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I would hate to think that Obama payed tribute to Chavez to strengthen his campaign. I think as president, it seems in his "job description" to honor the National Monument. And sure, this might have given him an opportunity to re-connect with some Hispanic voters, but I don't think it's fair to constantly scrutinize every "nice" move he or Romney does.

Of course there will be suspicion in generous actions performed by either candidate in terms of their how genuine they are, just as colleges might be suspicious about the multitudes extracurricular activities we list on our applications. I would say this move is more positive than negative, regardless of whether or not he actually felt passionate about it, one because it is better than just ignoring certain cultures that exist in America, and two because "empathy" (as we read in Obama's book) and cultural connection is something Obama emphasizes in his campaign.

I agree and I think it is impossible to say the tribute was for one specific reason or another. Avoiding the question of if it was for his campaign or not, I think it sounded like an inspirational and nice event.

Although Obama stresses the positive outcomes from "reviving" General Motive,s I'm wondering why he didn't (maybe it just wasn't discussed in this article) continue talking about the jobs he will create. The unemployment rate is still high despite the Auto-industry bailout and I would think Ohio needs to hear what he WILL do along with what he has accomplished.

I think Obama is making a smart move to reflect on the improvements he has made in Ohio, but I agree with Danielle that it's strange that he doesn't mention future progress. He also revisits a risky idea that he mentioned in his DNC speech: that the road to recovery is long and far from easy, and we're just starting.

I'm wondering how Romney will try and win over certain groups that Obama has not "captured" yet. The article said he may have to reach out to men and college students if he wants to be competitive with Obama's appeal to women and minorities. In Romney's RNC speech he seemed so focused on women and in general, I haven't seen him reach out to men.

I thought this article summarized pretty much how I felt about the debate. They both did a good job and were fairly evenly matched but in my opinion, Biden may have done just a tiny bit better. That being said the poll asking people who they thought won (taken of the people who watched the debate) confirmed my suspicion that many republican viewers thought Ryan did as well, if not better than Biden.

I thought Biden and Ryan's debate was completely different from the presidential debate. I know many democrats were disappointed in Obama's lack of critical response to Romney's points, arguing that he could have shot them all down easily and logically. Biden seemed to compensate for that completely, making Ryan seem like he didn't really know what he was talking about. What I thought was interesting about this debate, though, was that who won seems completely subjective based on personality equally if not more than policy. Many might thing Ryan won because Biden was laughing in a perhaps rude way the whole time, while many might think Biden won because he deserved to laugh at Ryan for saying things that didn't entirely make sense. I think this almost has more to do with personality preference than policy preference because in our debate chat room, where most of us were democrats, there were arguments both that the laughing was rude and that the laughing was called for, passionate, and helpful in Biden's claim. Overall, Biden's casualness was a great contrast to the formal, almost scripted attitude of Ryan. This is why the debate seems to be so varied in public response, and to me, why it depends on what the individual listener wants to hear to decide who really won the debate.

In my opinion, Biden won, but it certainly wasn't a runaway like it was for Romney. I agree with you all that they were pretty evenly matched, and that a lot of who won is based on who you already like. I don't think that this debate will have a significant impact on the election.

I believe that Biden won for his ability to: connect to the viewers, shoot down all of Ryan's ideas, and emphasize all of the good things that have happened under his and Obama's office. Like Sabrina said, however, Biden did not blow away the competition like Romney did to Obama, but he did seem to do better than Ryan. Also, like Sabrina said, this debate won't mean much to the voters even though they did raise some policy issues.

Personally, this debate did mean something to me as a voter. It did not make me want to change my position or anything, but it did boost my confidence in my already-made choices. I am wondering if this has become more of the reasoning behind these debates, or if they are still created to make people decide on who they are voting for?

I actually can't wait until thursday's debate, I think it will be just as exciting as the first one was. Ryan is extremely intelligent and a statistical slammer, so it should be interesting to see how he debates.

Romney is a prime example of his religion shooting his logic in the face. He needs to start getting more libertarian or just accept that he needs to leave religion out of politics. If every child deserves a mother and a father, why do we allow single parents to adopt or single mothers to raise their children? I'm sure that you know more same-sex families up in Haight-Ashbury than I do down here in a conservative Atlanta neighborhood, and gay rights just seems so unquestionable, but it sickens me that I have friends that question gay rights, because 'it is against the bible'. For instance, I hosted a summer camp for young girls this summer and some parents were turned off by the fact that I invited a girl with two moms, even though the girl was super sweet and well-behaved. We even had a girl leave our school after coming out in 8th grade because of bullying and depression because of how intrinsically tied religion has become in this issue. I think that this is absolutely ridiculous and that gay marriage rights are completely constitutional. While it may be against the bible and Joseph Smith, it isn't against the constitution and people need to recognize that. In 40 years, they are going to look like white supremacists standing outside of voting booths and I hate that. This is one thing that I absolutely can't stand about the republican party.

To the republican party I wonder if Romney's religion is an issue or not? To me most republicans tend to be christian and Romney is not. I know that much of conservatives values are based on the christian religion. I mean I am not expert on christian or morman religion, but I assume that there are definitely differences. I also agree that Romney's opening quote on the site contradicts himself. HE NEEDS TO BE MORE CLEAR!

