President Barack Obama made himself look bad during the second presidential debate and may have backed himself into a corner on several issues, Dick Morris, former adviser to Bill Clinton, told Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.
Morris said that Romney appeared “unflappable, presidential, and dignified,” while Obama embodied the opposite, while riding the line with some of his answers.
Watch the exclusive interview here.
“I think that in the long run, I think that Obama appeared overly aggressive, not presidential, not dignified, crippling, focusing on each individual issue rather than broad brush strokes,” he said. “I think that since the next debate is on foreign policy, Obama was opened himself up wide for a hit on Libya while it may be true that he used the word terrorism, it’s obvious and everyone knows that he was blaming on the movie. He saw him at the UN do that, and for weeks after that. That will become the pivotal issue in the foreign policy debate.”
Urgent Poll: Obama or Romney? Who Won the Second Debate?
While he said Romney will be stronger in the next debate, Morris said that the Republican candidate did himself a big favor for the next debate by getting the President to tie the Libya fiasco to himself, rather than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Though he thought Obama’s close was strong, including the President’s mention of Romney’s 47 percent gaffe, Morris said, overall, Romney turned in a solid performance.
“I don’t know what [quotes] will be in headlines . . . I think Romney’s answer about marriage was a very effective one,” Morris said. “I think that Romney’s separation of himself from Bush was very effective. I thought that his delineation as a small business, criticizing the Republicans for being for big business was very effective and I think his explanation of his tax plan was thrilling.”
Urgent Poll: Obama or Romney? Who Won the Second Debate?