Live-Blogging The First Presidential Debate 2012  —  10.31 pm.  Look: you know how much I love the guy, and you know how much of a high information viewer I am, and I can see the logic of some of Obama's meandering, weak, professorial arguments.  But this was a disaster for the president …

It's Over  —  I've been watching presidential debates for quite a few years, but I have never seen one like this.  It wasn't a TKO, it was a knockout.  Mitt Romney was in control from the beginning.  He was the alpha male, while Barack Obama was weak, hesitant, stuttering, often apologetic.

CNN Poll: Most watchers say Romney debate winner  —  Denver, Colorado (CNN) - Two-thirds of people who watched the first presidential debate think that Republican nominee Mitt Romney won the showdown, according to a nationwide poll conducted Wednesday night.

Romney wins; Update: CBS insta-poll shows decisive Romney victory; Update: Romney crushes Obama in CNN insta-poll  —  I said in the open thread that the media would strain to spin this as an Obama victory, but I assumed that he'd give them something, however small, to work with.  He gave them nothing.

Chris Matthews Unloads On Obama: “Where Was Obama Tonight...What Was He Doing?”  —  Chris Matthews Unloads On Obama's Debate Performance  —  “Where was Obama tonight?  What was he doing?”  —  Andrew Kaczynski  —  a half hour ago  —  10 responses

There Went the Boom  —  I've been getting more and more cautiously optimistic about Romney in the last few days and, going in, I had a pretty good feeling about tonight's debate.  But I had no expectation that Romney would simply control the night the way he did.

Undecided voters in focus group swing sharply toward Romney; Frank Luntz: 'I've never seen anything like this'; CBS post-debate poll shows big win for Romney … Tonight, pollster Frank Luntz assembled a focus group consisting of undecided Colorado voters.  By the end of tonight's debate …

Chris Matthews Freaks Out At Obama: “What Was He Doing?”  —  “Tonight wasn't an MSNBC debate tonight, was it?”  Chris Matthews said after the first Obama-Romney presidential debate concluded on Wednesday night.  —  “I don't know what he was doing out there.  He had his head down, he was enduring the debate rather than fighting it.

POLITICO: ROMNEY UP 4 IN ‘TOSS UP’ STATES  —  This week, Politico released its latest Battleground poll of the presidential race.  Despite coming from the left-wing news site, the poll is one of my favorites.  Its put together by respected pollsters from both parties, makes available …

Dem Debate Meltdown: Stumbling Obama Surrogate Speaks Of ‘President Romney’  —  How resounding was Mitt Romney's rout of Barack Obama tonight?  In the post-debate spin room, a hopelessly muddled Martin O'Malley, Dem guv from Maryland and supposedly an Obama surrogate, wound up referring to “President Romney”!

Polls: Romney dominated debate  —  Two flash polls late Wednesday reflected what most pundits are saying: Mitt Romney dominated the first presidential debate.  —  A CNN/ORC poll of registered voters who watched the debate in Denver showed 67 percent believe Romney won the debate, while just 25 percent said Obama won.

Obama's Stephanie Cutter knocks Lehrer  —  DENVER, Colo. — Obama spokesperson Stephanie Cutter took a swipe at moderator Jim Lehrer's largely passive debate performance tonight, saying the PBS anchor had allowed Mitt Romney to act as the moderator.  —  “I sometimes wondered if we even needed …