What a surprise! There’s no doubt that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney knows his stuff. After all, someone doesn’t become successful in business by accident. But that said, I was wondering how Wednesday night’s debate would go. Well, it was ugly. It was one-sided. It was over almost before it began. And it was Romney on the winning end. He took it to Barack Obama, and did what he needed to do… show the American people why he should be the next president of the United States.

First, I need to credit Dennis Miller for tweeting Wednesday night the inspiration for my headline. It cracked me up, but boy was it accurate. Romney was poised and smooth… no stumbling at all. He would hit on policy, but he also brought it back home: it’s about people, and it’s about jobs. Obama stumbled and showed that unless he has a teleprompter or is in the confines of a “safe” interview, he simply can’t defend his policies.

Click here for the full transcript of the debate

Here are the candidates’ take on jobs:

Romney and Obama were asked about the debt and the deficit as well. Here are their comments:

What was fascinating about the debate was what happened afterward. During the debate analysis, Fox News said that Romney delivered a home run. It was solid analysis, but we would expect their result, right? Well, I also watched CNN, and I was blown away. The panel seemed stunned. They all thought Romney won, and not only that, they thought Obama was terrible.

I ordered (well, suggested) a colleague to watch MSNBC (I just couldn’t do it), and the result was just as dramatic. Rachel Maddow’s first reaction was that she wasn’t sure who won. Are you kidding me? That’s a win right there!

Check out Chris Matthews’ meltdown:

Pollster Frank Luntz had a very revealing discussion with a focus group following the debate. Almost everyone on the panel thought Romney had won. Panelists liked Romney’s specifics and how he was able to relay that information in a very human way. They thought Obama was flat and on defense. Luntz noted that this was the most lopsided debate result from a focus group that he had ever seen.

What do you think? We still have one vice presidential and two presidential debates to go, but Romney is off to a great start. There’s no doubt that Obama will come after Romney harder next time, but unless there is a teleprompter handy, Obama is in serious trouble.

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