Quotes of the Week from the Campaign Trail

“There will be more debates. And the election has not been decided by any means. But Obama’s supporters need to make it clear that the time for excuses is over. The president had no right to show up for a debate unprepared and offer an expectant nation an embarrassingly half-hearted performance. Progressive leaders, who represent Obama’s strongest and most faithful supporters, have an obligation to convey that message in the strongest possible terms. The president let his people down. And if he’s capable of doing that in an election that is clearly so important, it means he’s capable of doing it again if he wins a second term.” Bob Herbert, Huffington Post

“Before the first presidential debate, voters were telling CNN by nearly a 2-1 margin that they expected an Obama victory. Many commentators were ready to hold a coronation for the president. Now, by more than a 2-1 margin, voters who watched the debate are saying that Mitt Romney won it — and we have a horse race on our hands.” David Gergen, CNN

“I knew Barack Obama was miserable when he tried to give debate moderator Jim Lehrer the Puss in Boots eyes. “You may want to move on to another topic,” Obama implored Lehrer, a bit like a motorcycle thief begging a cop to take him into custody rather than let him stay with the surly biker gang that caught him. …The problem for Obama was that he always believed the most ludicrous version of Storybook Man. He once told a reporter, “You know, I actually believe my own [bovine excrement].” For a guy who supposedly gives wonderful speeches, he rarely persuades the unpersuaded or inspires those he didn’t already have at “hello.” That’s partly the fault of his speechwriters, who always did him the disservice of producing the kind of pedantic and clichéd boilerplate that Obama mistook for soaring oratory. He thought he smashed through the Democratic primaries like a battering ram through concrete when he mostly pushed on open doors.” Jonah Goldberg, New York Post

“Barack Obama was revealed to be the empty suit with a great gift of gab and a talent only for appealing to the nation’s guilty conscience. Some of us recognized the empty suit four years ago. Like all great salesmen, he can charm prospective customers when he tries, but without a teleprompter he’s hopelessly lost at sea. On Wednesday night, he forgot whether he was selling rubbing alcohol or ladies’ corsets, and it showed.” Wes Pruden, Washington Times

“Romney out-debating Obama, scoring stinging points about the economy, debt, Obama Care and the size and role of government was a sobering revelation to the media and Dem operatives. Obama reacted to Romney`s attacks as best he could almost as a virtual rookie in the field of political combat. That Romney spoke with passion and conviction was even more vexing. Surely, the viewers must understand that he is lying, the network anchors must have thought to themselves! What the media and Dems could not comprehend is that what Romney was saying made eminent sense to the American public, which public opinion polls have long told us is more attune to the Romney limited-government message than to the Obama expansive-federal government Weltanschauung. And here was Romney speaking directly to voters without the necessary filtering of the press elite, which, in the words of a New York Times editor, reflects a cosmopolitan-urban view of the world. Well, the American voter does not have such sophistication as the media elite.” Paul Gregory, Forbes

“Perhaps many people, like me, had forgotten that during the 2008 campaign Obama never showed the kind of mastery in debates that he routinely demonstrated in campaign speeches. He out-debated John McCain, but during the primaries he was often bested by Hillary Clinton. She wasn’t able to use those debate performances to move the needle. Now we’ll see whether Romney can.” Eugene Robinson, Indianapolis Star

“YES WE WILL RAISE TAXES $1 TRILLION” Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States