First, hi Gene, Mark, PK, E3, Randym, Andrea, and Mess.

So, I have talked a lot about this debate in the last couple of days and I would say that it seems most people were surprised by what happened. The truth is I wasn't really surprised to see Romney win but did not expect such a decisive victory and sure did not expect to see Stephanie Cutter say and do what she did after it was over...I'll come back to this.

I won't rehash the debate point by point unless some of you would really like to. I think there is general agreement Obama performed poorly and Romney did quite well and looked like the one driving and controlling the debate at all times.

Some things I would like to add because there was a lot of talk about this being a "new" Romney, one we have not seen before, that we could never have expected such a nuanced performance from him...well, being a Massachusetts resident I can tell you I have seen this Romney before and the thing is this Romney was always there...waiting for the chance to close the deal.

You see, Romney is a bit of a stiff in a lot of situations, no question, and he is pretty far from being honest which I know is one of the main strikes against him...at this particular moment I won't hold that against him because Obama was not really focusing on being honest during the debate either...I did keep score on that and both of them offered us some fibs that we really could have done without.

Here is the thing though, this is the point in the campaign where Romney will excel. He can close, he knows about closing.

Let's just be clear, Obama is a rank amateur in comparison in this area. What I am saying, because this part is important, is believe what you saw.

Romney with just the two of them on the stage and all of us out there watching gave a lesson on how to close...and in this regard he wiped up the stage with President Obama. He showed how you sell a used, broken down, Studebaker with four flats, no exhaust, that is covered in rust to more than half of America and how he can get people to borrow money they don't have to pay for it.

At the same time he showed he could sell you that car with Obama standing next to him offering you a brand new Prius for the same price.

I was pretty much in agreement with Gene leading up to the debate. I thought it would be fairly unimportant because these two guys are really pretty different and voters that would vote for one of them would never vote for the other.

So, who are they going to sway with the debate? The "undecideds", really how many of those are lurking out there...I think the undecided vote is a little like the Bigfoot vote in this election and if you can find some registered independent sasquatches then I think you might have something there.

This brings me back to Stephanie Cutter and her admission after the debate that Romney won on style and preparation. Yes, he did Steph, thanks for being honest and admitting you failed miserably at your job...in the "Spin" room of all places and before the debate quite obviously...because yes, the president did not seem prepared and as far as style goes...well, he looked like he wanted to be elsewhere...not that I blame him but that can't happen.

The worst part about Stephanie Cutter though apart from appearing to be an abomination as a deputy campaign manager is she reeked of panic...not a good sign. I'll tell you why she looked and sounded panicked and fumbled through her post debate "spin"...because Steph knows that debate and all the clips that will run from it over and over, will play well in Ohio and Florida...two states Romney needs to win and I think he will.

So, apart from what we saw on stage with the candidates I think we saw quite a bit off the stage as well...and what we saw is that while the Romney campaign is ramping up to close the deal, the Obama campaign is fumbling about and it appears Obama does not have a team behind him that will improve this situation.

Romney had the best lines, true or not, in the debate. Lines that will stick and people will remember. Obama provided the Romney campaign with plenty of fodder for political ads and not much else.

Now Biden will have to try to make up ground in his debate with Ryan and that puts Biden at a disadvantage before he gets to utter a word.

I suggest they have somebody other than Steph in the spin room after it's over.