On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, the two contestants for the top job in America, Mitt Romney of the Republican Party and the President Barack Obama of the Democratic Party went in for the first presidential debate. Among the issues that formed the backbone of their debate was the issue of the economy, where they brought each other to the task. Zeleny and Rutenberg (para. 1) indicate that the two men were bent on showing why the policies of the other were unsound to save American from the economic crisis, while indicating how their own policies could get the job done.
There were three main factors related to the economy on which the battle was fought. These are the budget deficit, the role of the government as well as the tax policy (Zeleny and Rutenberg, para. 2). The president asked the voters to be patient, while assuring them that his policies on the economy would eventually deliver results for them. He accused Romney of being dishonest on his policies. He unsuccessfully tried to get Romney to clarify on his proposed cut on taxes, a question that Romney was elusive about all through the debate.
Romney, on the other hand, also gave the president a run for his money. He argued that the president has been in power for the last four years but still has not done much to revive the economy of the land. As such, he posited that he was an equal to the president with the only difference that he could deliver results.
Generally, it can be argued that the debate was more about the men stripping each other on their economic policies. It is no wonder that the heavily quarreled over the tax policies “with each man accusing the other of being evasive and misleading voters” (Zeleny and Rutenberg para. 2).
Work Cited
Zeleny, Jeff, & Rutenberg, Jim. ‘Obama and Romney, in First Debate, Spar Over Fixing the Economy.’ The New York Times, October 3, 2012. Web, 10th Oct. 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/us/politics/obama-and-romney-hold-first-debate.html?_r=0
