D7

1) Obama focused a lot on incentives for domestic investors. He put an emphasis on creating jobs in our own country and preventing outsourcing. Obama also asked the wealthiest Americans to pay more in order to rebuild America. This policy runs contrary to what he calls Romney's "top down economics." Both candidates discussed energy a great deal. Obama says he's looking at energy sources for the future and also wants to ensure that America is in control of its own energy. Romney's energy plan focuses on oil and coal. He says Obama has been preventing drilling on public land in the U.S., which prevents energy independence. I was disappointed that the candidates focused so much oil and didn't discuss environmental issues as much as I would like. Romney also emphasized his belief government should not be overly controlling in regard to the private sector.

2) Obama said, " Governor Romney doesn't have a five point plan, he has a one point plan." This connects to our own mock election in that it can be a very effective approach to take on key aspects of the opponent's strategy. Obama also said, "These are not just women's issues. These are family issues. These are middle class issues." This can also be connected to the mock election because candidates often try to apply minority issues to the rest of society and try to make these issues important to more of the electorate. Romney said, "Let's look at the president's policies rather than the rhetoric." This is also applicable to the mock election in that it can be very effective to look like you're getting straight to issue without any BS.

3) Overall, I think Obama did much better in this debate than in the last one. He addressed Romney much more directly than he did last time. He also made a visible attempt to appear more energetic and engaged. This is applicable to the mock election in that it is important to know where you've been criticized before and improve yourself in those areas. Obama also often points out Romney's lack of specificity. Romney focused a lot on what he sees as a lack of success in the Obama administration over the last four years. Therefore, both candidates knew where their opponents were weak and brought these issues to light. This can be helpful to Richard in the upcoming debate if he knows weaknesses in his opponents' campaign. Romney also used a thumbs up repeatedly when he was gesticulating during the debate. This created an air of positivity in his actions. Unfortunately, Romney was not very tactful when he avoided the fairly direct question about self-deportation. It will be important for candidates in our debates to be careful when changing the topic of their answer.

4) Obama used a specific example from a 60 minutes interview with Romney when discussing taxation which helped his point seem solid and well supported. Obama was also particularly strong on women's issues. Obama knows that he has strong support from women and so is clear in his support of issues that affect American women today. This is important for our candidate in that they must know their base and support their issues. Romney often brought up specific promises Obama made in the last campaign and has statistics to prove that he hasn't lived up to those promises. Romney also repeatedly brought up Obama's talent as a speaker and used it to compare this strength with what he sees as a lack of talent at creating policies to help the American public.