Sound Off Park Slope: Who Won the First Debate?

Alright, Park Slope, you were watching the presidential debate on Wednesday night. So, who won?

Within the first 15 minutes, Doug Gordon, a Park Slope resident and founder of website Brooklyn Spoke, tweeted:

• Brooklyn Spoke ‏‪@BrooklynSpoke I don't think it's too premature to say that Romney won the debate. ‪#debate2012

And by the end of the debate, he concluded:

• Brooklyn Spoke ‏‪@BrooklynSpoke The bad news: Obama lost. The good news: it gives a the horserace-obsessed media a story to tell. Obama's now the underdog.

The debate, which ran three minutes over (it didn’t help that both candidates cut each other off repeatedly, often speaking over moderator Jim Lehrer), covered “Obamacare,” Medicare, the military, the deficit, the economy and jobs and even how Romney would fire Big Bird (giving birth the twitter handle @FiredBigBird

Romney said that his priority is to get America working again, to create more jobs and help the middle class.

He said that Obama, in the past four years, hasn’t helped the job market.

“We talk about evidence, look at the evidence from the last four years, its absolutely extraordinary: We have 23 million people out of work or stopped looking for work in this country,” Romney said.

The former governor of Massachusetts also stated that, “The status quo is not going to cut it…” and cited that when Obama took office there were 32 million on food stamps, and now there are 47 million on food stamps today and that economic growth this year was worse than last year.

With Romney’s aggressive debate style, Obama seemed a little tired and people thought he was not on the offensive.

Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, ‏thought that Obama was “rusty” and his “wonkish” style wasn’t working. Gordon wrote that Obama needed to be more aggressive towards Romney and doesn’t need to defend his own record, but instead, “He needs to force Romney to explain his.”

• Brooklyn Spoke ‏‪@BrooklynSpoke Jesus, Obama. Look at Romney and repeat after me: "What. Is. Your. Plan?"

On the other hand, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio thought Obama’s statements made sense.

• Bill de Blasio ‏‪@BilldeBlasio Obama explains Obamacare beautifully: all Americans covered, no pre-exisiting condition bias, age 26 and under on family plans. Home run!

And even Obama, at one point, addressed Romney’s lack of stating a concrete plan:

"At some point the American people have to ask themselves: Is the reason Governor Romney is keeping all these plans secret, is it because they're going to be too good? Because middle class families benefit too much? No," Obama said.

Now, the question is, did anyone's vote change after the debate?

There's the argument that presidential debates don't have a significant impact on Election Day, but, Louise Crawford, who runs Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn and used to write for Patch, echoed that report: 

• Louise Crawford ‏‪@otbkb This debate isn't going to change anyone's mind.

What do you guys think? Who do you think won and where are their campaigns headed from here? Tell in the comments section below.