What to Watch For in the First Presidential Debate

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On the brink of the first presidential debate that happens to fall on the day of President Obama and Michelle's 20th wedding anniversary, speculation is running wild on what may be the key points to watch for.

Everyone knows who is the President, but will both candidates think and act presidential? If the President acts like himself, who usually acts in a very presidential way, then it should be a slam dunk for him. Actually, the pressure regarding being presidential is all on Romney. But you would think that will all the experience that he has as a prior governor of the state of Massachusetts, you would think that he may have that down too. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure. If Mitt Romney doesn't act presidential, it may be all over for him as soon as tonights debate is over. Both men, President Obama and Mitt Romney need to show composure and stature. For Obama, it should be a walk in the park, but for Romney, it's anyones guess. If either fails in this regard, it's pretty much over for the candidate that can't deliver. This will be an extremely big moment for the two candidates, as approximately 60 million people are expected to watch the debate.

My guess is that Mitt Romney is hoping that President Obama play it safe, because if he does, then he may be able to attack him on certain issues. Again, this is only my opinion, but I would believe that Mitt Romney is hoping that President Obama may also step out of the box by trying to attack him, and then the President stands the chance of not looking Presidential. Personally, again this is my own opinion, I believe that President Obama is just two smart, clever, and educated to be trapped into that type of situation. President Obama has already served in the White House for the last 4 years, and I'm certain that he truly knows the job.

If the President plays it safe, then Obama stands the chance of being dominated on the agenda and put Obama in the defensee. Again, I highly doubt that Obama will allow that to happen. It is one of the biggest moments in either man's career.

Mitt Romney is expected to attack the record of President Obama, but I also have a great feeling that President Obama can defend himself, his policies, and outline the failures of Congress which is an obvious attempt by Republicans to show that President Obama doesn't get anything done. Mitt Romney should watch himself on this front, because I feel that President Obama will also put Romney on the defensive, which will not be good for Romney, and then will loose the edge when it comes to who actually benefits more from the debate.

It is the grand stage for the contestants. For President Obama, he will have already had bigger, and so called worldly audiences and another 'walk in the park' kind of night. For Mitt, it will be the debate of his life. It can be either the beginning of his career, or may be the end of it, all in one night.

So what will the talk really be about for the evening. For the topics, they are the economy, health care, and the role of government and governing. When it comes to foreign policy and national security, that will be left for a later time, but it will be interesting if either candidate will try to include those topics in tonights debate.

In a future debate, the Libya attack most likely will be one of the topics of discussion. Mitt Romney will attack the President when it comes to Libya, but the debate format will be very important on that night Libya is discussed. If Romney is able to through out free standing questions to President Obama, it may just be a one topic night. The debate moderator hopefully will keep things under control.

One of the biggest topics to be discussed for the first debate obviously will be the economy. This subject happens to be the most central idea of Mitt Romney's campaign. He has been claiming all along that he can manage it better. But will all the trying to prove that he can, Romney has not gained any more support for his efforts, according to most polls taken since he even mentioned the word – economy. Since it is the top issue on the minds of the voters, it will be both candidates jobs to sway the audience of some 60 million people that one of them is best suited to do a better job in the next four years to fix the economy.

The President most likely will argue that the country is making progress and it's not the time to go back to failed policies of the prior Republican administration. He will also say that now is not the time to help the millionaires on Wall Street.

But for Romney, you will hear a different story. Both candidates are totally opposite in thinking when it comes to the economy. Romney claims that it is his business background, he has a better ability to be able to create jobs. Unfortunately for him, his record with Baine Capital just proves that what he actually did in the past was to put people out of work instead. I would be shocked if Baine Capital was not mentioned tonight at the debate. Romney will claim that he can do a much better job than the President has done over the past 4 years. What Romney will not mention is that it's because every opportunity that Obama had to create jobs was blocked by the Republicans in a deliberate attempt to make the President look bad. At the same time, Mitt Romney has to clearly state tonight the steps he plans to use to save the economy. The candidate that presents his argument the best concerning the economy will will the night's debate hands down.

It will be interesting to see if President Obama gets the topic of women and Latinos in the discussion tonight. Romney has pretty much dug himself into a hole when it comes to women voters or Latino voters. Obama is highly favored in this area. How can someone vow to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood even think he has a chance with women voters! In the Presidents favor, his first bill that was passed when he became President was the 'Lilly Ledbetter Fair pay Act in 2009. Romney also stated that he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. For Romney, the woman and Hispanic vote are pretty much lost.