Romney Stops Race From Being Called – National Journal

As Ron Brownstein wrote in the October 4 National Journal, the debate did two important things for challenger.

First, it arrested the rush to call the race over and start post-mortems:

“This is exactly what Romney needed to stop everybody from declaring this race, and they were on the verge of it,” noted Floyd Ciruli, an independent Colorado pollster.  (National Journal, 10-4-12)

Secondly, Brownstein said the debate shifted the discussion from Mitt Romney’s problems (which are serious and may make the debate more a bump in the road than a game changer) to President Obama’s vulnerability:

• High unemployment
• Slow growth
• Barely 50% overall approval, which is a major improvement over last year; less than 50% approve his handling of the economy
• Massive deficits