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

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 …

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.

A Mitt Romney rebound?  —  Maybe there are second chances in presidential campaigns.  —  And Mitt Romney's could just be on the horizon, but any potential comeback will be triggered largely by whether he can turn the first debate tonight in his favor.  —  According to Mike Allen's Playbook …

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”!

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.

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.