Complete Second Presidential Town Hall Debate 2012: Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney - Oct 16, 2012 (by TheNewYorkTimes)
Most pundits seem to think that Obama has won but I’m not so sure. The President certainly appeared more aggressive, but I doubt that would help him win more hearts - it would only reassure and energize those he already had on his side. Romney is far better in playing the smiling, non-aggressive and civilized shark while getting his points across. This is an art that Obama has failed to master and probably never will.
Obama was tense and often times, when answering, he came across as being angry at those asking the question. He seems to have difficulties staying alert AND friendly - he can only be at the top of his game by tensing up and appearing angered. That makes for a good show and good TV, but will that move more people to his side?!
Finally, this performance was more enjoyable to me than the first one, but given the chance, I would’ve already voted for him.
What troubles me is that nobody’s asking them about civil liberties, which took a severe beating in the past decade - this does not seem to concern Americans. The encroachment on civil rights, security theater, extra-judicial killing, runaway surveillance, these are all issues that no longer seem to even register. In the VP debate, Ryan brought up TSA and security theater only to be interrupted and ran over by Biden.
I know that there are those who feel that the one area where Obama and Romney differ is the “war on women”. Personally, I find that “war” demented. I fully support a woman’s right to alone decide what to do with her body at any time, with no reservations. However, I see reproductive rights as a subset of human rights and civil freedoms. (It isn’t terribly relevant whether abortion is unrestrained as long as the President can order extra-judicial killings of even American citizens, all conversations can be intercepted extra-judicially and virtually nobody has any personal freedoms left.)
If you have a chance, make sure that this question is asked. If nobody asks, whoever is elected will easily ignore these issues and our march to full police state (or, rather, continent) will continue.
