What happens if Obama does as bad at the 2nd debate as he did in the 1st?

[Mister Twister]

What happens?

[Fritz]

Won't happen, but if it does, game over.

[Eraserhead]

I don't think MSM would spin it as being as bad, so it might be kind of irrelevant.

[5280]

I doubt he will do bad, but he will be aggressive enough to appear like like Biden was last Thursday. Some people will think he comes off as pompous, or arrogant.  We will see on Tuesday evening. Candy Crowley will ask cakewalk questions for Obama, they will be in the bag for him. On the other hand, Romney will be asked questions about womans issues, birth control, contraception and the 47%.  He will have to explain that under a 2nd Obama term, the 47% will only expand and be a burden on the US.

Second scenario, Obama does bad like the 1st debate, he'll end up losing the election.  The 3rd debate will only get him out of deep water if he does good.

[King]

It'll have to be really bad because the media is going to spin it as better no matter what.

He needs to win at least one of the final two debates and draw the other.  If he loses this one, he's finished.

[5280]

It'll have to be really bad because the media is going to spin it as better no matter what.

He needs to win at least one of the final two debates and draw the other.  If he loses this one, he's finished.

I agree with this.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

[Eraserhead]

No, no.

Also Minnesota would go down before New Mexico and Oregon.

[LastVoter]

I doubt he will do bad, but he will be aggressive enough to appear like like Biden was last Thursday. Some people will think he comes off as pompous, or arrogant.  We will see on Tuesday evening. Candy Crowley will ask cakewalk questions for Obama, they will be in the bag for him. On the other hand, Romney will be asked questions about womans issues, birth control, contraception and the 47%.  He will have to explain that under a 2nd Obama term, the 47% will only expand and be a burden on the US.

Second scenario, Obama does bad like the 1st debate, he'll end up losing the election.  The 3rd debate will only get him out of deep water if he does good.

Obama won't be as aggressive as Biden, he is not white, if he is aggressive as Biden he will lose the racist whites in Ohio and the election will be over, no matter how media spins it.

[Likely Voter]

If there is a big winner of this debate, then that person will will the election

[Cliffy]

I'm guessing both sides will say their guy won, course that's what I thought last time.  I knew Obama needed a teleprompter but I thought he'd be better than that.  I expect Romney to win again.  Minus an Obamaesque meltdown by Romney I don't think the remaining debates are going to help Obama.  People feel comfortable with Romney now, the bump is the new normal. 

[GMantis]

I'm guessing both sides will say their guy won, course that's what I thought last time.  I knew Obama needed a teleprompter but I thought he'd be better than that.  I expect Romney to win again.  Minus an Obamaesque meltdown by Romney I don't think the remaining debates are going to help Obama.  People feel comfortable with Romney now, the bump is the new normal. 

Depends on what you think is Obamaesque, but the claim that anything else wouldn't help Obama is nonsense. The result of the last debate was part Romney doing better and part Obama doing worse than expected, so if nothing else a better result by Obama would energize base, which has been demoralized after the first debate.

[Vosem]

A smaller swing this time (there's only so many undecided voters/voters who are willing to switch out there), but enough so that Romney starts to indisputably lead, although not by much, in both of the Potential Deciders (Nevada and Ohio), and probably a 2-4 point popular vote margin.

[Silent Hunter]

Will probably go back to near the situation post the 1st debate, but diminishing returns and all that must come into play.

[Oakvale]

I knew Obama needed a teleprompter but I thought he'd be better than that.

Um, I know this a popular meme among the fringe right, but Obama's whole problem at the last debate was that he seemed listless and dull, as if... he were just reading off a teleprompter. For your post to make sense he'd have had to have made a bunch of gaffes or something.

[RogueBeaver]

What King said. Obama won't completely bomb this debate, but if he did it'd be game over.

[Cryptic]

Won't happen, but if it does, game over.

[Wonkish1]

I knew Obama needed a teleprompter but I thought he'd be better than that.

Um, I know this a popular meme among the fringe right, but Obama's whole problem at the last debate was that he seemed listless and dull, as if... he were just reading off a teleprompter. For your post to make sense he'd have had to have made a bunch of gaffes or something.

I doubt you've gone back and watched Obama's 2008 performances, but Obama performed about the same as he did in 2008 with 1 exception. In 2008 he facial expressions weren't like they were a couple weeks ago.

