I don't think either one WON. I had never heard Romney speak before, so I tried to keep an open mind and hear what he had to say. He came off as caring about the middle class, but I didn't believe him. The Republican party has always been for big business. I believe he will say whatever he has to, to get elected. So will Obama. I believe Obama always over emphasizes education. I realize education is important, but we also need the carpenters, electricians etc. The United States used to be a huge manufacturing country, which created a lot of jobs. Now it seems it's a country of office buildings and unemployed college grads. I'll have to wait until I hear the rest of the debates to pull the lever, but I hope they're better than this one was. I almost fell asleep. Romney will still loose in PA.

Mr Romney scored a clear victory, based on style. He looked confident, aggressive, and focused. The president needs to step up and bring his A game to the next debate or he will be in danger of losing the undecideds he needs.

Romney gave Obama quite a spanking!

To LSG, You said Gov Romney came off as caring for the middle class, but you didn't believe him, because he is a Republican. I hope you will watch the rest of the debates and do it with blinders to party affliiation. We need to vote for the best man for the job, not against a preconceived notion about a party. To Charles Hampton, I agree, Gov Rommney scored a clear victory. President Obama is not a good speaker. He comes off as having to think about his answer and wing it. At this point he should be so solid in his policy, that his answers should come easily. I believe that does not happen because he is always trying to say what people want to hear. At this stage of the game, each candidate should have a platform, know it well, and not stray from it. We need to be convinced that the candidate truly believes what he is saying, and believes that it is the best for our country. Government is big busines. Gov Romney has run big business, with more oversight that our government has ever had. President Obama has never worked in the private sector, outside of the realm of politic. I think we have a clear winner, and as the dbates continue, I can only hope that the American people see and hear.

more like an ass whooping..........

None of the above.
Are there no honest leaders anymore?

This is the year that a charismatic Ross Perot or Lee Iacocca type would have won the election.

Or another celeb type; maybe Trump should have run.

Romney clearly won! Thinking this is why Obama does not meet with world leaders. He is weak and ineffective in these types of situations. Press not holding his feet to the fire these past 4 yrs in press conferences has not done Obama any favors! He is soft.

I think the debate was more informative than competitive, which was refreshing. Romney presented himself well, but was short on details on how his tax cuts wouldn't engendered an increase in the deficit. He just said he would figure out a way to do it. I'm not sure how to swallow that gamble. There are philosophical aspects of his pov that I tend to agree with, but his details of his implementation is lacking. The same might be said for Obamacare, but I tended to side more with the president last night in the he offered greater detail to his ideas. Good debate overall. I look forward to the next.

The debate didn't need a moderator, just someone to read the question and sound the buzzer after two minutes...It was not so much a debate as a demonstration of who had the best coaching, it reminded me of the old Dating Game. Lots of spin on who loves regulation, supports deficits at no cost, cuts taxes for everyone, likes old people (of which i'm one). Read between the lines, all the issues and stances have already been established and are on the record.
Dancing with Words.

Romney, as usual, changed most of his positions again for the umpteenth time..He lied about the effect of his tax plan and lied about shipping jobs overseas. He said he'd work together with the Dems in Congress. How's that going to work out when you say your first action will be to repeal their signature accomplishment..If you get in Mittster, you'll hopefully get filibustered to death just like Obama is by your pals in the senate..You'll get crap done and you know it...Stop the lies already Mitt.. Are you auditioning for a place in the Guiness book of world records for the number of times you've changed your positions??

Mitt showed himself to be "like a well-lubricated weathervane, he has at one time or another swiveled to each of the 360 dregrees of the compass, never pausing at any spot long enough to tell us which way his wind is blowing today,"(fellow Repunlican, Jon Huntsman) Last night, Mitt showed himself to be a skilled denier of his past commitments and distorter of the true consequences of his "plan of the day." Having said that I think Mitt walked all over Obama, Leherer and even the agreed to format. Who was Obama's coach? Rich Perry???

the cream is rising to the top.... to show his record obahma should have had a big nose and a funny hat and after every statement had a horn ,that would appeal to his followers. vote for the mormon not the moron

Romney won the reality show...It was all theatrics and no substance, and replete with mendacity...Fact checkers are having a grand time!

Part of Romney rhetoric was directly taken from Ron Pauls mouth, the most sane thing he said throughout the debate. I chose not to waste the electricity by turning on the tube, I've heard more than enough lies and BS out of both of these corporate owned clowns. Goldman Sachs won again, as usual.

More commentaries came out after the debate and one that caught my eye was his attempt at moving to the center...On the campaign trail, he claims to be a "severely conservative"...During the debate he sounded like a "moderate"...More Etch-A-Sketch, flip-flop tomfoolery?..Which one are you, Mitt?