presentation that was there last time. i thought mitt rom fee did solidly in explaining his side of the case this, sounded like the level of energy and so, i don t think there was a lot that was new. but i thoigt each candidate did a pretty good job of explaining here is what i m for and i am against in the other guy. look. you decide. and we re going to have to leave to it fact checkers. but. this time they kind of said let s we re going to leave that to tomorrow and you know put a pen in it so let me get the question. how do we get gas prices down? they re high now. look, i thought there it s misleading.
bhu it tonight. is that it would have just been a question in a series about 15 questions now it s going to dominate for the next day about what did happen or didn t happen. so in a sick way it s going to be a greater emphasis there is a flub. all right. steve, your favorite question tonight? do you think the most effective one? what is that? sorry? oos. greta: what question did you like the most? i think, yeah. i thought the question that the questioner put about steven hsu and gas prices was the toughest question of the night for president obama. i thought the president did much better this debate than previous debates. i think it s likely people at home women see it s a draw or the president ahead. but on that question on gas prices what secretary hsu said it s part of the administration and also a part of the administration about not wanting to it wasn t his
job and president obama never answered that question. i don t think it took a viewer paying close attention to discover the president didn t like the question and didn t answer it. i think there was a time when mitt romney gave a focus almost perfect answer and when you talk to romney advisors they said boy, the economy is fantastic on the economy. so i think that was romney s best moment. all right. we re going to hear from what michael crowley s favorite question later in the show. we re going to be back with you in a few minutes up next, karl rove. did either candidate inch closer to the finish line? also, governor romney gaining ground with the women, coming
unless ari was. the point is he was very energized by this debate. he was depressed after the first debate. you know, so many democrats this past week i ve talked to have just been so depressed thinking, we re going to lose this election. you know, mike, after last night, the president certainly did prove he was back in the game. he energized his base. i don t think mitt romney depressed his base. his base is more like saying you know, he should have done a better job on that libya question. i do think, to use the term, again, i think that mitt romney, for his base, certainly held serve. yeah, he certainly did. he certainly did. he didn t necessarily lose the debate as much as the president won the debate. and as john just pointed out, the president showed up and indicated to the country who were watching that he wants this job back. that he really wants this job back. romney, to a certain extent, played to type. i mean, he behaved and acted and
mitt romney a certain way. at nailing him to his record at bain capital and his flip-flopping. they ve done that time and time and time again. and what happened the first debate was the president himself failed to do that as well. tonight the president took every opportunity possible to do the same thing the campaign has so successfully done for several months that has produced the margin of, you know, produced their lead if the polls. so i think they have to be feeling good. steve schmidt? i think governor romney did an effective job on issues around the economy. i also think he had three turnovers tonight. it would be interesting to see how the immigration issues are covered on univision. i think also the 47% question and the libya question, they re going to be replayed over and over again over the next 24 hours. as we ve talked about before, when you look at these debate leads and flash polls, the side that is able to capitalize on the other s mistake, it tends to