The main difference between 2008 and a couple weeks ago is that McCain looked bad as well talking as slow as Molasses and looking like he's biting down on something hard whenever he speaks and a couple weeks ago Romney had a great night. Obama ended up looking worse by comparison, but the way he talked changed very little... "Uh, uh, uh, you see (moderator's name), uh, we need to, uh, blah, blah, blah..." Obama takes an excessive amount of time to gather his thoughts when he's off prompter. His only ability to get a decisive win is if he says something very memorable that Romney can't respond too(aka 'the zinger').

Outside of that Romney will continue to get about 50%+ more words in per minute as Obama does in each segment. That is the equivalent of having 50% more speaking time. That's a hard advantage to overcome.

That said he should be more relaxed in the town hall setting and so most likely the result will be something close to a tie.

[Brittain33]

Dunno, but if this election keeps tracking so exactly to 2004, what's most likely is that Romney makes an ill-judged comment about Obama's or Biden's kids that sends the campaign into a tailspin for two weeks and costs him any momentum he got from doing very well in the first debate.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I still think Romney will win this one. I actually did go back and watch the town hall debate with McCain the other day, and there weren't too many differences between Obama's performance then and Obama's performance back in the first debate of 2012. McCain just looked like a senile old man who stumbled. Romney isn't even at risk of that.

The big difference, as Wonkish said, was Obama's facial expressions. The thing is, I don't believe Obama can be coached out of those expressions. He had a certain degree of respect for McCain back in '08, but this time around you can just tell that Obama has a seething hate for Mitt Romney. It's deeply engrained, and it seems like Obama has real trouble putting himself in the electorate's shoes and understanding where it is that people see the appeal of Governor Romney.

This time, Romney will be sharp and crisp, and Obama will be long-winded. If he does go on the attack, he'll just make himself look contemptible. I can't see Obama winning.

[GMantis]

I still think Romney will win this one. I actually did go back and watch the town hall debate with McCain the other day, and there weren't too many differences between Obama's performance then and Obama's performance back in the first debate of 2012. McCain just looked like a senile old man who stumbled. Romney isn't even at risk of that.

The big difference, as Wonkish said, was Obama's facial expressions. The thing is, I don't believe Obama can be coached out of those expressions. He had a certain degree of respect for McCain back in '08, but this time around you can just tell that Obama has a seething hate for Mitt Romney. It's deeply engrained, and it seems like Obama has real trouble putting himself in the electorate's shoes and understanding where it is that people see the appeal of Governor Romney.

This time, Romney will be sharp and crisp, and Obama will be long-winded. If he does go on the attack, he'll just make himself look contemptible. I can't see Obama winning.

So Romney can be in attack mode all the time and look sharp and crisp, while Obama will look contemptible if he does the same? I don't quite see the logic here.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Take it up with CNN's focus group, not me. The key difference is, Obama has a record as president that he's got to address. For every attack Obama makes, he needs to elevate his accomplishments in an equally-crisp way. If he doesn't, he risks making himself look diversionary. The problem is, Obama is not very quick in a debate setting. He may be able to launch a few rehearsed zingers, but he's not good at clearly defending his presidency. That's why I think too many zingers will backfire.

Romney, on the other hand, doesn't have to balance discussing his record with attacking the president.

[Vosem]

McCain just looked like a senile old man who stumbled. Romney isn't even at risk of that.

First off, don't you dare call John McCain senile while I still post on this board (until, I suppose, he is actually diagnosed). Second, it's bizarre Romney's only 4 years younger than McCain was in '08, isn't it? Romney's aged quite well, he looks 15-20 years younger than he is.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Where in there did I call John McCain a senile old man? I said he looked like one in the town hall debate. And he did.

I have a lot more respect for John McCain than I have for Mitt Romney. That being said, I think Mitt Romney would make a better president.

[cavalcade]

He would be down about as much as Romney was before the first debate, and Romney would have a lead in OH/CO/VA/IA and the Electoral College with it.

But Obama's style/presentation will be better (he can afford to do as well on substance as he did in debate 1), and Romney will do worse because it will be town hall and not economy-focused, so the only way Obama "does as bad" is if there is a serious gaffe or otherwise very bad sound bite.