Two down, one to go, Truthseekers! Who was the winner in last night's Town Hall at Hofstra University? Depends on who you ask, of course, but at least President Obama didn't spend time contemplating his belly button and challenged Mittens on some of his Mormon-sized whoppers.
He still seemed a little uncertain and, apparently, will never sound as smooth as he does in his scripted speeches, but at least he was gloved, on his toes, and ready to rumble.
The San Francisco Chronicle prepared a list of memorable moments from the festivities:
Obama: "We haven't heard from the governor any specifics, beyond Big Bird and eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood, in terms of how he pays for that."Obama's campaign has been hounding Romney on how he would cut taxes 20 percent without raising the deficit. Obama questioned Romney again, this time bringing up his opponent's plan to cut off Big Bird that created a media firestorm. He added, "the math doesn't add up," a line borrowed from former President Bill Clinton's fiery speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Romney: "The reason I want middle-income taxpayers to have lower taxes is because middle-income taxpayers have been buried over the past four years."
Vice President Joe Biden survived the vice presidential debate without any major gaffes, but his words came back to bite Obama in his second duel with Romney. The Republican candidate cited Biden's comment that "the middle class has been buried" the past four years, implying Obama's economic policies have hurt middle-income Americans.
Obama: "When I hear Governor Romney say he's a big coal guy -- and keep in mind when -- Governor, when you were governor of Massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and pointed at it and said, 'This plant kills,' and took great pride in shutting it down. And now suddenly you're a big champion of coal."
Obama called Romney out on the spot. The nice-guy tactics went out the window this round.
Romney: "This has not been Mr. Oil, or Mr. Gas, or Mr. Coal."
Romney pulled another quip on Obama's fuel policies. Obama repeated his preference to use more renewable energies, while Romney said he'd use more fossil fuels to boost the industry and lower gas prices.
Obama: "I don't look at my pension. It's not as big as yours, it doesn't take as long."
Romney asked the president three times if he'd looked at his pension. Looks like that blew up in the face of the man under fire for calling 47 percent of the population moochers.
Okay, so neither candidate is going to embark on a stand-up career anytime soon, but who do you think triumphed last night? And will it even matter come November?
