Wednesday Open Thread [10.17.12]

Both national polls that were taken immediately following last night’s presidential debate at Hofstra University show President Obama besting Romney by 7 percent. A CNN/ORC poll indicates that 46 percent of voters who watched the debate said that the president won, while 39 percent said Romney won (and the sample in the poll was about 8 percent more Republican than polls taken among all Americans this year). In a CBS News instant poll taken right after the debate, 37 percent of “uncommitted” voters said the president won, 30 percent gave Romney the edge, and 33 percent said it was a tie. A snap poll by Public Policy Polling in swing state of Colorado gave President Obama a 48-44 edge, while CO Independents said that the President won by 58-36 percent.

For those who want a detailed point-by-point review of the debate in print as well as video, The New York Times has an interactive transcript of the Hempstead debate with a dynamic fact-checking sidebar.

First Read: “The answer comes down to this: Have the past two weeks been about Romney getting a second look from voters and seeing a different Romney than has been portrayed over the past year? Or have the past two weeks been about Democrats and swing voters being disappointed in Obama’s first debate performance? If it’s the former, you could argue that the debate didn’t change too much in the race. If it’s the latter, you could argue that it did. Once again, we’ll be paying attention to the polls that come out next week.”

Harry Enten: “I’m not expecting much, if any, movement from this debate. If it does occur, it will be favorable towards President Obama. He’ll take that, in this tight race, as every little bit counts. But remember that predictions about post-debate movements are not perfect and that any movements or lack thereof could be erased by next week’s debate.”

Washington Post: “At least some people closely watching the contest — those betting money on the election’s outcome — did offer a kind of consensus view: President Obama soundly beat expectations in his second contest against Gov. Mitt Romney… The votes on well-known political betting site Intrade.com reflected a jump in the president’s chances from 61.7 percent just before the debate to 64.1 percent shortly afterward. Similar jumps could be seen in other markets, too. At the betting site Betfair.com, the president’s chances jumped 2.7 percentage points over that period, and on the Iowa Electronic Markets, run out of the University of Iowa, his chances were up about 2.4 percentage points in that timeframe.”

Roger Simon:”Perhaps it was mere fatigue that night in Denver. Or overconfidence. Or lack of preparation. Or the altitude. Perhaps we will never know. Perhaps he will never know. No matter. What matters is that in the second of three presidential debates, Obama was the performer his supporters were hoping for: the Obama of four years ago, a person hungry for the job and not ground down by it.”

George Will: “I think there was a winner in the sense that Barack Obama not only gained ground he lost but he cauterized some wounds that he inflicted on himself by seeming too diffident and disengaged. Both candidates tonight I think tip-toed right up to the point of rudeness, but stepped back. It was a very good fight. I have seen every presidential debate in American history since the floor of Nixon and Kennedy in 1960. This was immeasurably the best.”

What a smarmy guy Paul Ryan is.

Matt Lauer asked Paul Ryan who would win the Wisconsin vs. Ohio State football game on November 17, Yahoo reports.

Lauer: “I would like you to tell the people of Ohio who’s going to win that game.”

Ryan: “They spoiled us last year. We spoiled them the year before–Jane and I were at that game. It really depends on who has the better record is going to lose, because that’s what happens.”

Lauer: “Who’s going to win the game, congressman? Tell the people of Ohio who’s going to win the game.”

Ryan: “It always depends on who’s got the better record. It’s up in Camp Randall [Stadium] this year. It’s up in Madison this year. Home field advantage works well. But if we’re doing better, they’ll beat us, and if they have a better record, then we’ll beat them. That’s always how it goes between the Badgers and the Buckeyes. How’s that for an answer?”

Lauer: “It’s a terrible answer. It’s OK, I’m out of time–you’re lucky.”