David Axelrod:

“I know the president is very much looking forward to seeing Governor Romney again. He’s gotten a good look at the Romney routine, and now we’ll have another engagement, and I think it’ll be really interesting.”

My take on the debate: There were certain expectations, and in President Obama’s case, they were not met. However, that’s a matter of style over substance. What Obama lacked in bite and passion, he more than made up for in the information that he wanted to get across about his policies, making points that needed to be made. Romney was hyped up and lied his fool head off, and hopefully, that will come back to bite him.

Unfortunately, the pundits are emphasizing superficiality and snap perception. If it was about policy, Obama won hands down, because Romney still refused to give details and told 27 myths in 38 minutes.

As Tommy Christopher astutely points out:

Romney’s lies don’t seem to matter to anyone in the media, who have relegated them to sidebar status, at best. This illustrates the problem with our political media landscape, the acceptance of post-truth politics, and while MSNBC’s progressive point of view helped them to call out those lies more effectively, it also led them to focus more on the practical consequences of this debate. Rev. Al is right, the truth should matter, and Rachel Maddow is right, it doesn’t matter as much as the prizefight does, but that’s the role of journalism: to make the truth matter.

If it was only about emotional impressions, Romney surprised a lot of people with his energetic performance, and President Obama took us aback with his low key approach.

The president obviously needs to get out there and strut his stylistic stuff in the coming debates, but meanwhile, it’s reality check time. As I’m seeing now in a speech in Colorado, Obama is already holding Romney accountable for his lies. Voters need to have it drummed into their heads that Romney is still the blatantly dishonest empty suit we all know he is, and this debate didn’t change that one bit.

As John Dean tweeted:

Mitt won the day. But watch ads that come from this debate for Mitt hoisted himself on new petards. The Obama camp shld be pleased.