After getting his clock cleaned by Mitt Romney in their first debate, President Obama could prep by just watching this 12-minute video that Andrew Sullivan posted on his blog. Sullivan entitles it “27 lies in one debate,” but the video lists 31. Some are duplicative such as Romney’s saying his health plan would cover pre-existing conditions – even his campaign backed away from that one – and I am not sure some of them would actually amount to lies. Nonetheless, this is an impressive list of prevarications and misleading statements.
One of the difficulties Obama faces in debating Romney is that the challenger lies and/or changes positions with such facility and fluidity that it can be difficult to choose which statements to go after. So, just pick some of the big ones and hammer the point home. Joe Biden showed how it could be done last week, although I would suggest the President not use the same mannerisms and tactics employed by Biden – that’s not his game. Also, don’t count on the moderator to do your job for you. While many (mostly Democrats) faulted Jim Lehrer’s lack of involvement in focusing the debate, the debate format was agreed to by the campaigns. It gave a lot of latitude to the candidates to direct the discussion. One took advantage of that, one did not.
Tom Noonan 