Debate Season

Presidential Debates

Last night was the second presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney. It was a pretty good slug fest between the President and Romney. I would say that President Obama won hands down. I can understand some of the arguments from the republicans against the moderator but to me she the candidates to the time limit as best as possible and ensured that both men got chances to address each issue. 

Today both men are headed to Ohio to campaign and then of to different states. The election is drawing closer and closer as the days go on and polls keep labeling it as too close to call. It it definitely going to come down to the battle ground states. Ohio and Virginia are taking center stage for the Republican efforts.

Congressional Debates

Tonight at Illinois State University there is a debate between Rodney Davis and David Gill for the Illinois  13th Congressional District.  The new 13th district was drawn with the hopes of the Democratic Party taking back the House of Representatives. From polling data that i have seen the races is leaning slightly in Republican Nominee Rodney Davis' favor. He has a slight lead but the race is not over yet. If you live in the 13th district and are close to Illinois State University's campus I recommend coming out to the debate. It is at 6:00 PM in the Brown Ball Room in the Bone Students Center. Here is the Facebook page for the event. 

The next few weeks there are debates going on in Illinois District 12 and 11 as well. These are great chances for you to learn more about your new districts and the candidates looking to represent you in Washington D.C. for the next two years.

VP Debate Recap...What's Next?

Last night was an a very interesting debate.

For one they were sitting down. I find that set up very odd and hard to think of as a debate. When I think of a debate I see both candidates standing at podiums some distant apart and arguing back and forth. It was odd that they were so close to each other. 

Second Biden was let out of the cage and was on full out attack the entire night. He interrupted and directly called Paul Ryan out on not being very specific with his economic plans while using facts as much as possible. 

Third Paul Ryan was a strong defender of what he and Romney would bring to the oval office. He even had strong points to attack the current administration.

And Finally the Moderator was very strong on the time limits and pushed both gentlemen to stay on topic. With all the issues of the first debate this moderator held her ground and forced the debate to address all topic areas. 

Overall I deem the debate a TIE! That's right there was no specific winner or loser. Biden struck back while Ryan held his ground. Both men did what they needed to do last night and both campaigns can now prepare for the next debate next Tuesday. 

What does this mean for the Election? 

This debate really wont have much effect over all. The Vice President is not who people vote for the go for the top of the ticket. So this debate is only a chance for campaigns to really lose ground rather than surge off of.

While looking for more understanding of the election I found another blog that you can check to see what states are truly battle grounds and see polling data.