Debate scorecard: Romney 1, Obama 0

“I expected more from Obama. I think Mitt did better”

Colorado is an important state for both Governor Romney and President Obama. It is truly up in the air and up for grabs. 

This was evident in the crowd’s reaction at the debate. Both candidates received nearly the same amount of cheers from the attendees and the mix of red and blue signs was fairly even. 

After the debate was over, most people felt that Mitt Romney had won the first round. 

The Obama supporters left disappointed. “I expected more from Obama. I think Mitt did better,” said Bo Touchon, an MBA student from CU Boulder. 

Romney supporters were happier with the outcome. “I was blown away. I didn’t expect Obama to flounder as much as he did. I was kind of shocked,” said CU Denver student Leah Donelson.

So was this a game changer? The Ipsos/Reuters Daily Election Tracking reported that on Oct. 2, Obama was at 46 percent and Romney was at 41 percent. On Oct. 6, Obama was at 47 percent and Romney was at 45 percent.  Other polls have shown similar results

According to the polls, Romney is closing the gap. Ipsos pollster Julia Clark told Reuters.com, “Romney’s performance in the debate I think has improved his share of the vote for now...It’s a significant change from where we were a couple of weeks ago.” 

But Clark doesn’t think that Romney’s performance will carry him to the White House. “I would say that if the debate was a game-changer, we would see Romney continue to make gains,” Clark said. “He’s narrowed the race but he doesn’t seem to be overtaking Obama.” 

Obama lost some ground, but Romney hasn’t gained enough, so how does the debate affect the campaigns from this point forward? Nytimes.com reported that strategists hinted Obama would be more aggressive in the next debate. This will probably be evident even in the vice presidential debate on Thursday night. 

On Oct. 7 the Obama campaign put a video out on youtube.com called “Cameras.” It claims that many of the statements made by Romney during the debate were lies, and nytimes.com said supporters of the Obama campaign have called Romney a serial liar. 

Romney continues to build his image by being tough on foreign policy. In a speech Monday at the Virginia Millitary Academy, Romney accused the president of “leading from behind,” and said that Obama is using hope as a strategy.  Romney promised to roll back President Obama’s cuts to military spending and increase the size of the Navy.

Romney portrayed the protests in Iran as a lost opportunity. He wants to “put the leaders of Iran on notice that the United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability,” Romney said and he mentioned tougher sanctions as a way to do this.

In Syria, Romney said he wants to identify the opposition members who share U.S. values and “ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters and fighter jets.” Romney is getting tough on the foreign policy and Obama is getting tough on Romney. Time will tell if these tactics will help Romney close the gap or if Obama will still push ahead with the lead.