Romney Crushes Obama in First Presidential Debate (videos included)

So the first presidential debates just ended and from a PR perspective I think it's safe to say Romney destroyed Obama in the debates.

I've been saying that this election will come down to the debates and with his performance tonight I'm betting that you'll see Romney get a big bump in the polls this coming week.

Here is the debate (five parts) followed by my commentary:

Now, up until tonight I personally have not been a fan of either candidates. Obama has done a very poor job as President in my books (even with consideration that Bush created the mess Obama inherited). And Romney hasn't sat well with me for a variety of reasons, including he's the preferred candidate of the big banks, he seems open to engaging in new wars and overall he's shown little understanding of what people are going through in the real world.

But after tonight, I have to say, while I'm still not a fan of Romney (mostly because he supports the NDAA), I would feel better about him as President than I would have as of yesterday.

Romney

Pros

• Jobs focus
• Romney brought everything back to job creation. Obama at no point emphasized that job creation was his priority (Obama's messaging was far more about 'balance').
  
• Delivery
• Romney never rambled. His points where clear, concise and to the point. He used every moment he had on that stage to communicate a message. Obama on the other hand seemed to ramble at times without making a clear point.
  
• Reasonable
• The biggest gain for Romney tonight is that he came across as a reasonable (and intelligent) guy. So all the fears people had of him being a rich, cut-throat, fat-cat CEO who was going to cut everyone's benefits were nullified by Romney's persona tonight. Romney came across as a nice guy who genuinely cares about people (who knows, maybe he doesn't, but that's not the point, from a PR perspective Romney came across as kind and well intentioned person).
  
• Confidence
• Romney clearly had more confidence than the President. Not only did he go after the President's performance over the past four years, but every time the President jabbed at Romney he dissected Obama's criticism and made it appear as though it was not factual. He had stats and figures at his fingertips and threw them at Obama faster than Obama could react.
  
• Memorable
• While there was no specific memorable moment in tonight's debate, what was memorable were parts of Romney's message:
  
• Job creation is his top focus because people are suffering and generations to come are being effected for the worst 
• He will not cut medicare for seniors (or anyone that wants to remain on medicare) and  he won't toss people off insurance for pre-existing conditions - so the big bad wolf talking points against Romney are now gone.
• To big to fail (for the banks) must end. (I was amazed that he said this. He actually stands against tax payer money being used to prop up banks who should have gone bankrupt - on this point alone I would vote for the guy). 

Cons

• Rebuttal
• Romney's performance is hard to criticize but the one area where he could improve is on his rebuttal. There's a simple rule to rebutting an argument, less is more. The less words you use in your rebuttal the more genuine it sounds. 
• So instead of saying "Well Mr. President, you know that what you said is not the case."  A more effective response is "False."  You can then add whatever you want, for instance, "False. Mr. President you know what you said is not the case."  
• People remember your rebuttal when its short and to the point. When you stretch out your rebuttal it comes across as though perhaps you don't 100 per cent deny the accusations made. 

Obama

Pros

• He showed up
• Seriously, this is all I can say in the pro column for Obama, is that he showed up.
  
• Painted Romney as an old-school Republican
• OK, I can think of one thing Obama did well, which was try to paint Romney as an old-school, trickle-down Republican. But it's hard to say this was a Pro because Romney hit back saying that's not who he is and that the rich will not get breaks on his watch (tax loopholes for the rich will be closed). Then he nailed Obama by saying he doesn't believe in 'Trickle Down Government'. 

Cons

• Unclear Messaging
• The only thing Obama seemed to talk about all night was that Romney's plan did not have specifics. There really was nothing about what Obama would do over the next four years. There was very little about how he's going to fix the economy. The only 'message' that Obama hammered was that Romney didn't have specifics so you can't trust him.
• The absolute worst thing that can happen to you in a debate is that no one remembers anything you said... and unfortunately I believe that's exactly what happened to Obama tonight. I genuinely can't remember anything specific he said and the debates only ended an hour ago.
   
• Seemed Tired and Lethargic
• I hate to say this, but Obama seemed tired. Physically tired, but more so emotionally tired. It almost felt like he just didn't want to debate; as if he has been debating (fighting) Republicans now for four years and he's just sick of it. 
• As you can see in the video, Obama is staring down for half the debate, it almost looks like he's about to nod off at points. 
• As I was watching the debate part of me thought: 'I wonder if he got bad news before coming on stage. Perhaps some international crisis we don't know about yet that has depressed him.'  It's not a good sign when the vibe you are sending to people is that you don't want to be there.
   
• Gone was Hope, gone was the Change
• Almost everything that Obama ran on in 2008 was absent tonight - no mention of Change, no mention of Hope, heck, he didn't even mention Forward, which is his 2012 campaign theme.  Without hitting on any of the themes he's used in the past it left a very strange vibe for the viewer, almost like like 'Who is this guy?'
  
• Facial Expressions 
• Aside from messaging, Obama's biggest con tonight was his facial expressions. If he wasn't look down at his shoes, he had this look on his face when Romney was talking like he was irritated that he had to debate Romney, as though it was beneath him. 
• But what was really weird was how he'd go from a dour expression to a huge beaming smile when he knew the camera was locked on him for sure. Expressing such wildly polar emotions so quickly without a transition state creates an odd feeling in the viewer, as though you are putting on an act. 

Conclusion

So there you have it. In my opinion Romney crushed Obama tonight. From messaging to persona to overall appearance, Romney came across as a guy who is energetic and ready to tackle the challenge of being President. 

Obama on the other hand seemed tired.  Which makes such little sense given Obama should have been the one energized by the fact that he is (was?) beating Romney handedly in the polls. 

The only thing I can think of is that either Obama simply is not good at debates, he got news before the debate that threw his mood off, or he's got a cold starting. Because he sure didn't seem like a guy who wanted a second term more than anything. 

But regardless of the reason, Obama has a few weeks to prep for their second debate and he'll have to do a much better job next time if he's going to keep Romney from taking the lead. 

Should be interesting to see what the polls say tomorrow and whether I'm right that Romney did as good a job as I think he did from a PR perspective.