Guest Editorial: President Obama Says He Was “Just Too Polite” In First Debate by Marc Polite
(HARLEM - October 10, 2012) - A week after President Obama gave a lackluster performance at the first presidential debate, he assesses his own performance. In remarks on the Tom Joyner morning show today, the President said he was “just too polite” in how he dealt with Mitt Romney. I am glad that the president has analyzed why the media said he lost. Clap, clap bravo.
Now that we can all admit we were disappointed after the president himself said he wasn’t satisfied with his performance, lets explore this latest remark. To keep it cordial, lets be real about this. Letting lies go by in a live debate session is not polite, its overly conciliatory. Its possible to be polite and call someone on their lies at the same darn time, believe me, I know. I got the award to prove it.
The second part of the statement confirmed a sneaking suspicion that I had that President Obama to borrow a term from Southern dialect, was “playing possum” When he talks about we will see “a little more activity” it becomes apparent that this was part of a strategy. Had he went hard the first debate, like it or not, he might have been characterized as a desperate, frantic candidate defending his record by pushing to win the argument by decibel not logic.
Plus, there is that whole thing about being an angry Black male barking on folks that acts as a sub-narrative. Now that he is seen as the person who got shriveled up in the corner, President Obama has more leeway for a more forceful response the second time around. People love to see a come back from a setback. With Biden on against Ryan on Thursday, the tone is set for that increased activity.
In our American culture, people often mistake kindness for weakness. The assessment of Romney’s performance shows that. Now, President Obama can play the “No more Mr. Nice Guy” card, and not look like the “bad guy” Now, its game on.
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* Tuesday, June 4, 2013
7 to 9 pm
Woodlawn Community Center
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* Thursday, June 13, 2013
7 to 9 pm
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1 comment(s) on this page. Add your own comment below.
I find your viewpoint interesting. When you write an opinion over the next debate, please include proper punction. The apostrophe was noticeably absent from your piece.
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Please be civil.