0 years without mitt romney ever having to really explain what he would do going forward. the only thing i can think is that the president was told first and foremost play it safe. don't make any big mistakes. don't do anything big that shows up in an attack ad. you can't do that in politics. you can't show up afraid of making a mistake. you can't play it safe. you have to be on the offense and win the day. the one thing i will say for mitt romney and for the republican party is last night mitt romney very aggressively moved to the center. finally seemed to commit to i am a centrist. i support very closely to where obama is. just slight differences. i think it's an acknowledgment that he really can't run on the far right policies that the republican party has been pushing. it took until now with the republican party sort of staring over the abyss at a potential loss before they would give him that permission to move to the center. >> i think you're right, but i that stuff is in your memory. i don't know why that didn't just naturally come to him with all of those openings that romney gave him. they should have. then the lack of enthusiasm was palpable. i got an e-mail blast after the debate from the obama team. the subject line of it was, hey. that is as much enthusiasm as i felt in the entire debate from him. >> understated. >> it was understated to a fault. >> i think if we look at why obama performed the way he did, the number one most important thing for obama is likability. if he is seen attacking people with zingers, which are completely unprofessional, completely unpresidential, i mean, this sort of street fight combative thing, that's not where he wants to be. i was talking to martin bashir before the show. he doesn't want to do that, and his entire life is wrapped around that, about not being combative in that way. he doesn't want to do that. that's his entire life wrapped around that. i mean, i also saw, you know, a guy who is leading. the likability is more important than winning this debate. i know i'm winning this thing. it's this dynamic we've seen a lot in las vegas or perhaps atlantic city when we get a champion and challenger. the challenger has nothing to lose and goes nuts and flings punches everywhere. what does he have to lose? i don't need to mix it up with you. i'm going it to win on points and layback. sometimes that strategy wins and sometimes it doesn't. >> it's always frustrating if you're a fan to watch it fully. >> it's bizarre. >> you don't want it. s.e., i understand you were checking out some of the coverage from our friends at current? >> yeah. the reaction to this was interesting across the spectrum, but the kids at current tv had a very hard time, very hard time explaining obama's loss. but uncle al had his own theory. take a look. it. >> speaking our friends at current. we commented on jennifer granholm's exuberance during the speech. if you tuk her exushance and combined it with barack obama's nonexuberance, you could have found a happy balance there. you have the perfect candidate. >> we could morph them. we need a hybrid. >> can we merge those together? >> emotionally mitt is much closer to jennifer on that scale. he seemed caffeinated and on ludes and stuff like that. >> he had a diet coke and maybe two. >> he seemed much more energized than we've seen. >> think of the republican primary debates. it was newt gingrich and rick santorum. he needed to turn it on in the republican primaries, and he did. >> steve, what do you think the ultimate impact is going to be? is this the game change moment to use the term that we hate? >> i swear we're living in this mirror image of 2004 where the bush role is played by obama and where kerry is played by romney. i remember september 30th, 2004, watching that debate and watching the reaction after that debate between kerry and bush and the reaction of democrats. i thought of taking some of the quotes from some republican and conservative pundits talking about how this changes the race, just switch in kerry's name for romney, switch in obama for bush. exact same sort of mental adjustment. the silver lining for that for democrats is bush went on, and he didn't i think win the next two debates but recovered and was serviceable in the next two debates. >> do we really think that anybody who was a lean obama voter changed their mind and said, now i'm going to vote for mitt romney because he won that debate? i don't think so. >> i think it was the first time -- this is what i wanted as a conservative voter. i don't mind telling you i'm voting for mitt romney. i wanted to see a go for the jugular moment. >> from mitt, yeah. >> i'm already in the tank. i feel as though, you know, the president's record has really not been touched as seriously as it needed to be. if mitt romney is the only guy that gets a face-to-face opportunity to do that in this election season, then i wanted to see him take it. i think he did a good job there. i don't know if this debate is going to be the thing anyone looks back on and says, that's where obama lost it, or that's where romney won it. he has to move this forward, but if he needed a rebound, he got it. >> i think he just broke gary johnson's heart. he's off the table apparently. >> gary johnson. >> i think mitt romney had a sort of stay of execution. if he had blown it last night, it would have been over. >> the aroma of terminal illness is gone from the campaign. once you get that aroma, it's kind difficult. >> you know what i'm looking to right now is the vice presidential debate? people give biden such a hard time, he's the gaffe machine. i remember when biden was known as a really good communicator, and you know what? there's a difference between biden and obama and how they are in debates and how they approach crowds. biden looks for the guts of the audience and pitches the message to their guts. i'm sure to see how biden does it. >> he's been there and paul ryan has not. >> i think next time if it's a boring debate, we should bring in herman cain, rick perry and newt gingrich just for fun. >> herman cain would be winning right now according to herman cain. >> you've heard our initial reactions. up next we have reactions from the heartland and the capital. we go to des moines, iowa and go to luke russert in washington to see where one of these candidates will end up. 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