem]

1. What other plutocrat CEO type has ever been President?

He's not Presidential, I wish people could get that this job is not that of a CEO!

[begin_within]

25. Cheney.

[bemildred]

2. Oh, Tweety isn't going to agree with you.

But I do. The nostalgic notion that this paternalistic/macho crap is still a big political winner would be very funny if it were not so prevalent in the TV Yapistocracy.

And then also the ludicrousness of Mitt as a macho man.

[Cosmocat]

15. Actually, Mathews had a series of clips

highlighting romney being a domineering jackass in the debates, including the perry situation.

it really was disturbing to be honest.

I never really liked romney, but boy he seems to find a way to sink lower and lower as you get to really peel the layers off of him.

[bemildred]

33. Yes, he's got with the program now. nt

[Wounded Bear]

35. IIRC during the primaries....

Everywhere that Romney went to campaign, his like-ability numbers dropped.

[livetohike]

3. Romney - intellectually remarkable? I don't see that at all

He isn't at the level President Obama is. That will become increasingly evident in the foreign policy debate.

Romney is arrogant, impatient and overbearing. Not Presidential. He doesn't have the temperament for the job and I think more people in the media need to point that out.

[ailsagirl]

14. I agree. I don't consider nitt to be intellectually remarkable at all. Nor is he a patrician...

like Kerry, as one post said. He's a spoiled, grasping, shallow man who thinks he's 'entitled' to be president.

[truebluegreen]

31. Well, he IS a remarkable liar. nt

[bongbong]

4. Agree with one change

> After all, these are two intellectually remarkable men

Change that to:

After all, the president is an intellectually remarkable man, and the other guy tries to fake it by lying 105% of the time.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. I caught that too. All he did was show memorization and recitation of talking points.....

In other words,....

[lumpy]

5. I don't consider Romney an intellectual man at all. He's almost on a par with Geo.W.Bush.

n

[Maximumnegro]

17. No he's extremely smart. You don't run

a massive entity (and subsidiaries) like Bain without a couple hamsters at the wheels. He is extremely smart and a very good businessman, the problem is he's the WORST POLITICIAN IN MODERN HISTORY. Whether it's because he legitimately has a disorder which prohibits him from experiencing empathy or having been raised in a religious AND wealthy bubble - dude has zero sense of how to connect. It's clear even other wealthy people dislike him.

[LiberalFighter]

27. He didn't get there with brains.

He had money and pull. Without it he wouldn't had gotten anywhere.

[amborin]

6. at one point, i thought Romney was going to hit Prez Obama

I almost wish he had----not because I want to see Obama disrespected or physically assaulted----but because that would have ended Romney's run right then and there

[sammytko]

21. And secret service would have jumped him!

[hedgehog]

26. I was sitting there wondering when the Secret Service was going to intervene!

It wouldn't be anything Romney hasn't done before:

[LeftInTX]

32. I got the impression that the Republican primaries

were about who could be the meanest among Romney, Perry and Gingrich.
It was plain old disgusting.

All three of those are just plain old mean.

[mnhtnbb]

30. I did too. Can you imagine?

Romney pinned on the floor within seconds by Secret Service? On national TV.

Boom. Election over.

[spiderpig]

34. He had son Tagg sitting in the audience ready to do it for him

Appearing on the Bill Lumaye Show, a North Carolina radio program, Tagg Romney — one of Mitt Romney’s five sons — said that he wanted to rush the stage and “take a swing” at President Obama during the debates.

Transcript:

BILL LUMAYE: I’m going to ask something I think a lot of people want to know, or at least I do. What is it like for you to hear the President of the United States call your dad a liar. How do you react to that?

TAGG ROMNEY: Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him. But you know you can’t do that because… Well, first there is a lot of Secret Service between you and him but also because this is the nature of the process.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014270145

[fugop]

7. Also disagree on President's demeanor

The writer is suggesting Obama was much like Denver until the Libya question.

