Mickey Kaus writes for our friends at the Daily Caller, but he’s a small “L” liberal, not a winger:
I live-tweeted the third and last debate with the L.A. Times’ crew.
The stream of commentary is available here. They also asked for a quick short verdict. Here’s mine, slightly modified for clarity:
Romney won the first half by sounding moderate,
knowledgeable. Obama seemed peevish trying to prove Romney wasn’t those
things. Obama hit his stride in the second half by abandoning sniping and
‘but-you-said’ gambits for a broadbrush “reckless” critique, and by playing bin
Laden card effectively. He suddenly seemed more commanding.
I actually thought Romney was much stronger in the second half, but Kaus is correct that Obama’s attitude was much more off-putting then.
Kaus also adds:
Schieffer was trying desperately not to be Candy Crowley. He succeeded.
Absolutely.