Most of the instant polls following last night’s concluding presidential debate showed President Obama as the clear winner. The CBS poll of uncommitted voters called it for Obama by 53% to 23%. So the president managed to ring up two victories in a row after his disastrous performance in the first debate, when he appeared not to be fully engaged, or even fully present.
Will it be enough? For any thinking Amercan who follows politics, it should be. But that is not the majority of voters, sad to say. For people who tend to be swayed by sound bites, it’s still an open contest. And I think the Republican base, even though it may be repulsed by Romney’s move to the middle—how many times did Romney utter the word “peace” last night?—is still likely to get out and vote, if only to support Ryan (and get rid of our first black president).
There are now two weeks to go until the election. If any of you reading this should happen to remain undecided, all you need to know is this: electing Romney-Ryan would send America to hell in a handbasket, P.D.Q. The rest of you have made up your minds already. Let’s hope that the half of you who’ve made them up correctly prevail.
President Obama deserves re-election.
