More Reaction to the Third Presidential Debate

A CNN instant poll of registered voters found President Obama won, 48% to 40%. A CBS News poll of undecided voters favored Obama, 53% to 23%. A Public Policy Polling survey of swing state voters also came out in favor of the president, 53% to 42%.

I thought Obama was the winner hands down.

Andrew Sullivan: “For Romney, he made no massive mistakes. No Gerald Ford moments. And since the momentum of this race is now his, if now faltering a little, a defeat on points on foreign policy will be an acceptable result. But this was Obama’s debate; and he reminded me again of how extraordinarily lucky this country has been to have had him at the helm in this new millennium.”

Marc Ambinder: “Romney was betting that he did not need to take risks, and stands a better shot at winning the election the more people associate him with the economy. Deciding to let Obama once again be the aggressor carries real risks, because of the large audience, and because the contrasts in tone between the two candidates could be large enough that some voters who initially thought Romney crossed the credibility threshold might have second thoughts.”

Greg Sargent: “Tonight, America was introduced to Peacenik Mitt — and watched him take a pummeling. I don’t know how much this will impact the overall dynamic of the race — it may not matter much at all — but it’s hard to see this as a good night for Romney.”

Josh Marshall: “The first half hour was a draw, though President Obama scored by default when Romney either didn’t or couldn’t attack on Libya. After that though Romney began to falter as Obama became more direct, organized and declarative. Romney seemed increasingly lost. Obama seemed comfortable, happy. The visuals told the story.”

Chris Cillizza: “Obama controlled the third presidential debate in a way not all that
dissimilar from the way Romney controlled the first one. Obama clearly
came loaded for bear, attacking Romney from the jump for a lack of
clarity when it came to his vision (or lack thereof) on foreign policy.”

Joe Klein: “President Obama won the foreign policy debate, cleanly and decisively,
on both style and substance. It was as clear a victory as Mitt Romney’s
in the first debate. And Romney lost in
similar fashion: he seemed nervous, scattered, unconvincing — and he
practiced unilateral disarmament, agreeing with Obama hither and yon …
on Iraq (as opposed to two weeks ago), on Afghanistan (as opposed to
interviews he’s given this fall), on Libya and Syria and Iran. He didn’t
have a single creative or elegantly stated foreign policy thought and,
indeed, seemed foolish at times.”