The Sentinel analyzed the transcript from the first 2012 Presendential Debate after watching the live event. How do the candidates compare when it comes to honesty and integrity? Take a look at the numbers and decide for yourself!
In the days following Wednesday night’s presidential debate there has been much discussion about each candidate’s performance and the substance behind their claims.
Multiple media outlets have pointed out false statements made by each candidate. Politifact.com, a project operated by the Tampa Bay Times, has recorded that during the course of the 90-minute debate, each candidate lied or spoke a half-truth. In total, 12 lies or half-truths were spoken, six per candidate.
According to FactCheck.org, a non-partisan project run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, 14 topics arose where the candidates misrepresented facts and figures. Five of these topics were directed by President Barack Obama and nine topics by Mitt Romney.
“It was interesting,” said Kenneth White, professor of Criminal Justice and Political Science at KSU and the faculty adviser for the College Democrats. “Romney looked more energetic; Obama looked more substantive.”
While FactCheck.org is in line with White’s perspective, not all who watched the debate reacted similarly.
“Romney did a great job of convincing the American public that he was not the man they portrayed him as in the media,” said Weston Slaton of the KSU College Republicans. “The debate was very telling of the election to come. Romney was aggressive in his approach. Obama was weak in his rebuttal.”
“Over the last 30 months, we’ve seen 5 million jobs in the private sector created,” President Obama said during his opening comments of the debate. Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics there was an increase of 4.6 million jobs in the private sector in the 30 months prior to the debate.
“The President Said he’d cut the deficit in half,” said Romney during the debate. “Unfortunately he doubled it.” In fact, when Obama took office the yearly deficit was already $1.2 trillion according to FactCheck. org. In early 2012 The New York Times reported the deficit still at $1.2 trillion.
Both candidates are proven to have misrepresented information about their own, as well as their opponent’s, policies during the first presidential debate.
“I feel I need to be more educated on the student side of it,” said SGA President Rosalyn Hedgepeth. “What did they say about student loans before I can really put a stance on what I think will be the best.” When asked about each candidates’ performance Hedgepeth responded “really, what I think is, whoever has the best student interest at heart that will be the candidate of choice.”
The 2012 Presidential election is less than a month away, and the next two presidential debates will take place on Oct. 16 and Oct. 22.
