The first presidential debate between Democratic candidate President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday night focused heavily on each candidate’s stance on domestic issues.

The debate consisted of three economic segments, and then three different segments on health care, the role of government and governing. Due to time constraints, the topic of “governing” was not specifically addressed.

Fifteen minutes were dedicated to each topic, and candidates were given two minutes each for closing statements. The debate was held at the University of Denver and was moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS NewsHour.

Throughout the debate, Obama repeatedly stated that Romney’s plan to reduce all tax rates would cost $5 trillion and benefit the wealthy, hurting middle-class taxpayers. But Romney defended his plan, denying that there was any truth to Obama’s statement.

Both candidates discussed the middle class. Obama stated that four years ago he promised to cut taxes for middle-class Americans and said he fulfilled his promise, lowering their taxes by an average of $3,600.

Obama referenced economists to prove that under Romney’s proposed plan, middle-class families with children would pay an extra $2,000 in taxes. Romney retorted by stating that for every one study claiming that statistic, six prove it is not true.

Both candidates agreed that getting Americans back to work was important, though.

“For me, this is about jobs,” Romney said. “This is about jobs for the American people.”

Chris Piemonte, a junior political philosophy major, said that the most important debate topic for him was job creation in the U.S.

“I felt like the majority of (the candidates’) time was spent disproving what the other person said, and that they did not go into enough detail about their own plans for job creation,” he said.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner released a statement on Wednesday night reacting to the debate.

“President Obama has the vision to create a new energy economy, which has the potential to benefit the growth of Syracuse’s booming green technology industry, transitioning us away from fossil fuels and into domestically produced renewable energy,” Miner said.

This election marks a new period for political elections in the United States. Anthony Rotolo, assistant professor of practice at the iSchool, calls this year’s election, “the first social media election.”

During tonight’s debate, for example, Romney stated that if he were elected, he would cut funding for PBS despite the fact that he loves Sesame Street, specifically Big Bird.

As a result of his comment, #bigbird became a nationwide trending topic on Twitter.

“Millions of viewers now participate in a second-screen experience, watching the debate while reacting on Twitter or Facebook from their laptop or mobile device,” Rotolo said. “This information is incredibly useful for the voters and campaigns alike.”

Published on October 4, 2012 at 3:02 am

Contact Michael: mahacker@syr.edu