No KO in debate; earth sized planets nearby?

View 746 Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The debate went about as I expected. Mr. Obama was more engaged, and thus made his supporters happier, but he cannot run on his record, and when he was asked by a man who had voted for him last time why he deserved to be reelected, he had no real answer other than personal. He can’t say hope and change.

Mr. Romney tried to stay on the script, he’s a nice guy and plays by the rules.

If it were a prize fight I’d give four rounds to Obama, four to Romney, and seven even on points. Not an outstanding performance by either. No knockdowns. Romney had an opportunity: he might have asked why, if Obama knew that the attack on the consulate was a planned act of terror and said so in his Rose Garden speech before he took a trip to Las Vegas for a fundraiser, did the US UN Ambassador bring up the movie and demonstrations two days later? It would almost certainly have left the President nonplussed. Not a knockdown, perhaps, but — Anyway that didn’t happen.

We’ll see what happens next time. Romney hasn’t lost anything and has every reason to feel confident. There’s no big incentive to change tactics.

There is breaking news about an earth-sized planet around Alpha Centauri B. http://newyork.newsday.com/news/world/earth-sized-planet-discovered-circling-alpha-centauri-b-1.4122901 It is apparently closer to its sun than Mercury is to ours, but its existence does not bar a planet of similar size at biospheric distances. More when we know more. Now if there is a Terran sized planet discovered at the proper distance, is it inhabited by Fithp?

See also http://www.businessinsider.com/earth-sized-planet-circling-alpha-centauri-2012-10 

to sum up: Obama cannot run on his record, and had no reply to the man who had voted for him in 2008 and asked why he should vote for him again. Romney’s message was: “You know what you’ll get if you vote for Obama. Four more years. Of this.” Obama’s answer is that Romney will ruin the middle class in favor of his rich friends and bring back disaster.

Romney’s answer to that is to remain presidential and demonstrate that he has the dignitas and gravitas to succeed in the toughest job in the world. He made his point. So while Obama can ‘win’ a debate on technical points, the overall effect is the same: How’s that Hope and Change working out for you? Well, but, Romney’s going to ruin you and bring back the cronies, and …

And so it goes.