The second Presidential Debate October 16 was the rematch between the two Presidential candidates, focusing on domestic policy and clearly dividing the platforms of the respective contenders. The debate took place at Hofstra University in New York and was formatted in a town hall style, giving independent voters the chance to ask each nominee a question about domestic policy. The first person to speak was a college student who addressed the issue of the lack of jobs for recent college graduates. Both Republican nominee Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Democratic nominee President Barack Obama answered that they, if elected or re-elected, respectively, would try to decrease the unemployment rate and get the economy going again. Other questions included topics such as pay equity for women, energy consumption, and, unsurprisingly, the deficit and the economic crisis.
These topics were not shocking, but the demeanor that the candidates used in the debate was. President Obama, who was criticized as being too passive and unexciting in the last debate, stepped up the intensity. The change was jarring as he not only defended himself against Governor Romney’s verbal attacks, but threw his own figurative drama bombs in the mix, creating a dynamic between the two candidates that was intense and electric.
Governor Romney certainly did not step down in his intensity as he continued to be assertive and aggressive in his mannerisms. His signature debate smile, which involves smiling at President Obama, is full of snark and passive aggression.
Both candidates were unruly and perhaps too aggressive during this town hall debate, performing in a way unjust of the leadership role of President of the United States. In my mind, their performance resulted in no clear winner. However, the intensity in the room was great and made for a very entertaining, stimulating debate. While it didn't exactly clear up each candidate’s respective platform, it did draw very clear distinctions as to where the candidates stood in relation to each other. Hopefully, in the next and final debate, the viewers will finally figure out what Mitt Romney’s Five Point Plan consists of or how Barack Obama plans on lowering the deficit.
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