[JoeRedskin]

Watched the whole thing. I lean towards Romney but am not enamored of him for a lot of reasons. Personally, I find Obama unappealling and dislike his administration, Holder in particular. What they do with the law and the manner in which they treat the Constitution disturbs me (Not that I was of fan of GWB's selective use of the Constitution either). With that said, I voted for Obama last time. First democrat for whom I have ever voted.

With that said, nothing that happened last night struck me as game changing. Sure, Romney came out well but nothing that's going to change anything. I don't even think they framed the stark, underlying philosophical differences between them very well (i.e. - what is the role of gov?; How do you balance the interests/rights of the individual against the interests/rights of the group? What rights do those in the minority have to frustrate the will of the majority?). They touched upon the edges and Romney probably strengthened his base. As others have said, maybe a few undecided went to Romney, but I can't imagine any Obama supporter switching b/c of last night.

At the same time, there was practically nothing on social issues and, for all his "reach across the aisle" talk, Romney's "all the people" talk goes by the wayside on these issues. Sorry, I know too many people who would vote for Hitler if he supported their positions (whichever side it might be) on gay marriage and abortion. To my mind, Romney is on the losing side of these issues in terms of votes (i.e. regardless of how you feel as to the right and wrong of the underlying issue, more voters support Obama on these issues). On the economics, Romney just doesn't have the logical/rational imperative (i.e. his method is so clearly right that no reasonable person would disagree with it and Obama's is so clearly wrong no reasonable person would agree with it) to overcome the weight of the votes against him on the social issues.

Ultimately, I foresee myself casting a protest vote for the Libertarians this year. (I am a citizen of the Democratic Party sub-committee known as the State of Maryland so it really doesn't matter for whom I vote. The electoral votes are already in the bank).

Blech to it all.