Dear Mitt

Dear Mitt,
Congrats on the debate; looks like you pulled it off with aplomb. You showed self assurance and poise and you have a nice smile.  Your assistants had done their homework and you were well rehearsed on all the relevant points.  You showed just the right amount of passion, Mitt, ( although  you went a bit over-board on the gesticulation ) and were challenging and oh, so courteous. You showed style and emerged reinvigorated.

Hardly anyone noticed that you fudged over a few things, danced around others and skipped some completely. Not so for the hard working president. It was 90 minutes the Obama campaign could have done without. Obama answered seriously, a little hesitantly, often with his head down and frankly looked tired. You won a reprieve for yourself, Mitt, pretty much on the basis of your demeanor after being derided for months for an anaemic, gaffe-strewn campaign, where your staff has had to work overtime to pull your feet out of your mouth. Even some of your biggest critics have resurrected  you from under your mountain of faux pas and alarming, projected policies and once again consider you a contender.

But Mitt, candidates very rarely land punches on their opponent in the eyes of the viewer whose mind has already been made up. And television debates rarely swing election campaigns. You stand in comparison to a man who has been doing the job for four years and doing it well in the eyes of the whole world. Your 90 minutes cannot stand up to that. And in matters of substance, Mitt, you spent one third of the debate denying you were going to cut taxes for the rich, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary (  What about $5 trillion in tax cuts you have been promising the wealthy throughout your campaign? )  You said you were going to repeal Obama Care but offered nothing to replace it with. On tax reform, healthcare and regulating Wall Street you alluded to 'Plan B' but neglected to tell us what it was. The stalling produced Mr Obama's best line of the debate: "Is the reason Governor Romney is keeping all these plans secret because they're too good?"

 We heard no mention of your private equity firm, Bain Capital, ( a company which reportedly moved American jobs overseas )  or the 47% of Americans you disowned. Not a peep about your stubborn resistance to release your tax records.  We did not hear about the automobile industry that Mr Obama saved  from going to hell in a handbasket.  All salient points that, hopefully, come out in the next debate.

 Did Mr Obama communicate so poorly? The evidence may well be less dramatic than the judgment of the commentariat. Mitt, a debate which went so badly for Obama could ironically have produced more ammunition for his campaign if he reviews the subject matter you gave him.
 Letting your opponent get aggressive with you can be a good tactic when you are the new kid on the block; not the best strategy when you are the boss. The President was criticized for being hesitant and subdued. Some Democrats even faulted the president for refraining, during the debate, from criticizing your leadership of Bain Capital. Consider Mitt, that possibly, the president was being a gentleman and sticking to the rules of debating which prohibit  invective and mud slinging. Obama certainly resumed those attacks on Thursday during a campaign speech, while also taking a jab at your sizeable personal fortune. So get your mitts on Mitt, it's back to the fray. And who knows who will come out on top at the next debate.
What kind of name is 'MITT' anyway??

The observant Genie

Vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will meet in Danville, Kentucky on the 11th of October, before the second presidential debate on the16th of October