President Barrack Obama and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney engaged in the first of the three presidential debates Wednesday evening. The debates were moderated by Jim Lehrer, Host of NewsHour on PBS at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.
While Obama has received bipartisan criticism for what the New York Times calls "delivering a flat, uninspired and defensive performance," Romney, surprisingly, received high praise for his performance at the debates. The New York Times describes his articulation as "energetic, aggressive and presidential during his first-ever general election debate."
It was not just the New York Times that deemed Romney the winner, but the assessment has been unanimous among the various media. Polls have also indicated that Romney performed better than Obama.
According to a poll conducted by Government Executive, among the 523 undecided voters surveyed 46 percent said Romney did a better job, while only 22 percent said the same for Obama. 32 percent of those surveyed said it was a tie.
In a poll by CBS of 430 undecided voters, 67 percent say Romney was a clear winner last night, while only 25 percent said Obama won the debate. The CBS poll also indicated that 50 percent of those surveyed said the debates changed their opinion of Romney, boosting is likability to 63 percent, which was a 30 percent jump to the number prior to the debate.
A poll by CNN showed a closer call between the two opponents, but never the less, Romney had was declared a winner by those surveyed. The CNN poll suggested that 48 percent said Romney was a stronger leader, while 37 percent said the same for Obama.
The next debate will take place on October 11, between the Vice Presidential candidates Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. View full schedule below:
Thursday, October 11
Who: Vice-Presidential Nominees Joe Biden and Paul Ryan
Time: 9-10:30 pm Eastern Standard Time
Place: Centre College in Danville, Kentucky
Topic: Domestic and Foreign Policies
Moderator: Martha Raddatz, ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent
This will be a debate between the VP candidates, which will be divided into nine segments of 10 minutes each. The same rule applies as the presidential debate in respect to the topic and time given to each candidate. Also it is noteworthy that this will be the first presidential debate in 20 years in which a woman will be a moderator.
Tuesday, October 16
Who: Presidential Candidates Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney
Time: 9-10:30 pm Eastern Standard Time
Place: Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York
Topic: Domestic and Foreign Policy
Moderator: Candy Crowley, Chief Political Correspondent for CNN
This debate will be conducted in a town-hall meeting format. Here a number of undecided voters selected by The Gallup Organization, responsible for conducting election polls, will be given an opportunity to ask each candidate questions on both domestic and foreign policies.
Monday, October 22
Who: Presidential Candidates Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney
Time: 9-10:30 pm Eastern Standard Time
Place: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida
Topic: Foreign Policy
Moderator: Bob Schieffer, Host of Face the Nation on CBS
This will be the last of three debates between Obama and Romney before voters head to cast their ballots on November 6. The two candidates will talk about domestic policy. The debate will be divided into six 15-minute segments, in which Schieffer will chose questions from a topic of his choice. Each candidate will be given two minutes to answer.
