I Called It, Didn't I?

Image by DonkeyHotey under CC license.

I've never seen a clearer morning-after consensus: Romney scored a TKO in the first US Presidential debate, it seems. I see comparisons to Kennedy-Nixon or Reagan-Carter, the two most decisive presidential debates in televised debate history. And more than one commentator has noted that Obama did not look as though he wanted to be there. I think it confirms my suspicions that Obama does not really want to be president any more.

The next debate should be tougher for Romney. Whether or not Obama still wants to be president, he has his pride. And he will be concerned about his legacy. He's going to come more pumped for the next one.

As to the narrative here, the best new story for now is "challenger closes the gap." However, since the gap is already pretty narrow, that will not do for long. And "Romney campaign collapses" has already been done to death. Ergo, if events make it in the least possible, the obvious "big news" story to come is "wheels fall off the  Obama bus."

Look for it.

I think Romney-Obama best compares to Reagan-Carter. Folks are dissatisfied with the record of the current president, but they had doubts about the challenger. The Obama campaign has hung their hat on that one by running lots of ads going after Romney, rather than talking about the President's record.

Now, just as Reagan did in the Carter debates, Romney has managed to come across as capable, presidential, and likable. This blows the heart out of the Democratic campaign strategy, so it may do maximum damage. They may have to scramble for a plan B. There may not be a good plan B available.

I think there is real potential for this to morph into "wheels come off the Obama campaign." Into a real poll surge for Romney.