President Barack Obama fixes his gaze on Mitt Romney during the final presidential debate Monday night.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Dean Obeidallah: President's secret debate weapon was laser-like stare he shot Romney
- Obeidallah: Romney's look turned from forced smiles to that of someone who's really queasy
- He says the stare's power seemed to make Romney agree with Obama over and over
- If Obama could train the stare on Congress, he says, maybe something would get done
For those, like me, who
watch the other candidate closely when his opponent is answering a
question, the contrast between Obama and Romney's reactions was like
comparing Darth Vader with Honey Boo Boo. Romney's look vacillated
between forced smiles to that of a person whose stomach was alarmingly
churning and was worried he wouldn't make it to the bathroom in time.
But Obama pinned Romney
with the look -- Obama-stare. It's not a look we saw at the previous
debates. (Of course, Obama didn't even attend the first one.)
Opinion: Obama in command; Romney plays it safe
Dean Obeidallah
Obama-stare resembles the
grimace that Wyatt Earp might have had on his face moments before guns
were drawn at the famed gunfight at the OK Corral. Or even Clint
Eastwood's classic scowl in his "Dirty Harry" movies just before
shooting a bad guy -- not to be confused with the look he recently gave
to an empty chair.
The Obama-stare is more
than just a laser-like game face -- apparently it causes people to agree
with him on issue after issue. Obama-stare is more akin to Obi-Wan
Kenobi's use of the Jedi mind trick, or vampires on "True Blood"
glamouring someone into saying exactly what they want to hear. Romney
agreed with Obama so often I thought Mitt was going to endorse him.
How else can anyone
explain why Romney -- who is highly critical of Obama's foreign policy
when he is out on the campaign trail -- would agree with the president
on issue after issue when placed in the same room? Romney appeared as if
he wasn't vying for commander in chief as much as for "agree-er in
chief."
Watch final debate between Obama, Romney
Obama: 'Fewer horses and bayonets'
Burton: Obama had edge at the debate
For starters, Romney
praised Obama regarding Osama bin Laden: "I congratulate him on taking
out Osama bin Laden and going after the leadership in al Qaeda."
Romney then agreed with
Obama's policy regarding Egypt during the Arab Spring: "I believe, as
the president indicated, and said at the time that I supported his --
his action there."
Opinion: Romney endorses Obama's national security policies
Romney continued his "I
agree with Obama" tour with regard to Israel: "I want to underscore the
same point the president made, which is that if I'm president of the
United States ... we will stand with Israel."
And on the Obama
administration's use of drones, Romney agreed some more: "I support that
and entirely, and feel the president was right to up the usage of that
technology. ..."
Romney also concurred
with the president on employing a host of tough sanctions against Iran. But I wish he would've said he would impose "a binder full of
sanctions.And Romney agreed with Obama that at this time, he would
not call for the deployment of U.S. military personnel into Syria to
stop the bloody conflict there.
True, there were some
disagreements. But those were mostly in the area of domestic policy,
which oddly dominated the middle portion of the foreign policy debate.
Thankfully, moderator Bob Schieffer finally regained control and
returned the candidates to foreign policy. I can only assume someone
tested Schrieffer the words "Jim Lehrer."
I'm sure there will be
those who fault Romney for agreeing so often with Obama instead of
articulating a stark contrast on foreign policy. But it was truly
refreshing to see a Democrat and Republican actually agreeing on issues.
Opinion: Was Obama too relentless with Romney?
Now, if the president
can just figure out how to use Obama-stare on the entire Congress, maybe
then we would see Congress get something done.
Posts
