Politics

Predicting a presidential winner is one of America's favorite pastimes in an election year.

Last night's presidential debate showed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leaping off his barstool at the first question, and an equally charged President Obama walking purposefully around the stage and doing some strong finger waving to emphasize his remarks.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Was it debate night or fight night? We'll spend some time talking about that today. Later we'll ask our panel of women commentators, our Beauty Shop Roundtable, for their reactions, and we'll ask them about the latest Chanel No. 5 ad featuring - wait for it - Brad Pitt. That's later.

There will be blood.

Or at least a lot of aggressive walking and glaring, vigorous head-shaking and interruptions, all glazed with equal parts feigned respect and visceral distaste.

This season's presidential debates between incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, including Tuesday's engagement, have evolved into base-rousing spectacles of their dislike for each other.

President Obama beat at least one of his adversaries on the stage at Hofstra University last night. He easily outperformed that guy — whoever he was — who debated against former Gov. Mitt Romney two weeks ago in Denver.

That much was obvious — and necessary for the president. The question now is whether it will be sufficient to restore his momentum in the race itself.

Two weeks ago, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was seen as the clear winner of that debate. A very different President Obama showed up for the second debate. He went hard after his Republican opponent from the very start.

Steve Inskeep talks to two commentators from either side of the political divide about Tuesday night's presidential debate. Liberal Jonathan Chait is with New York Magazine and conservative Jonah Goldberg is editor at large for National Review Online.

A team of NPR correspondents joins Renee Montagne to give Tuesday night's presidential debate a Close Read. The second meeting was a town hall-style debate and covered a wide range of issues. The reporters include: John Ydstie, Julie Rovner, Michele Kelemen, Jeff Brady and Ted Robbins.

Anyone who thought the presidential candidates couldn't get aggressive within a town hall-style format underestimated the sharp differences in policy that divide them.

President Obama and Mitt Romney remained continuously critical against one another throughout their second debate Tuesday night. Neither ever seemed to finish a statement without launching an attack against his opponent.

Pundits fretted that the town hall format for Tuesday's presidential exchange would yield tepid results: undecided voters posing questions over 90 minutes with little more than a passing touch from the moderator, CNN's Candy Crowley.

Boy, was that a misplaced fear. "So much for the analysis this would not be confrontational," Fox News anchor Bret Baier said in the moments after the debate.