Mitt Romney's debate win: Will it really change the race?

The GOP candidate is declared the undisputed winner of his first bout with Obama, but Romney's strong performance still might not boost his numbers much

Mitt Romney speaks during the presidential debate at the University of Denver on Oct. 3: Romney seemed to handily outperform President Obama during their first debate, but it remains to be se
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

When Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) predicted on Sunday that Mitt Romney's stellar debate performance would give us "a brand-new race with 33 days to go," he was derided for not getting the memo about lowering expectations for his candidate. Now, after Wednesday night's debate, elated Romney supporters, as well as some less-partial observers, are hailing Christie as a bold visionary: There is an unusually strong consensus among pundits and insta-polls that the revved-up Romney beat an oddly low-key President Obama handily in their first debate. But while Christie is decidedly correct that there are 33 days before election day, will he prove prescient about the debate turning around Romney's lagging poll numbers?

Romney failed to seal the deal: Obama was thrown off his game by the "Massachusetts Mitt" who showed up to debate him, suddenly "obsessive about portraying himself as a moderate," says Jonathan Chait at New York. But "the instantaneous, echo chamber reaction that is handing Romney an overwhelming victory is overstated." In selling his magical, pain-free policies, Romney sometimes veered "from smooth to oily." Obama played it too safe, and "if Romney was winning, and Obama needed to disqualify him," that would matter. But Romney isn't winning.

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