Debate easy for Romney

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Republicans are high-fiving each other because they say former Gov. Mitt Romney won the first debate. Did he now?

President Barack Obama was careful and calculated; one might call it presidential. Romney was glib, combative and willing to change his position on anything he thought might help him win.

With a careless word, sitting presidents can negatively affect U.S. policy. Right now, Romney can turn that Etch A Sketch over and no one cares. But if a president is disingenuous, Wall Street panics.

Was there a debate winner? Romney gets the style points, and if that is all you care about, he won.

Obama gets points for consistency, reflection, empathy and, most important, for knowing that country is more important than politics.

My vote goes to the president.

Rich Foster

Herriman