Page 9 - Mark Haleprin News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Because you could have a real discussion almost. >> bob schieffer, by the way, did you notice, mark haleprin, they didn't screw with bob schieffer. like they knew they weren't going to cross schieffer. >> there's a reason for that. >> because they knew that this tart -- as dan rather would say, this tart texan would come right back at them and hit them hard. they showed schieffer respect and bob schieffer ran the best debate by far. >> well, the president had an extraordinary command not only of his own record but of governor romney's. and i think bob let them both have their say. and one reas...

Funny tweet saying they're in severe agreement on iran. i actually thought that was quite a lot of consistency. >> and again, you know, we always go back to the 1980 debate and make some comparisons because it's such -- it was such an important debate. >> right. >> mark, mitt romney did the same thing ronald reagan had to do in 1980. we remember the '80 debate, those old enough, and everybody loves to talk about how ronald reagan wiped the floor with jimmy carter. he didn't. he had a couple of extraordinary moments, but it was neck and neck. there were a few -- but last night, this is what mit...

Watch "morning joe" while you're still in bed and you watch "morning joe" while you're shaving and you get in the car and you've got that tv screen right in front of your steering wheel and we love that. >> right there. >> hey, sirius xm, joe. >> exactly. exactly. >> no doubt. >> but you know, david, we've been talking about this gallup poll that shows this growing momentum for mitt romney in the key battleground states including florida, ohio, virginia. and it actually has mitt romney pulling ahead by four points among likely voters 50% to 46%. and the bigger take away talking about this past...

Plausible alternative. made him a plausible alternative. and as a result, you now have places like ohio and other states very much in play for governor romney. the president of the united states, again, from speaking to people yesterday and looking at the internals of their own polls, appeared not to want the job as much as governor romney did. and it had a huge ripple effect apparently within this country. so we're at the point now where tonight is just as you indicated as important debate as we've had since 1980. >> mark, do you agree that one thing the president does have going for him toni...

Here that one of the chief strategies of the campaign, to disqualify mitt romney as an alternative is starting to break down. and it was the fundamental flaw of that first debate that they let romney back in, they gave him an opportunity to get a second look, and romney's doing a lot with that second look and the polling bears this out. that he's running as a businessman. somebody with a strong business record who can get things done. showing more of a pragmatic side. and so you see this tightening. i think it's incumbent then on the president tonight to do more than try to poke holes in romne...