Rival ‘avoided detailed plans’
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s chief political adviser conceded yesterday that challenger Mitt Romney did well in the first debate between the two candidates for the White House.
Mr Romney, the nominee of the conservative Republican Party, was widely hailed as the winner in their debate on domestic policy late on Wednesday in Denver, Colorado.
“He did give a strong performance, but that’s what it was — a performance,” David Axelrod said in a live interview on the Today Show on NBC.
Mr Axelrod, a political consultant who was the chief architect of the 2008 campaign that made Mr Obama the first AfricanAmerican president, argued that his boss still made effective arguments in the 90-minute debate.
“The American people want the honest truth about where we need to go as a country, how we rebuild this economy, how we rebuild the middle class, and that’s what the president did,” he said.
“I think people respect that.” He accused Mr Romney of failing to offer details on a host of important policies: where he would eliminate tax deductions to offset acrossthe-board cuts in income tax rates; how he would replace Mr Obama’s landmark healthcare reform; and how he would change post-crisis reforms to the financial sector.
Obama “treated the American people like adults,” Mr Axelrod said, “and he told the truth, which was a fundamental distinction between him and Governor Romney”. The average of major recent surveys before the debate had Mr Obama leading with 49% support to 46% for Mr Romney, according to the website Real Clear Politics.
The election November 6.
“Governor Romney was clearly very much in command of the facts last night and had solutions,” Ed Gillespie, an adviser to Mr Romney, told cable news channel MSNBC. “And it was the substance of the debate that I think mattered most, the competing view of what is best for getting our country going again.”
Mr Romney and Mr Obama are scheduled to debate again on October 16 and 22. Vice-president Joe Biden and Mr Romney’s running mate, congressman Paul Ryan, are to debate on October 11. Sapa-DPA
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