Talked Out

Well, that’s it, the debates are done. Now, it’s pretty much our turn.

The only thing that made me watch the final debate instead of the World Series is that the debate was closer – but not by much.

President Obama clearly “won” it – but then again, he was supposed to, right? The guy on the outside – Romney – can’t very well compete with the guy on the inside, who has all the answers the challenger doesn’t. Mr. Romney seemed to be reaching for it, while Obama was scoring points the whole time. It was only when Romney was able to pivot the discussion from foreign policy to the economy that he was able to make much ground, except for the fact that we’ve heard his arguments before.

Romney did score a couple of points, in one case reminding us of the President’s off-mike remark to the Russian president that he could be more “flexible” after the election. He called Latin America a real opportunity (nobody EVER talks about Latin America) and blasted the President for failing to support the Green Revolution in Iran. But most of the time, Romney had to agree with the President’s policies.

So Obama won, and he may be scoring points in the final rounds. But what about the earlier rounds, and I’m not only talking about election season. His big failure all along, in my own estimation (and long before mine, in Bill Maher’s) is that he hasn’t made an effort to communicate with us. He holds almost no news conferences. He doesn’t bring the American people into the discussion – except at election time. Doing what you think is the right thing is only half the battle, Mr. President; you have to bring the rest of us along with you, and this you haven’t done.

Romney has all kinds of problems. He’ll say almost anything to please an audience, and he has trouble connecting with people. But when it comes to business, he definitely has a skill set the President doesn’t. Likewise, Mr. Obama has expertise built up over four years that Romney clearly lacks.

Do I sound like an undecided voter? I’m not. As I’ve told my friends, I’ve made up my mind whom I’m going to vote for. But you better talk to me again next week; I might feel differently.

My position is, we’re really ALL undecided voters until we actually cast that ballot. And fortunately, that moment is just about here.