He knows he’s just lying about what he’s offering. He knows a lot of people know he’s bullsh*tting, but if he can get enough people to buy what he’s selling, he makes his numbers for the election and it’ll be all good! Andrew Sullivan’s live blogs are fun reads, especially when he wigs out, but this wig out is definitely merited:

9.31 pm. Romney went very soft on Israel; some difference that “existed” – past tense – was merely “unfortunate.” Watching this man shape-shift in front of your eyes is staggering. I’m fascinated by the purity of the cynicism. Seriously, I’ve never seen any human being up close like this – a mechanical, unstoppable machine of say anything, forget everything in the past, refuse to take any responsibility for anything he has said in the past, and just smile and golly-gee smile his way along. There’s a a machine-like quality that chills me. I have no idea what he would do in office on anything. I believe nothing he says.

10.35 pm. […]

[Obama’s] flawed; he’s made mistakes; but who hasn’t? If this man, in these times, with this record, against this opposition, does not deserve re-election, then I am simply at a loss for words. I have to believe the American people will see that in time.

source: Live-Blogging The Foreign Policy Debate – The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan – The Daily Beast.

Obama pivoted to painting Romney as a know what to say to whoever he is selling to: a Joe Isuzu. The battleships/bayonets/horses vs aircraft carriers/nuclear submarines line destroyed Romney’s stupid, nutty ship argument. It was snark, but deserved: If you want to make idiotic points for know nothings (like Sarah Palin guffawing about NIH and other scientific research using fruit flies), you should be talked to like a know nothing. Mitt Romney is a smart guy running a stupid campaign. The great thing about democracy: we get the government we deserve. I hope we deserve better than Mitt Romney’s cynicism.

Note: Bob Scheiffer did solid job, but no climate change. no good.