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2012 Town Hall Debate

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2012 Town Hall Debate: President Obama vs. Governor Romney

The issue of whether President Obama is suitable to be the President of America has been widely debated in the 2012 American Electoral Debate. Polls show Governor Romney taking the lead in many states. The debate is an important issue because it concerns the well being of America, the tremendous debt they are in and the poor economy resulting in high unemployment rates. This paper will consider the arguments and points of both President Barrack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 Town Hall Debate. It will then put forward reasons why both candidates deserve the title of the President of the United States.

Town hall meetings are an indication of early American democracy that today modern candidates are very familiar with. It is the democratic process in which fellow Americans ask the candidates serious questions about issues they are concerned with. Neither candidate goes into this debate knowing the questions being asked, only the mediator is notified and in this case it was Candy Crawford. During the debate a few right hooks and upper cuts were thrown back and forth between the candidates, but it seem the last one standing holding the victory was in fact the mediator, Candy Crawford. The town hall debate covered both domestic and foreign policy. The audience touched upon some very important topics from immigration, women’s equity, costs of gas, the military, they Libyan attack and gun rights and comparing Mitt Romney to previous President George W. Bush. Both candidates were well prepared, with great answers to these questions, Governor Romney did especially well against his candidate, he did all right against President Obama too. This formats also lead to awkward moments where both candidates tried to dodge topics. President Obama and Governor Romney showed comfort with this style of debate wandering around the stage while speaking as well as getting aggressive in each other’s space while talking over each other’s allotted time.

The town hall debate showed many sides of both candidates, it showed Obama’s impeccable speaking abilities, his great leadership qualities maintaining calm while continuously being attacked by Governor Romney. What we did see, which we have not seen much in Obama was heart. The president Obama showed he was ready and prepared for this debate receiving a lot more positive reactions in comparison to the first debate. While Mitt Romney made promises that come up to about 7 trillion dollars of debt Obama made plans of what he “wants” to do for America. Some of these plans include; “I want to help our schools hire and reward the best teachers, especially in math and science”, “I’m running to make sure that America once again leads the world in educating our kids, training our workers”, “We want to keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal technology” and “I want you guys to know I'm not going to let oil companies write this country's energy plan.” Obama was very careful in the way he made his promises; he made sure he did not make a promise he could not keep. Unlike Romney who is consistent in showing his inconsistency, made promises not knowing if he could actually keep them. In the Town Hall debate Obama did not hesitate to call Governor Romney out on his “flip-flopping.” When Romney went on about how important oil plants and natural gases were to him, Obama did not hesitate to quote Romney, “This plant kills” and took great pride in shutting it down and now suddenly he is big on oil.

There was no surprise that Governor Romney came into this debate guns firing. The Governor remained true to himself, showing his inconsistency with his arguments. He also showed to be very unprofessional and unfit to be a leader, getting angry so easily, picking fights with moderator, speaking over both the President and Candy, getting personal in regards to pension and the terrorist attack meanwhile playing the blame-game. Overlooking these negative traits, Governor did exceed Obama in his promises and plans for the future. Where Obama focused on what he “wanted” to do for the country, Romney focused on what he “will do” for the country. Some of the things Governor Romney promised for the future were, “I will reduce government spending”, “I will help usher in a revival in American manufacturing”, “We will champion small businesses America’s engine of job growth”, and “I will focus on nurturing and developing the skilled workers our economy so desperately needs and the future demands.” These are just some the promises Governor Romney made in this debate; all beginning with “I will”, governing a state is a lot easier then being in charge of all 52 states. Can he keep all the promises he has made? Romney presented some great points, along with his five-point plan, which proves to be very beneficial; he definitely has the brains and the ability to conduct a great plan. Though he doesn’t show good leadership qualities such as consistency.
Lets not forget about the third candidate Governor Romney brought to this debate, the mediator Candy Crawford. Both candidates gave Candy a tough time, especially in the first half of the debate. Romney especially gave her a hard time, at one point when asking him to move on to the next question he responded with “no.” There was some previous argument in regards to Candy being the mediator because she had some previous ties to President Obama. This arose rumors especially after the debate, viewers accused Candy of being at Obama’s recue, defending him, giving him the easier questions and debating with Romney for him. The viewers who actually watched the debate know this is untrue, Candy showed fairness throughout the whole debate and the one time where she defended President Obama she also agreed with Romney’s statement. She put up with Romney’s disruptive, impolite behavior even allowing him to continue with the previous question- which is generally not supposed to happen- and finally she allowed Romney to surpass his speaking time multiple times. Overall Candy’s performance was very professional and unbiased and it was very clear that at the end of the debate she held her stride, and did a very well job controlling both candidates through the intense debate.

The President Obama showed he was ready for this debate receiving great feedback by not only potential voters but also it shows in the polls. Many may argue that President Obama did not just show up for this debate but he came out gun’s firing. Polls conducted by the networks show Obama taking a step forward with the win. This debate consisted of both candidates building themselves up by making references to previous accomplishments or tearing each other down. Among the attacks both made promises and proposed concrete plans for America’s future. Overall I agree with the polls that Obama won this debate while maintaining great composure, arguing concrete points and really showing enthusiasm to America, that he cares about this debate and he is all in, which he lacked in the first debate. This election is neck and neck; this win was big for Obama.

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