The quote on the top does seem contradictory and confuses me on what Romney actually believes. I'm with you Sabrina that his "every child deserves a father and mother" does not indicate if a child's home will be healthy and this isn't often realistic with divorce and what not. Sort of a side-note but I heard that the Common App used to have "mother" and "father" rather than "parent 1" and "parent 2" for the information section but it has changed in the past 5 years I think. For me, I don't understand why marriage can be controlled by the government in general.

I actually really enjoyed this article just in the way it was written. There have been a lot of articles on how it will affect the polls and for the most part there seem to be losses for both candidates. I think Obama handled the situation well but I think it could go either way if it will gain him support for his efforts off lose him support from the suffering people will be going through

I agree, I think it was a smart idea that Obama did not panic about the storm. I think if here were to have, then that would have probably stressed the people out making him seem unprepared for this disaster. I think this would have had an impact in the polls, but since he took the news of the storm in calm manner that I do not think it will affect the polls.

I think the storm was really interesting because it makes people forget about politics for a second and think about life. It turns from Republican or Democrat to life or death, so people's minds must be really turned around right now. I think Obama's gentle care - and if he continues to have success in calming the people - will be majorly to his advantage because he helped people in a time when their lives were at threat. This seems more memorable than a critical TV campaign, so I'm thinking the storm will help Obama if anything.

To answer your question on who I think won, I would agree that Romney won the debate. Before the debate I had been reading a lot of articles which claimed that unless Romney pulled through with the debate, he had pretty much already lost the election. I think that debate helped him to 'bounce' back and have a shot to stay in the race rather than fall out even if it did not give him a real boost to be ahead. Additionally, the article showed wide gaps in the peoples' opinions on the less political traits of the candidates (relatable, likable, ect.) I am curious how much those polls actually matter if the difference is so vast between the candidates.

There is absolutly no way to say that Romney didn't win the debate. There was a strict set of facts that Obama could have used to harm the GOP in general, but he didn't. He stumbled through his last bits and filled his speech with tons of 'um', and spent the entire time looking down. Unfortunatly, a good bit of the population votes based on who they like as a person, and that can't be changed.

I am a little bit confused by the poll results, 51% of voters like Romney and 56% like Obama, but the article claims that Romney definitely won. If you are looking at, which candidate is liked better, there is not a huge difference between Romney and Obama, but Obama is obviously liked more. I would agree that Romney won the debate since he seemed more confident and secure with what he was trying to get across. I got to see a side of Romney that made him seem more powerful then Obama because I felt like Romney got more into the debate and was defending/attacking Obama.

This is getting totally blown out of proportion. Romney was just using Big Bird as an example of something that he would like to cut-and whether you approve of those cuts is another matter-but it wasn't like he was attacking Big Bird or its creators. I think this is an example of people latching on to the most colorful thing said in the debate and making it seem like the biggest issue of the election.

I think everyone needs to take a deep breath. The quote "Big Bird is an important part of every child's education" also seems a bit ridiculous although I do love Sesame Street. I do think debates are a great time to observe the candidates (like Yadira said) but it doesn't seem like this is an effective use of the discussion afterwards.

Agreeing with what has been said, it was one small comment that got totally blown out of proportion. After the debate I was watching some commentary on it and heard a lot being mentioned about that comment. Apparently, throughout the debate after it was said, twitter was cluttered with people discussing that singular comment. According to one of the news reporters I was watching discuss the debate (who I do not remember the name of), she said that in this debate it particular, and partially because Obama not going for making so many jokes (as Danielle's article talks about), this was one of the few things viewers were able to blow out and discuss which is why it has gotten so much attention.

If Romney wants to get a solid female fan base, he defiantly needs to get more with Obama's stances on abortion and birth control. Does he need to get more comedic? Maybe some other person would say so, but I personally prefer a leader who does not waste time telling jokes or stories about his family, to me it is unprofessional. I don't want someone relatable, I want someone who does their job well and is known for that. This stage in the game Americans can't afford to be presented with the opportunity to pick someone based on who seems more relatable, they need numbers.

I agree with you Savannah, that at this late stage in the game it is very important for candidates to provide numbers and statistics while they are campaigning but I think that it is just as important for them make themselves relatable to the people who will be voting for them. An example of this is Romney's sister, Lynn, who has a child with Down Syndrome and he talks about the many difficulties that she faces along with the support she receives from himself and the rest of his family. These stories had a strong effect on some female voters in Ohio and I believe if Romney continues with this milder strategy of making himself seem more relatable to the people, he will have a better chance at winning this election.

I think that as the incumbent Obama has automatically been criticized more easily. Romney can say basically anything but has not been president whereas Obama can be attacked for anything and everything he has done. Romney's changing opinions I think can be seen one of two ways: concerning or sometimes brave for allowing his opinions/beliefs to change publicly with time. I think those supporters of Romney will forgive his wavering whereas Obama supporters will not. I'm unsure how the swing voters will react to this...we'll have to wait and find out.

I hope that Donald Trump's announcement wouldn't affect the swing voters. I think these "October Surprises" are intended to keep people engaged and riled up before the election. But I don't think he can say/do much for people to change their opinions regarding Obama. I haven't heard followup on this story--do you know what happened?

I agree with you that the most pressing issue of this election has been shifted, at the moment, away from the status and future of the economy to the pressing foreign affairs occurring within Libya and Egypt. These riots represent the beginning of an Anti-American movement sweeping through the Middle East and without proper care, the feelings toward the U.S could push the economy to drop even more. This is why I think the most pressing issue of the election has shifted from the economy to foreign policy.