Independents React to the Second Presidential Debate

The Takeaway

After the  first presidential debate, we spoke to several independent voters throughout the country who have not yet decided who they will be voting for come November. While some of them remain undecided, others said the first debate brought them closer to voting for either Romney or Obama.
Now, after the second presidential debate, we check back in with these voters to see what they thought and where they are leaning. We speak with  AJ Dellinger  of Wisconsin,  Julia Pfaff  of Virginia,  Horacio Soberon-Ferrer  of Florida,  Dan Starr  of Arizona,  Barbara Dymond  of New Hampshire, and  Rick Robol  of Ohio.  
At the same time, we also check in with the  twittersphere  to see how other Americans reacted to the debates.
AJ Dellinger says he wishes they had spent more time talking details on the economy. “I still don’t really have an understanding of how the Romney plan works, and I really would like to.”  
Dan Starr’s response to the debate? “There’s an old joke in America: How do you tell if a politician’s  lying?” he asks. “The answer is, his lips are moving.” Starr says he does not put much weight in what candidates have to say, but he does pay attention to records. Starr thinks that Romney’s record as a job-creator is much more impressive than the president’s.  
Female voters may have been a bit put off by the governor’s positions on women’s healthcare issues, as well as his “binders full of women” comment about women in the work force – a comment made in response to a question about equal pay for equal work, which he did not address in his  answer.
“He doesn’t seem like he’s behind women, he doesn’t seem like he cares about women’s issues, or the pay scale being less for women,” voter Barbara Dymond said of Mitt Romney. “He came across to me as, that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”  
“I don’t think that Governor Romney was sufficiently familiar with all the facts,” voter Rick Robol says of the conversation about Libya, which was widely considered one of the governor’s  weakest moments  in this debate. Candy Crowley has fallen under  criticism  from the Republicans for  fact-checking  the governor, even though she later said that he was right in the main in asserting that it took two weeks for the president to come out and say that the attack in Benghazi was an act of terrorism.  Many voters were impressed by Obama’s compassion on the subject of  Libya.  
Still, Rick Robol says that, “Once again, the real losers in this debate were the American people. Neither candidate seems able to stop the partisan bickering that is tearing our country apart.”

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!