Why obama threw the first debate

That didn't happen at the next two debates. Former moderators have advice for Lester Holt Ritter also noted that up until that point the opinions of many swing voters had been shaped by the attack ads of Obama and his allies, who had relentlessly painted Romney as a heartless corporate raider who had preyed on struggling companies while at Bain Capital. That night he shattered some of those perceptions: "Republicans got their warrior and independents took a second look," Ritter said. The polls bore that out.

For the first time, Romney surged into the lead over Obama in Gallup and Pew polls. Obama's former strategist David Axelrod still calls that night a painful memory, in large part because they hadn't anticipated or primed Obama to dissemble Romney's moderate transformation.

He took that to the extreme," said Axelrod, now a CNN senior political commentator. Romney "simply shed his tax plan, came in with a much more moderate pitch. Honestly, we didn't do a good job of preparing the president for that. Favreau noted in his column that the Obama campaign also "underestimated how affable, confident, and charming Romney would seem.

Best 'zingers' from debate night The cacophony of Democratic criticism of Obama's performance was intense, and his advisers were blunt in their assessment of his performance.

The only way out of the hole he had created was practice. Advisers worked with him on finding the right tone -- sounding less defensive; showing passion about how his policies had translated into helping people; and steering him away from sounding like Professor Obama -- honing his points so they were crisp, clear, concise. And in the end, he won the race convincingly.

What lessons can Clinton learn? As the Clinton campaign prepares for their matchup with Donald Trump, they clearly trying to avoid any mistakes of that kind. Holed up in a hotel room near her home in Chappaqua, Clinton has delved into the kind of cramming that she does best.

She has carefully anticipated the factually inaccurate arguments that Trump has used on the trail, preparing to fact check him in real time.

She is ready with specifics on what he said during the primaries to guard against any attempt at shape-shifting to a more moderate version of himself. Trump's debate prep has been serious, but more informal. Advisers close to the real estate magnate said he has been formulating his answers through in-depth talks about the issues with allies like New Jersey Gov.

His advisers expect him to be cool and composed, but ready with fierce counterpunches when Clinton attacks. Does Obama really want the equivalent? The Claim: Here's the host, melting down on Wednesday : "He should watch -- well, not just 'Hardball,' Rachel [Maddow], he should watch you, he should watch the Reverend Al [Sharpton], he should watch Lawrence [O'Donnell], he would learn something about this debate.

Proponent: Kevin Baker. The Claim: In an apparent bid to one-up Andrew Sullivan's hysteria Wednesday night, Harper's published a rant by Baker arguing that the president is throwing the election. No, really: "There is no reasonable explanation -- no acceptable explanation -- for such a performance Obama signaled that he wants out. Proponent: Reddit. The Claim: The social-media site's users are in a tizzy, suggesting that Romney was caught on camera pulling an illegal cheat sheet out of his pocket as the debate began.

The Romney camp says it's a handkerchief, and there's footage of him using one later on. But even if it hadn't been debunked, the craziest conspiracy theory along these lines doesn't account for the widely acknowledged fact that Obama simply didn't debate well. Proponent: Assorted Liberals. But just because he was an ineffective moderator doesn't mean that's why Obama did poorly.

With the election little more than a month away, Romney might be running out of time to seize the lead. Voting has already begun in some form or another in 35 states including in battlegrounds like Ohio and Iowa. Obama faces another hurdle as soon as Friday morning, when the monthly jobs figures come out for September, a reminder of the tough economic plight faced by millions of Americans. Economists polled by Reuters expect the unemployment rate to be anywhere between 8.

Romney was forceful from the start, accusing Obama of repeatedly portraying the Republican's policies as inaccurate, and he maintained that momentum throughout. Obama, looking tired and at times irritated, remained largely calm.

In the spin room afterwards, Romney's campaign team hailed it as a victory. Eric Fehrnstrom, the campaign spokesman, could not contain his glee. David Plouffe, one of the architects of Obama's victory in and a senior member of the president's campaign this year, was subdued.

Another of Obama's campaign team, Stephanie Cutter, insisted Obama had won the debate on substance but, unusually for this tough spokeswoman who normally gives little ground, she admitted Romney had won on style and preparation. One of Bill Clinton's best-known strategists, James Carville, told CNN he had been left with "one overwhelming impression … It looked like Romney wanted to be there and President Obama didn't want to be there.

It gave you the impression that this whole thing was a lot of trouble.