Romney Seeks to Build on Debate Performance

Romney Seeks to Build on Debate Performance

 WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Mitt¹ Romney is looking to build political momentum² after his strong debate performance Wednesday against the man he would like to replace in November, President Barack Obama.

It was clear from the start of the debate that Romney wanted to take control and keep the focus squarely on the president's economic record.

“Under the president’s policies, middle income Americans have been buried. They are just being crushed,” said Romney.

??Romney appeared relaxed and comfortable on stage. He was aggressive in criticizing the Democratic president’s record but stayed away from personal attacks.

Analysts⁵ generally gave Obama poor marks on his debate performance. Many said the president appeared on the defensive⁶ and that his responses to the Romney attacks lacked energy and passion.

Obama did display more energy at a rally in Colorado the day after the debate and signaled a tougher approach to Romney in the remaining two debates.

“So you see the man on stage last night, he does not want to be held accountable for the real Mitt Romney’s decisions and what he’s been saying for the last year, and that’s because he knows full well that we don’t want what he’s been selling for the past year,” declared Obama.

The president’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters in a conference call that the Obama team will be making some adjustments in future debates.

“You have to strike a balance. You can’t allow someone to stand there and basically manhandle the truth about their own record and ideas and about yours,” he said.

The difference in demeanor⁷ between the two men was noticeable, said political analyst⁴ Charlie Cook.

“Obama seemed to be like a [sports] team sitting on a lead. I wouldn’t have said smug, just somebody who didn’t seem terribly hungry for it,” he said.

Cook said it remains⁸ to be seen, though, whether Romney’s debate performance will sway undecided voters in swing states where both campaigns are battling for support.

“And so the question is, just how much does this move [voters] in Ohio, in Virginia, in Florida, in Colorado and in these swing states,” he said.

Republican pollster Glen Bolger said Romney also took steps to improve his personal image with voters, an area where Obama has long held an advantage in public opinion polls.

“How much did Mitt Romney help his image? How much did he raise his favorables? And I think that Romney came across as someone who was more genuine than they had realized and somebody who could step into the Oval Office and have no problem doing that,” said Bolger.

At the very least, Romney’s performance could reassure¹⁰ Republicans, who were worried that the president was starting to build an irreversible lead in some of the key states where the election will be decided⁹.

Presidential debates are always significant events, though they do not always prove to be decisive. In 2004, Democrat³ John Kerry was seen by many as the winner of his debates with President George W. Bush but still went on to defeat.

John Kennedy in 1960 and Ronald Reagan in 1980 both benefited from strong debate performances in successful campaigns for the White House.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

7 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。