George Rebane
Well, it’s over. Romney and Obama will have to talk to one another only once again if/when Romney gets elected, and then on the ride from the White House to the Capitol when they can both grab window seats in the limo and stare outward. Last night’s hugging and kissing of the candidates’ families after the debate was excellent theater, and confirmed that we still know how to act civil when contemplating the transfer of power.
I didn’t get much out of the debate other than seeing Obama turn on some snark in the attempt to lure out of hiding a more bellicose Romney. The President was willing to sacrifice a few ‘likability points’ when he delivered his snide dissertation on the new military not needing so many horses and bayonets, and explaining that we now have carriers on which airplanes land and submarines that can actually travel under water. Those zingers must have been real knee slappers for members of the messiah’s celestial choir.
But it didn’t work. Romney stayed calm, reasoned, and presidential the entire time. That must have been the strategy – don’t screw up, just let him come to you. And I think it worked, although I was all ready for some rock and roll on the ongoing Benghazi Bamboozle. We know why Obama didn’t bring up Libya, and smarter minds than mine figured out that neither should Romney – there’s plenty of time for that on the stump while watching the lamestream swing in the wind.
Romney’s recounting of Obama’s foreign policy failures was systematic and comprehensive. No one, especially not our allies, believes that the US has created a safer international climate during the last four years. And that al Qaeda is on the run song doesn’t play so well any more since people keep dying in greater numbers, our embassies are under attack, and our “intelligence community” is accused of not even knowing what in hell is going on with that regiment of ragheads.
The only sour note from Romney that pinged my ear was his statement about getting all US troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Do we really believe that we can change that five thousand year-old benighted culture in the next two years? Afghanistan has never really been a nation-state, just a bunch of murderous, thieving, and warring tribes who have agreed that the territory between Persia and India is their private fighting ground. They unite only on an ad hoc basis to expel anyone foolish enough to come there to try and change their traditional game of life. But I digress …
No one expects the polls to be budged much by last night’s exchange – BTW, I thought Bob Schieffer did a good job mediating. In Debate1 Romney pulled up even with Obama, and for all that it mattered, they could have mailed in Debate2 and Debate3. Now we’ll see how well Romney can communicate Obama’s record – the twin disasters of the economy and foreign policy – in the next week. In the same interval Obama will attempt to convince the nation’s light thinkers how being a successful business executive, entrepreneur, and governor of a major state are not a sufficient resume for the presidency, while being a community organizer, do-nothing political hack, inept academic, and a one man presidential disaster area recommend him for a second term doing more of the same.
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