Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney: Who Won the First Presidential Debate?

This past Wednesday, President Barack Obama and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, had their first debate. Did you watch? I definitely did and let me tell you, I was shocked at how much I liked good ‘ol Mitt, and I’m not alone. According to a “CNN/ORC International survey conducted right after the debate, 67% of debate watchers questioned said that the Republican nominee won the faceoff, with one in four saying that President Barack Obama was victorious.”

So why do most people feel Romney won? One word: economy. CNN reports, “The economy dominated the first debate and according to the poll, and by a 55%-43% margin, debate watchers said that Romney rather than Obama would better handle the economy. On the issue of taxes, which kicked off the debate, Romney had a 53%-44% edge over Obama. And by a 52%-47% margin, debate watchers said Romney would better handle health care, and he had the edge on the budget deficit by a 57%-41% margin.”

The other question everyone is wondering about is why did Obama do so bad? We all know both candidates were extremely prepared – or were they? Viewers are coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas like: Maybe Obama did terrible on purpose – maybe he wants everyone to perceive him as the underdog. Maybe Obama wanted Romney to look like the aggressor so he himself looked like he nice guy. Maybe…Obama just did terribly, but hey, who knows!

Although there was some sparring, the moment everyone seems to be talking about is when Romney said he would stop government funding to PBS and “kill” Big Bird. He said, ““I’m sorry, Jim, I’m gonna stop the subsidy to PBS…. I like PBS, I love Big Bird — I actually like, you too — but I am not going to keep spending money on things [we have] to borrow money from China to pay for.” Who knew this could cause such a spectacle! Have you seen all the memes? You must check these out, they are hilarious. 

Well, what did you think of the debate? If you didn’t get a chance to see it, check out New York Magazine’s 3-minute summary of the debate below.