The Great Debate Megathread! Black Lincoln versus whiter, richer Douglas!

[CountDeMoney]

And Big Al Gore addresses Obama's tired performance on what the NFL has known since 1960;  it's a shitty road game for you if you're not acclimated to Mile High Stadium.

Former Vice President Al Gore floated an interesting theory for President Obama's widely panned debate performance: Denver's thin air.
"Obama arrived in Denver at 2 PM today — Just a few hours before the debate started," Gore said Wednesday on his Current TV network.  "Romney did his debate prep in Denver. When you go to 5,000 feet and you only have a few hours to adjust -- I don't know," Gore said.

[Valmy]

I remain amused by Mitt 'The deficit is immoral!  It is unacceptable!  But understand I am going to fund Medicare and the Military.'

Somebody who is going to fund Medicare and the Military obviously does not find the deficit immoral or unacceptable since those are among the primary culprits.  And cutting funding for PBS as some sort of stand against the deficit is...a joke surely.  How can somebody who said that kind of garbage be applauded for winning a debate?  He should be ruthlessly mocked.  But again it does not matter how idiotic you are so long as you look better than the other guy.

If this is Mitt on a good day I would hate to see him on his bad days.  Obama is a total failure as a leader but this clown would be no upgrade.  Even his empty promises suck.

[derspiess]

He should have had an oxygen tank there.  That would've looked good on TV.

edit: I remember Dennis Miller doing a live show (on MTV?) in Denver back in the 90s.  He had to take quick oxygen hit about 15 minutes into his show.  Everyone in the crowd started laughing at him for it & he came back with a Milleresque retort:  "Yeah.  Get a fucking climate."

[The Minsky Moment]

I agree with this from Alex Massie (at the Spectator, but a British former Washington correspondent):

  On some of it – on Dodd-Frank for example – Romney made a convincing case.

Actually, Romney made a complete ass of himself on Dodd-Frank, but luckily for him the regulations are too complex for most of the electorate to catch on.

He has two criticisms of D-F:

#1 

Look, we have to have regulation of Wall Street.   That -- that's why I'd have regulation. But I wouldn't designate five banks as too big to fail and give them a blank check.  . . . We need to get rid of that provision, because it's killing regional and small banks

This is off-the-wall absurd.  The systemically important financial institution rules in Dodd-Frank are not a benefit to the designated institutions, they are a burden, which is why institutions on the cusp are trying to avoid designation.  Getting designated doesn't increase your chance of any government support.  What it does do is increase capital requirements and add significant additional regulatory compliance burdends and administrative oversight.  In no way does it or could it have any negative impact on "regional and small banks."  Regional and small banks are declining in numbers for the same reason they have been steadily declining for decades: because the US legacy banking system was extraordinarily fragmenented and there is a long-term trend to consolidation via M&A, something you think a PE guy would appreciate.

#2

Dodd-Frank correctly says we need to have qualified mortgages, and if you give a mortgage that's not qualified, there are big penalties. Except they didn't ever go on to define what a qualified mortgage was.
It's been two years. We don't know what a qualified mortgage is yet

Dodd-Frank is an awfully long piece of legislation, but still . . . the definition is right in there.  Section 1412, now codified at 15 USC 1639c(b)(2)(A).  As a former management consultant, Romney (or his staff) should have the ability to search a PDF.

The only thing he could possibly be referencing is that the Bureau of Consumer Protection has the ability to narrow the definition further by rule; they also have the ability to relax the requirements for smaller loans in rural areas.  These rules haven't been promulgated yet, in part because of the political football over the agency.  But in the meantime, the definition is known and banks are free to lend in reliance on it.

[Valmy]

He should have had an oxygen tank there.  That would've looked good on TV.

Only if he had been wearing eye-black at the time.

[CountDeMoney]

If this is Mitt on a good day I would hate to see him on his bad days.

Just wait;  there are two weeks to go before the next debate. 
Mittens is doing the right thing by not doing interviews or talk shows between now and then so he doesn't fuck this up, but his campaign will do something stupid as usual.  It has proven time and again that it can't go three days without doing something stupid.

[Martinus]

  I guess people are seeing something I'm not.  On a victory scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being "Old Bush looks at watch" or "Gore sighs", this one was a solid 1.

I haven't seen the debate, but the consensus among Polish pundits (including leftist ones) is that Romney mopped the floor with Obama.

Now, they are Polish so they could very well be stupid and wrong.

[derspiess]

He should have had an oxygen tank there.  That would've looked good on TV.

Only if he had been wearing eye-black at the time.

Now that was a missed opportunity.  He could have scored more Anniversary points by writing something witty and romantic on them.

[Queequeg]

Biden is going to get his ass kicked.  Jesus I'm depressed.

[CountDeMoney]

Biden is going to get his ass kicked.  Jesus I'm depressed.

Joe Biden has debated everyone from Dukakis to Gephardt, Al Gore to Jesse Jackson, from Gary Hart to Andrew Young.  He's dealt with Obama, Hillary and the Grizzly Mom with Lipstick.

I think he can deal with a 42 year old math wonk who says he doesn't have time to discuss math.

[derspiess]

Biden is going to get his ass kicked.  Jesus I'm depressed.

He could have a moment of clarity and surprise everyone.  He's getting a bit, eh, you know, but IIRC debates were always his forte.

[MadImmortalMan]

As the challenger does Romney get intel briefings?

[CountDeMoney]

As the challenger does Romney get intel briefings?

Yeah, Romney and Ryan started receiving national security briefings right before the convention.

[Valmy]

Now that was a missed opportunity.  He could have scored more Anniversary points by writing something witty and romantic on them.

Sonnet 43 it would say

Then everybody would be outraged at Obama throwing his literature beliefs in our faces.

[CountDeMoney]

He should have had an oxygen tank there.  That would've looked good on TV.

edit: I remember Dennis Miller doing a live show (on MTV?) in Denver back in the 90s.  He had to take quick oxygen hit about 15 minutes into his show.  Everyone in the crowd started laughing at him for it & he came back with a Milleresque retort:  "Yeah.  Get a fucking climate."

The more I think about it, the more it does make sense:  hell, NFL teams move up their travel days to go to Denver, if only to get a good 24 or, in the case of the playoffs, 48 hours to get acclimated to the Denver altitude.
And then you've got a President landing at 2:30 in the afternoon that day?  Oh yeah, and he's a smoker?  I'mma jus' sayin' [spock]It would explain a great many things.[/spock]