Tonight, President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney met for their second presidential debate, and the Daily Trojan live blogged it. Here is the transcript.
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5:59
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Editorial director Elena Kadvany and opinion columnist Sarah Cueva will be live blogging the second presidential debate, Elena from a liberal perspective and Sarah from a conservative one. Check the Daily Trojan website and Twitter (@dailytrojan) for updates! |
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6:07
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EK: First question from a first-time voter: How can you reassure me that I’ll be able to support myself after I graduate? Romney starts with a reference to his John and Abigail Scholarship in Massachusetts (What does that have to do with his potential term as president? Is he going to apply that policy across the board if elected? Seems unlikely.) He then tumbles downward into vague statements about making sure students can pay off their loans and get jobs. Here we are again, Romney. Where are the specifics? |
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6:09
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EK: Obama’s response sounds solid, but is not really what relates to students specifically. |
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6:10
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SC: Important question from a college student graduating in 2014 regarding employment after graduation. Good question, but insufficient answers from both candidates. At least both Romney and Obama are committed to maintaining grants and loans for college students. |
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6:11
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EK: Obama: “Romney doesn’t have a five-point plan, he has a one-point plan” that helps the wealthiest Americans and squeezes the middle class. |
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6:12
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SC: Obama’s claim that a Romney administration would outsource jobs for tax breaks doesn’t make sense in light of Romney’s plans for fostering a better environment for business at home, including cutting start-up and capital gains taxes on small businesses. |
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6:17
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SC: “Let’s take advantage of the energy resources we have as well as energy resources for the future.” Romney’s plan to get America energy independent within eight years is about maximizing our energy production potential with our own resources and creating more jobs right here at home. |
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6:18
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EK: Candy refocuses gas prices question for Obama: “Are we looking at the new normal?” He doesn’t answer her question, but does promise consistency in his gas and energy policies. |
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6:32
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SC: In his rebuttal, Romney repeats that he will not cut taxes for the top 5% of income-earners but adds that he will cut taxes for the middle class, something which he did not emphasize in his initial argument. This seems a little more like a save in response to Obama’s support for middle class tax cuts than a sincere dedication to the economic health of the middle class. |
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6:35
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EK: Obama makes a great analogy by comparing Romney’s tax plan to a potential investment that Romney himself, as an incredibly successful investor, would not have gone forward with. |
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6:36
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SC: Obama says that Romney’s only plans to compensate for the lower tax revenue under a Romney administration is to cut funding for “Big Bird and defunding Planned Parenthood.” He failed to mention that Romney plans to slash spending in multiple areas, most notably in carrying out entitlement reform. |
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6:42
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EK: Both candidates give solid answers to a young woman’s question about rectifying gender inequalities in the workplace. Obama makes a key point about increasing pell grant funds (which Paul Ryan has promised to slash) for young female students and Romney a good example about making recruitment efforts while governor of Massachusetts. |
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6:43
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SC: Romney says that some flexibility is necessary if equity in the workplace for women is to be advanced. He says there are 3.5 million more women living in poverty now than at the beginning of Obama’s term, and that employers need to be flexible to allow working mothers to get good, well-paying jobs. Obama also pledges to continue fighting discrimination in all areas should he be elected to another term. |
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6:44
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EK: PS: Paul Ryan voted against Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Oh and he’s pro-life. There’s another major women and family issue. |
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6:46
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SC: Obama mentions Romney’s plan to defund Planned Parenthood for the second time in this debate… this seems a bit like a strategic attack on Romney as anti-woman rather than a sincere commitment to women’s health. |
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6:47
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EK: “What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush?” Great question. |
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6:48
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EK: Romney is not President Bush, but it’s crucial to think about what putting a Republican back in office for the next four years would mean for the country. |
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6:49
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SC: An undecided voter asks Romney how his administration would differ from Bush II’s administration. He outlines a number of points distancing himself from the disasters of the past Republican administration, emphasizing that Republicans have focused too much on big business for too long and promising to support small businesses. |
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6:51
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EK: Obama makes an important comment about Bush vs. Romney: Bush supported immigration reform. Romney? Self-deportation. I’d like to see him respond to that. |
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6:52
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SC: There it is again. Planned Parenthood. Except this time, Obama is effectively praising George Bush for not planning to eliminate it. Time to focus on something else. |
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6:55
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SC: Obama calls Romney out on his promise to repeal Obamacare as hypocritical, since Romney’s healthcare reform as Massachusetts governor was basically the same. Romney has failed to substantially counter that thus far, detracting from his credibility on sticking to his word on the issue. |
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6:56
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EK: I get Romney’s Obama-record-bashing rhetoric, but honestly, would Romney have done any better in his shoes? |
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7:01
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SC: “We welcome legal immigrants in this country.” Romney backs this up by saying that the process of immigration needs to be streamlined within a more expedient legal process in order to allow hardworking, law-abiding individuals to make their own contributions to the US. Where he differs from Obama is that he would not reward illegal behavior, such as giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
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7:01
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EK: Romney on his immigration policy: “This is a nation of immigrants. We welcome people coming to this country as immigrants…We welcome legal immigrants.” So let’s put in place an employment verification system that will force millions of illegal immigrants who are vital to the economy to leave.
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7:02
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EK: Obama says he’s done everything he can on his own to fix the nation’s broken immigration system. Not quite true, but it’s definitely good to remember how partisanship has impeded progress on the issue.
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7:08
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SC: Romney corrects Obama on his claim that he supported the controversial Arizona immigration law as one that should be emulated throughout the country. Romney instead says that he supports the e-verify aspect of the legislation.
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7:16
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SC: Romney’s at first fair assessment of the attack that killed Ambassador Stevens in Libya turned negative when he accused Obama of going on campaign trips in the days following the disaster. It makes Romney look like an opportunist taking advantage of a tragedy for political gain. He might need to backtrack on that one.
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7:17
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EK: The audience claps for the first time in response to Obama’s correction of Romney’s accusation that he didn’t call the Benghazi attack an act of terror the day after the attack. Well-deserved applause. But why are we stuck in this game of he said he said?
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7:24
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EK: Obama on gun control: If young people have opportunities, they’re less likely to engage in these kind of acts.
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7:31
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SC: Romney says he will work to make America the most attractive place for business in the world while also ensuring that our trading partners in the global market “play by the rules,” especially China.
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7:33
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EK: Obama’s realism is refreshing. There are some jobs we’re not going to get back.
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7:35
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EK: Last question of the night: “What do you believe is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man and the candidate? Using specific examples, can you debunk that perception and set us straight?”
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7:35
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EK: Romney says he cares about 100% of the American people. We’ve heard him say that in defense of his 47% comment — tell us something NEW to debunk conceptions we already have.
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7:36
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EK: Romney is not debunking, he’s repeating.
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7:37
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SC: Romney says that his long presence in the private sector will allow him to bring his real-life experiences to government. The perspective of a successful businessman-turned-president seems a little more promising in fixing the economy than does a second Obama turn.
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7:39
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EK: Obama on misconception that he believes government creates jobs. He says no true — he believes in innovation and individual initiative; that everyone should have a fair shot and play by the same rules. And finally drops 47%, which is kind of trite at this point but sure hammers a point home.
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7:39
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SC: Obama: “Everyone should have a fair shot.” Romney understands that this does not mean equality of outcome, but rather equality of opportunity. Let’s hope that Romney’s perspective will win out for the next four years. |
