Why obama threw the debate

The Claim: Here's the host, melting down on Wednesday : "He should watch -- well, not just 'Hardball,' Rachel [Maddow], he should watch you, he should watch the Reverend Al [Sharpton], he should watch Lawrence [O'Donnell], he would learn something about this debate. Proponent: Kevin Baker. The Claim: In an apparent bid to one-up Andrew Sullivan's hysteria Wednesday night, Harper's published a rant by Baker arguing that the president is throwing the election.

No, really: "There is no reasonable explanation -- no acceptable explanation -- for such a performance Obama signaled that he wants out. Proponent: Reddit. The Claim: The social-media site's users are in a tizzy, suggesting that Romney was caught on camera pulling an illegal cheat sheet out of his pocket as the debate began.

The Romney camp says it's a handkerchief, and there's footage of him using one later on. But even if it hadn't been debunked, the craziest conspiracy theory along these lines doesn't account for the widely acknowledged fact that Obama simply didn't debate well. Proponent: Assorted Liberals. But just because he was an ineffective moderator doesn't mean that's why Obama did poorly. Romney adjusted well to a laissez-faire forum; Obama seemed uninterested in or unwilling to assert himself.

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Sign up. The first presidential debate — The presidential race has been dominated so far by negative advertising as both camps try to frame the election to their advantage. The first presidential debate — Leher takes the stage Wednesday. It's his 12th time moderating a presidential debate.

The first presidential debate — Michelle Obama points to Lehrer before the start of the debate. The first presidential debate — The candidates wives were in attendance for the most highly anticipated campaign event to date. The first presidential debate — Rapper Will. View behind-the-scenes photos of debate preparations. He was contemptuous of the whole exercise and surprisingly unprepared to rebut the shape shifting of his opponent, who suddenly morphed from the "severely conservative" governor who skated through the Republican primary to the kind of Massachusetts moderate any swing voter might fall for.

Donald Trump's 6 debate tactics. Read More. As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton prepare for their face-off Monday night, Obama's experience four years ago is a searing reminder to the candidates about what's at stake during the first debate. If either of them falter, they won't be on stage together again for nearly two weeks to repair the damage. Obama hated debates, his former speechwriter Jon Favreau recalled in a recent column for The Ringer.

The President viewed them as phony gladiator matches and "a highly subjective test of style and demeanor over substance and accuracy. And it showed in his wince-worthy performance that night, his annoyance at having his record challenged, his disengagement, all magnified by the split screen images of the two candidates.

Romney humbled the sitting president who was too arrogant to prepare. Former Romney strategist Beth Myers said the side-by-side contrast worked to Romney's advantage.

In addition, Romney was trailing and he knew the debate was his shot to close the race. They want their president to earn their vote and on that night President Obama fell short.

That didn't happen at the next two debates. Former moderators have advice for Lester Holt Ritter also noted that up until that point the opinions of many swing voters had been shaped by the attack ads of Obama and his allies, who had relentlessly painted Romney as a heartless corporate raider who had preyed on struggling companies while at Bain Capital.

That night he shattered some of those perceptions: "Republicans got their warrior and independents took a second look," Ritter said. The polls bore that out. In , he lost almost every contest to Hillary Clinton.

Even defeating John McCain never brought him much better than passing grades. But he failed to internalize that, since the days when George Washington made sure he looked good on a horse, politicians have always been required to perform in the theater of the presidency. After several warm-up sessions, the president had three full-dress mock debates in the basement of the Democratic National Committee DNC and three more at the Westin in Henderson, Nevada, where the stage was an almost perfect replica of the one at the University of Denver.

According to his coaches, he went in debate prep. The prep was going so poorly that the team recommended Obama not discuss the infamous 47 percent video unless asked directly.

In rehearsal, Obama kept blowing the topic.