While he makes good points, it's much simpler:
1) Romney did his homework; Obama did not.
2) Obama and his campaign have spent months building up an image of Romney that is simply a figment of their imaginations. Romney destroyed the myth that he is a monster with the type of precision and rhetorical flair that one would expect from a Reagan or a Clinton, not the Mitt Romney that Democrats have been shouting about for months. The bottom-line effect is three-fold: Independents have lost their trust in Obama, rank-and-file Democrats are increasingly losing faith in Obama, and Republicans are fired up like never before.
Who wants four more years of the last four years? Not many people, which is why Obama and Co. looked at their political calculus a year ago and determined that their only chance of winning re-election would be by convincing a majority that Romney is a monster, a risky gambit. They appeared close to closing the deal prior to the debate. They were THIS close, and I barely got any sleep in September because of it (the same holds true for everybody involved with the Romney campaign). However, Obama and Co. failed to close the deal, failed to convince a majority that Romney is a monster, which is why they will lose in November.
You are forgetting that Romney has flip flopped on being a monster, see his performance in GOP primaries. Obama needs to change the narrative about Romney flip flopping and or evolving, and the election will be +5 to +7 for Democrats again.
