Rocky Mountain Breakdown

Mitt Romney turned in a masterful explanation of free-market economics, which explains Obama's flat-footed confusion

I was going to wait for the tortured screams and angst-ridden howls of the Obama loony left to die down before I wrote about the debate, but oh well...

Listening to Bill Bennett’s Morning in America radio program on my way to work the morning after the first presidential debate, I heard a caller make a great point.

He said that if this is how Obama prepares for meetings with world leaders, and if this is how he performs, we are in even bigger trouble than we think. That caused me to look back to his bowing, the pleading to Medvedev to give him more time to sell us down the river, the “leading from behind,” which is no leadership at all, and I realized just how astute that caller was. Obama has not led, overseas or at home.

Look at his greatest triumphs: Set piece speeches where the remarks were prepared and there was no challenge to his thinking. In Obama's defense, he has a record to run on now, and it's a junkyard of political arm-twisting, federal steamrollring, stale progressive bromides and failed statist projects.  Clarence Darrow couldn't defend that.

The Denver debate was a fitting bookend to the president's triumphant coronation in that city four years ago. It’s easy to float out on stage amid the Greek columns to adoring throngs, but it is much different to face an ideological opponent and defend your ideas and actions. Obama excels at the former and fails in the latter. He really is a rock star, but what we need is a president, and he’s not up to the task.

Who do you want representing this nation? A stumbling bumbler with an overinflated ego and a messiah complex, or an experienced, confident man who knows what he believes and can articulate it without the aid of a teleprompter?

The President did get off some good zingers...  

Almost 24 hours later!  His peevishness continued into the next day when, in the worst case of delayed reaction ever, finally voiced a few weak ripostes to an adoring throng that that rewarded him with some sycophantic laughter before he slinked out of Denver.

Romney's best line:

Mitt had this to say about Obama's venture socialism and throwing taxpayer money at his well-heeled political cronies like Solyndra:

I had a friend who said you don’t just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers, all right?

Romney also gets props for being the only candidate in history to threaten to cut off the moderator's funding.

Best post-debate line by a pundit (H/T to Leticia)...

... was by Dennis Miller, who is now my favorite talk show host:

"Obama better hope that a "kicked ass" is covered under Obamacare"

Keep you powder dry my fellow Right Blogistanis and savor this, because we've got 30 days until the election, and I guarantee it will be a nail-biter.  Obama's most powerful super PAC, the news media, will take revenge on Romney for bloodying their hero.