First Presidential Debate

   With this being the first debate, I had high expectations for both candidates. I was expecting a very intense back-and-forth debate that would cover most of the main issues surrounding this campaign such as the economy, health care reform, education, and women's rights. Having said that, I must admit I was dissatisfied with the way the debate turned out. Both Romney and Obama focused on calling each other out for things that were said, defending themselves, and throwing another punch. I was surprised to see the way Romney took such initiative. He actually said more than President Obama, who seemed to be continuously submissive to Romney's attacks.  This made Romney seem like the potential underdog rather than putting him in a  defensive position. The media was not able to (or maybe chose not to) feed off the negative stereotypes that have risen about Romney. Although he did speak of raising taxes and Obamacare, his language and word usage seemed to have been very carefully chosen in a way that would not be taken out of context. In reference to the feedback loop, although it has applied as a whole to Mitt Romney's campaign, I don't believe it worked when it came to the debate since he actually used it as a chance to redeem himself. When it comes to swaying voter's opinions, I think debates have the potential to do so, but it does not usually work. For those voters who are registered with a political party, debates are mainly used to reinforce their opinion and stance on certain issues; these voters' minds are not likely to be swayed. However; debates are the best chance the candidates have for reeling in the independent voters by clearly stating where they stand on issues and discussing their plans. Since in this particular debate the candidates were not very clear, I don't think it served its purpose. This might have been partly due to the moderator, Jim Lehrer. He did not make his presence important, he let the candidates pretty much take over. He did not really ask pressing questions, instead let the candidates circle around the same points.