Presidential debates are largely always the same. The candidates have their little stools that put them at even heights, and they shake hands as if they plan on being civil and polite during their period of argumentation. Sometimes one candidate clearly wins, but sometimes the outcome is not so clear. In the case of Kennedy and Nixon, those who heard it on the radio purported that Nixon was the winner; those who saw the debate aired on television -- the first debate, in fact, to have been aired on national television -- would assert that Kennedy came out on top. Wednesday night's debate, the first of this election, was not like that at all.
I am voting against Mitt Romney, not necessarily for President Obama. I disagree with the president's use of drones; I disagree with interventionalist policies; I disagree with Democrats and Republicans alike. To me, the solutions to the issues are what matter. During the debate, the most fundamental difference between the president and Romney was that the president proposed solutions to the deficit and Romney simply whined about its existence. Romney childishly shook his fists and declared that Obama had no solutions -- the only problem was that Romney provided no solution to the problems which he seemed so concerned about. And he kept saying, "We have to cut spending! We have to stop spending money we don't have!" As anyone who was in the Johnson Center at George Mason University can affirm, I raised my voice to the screen and told him to "cut the damn defense spending." But really -- we spend more than the next 25 countries combined, most of which are allies, bullying around other countries.
Get real, Mitt Romney. Take responsibility for yourself and grow a pair. Get out of this ridiculous mindset and return to supporting logical solutions to impending problems. You were a much better governor than you would be president, and you were a much better man 10 years ago than you are now. Hell, back then you probably even cared about 47 percent of America.
I usually prefer to disassociate myself with a political party. I had originally planned on voting for Jon Huntsman. But because I understand how voting works, I'd rather not waste such a valuable vote on an unlikely winner. And so it leaves me with no choice but to vote for Obama; Mitt Romney is simply a jerk. I wrestled with the idea of voting a Republican ticket, but I care too much about our foreign policy. There are fringe issues that I, of course, care about as well -- marriage equality, for instance, I deem to be important. I consider women's rights a domestic priority as, after all, women brought every politician into this country; apparently, men have recently been more qualified to describe how women's bodies work. Idiots will always be idiots, and you're not going to change the mind of someone who fundamentally doesn't understand why they are so often disagreed with. I really might have voted for Massachusetts Governor Romney, but this is certainly not Massachusetts Governor Romney. And I believe he -- and his Etch A Sketch -- know that.
This president ended a war, is trying to end another, and brought affordable health care to millions of people, only asking the greediest in this society to pay a little bit more. And if you're so greedy that you refuse to help your fellow man, then you clearly misunderstand the purpose of life. Such a problem is not my fault, but, rather, yours. Give back; it's your responsibility.
So, if you'd like the straightforward answer, then, no, nobody won. Romney possibly won the debate simply by virtue of suggesting something new, but he won't win the heart of America. A machine man with a machine heart and machine mind cannot possibly win a population of compassionate, thinking individuals. While many might argue the Romney came out the victor, it's impossible for me to put forth a logical argument for why a woman, a college student, an elderly person -- in fact, anyone who isn't bizarrely rich -- would vote for him. I don't give a damn who "won" the debate -- nobody whens when the American people's futures are being used in a game of political chicken.
I'm still voting for the better man -- the man with greater integrity, no doubt: Barack Obama.