Editorial: Clear victor

Mitt Romney’s superior performance in the presidential debate should put voters on notice.

According to various television monitoring reports, between 50 million and 60 million Americans watched Wednesday’s presidential debate, and it’s likely the majority of those viewers were surprised by what they saw and heard.

Supporters of President Obama probably were surprised and disappointed that their champion did so poorly, while GOP backers of challenger Mitt Romney were pleased and surprised that he did so well.

This was the first time most of the viewers had the opportunity to see and hear the true former Massachusetts governor, not the filtered version of Romney provided by a biased media and the distorted picture of Romney as depicted in almost $300 million of negative Obama-supporting advertising.

Obama was placed in the difficult and almost impossible position of having to defend or explain his embarrassingly poor record of unemployment numbers, the national debt and the tumbling economic figures facing the majority of Americans. He did a poor, nervous job of trying to sell his administration or leadership of the country without his Teleprompters, speech writers and a forgiving and favorable media.

Romney, by most every poll and review, came off as the winner. The fact is, based on Obama’s record over the past three and a half years, Romney was presented with a very favorable climate going into the debate. He should have won, and he did!

The question now is, what difference will the debate make on voters?

Will significant numbers of Obama supporters pause and say to themselves, “This is a different Romney than I had pictured. Maybe I ought to give more thought to who I am going to vote for.”

Will those who have not made up their minds, independents, say, “I guess I misjudged Romney. He did a far better job than I anticipated. I’m eager to watch the next debate to see if he continues to be so impressive.”

The Romney performance is sure to bolster and invigorate the spirits of those in the GOP who had been concerned their candidate appeared to be weak, uninspiring and ineffective in the weeks before the debate. There will be new energy in the Romney campaign.

Staunch, always loyal Democrats, probably are mad their man did not do a better job and are hoping his trainers, prompters and those schooling him for the next debate will have him better prepared.

The trouble is, Obama has to run on his record. When he sought the office four years ago, he was free to make any and all promises of what he would accomplish if voters would give him four years in the White House. He promised “change” and said he would make fundamental changes in this country if given the opportunity.

He followed through on this pledge! He did make changes — changes for the worse. The country is worse off today, rather than better off.

Obama has enjoyed an easy ride during his three-plus years in the White House. He has not been challenged or debated. The majority of Americans have had an attitude of “let’s give him a chance.” The so-called mainstream media have covered for him and failed to give the complete, unvarnished story to the public.

Obama is sure to come out firing in the next debate, but, again, he has to run on his record and it is not good. Can Romney duplicate his strong, positive efforts in the second debate?

Regardless, will the debates really make that much difference as voters go to the polls? Are the debates too late to make any difference in the minds of those currently voting in states that allow early voting?

Voters have two choices: Vote for Obama for government playing a bigger role in the lives of most every American — more controls, higher unemployment, more food stamps, a larger national debt, higher taxes and higher medical costs. Or vote for Romney, who believes in less government, protecting individual liberty, lowering the national debt, reducing unemployment and improving the lives of and opportunities for those classified as the “middle class.” He also believes state government, and those living in the states, can do a better job of addressing their particular needs than those in Washington. He opposes “Obamacare” and thinks it is wrong for a small group of government-appointed individuals to have the authority to determine what kinds of care will be available to millions of Americans.

Again, there are two entities that should be embarrassed by how they were exposed at the first debate: Obama and the mainstream media for the cover-ups they have perpetrated on the American public.