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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > People and Politics > Attack on Big Bird by Mitt Romney most interesting moment says viewers -- GOP candidate won but will PBS attack be most remembered from first debate?

People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Attack on Big Bird by Mitt Romney most interesting moment says viewers -- GOP candidate won but will PBS attack be most remembered from first debate?

Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2012 at 10:40 AM

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Mitt Romney plans to cut PBS funding - say it ain't so Big Bird (Photo: Mashable)

An informal survey of my friends after last night’s debate turned up the fact that the most remembered line of the debate by them was Mitt Romney’s decision to do away with Big Bird and PBS funding.

Social media outlets today seemed to confirm the trend, the wonderful anarchy of what people really noticed as against what every expert said they should have noticed.

That was subsequently confirmed by Politco.com, the bible of political junkies, where the most read story was a snippet discussing Romney’s comments.

That tells you a lot about a debate that was, first of all, quite boring and needed an attack on Big Bird to make it more interesting.

I have a funny feeling that will be the abiding memory of an odd debate that confused far more than it clarified and that Romney certainly won.

I had written here before the debate that Romney was far from out of it in the race and that if he focused like a laser on the economy he could come storming back.

He did that successfully, but I have to ask how many people really enjoyed a debate so top heavy on statistics and economic plans that it made my head spin.

It was that kind of debate, so loaded with numbers, claims and counter-claims that it essentially ended up as boring quite frankly.

Who was right? Who was lying? Who knows?

Read all the US Presidential Election 2012 news here

Moderator Jim Lehrer was certainly responsible by not pressing both men to explain both of their positions in plain English and be far less numbers driven. .

The upshot however, is that if you needed permission to vote for Mitt Romney in this year’s presidential race you got it last night.

Barack Obama has had his foot on Romney’s neck for the past two months, racing ahead in the polls and successfully painting his opponent as not up for the job.

But Obama did not show up last night and the pale shadow of the president who did politely lifted his foot from Romney’s neck and let him back in the race.

Call it over confidence, call it the White House bubble, but there was no question that Obama left a curious impression last night.

Whoever advised him to coast, to assume he had enough of a lead to not really engage his challenger should be fired.

And unless Big Bird comes back to bite Romney he can be well satisfied with his night’s work.

Read all the US Presidential Election 2012 news here

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BrianO | Oct 13, 2012, 11:08 AM EDT

Eiriamach, again thank you for your insults. I learned to read and write in school not watching tv. Would I prefer people being gung ho or dependent, I choose gung ho. Money crazed?-depends, if it is their own money, created from initiative and hard work sure, if it is money crazed by piling on more and more taxation, fees, fines, from government, No. Semi literate? I don't hold a person's class against them, you find real intelligence in many different places, just can't be a condescending snob to recognize it. Evolution as a conspiracy? If you believe in creationism these days you are thought of as being a moron. No one knows for sure the origins of life, therefore the origin of life must be theorized. Education brainwashes kids? Yes, For the better or worse depending on your view. Obama as a Kenyan communist? Obama is an American of Kenyan descent, as his father, who abandoned him, was a Kenyan citizen, I differentiate this from African American because his descendants were not slaves, nor fought for civil rights. Communist, if by this you mean marxist, yes. Fundamentally wants to change America. Nationalize banks, auto, health. Romney and business school. Top of the class, dual major of business and law, and an acumen for real world business. Big bird can stand on his own two, three toed feet, PBS can stand on their own as well, the people that run PBS do not volunteer their time, they are paid, and paid well. As manipulating the gullible, I'll have to ask Ambassador Stevens about that one.

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eiriamach | Oct 08, 2012, 11:41 AM EDT

What price culture and education, BrianO? You'd prefer a nation of gung-ho, money-crazed semi-literates who think evolution is a conspiracy against religion, education brainwashes kids, and Obama is a Kenyan communist? What did Romney learn at Harvard Business School? How to manipulate the gullible. We need Big Bird and PBS to try to avoid another generation of gullibles.

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SherryKay | Oct 05, 2012, 11:22 PM EDT

So,tell me why does Mean Spirited Hateful Willard Mittens the Zombie Romney hate poor little kids that love to watch Big Bird anyhow? Shame On Zombie Romney Child Hater!

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BrianO | Oct 05, 2012, 01:33 PM EDT

Just 300 million, that's the mentality we are up against. The creator of big bird as I remember had a syndicated tv show and full length movies. Maybe that 300 million is small to you but 300 million here and 300 million there, after a while it adds up to real money.

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eiriamach | Oct 05, 2012, 12:33 AM EDT

"Billions from China"??? LOL. The federal budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for 2015 is $445 million. That’s about 1/100th of a 1 percent of the budget. In 2010, it received about $300 million fed funding. For educational programming, for supporting the arts, sciences, and culture in general, for getting Romney's brain working so he'd realize that killing Big Bird wouldn't wipe out the deficit.

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fitch94 | Oct 04, 2012, 11:45 PM EDT

LOL Big Bird will cause the GOP to lose. You have to be kidding me. How about selling some more Tickle Me Elmos to help pay for the PBS? Ask yourself....Is it worth borrowing Billions from China? NO!

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Rebelforce | Oct 04, 2012, 11:21 PM EDT

Even without his teleprompter, Obama should have easily been able to slap Romney around for proposing more tax breaks for his wealthy donors, increasing military spending by $2.3 Trillion, and saying that he wants to bomb Iran and is "open" to invading Syria. How the hell is that going to help the American Middle Class?

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michaelidaho | Oct 04, 2012, 11:14 PM EDT

No question, Romney demolished Obama. Obama looked like he just woke up from a nap, was getting over a cold, and was totally unprepared. In contrast, Romney answered the questions directly with specifics, provided energetic rebuttals and was much more prepared than Obama. I am not sure why everybody keeps babbling about Big Bird. It was just one of the many humorous quips and wit displayed by Romney. I voted for Obama in 2008. Not a chance again in 2012. This guy really has no clue.

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tievemore | Oct 04, 2012, 09:23 PM EDT

Pat: "Obama left a curious impression?" Look, I voted for Obama last time. IMO, he's been terribly disappointing (an empty suit really). He left more than a curious impression last night - he left a "I really don't want to be POTUS impression".

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Smyrnian | Oct 04, 2012, 09:01 PM EDT

Big bird is what liberals are focused on? He's quite safe; not so Obama's reelection chances!

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eiriamach | Oct 04, 2012, 05:20 PM EDT

Vote Obama to Save Big Bird!

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KittyMurphy | Oct 04, 2012, 01:28 PM EDT

First the 47% and now Sesame Street next it will be orphans he's after!!

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