Both Governor Romney and President Obama couldn't seem to get Lorraine Osario's name straight. “Lorraina?" "Lorraine?” "Laurie?" “Lorena?” Come on guys, is it that hard?
President Obama: "The day after the [Libya] attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror. ... And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive. That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president. That's not what I do as commander in chief."
Mitt Romney: "I think it's interesting the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack, he went in the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror. You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration. ... I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror."
President Obama: "Get the transcript."
CNN'S Candy Crowley, the moderator: "He did, in fact, sir."
President Obama: "Can you say that a little louder, Candy?" (Laughter, applause.)
Candy Crowley: "He did call it an act of terror. ... It did, as well, take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that."
A compilation of the interactions between the candidates and the moderator:
President Obama: ”When I hear Governor Romney say he’s a big coal guy — and keep in mind when — Governor, when you were governor of Massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and pointed at it and said, ‘This plant kills,’ and took great pride in shutting it down. And now suddenly you’re a big champion of coal.”
Mitt Romney: "[An] important topic and one which I learned a great deal about, particularly as I was serving as governor of my state, because I had the chance to pull together a Cabinet ... I went to my staff, and I said, 'How come all the [candidates] for these jobs ... are all men?' They said, 'Well, these are the people that have the qualifications.' And I said, 'Well, gosh, can't ... we find ... some women that are also qualified?' ... I went to a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks?' And I brought us whole binders full of women."
President Obama: “Look, the cost of lowering rates for everybody across the board by 20 percent, along with what he also wants with eliminating the estate tax, along with what he wants to do with corporate changes in the tax code, it costs about $5 trillion. Governor Romney then also wants to spend about $2 trillion on additional military programs even though the military is not asking for them. That is $7 trillion. He also wants to continue the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans; that’s another trillion dollars. That’s $8 trillion. Now, what he says is that he is going to make sure this doesn’t add to the deficit and he’s going to cut middle class taxes but when he is asked, ‘How are you going to do it? Which deductions, which loopholes are you going to close?’ He can’t tell you."
Mitt Romney: "Your rate comes down, and the burden also comes down on you for one more reason, and that is every middle-income taxpayer no longer will pay any tax on interest, dividends or capital gains. No tax on your savings. That makes life a lot easier."
President Obama: “Look, the cost of lowering rates for everybody across the board by 20 percent, along with what he also wants with eliminating the estate tax, along with what he wants to do with corporate changes in the tax code, it costs about $5 trillion. Governor Romney then also wants to spend about $2 trillion on additional military programs even though the military is not asking for them. That is $7 trillion. He also wants to continue the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans; that’s another trillion dollars. That’s $8 trillion. Now, what he says is that he is going to make sure this doesn’t add to the deficit and he’s going to cut middle class taxes but when he is asked, ‘How are you going to do it? Which deductions, which loopholes are you going to close?’ He can’t tell you."
President Obama: "The suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I do as president, that’s not what I do as Commander in Chief."
Mitt Romney: [To President Obama] "You'll get your chance in a moment." Disrespecting the office?
President Obama: "When folks mess with Americans, we go after them."
President Obama: "We haven’t heard from the governor any specifics, beyond Big Bird and eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood, in terms of how he pays for that.”
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