SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Contrary to conventional wisdom that debates are rarely, if ever, game-changers, the first presidential debate was a demolition derby. And no amount of post-debate fact-checking, spinning or dances of one’s choice (Barack Obama has cited Mitt Romney’s tap-dancing and soft-shoe) is going to alter the impression of Romney’s winning-ness.
It was quite simply a knockout performance by the Republican challenger. Or, as Notre Dame professor and political observer Robert Schmuhl put it, “Romney gets a gold medal and Obama wasn’t even in the same competition.”
Schmuhl, professor of American studies and author of “Statecraft and Stagecraft: American Political Life in the Age of Personality,” told me that on optics alone, the victor was clear.
“All one had to do on (Oct. 3) is turn down the volume and study the body language of the two figures. After a short period of time, there was no comparison in terms of performance.”