Romey: 1 Obama: defeated

Last night was the first presidential debate of the 2012 presidential election between President Barack Obama and the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. As Thursday morning has rolled around, many say that this debate has altered the narrative of the entire race.

As commentary for this debate has flooded in, a vast majority of pundits agree that Mitt Romney was the clear winner of the debate.

So what statement, observation, plan, or presence by the candidate constitutes the general voting public to declare a winner and loser in such a complicated issue?

Some would say it is a combination of all of the above, while others will purely judge a candidate on their physical presence in the debate. After viewing the debate myself, I found myself being drawn in to Mitt Romney’s discussion much more than President Obama’s. My guess is that much of the viewers of the debate felt a similar way.

From the beginning of the broadcast, Mitt Romney had a visible plan to answer all questions precisely and to make eye contact with the camera in order to make his presence felt in the homes of the families viewing the debate. Mitt Romney was extremely prepared to defend his own plans and to dissect President Obama’s current policies. Each time the President would state a negative impact a policy change from Romney’s campaign, Romney would respond with a level and descriptive defense. As the debate continued in this fashion, Romney seemed to become more confident as Obama became timid and somber. Governor Romney would look to Obama after proving his point and playfully smirk in his direction. As President Obama would listen to the opposing side, his head would dip down and he would rarely make eye contact with his competition. By the end of the debate, the President seemed defeated.

One continued remark that I would like to point out from the President was his apparent intention to compare himself to his opposition. When explaining his policies and hopes for the four years to come, President Obama would say ‘[Governor Romney] and I agree….’ on certain issues. In my opinion, as one of only two candidates, President Obama and Governor Romney should try to make themselves sound as opposite from each other as possible. They obviously have very differing views, and so President Obama’s comments, to me, make it seem like his is not confident enough in the policies that make his views so much different from his competitor’s.

It is the presence and the perceived preparation of the candidate that leads reporters to declare Romney the winner with less than half of the debate still left to unfold. It was what led me to choose Romney as the winner within minutes of turning the debate on.

In the end, we would like to think that the candidate with the best policies and genuine ideas for the country will win, but as the voting population watches these debates their intentions are transparent. The public is looking to see which candidate looks strongest, and use this observation to decide the winner of each debate. It is this, and only this, conclusion that will decide the fate of each candidate in November.