Arrogant, Disconnected Obama Believed He Won Debate; Aides Astonished
This is just remarkable:
When President Barack Obama stepped off the stage in Denver last week the 60 million Americans watching his debate against Mitt Romney already knew it had been a disaster for him.
But what nobody knew, until now, was that Obama believed he had actually won.
[emphasis added]
Conservatives had wondered if the developing campaign fund scandal had distracted him, or if the pressures of the campaign had taken their toll, but it seems like Obama was just so arrogant, he didn’t think he needed to prepare:
In an extraordinary insight into the events leading up to the 90 minute showdown which changed the face of the election, a Democrat close to the Obama campaign today reveals that the President also did not take his debate preparation seriously, ignored the advice of senior aides and ignored one-liners that had been prepared to wound Romney.
The Daily Mail continued:
The Democrat said that Obama’s inner circle was dismayed at the ‘disaster’ and that he believed the central problem was that the President was so disdainful of Romney that he didn’t believe he needed to engage with him.
‘President Obama made it clear he wanted to be doing anything else – anything – but debate prep,’ the Democrat said. ‘He kept breaking off whenever he got the opportunity and never really focused on the event.
Looking back at the performance, this makes a lot of sense – Obama just didn’t seem to be there, and didn’t seem to care much about what was happening around him.
During his debate preparation in Henderson, Nevada, Obama broke off to visit a campaign field office. There, he joked with a volunteer about how his advisers were ‘keeping me indoors all the time’ to practice. ‘It’s a drag. They’re making me do my homework.’
Again this confirms what many have criticized about Obama, and what some of us have been saying since before 2008 – he was just not experienced enough to be president, and his entire resume seemed to be about appearance and not any substance.
Even before the debate, some advisers were worried that Obama, who had been distracted and detached during some of the sessions in which Senator John Kerry had played Romney, would have an off night.
But in his closing statement in Denver, Obama said that it had been ‘a terrific debate and I very much appreciate it’ – an upbeat comment that reflected his view that he had at the very least held his own against Romney.
The entire article is really worth reading.
I expect that Biden, being much more experienced in the political arena than Obama, will not take his debate duties as lightly, and will prepare better. He can be a great speaker, and while Paul Ryan has an incredible grasp of policy, Biden is very good at incisive effective speech when he needs it.
The real question is whether Obama will be able to overcome his amazing arrogance and listen to his bumbling advisers. With Romney’s numbers up, a lot hangs in the balance.
