The media reaction to Wednesday night's first presidential debate between Mitt Romney and President Obama continues unabated. Everyone's talking about Romney's surprisingly good performance and Obama's lackluster defense of his first term.
"In a word, he blew it," said New York Times columnist Nick Kristof of Obama, in a video for MSNBC.
"I think part of it was expectations and Romney did much better than expectations. But beyond that, he let Romney get away with accusing him of being the one who is undecided on big banks, on being the one who would let people lose their health insurance, of being the one who didn't care about the little guy," said Kristof.
"And essentially Obama didn't push back. He didn't whack him. I think that's going to have to change in future debates."
Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast, former conservative pundit and Obama convert didn't pull his punches. "Look: you know how much I love the guy, and you know how much of a high-information viewer I am, and I can see the logic of some of Obama's meandering, weak, professorial arguments," he said.
"But this was a disaster for the president for the key people he needs to reach, and his effete, wonkish lectures may have jolted a lot of independents into giving Romney a second look."
Liberal comedian and million-dollar Obama contributor Bill Maher tweeted, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Obama looks like he DOES need a teleprompter."
The Huffington Post's Kathleen Reardon had grudging praise for the Republican challenger. You have to hand it to Governor Romney. He practiced, he was prepared and he conveyed more heart than he's usually able to muster," she said.
"He was there to win, and if he didn't, it was not for lack of trying. He demonstrated commitment to his views whether stated vaguely or not. He looked presidential."
Plenty of celebrities weighed in on Twitter. "Watching [the] debates -- it's so strange the president seems almost apologetic about his policies that help people and didn't call out Romney," tweeted actor John Cusack.
Avengers actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted, "Okay. This is a great performance. I almost believed that Mitt cares about the hurting 47% that he said he didn't care about. Oscar?"
"Hey Obama -- TRAIN WITH HILLARY. This is ROCKY III and she's your Apollo Creed,"tweeted comedian Patton Oswalt.
But perhaps Samuel L. Jackson had the real measure of the debate when he tweeted,"What Really happened tonite?! NOBODY changed who they're voting for!! NOBODY!!!"
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