Politics & Government

Obama-Romney Second Presidential Debate: Who Won?

Not long after the candidates had finished squaring off on Tuesday night, Democratic Party of Georgia Chairman Mike Berlon declares the debate "a clear and decisive win for President Obama."

President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney went at it in a spirited second presidential debate on Tuesday night. Patch live-blogged the debate, which featured the candidates debating everything from college loans to manufacturing jobs to contraception.

You can watch the entire debate here.

At the Democratic Party of Georgia, which is headquartered on the westside at 763 Trabert Avenue, there was little doubt as to whom won the debate. Not long after the town hall format event from Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., had concluded, DPG Chairman Mike Berlon issued the following statement:

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“Tonight’s second Presidential debate was a clear and decisive win for President Obama. While Governor Romney spent most of his time making promises about creating new jobs, fixing the economy and questioning our exceptional foreign policy, it was obvious that he has no specific ways to address these issues.

“Where are the plans? Any plan? Governor Romney- why can’t we hear about these plans until after the election?

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“President Obama presented a clear contrast. He showed his leadership in saving more than a million jobs in the auto industry at a time when Romney would have let them go bankrupt. He made the case for cleaner energy, showed how he would protect jobs, explained the logic in his health care plan, demonstrated his vast experience in foreign policy and national security, indicated how he would protect our seniors and made it clear that anyone who came here from another country would have a chance at the American Dream.

“The President also showed the flawed logic in Romney’s tax plan that would end exemptions for important tax deductions like the home mortgage interest deduction and the educational deduction and make people choose which ones to keep- benefiting the richest in our society instead of the poorest.

“Instead of trying to over promise tax cuts and break the backs of the middle class, Governor Romney needs to face the hard reality.  A tax cut for the rich as he proposes has never created jobs. They have just made the rich richer and eroded the middle class – the backbone of America. Romney’s math just does not add up and it won’t.

“Governor Romney makes more every year than almost any player in the National Football League and he has never struggled to make ends meet.  His ‘simple answers to complex questions’ simply won’t bring America back to prosperity. His policies are like telling a homeless person to get a job.  It is just much more complicated than that.

“It’s time for us to move forward and reinvest in the American dream. If you are interested in equal pay for equal work, the right to choose and equal rights for everyone – then President Obama is the clear choice.”

Of course, Republican supporters felt quite differently. As Washington Insider Jamie Dupree, who can be heard locally on the Midtown-based WSB Radio, wrote, GOP supporters feel the president’s performance last night “would not derail the recent momentum for Romney in many polls.”

There will be one more presidential debate prior to the election:

Oct. 22, 2012

Topic: Foreign policy
Air Time: 9-10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Location: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida (Tickets)
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS)

The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate and will focus on foreign policy.

Who do you think won Tuesday's debate? Tell us in the comments below.


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