[nobunnyclue]

22. There was definitely a turning point

but I thought it wasn't like Denver, where Obama looked absent or disengaged. On the domestic part of the debate, the President looked TOO INTELLIGENT, with the considered pause at the start of ever answer. Ironically, Obama has such a strong understanding of the economic complexities, and the integrity not to dumb it down that the first half of the debate was High School Class President Romney picking on nerdy, big eared Debate Team and Academic Decathlon Captain Obama.

Not flattering to either candidate.

But also this is why intellectuals rarely end up being the CEO (with the exception of early "high-tech", when the MBA folks haven't arrived at the trough yet). It would be a joke to think that it takes intelligence to make a success out of company like Bain. You need some smarts, but too much smarts is a huge liability. People who approach business with actual problem solving can do well in these organizations, but they are the cogs in the machine. The executive office goes to the guys who can sell solutions, whether or not it's the one that actually solves the problem. So if you are smart enough to consider all the probabilities and possibilities, you either have to be able to pack that information away and go into sell mode, or else you have to just not care - after all, the key to success for these guys is knowing how to outmaneuver competition, load the deck with win-or-win outcomes, and leverage stuff other than their own brains (which is a skill that many highly talented, brainy people struggle with).

So while Romney can certainly be said to be a master at marshaling intelligence, I'd say he is about as intelligent as Herbert Hoover, who famously explained the game of business by saying: "If a man hasn't made a million dollars by the time his is 40, he isn't worth much."

[MnAttorney]

8. I am so happy Obama did great last night

But of al these victory laps remind me of the days leading up to the first debate. We need to keep our eyes on the prize and Obama needs to hunker down and prepare to deliver a K.O. at the final debate.

[Cha]

9. pnwmom..thank you!

Guess romney didn't think that Rick Lazio lesson applied to him?

Rick infamously invaded Hillary Clinton's space in the 2000 debate with some paper he wanted her to sign and it backfired on his bully goprick ass big time!

[Cha]

10. Wait just a freaking minute.. putting romney in there with "intellectually remarkable men"

Oh Hell No.

I don't agree on just the "Style" losing the debate for mitt... his Substance Stank to the lower depths of Hell.

[Blue Idaho]

11. I've met plenty of CEOs just like Willard.

They light up next to no smoking signs, keep their cell phones on in airplanes, jump every queue they run into, expect to be served first at public functions and throw tantrums if they aren't treated with deference and spoken to with hushed tone of respect.

They are the definition of the entitled boorish elite.

[maxsolomon]

13. going back to the previous topic

so he could get the last word in - which i think he did 3x last night - made him look petulant and whiny.

[spooky3]

16. And, he had no REASON to be angry. He came out of the gate acting like an entitled bully.

People can understand angry reactions to bad treatment. But there was nothing for him to react to. So people make a very different attribution.

[Maximumnegro]

18. He did that because he knows he's lost.

He did not act like someone who has momentum, who is getting the upper hand. He acted from the get go like someone who was having something taken away from him that he felt he deserved. Hence the depressed family gathering at the end. They know he's lost. No Ohio, no Nevada = over.

[spooky3]

24. Maybe. It could also be that he thought swagger won him the first debate.

And he was unable to see that it sure wasn't winning him the second.

[ailsagirl]

20. Nitt is so smarmy and greasy-- his eyes are dead-- gives me the creeps

Except last night, his eyes were shooting daggers. Quite a different attitude from that he typically shows people (i.e., ingratiating and fawning).

He really is like a used-car salesman. And about as sincere.

[jsmirman]

19. I really agree on the personal space thing

I thought it was shocking, and I thought the President showed remarkable self-control.

In New York, we have a response to that - a response that is hard to shut down: "you better get the fuck back up out of my space."

[urgk]

23. He's Lumbergh - smug, slick, and the boss. (n/t)

[yellowcanine]

28. Justifiable anger is ok. Like Obama saying he was offended at the Republicans implying that he

would consider politics in the response to the Benghazi attack. But just getting angry because a debate is not going your way - that is not justifiable.

[CoffinEd]

29. Interesting read

But I have to disagree with the person who wrote the article on this:

"In substance, yesterday's debate was probably a tie. In style, well that's a different story."

C'mon dude! Romney had no substance.