The first 2012 presidential debate: Mitt vs Jim Lehrer.

Mitt the Bully?

As much fireworks there were between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, it was very clear that Mitt was also at war with Jim Lehrer.  He constantly interrupted, interjected and talked over Jim Lehrer, the moderator, preventing Jim from moving the topic.

A lot of people despise those who talk over them, interrupt them, and push them aside in a conversation over ideas.  Mitt showed that he was not going to take "no" for an answer.  He used bullet points on every topic, which is something CEOs of companies enjoy because they are short on time, but it comes off as emotionally detached.

----- An aside.  Growing up in Hawai'i, one of the culture shocks in moving to the mainland was to confront the lack of decorum in speaking.  In Hawai'i, people let others finish their sentences; on the mainland if you weren't aggressive, it was a knock on you and it was expected that you inject yourself into a conversation.  

In a previous job, the owner of the company specifically told me that he likes things presented in bullet points, otherwise he won't have the time to read through and figure out the point of emails.  ADHD?  I've seen a better response when providing bullet points to people who don't like to read. -----

Meanwhile, Barack started off nervous, but settled in and was self-deprecating.  We saw him inject humor in his interaction with Jim, at one point suggesting that he actually had five seconds left from the previous topic, for which he then went on to talk another minute.


I don't mean to speak for women, but I don't see how his verbal fighting with the moderator helped his image with this demographic.


Mitt's bottom line: His focus is on jobs, jobs, jobs.  (It's very hard to fault him for that, and if that works for him, stay with it.)

Barack's bottom line: Mitt's numbers don't add up.  (No one can figure out the math because Mitt doesn't want to pin down specifics.)

If I were part of Barack's team, I'd advise him to get off the math point, and just focus on the message of saving the middle class and why we're seeing it decline.