Mitt Romney, Barack Obama: 'Two men who fought hard'
CNN's Candy Crowley, center, conducts the second presidential debate with US President Barack Obama, right, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, at the David Mack Center at Hofstra University. (Oct. 16, 2012) Credit: AFP/Getty Images
After last night's presidential debate at Hofstra University, delegates for President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were eager to make their case to reporters that their candidate was the victor of the night.
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Democrats looking to move past Obama's first tepid debate performance lauded a more engaged performance by the president. Republicans, reeling from a point in the night when moderator Candy Crowley clarified for Romney that the president called the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya an act of terror a day after the attacks, not 14 days later as Romney claimed, pressed that Obama was unclear in the days after the attack.
Here's a sampling of what else the roving troop of politicos told reporters filing stories at the David S. Mack Sports Complex.
Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford)
"I thought this was a New York-style debate. I disagree with a lot that President Obama said tonight, I don't disagree with the two of them going at it; that's what it's about. That this wasn't like Joe Biden making faces and acting like a jerk. This was two men who fought hard. This is the real deal. I like that they were unguarded."
Robert Gibbs, Obama campaign adviser
"He [Obama] was tough, he was concise. I'm enormously glad at the way he performed."
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana)
"The moderator did make a mistake and that was on the question on Benghazi," Jindal said. "The reality is this administration has offered three different explanations . . . Their story has shifted. The president owes the American people a clear explanation of what happened."
Jen Psaki, Obama campaign spokeswoman
"President Obama held him to the truth. Mitt Romney was even fact-checked by the moderator; I don't think that has ever happened in a presidential debate."
Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R)
"The key here is substance. I think the president failed to explain in detail how he would improve the economy and move the country forward."
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York)
"Mitt Romney grew weaker and weaker and got more flummoxed as the debate went by."
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
