The President has a good story to tell, and he needs to passionatly tell it Tuesday Night. With this debate, he needs to accomplish 4 things:
1) Improve his style and Tactics
2) Passionately Defend his Record
3) Attack Mitt's Record and the Myth of Bipartisan Mitt
4) Close Strong
1) Style and Tactics
The President needs to be confident and aggressive. He should be dismissive of Mitt's false claims without being condescending. But most importantly, he must not apologize for anything - not a Damn thing!
There are a few simple tactics the President can use to combat the Bullshit. During any segment where Mitt recites a laundry list of half-truths, simply pick out the most egregious one, and respond with "Almost nothing you just said happens to be true" and crisply destroy that one point. The President should immediately pivot and use the rest of the time for his own arguments on the topic. If Mitt chooses not to defend the one point Obama challenges, he basically concedes that his entire laundry list is misleading. If he tries to defend the debunked point, he gets bogged down in the details (which is never good).
2) Passionately Defend His Record
A) Benghazi is getting blown out of proportion - it will come up. The President should express sorrow for the loss of life, comment how he has talked to each of the family's, but then immediately pivot to his four year record of protecting Americans from terrorist attacks. "Over the past four years, less American lives have been lost to terror attacks on my watch (20), than in either the Reagan Administration (over 500), the Clinton Administration (over 100), or the George W. Bush administration (more than 3000). But regardless of this great progress, one American killed is too many and we will not rest until we bring the perpetrators to justice. At the same time, I will not stand here and listen to my record maligned nor apologize to the American People for keeping them safer from terror attacks than Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, or George W. Bush."
B) The Economy. The Economy is improving, and most Americans can feel it. While the President needs to be humble and acknowledge that people are still hurting, we are on the mend and significantly so. As with any recession, the middle class and poor are the first to get hit and the last to recover.
With regards to specific points, he needs to state the following:
We were handed an economy on the brink of a second great depression, and here is what we have done:
Unemployment has rebounded back to the lowest levels in four years. Job growth has averaged 146,000 per month this year according to the official government survey, and 165,000 per month accordinging to the ADP private survey. This works out to between 1.8 Million and 2 Million jobs per year, and the trend in improving. Over four years, this equates to 8 million more jobs, and that is if we see no further improvement or do nothing else. Given the improvement that we are seeing in the economy today and my proposals, this economy is poised to add between 10 - 12 million new jobs between now and the end of my second term!
What makes me so confident about this, employment statistics are a lagging indicator. Lets look at what we are seeing in the leading indicators:
Auto sales at a five year high - coming in at 15 million units this year, a gain of 13% over last year and up from 9.3 million when I took office - this is a gain of 154%.
Home sales at a 2 year high.
Consumer confidence is at a five year high, more than double the near depressionary readings when I took office.
Tax receipts (including payroll tax and income tax receipts) are surging. Just this month, we learned that this year's annual deficit will come in $200 billion less than projected, a reduction of almost 20%. I think it was governor Romney who said that people don't pay more taxes than required by law. Income and Payroll taxes are increasing because employment is increasing.
One more thing, Governor Romney likes to disparage this recovery. Lets compare this recovery to Ronald Reagan's first term. When President Reagan took office in January of 1980, the unemployment rate was 7.5%. On the eve of his re-election in October of 1984, the rate stood at 7.4%. When I took office, the unemplyment rate stood at 7.8%, and today it is at 7.8%. President Reagan knew that recovery from a steep recession takes time, the American people know it, and Governor Romney, you know it too.
3) Mitts Record and the New "Bipartisan Mitt" Myth - Mitt has pivoted to using his time in Massachussettes as evidence that he was a successful Governor and is bipartisan. This can be destroyed in a few sentences. "Governor Romeny's administration was so so unpopular and unsuccessful that he did not even run for re-election for a second term, and when he left office his approval rating stood at 31%. The is lower than Richard Nixon's on the day he resigned the Presidency in disgrace, or Hebert Hoovers after he lost his re-election bid amidst the great depression." And if he brings up schools again, point out the Massachusetts schools were among the best in the nation before he took office, during his time in office, and after he left office. And one reason for that is that Massachusetts has the highest tax rates in the nation - is he recommending that we raise state and local tax rates across the rest of the country to Massachusetts levels? What is Mitt going to counter that with, "actually, their the second highest"!
4) Closing
"This election is about a choice! A choice between the policies that got us into this mess in the first place - or a choice for the policies that got us out of the ditch and allowed our economy to heal and then grow. But it is not just growth we are looking for, rather sustainable growth! Remember the claims 11 years ago about how the bulk of the tax cuts will go to the middle class and that they will create so much economic growth that they will not grow deficit. Well all they did was create an unsustainable bubble that popped and then imploded the economy. Now they are saying lets try it again!
When you vote, you are voting for three things. A Commander and Chief, a steward of the economy, and on the character of the person who will lead this great country. It was said a long time ago that you judge a man's character by what he does when he thinks no one is watching and what he says when he thinks no one is listening. I will always level with the American people. I will not tell seniors one thing, yet young voters another. I will not give vague and conflicting answers on some of the most difficult and divisive issues or our time. And most importantly, I have been and will always be up front with the American people about the specifics of my policies, their cost, and whom it will impact. The American people have taken hard medicine before - we can handle it - We Can Handle the Truth! Thank you, I appreciate the trust you have placed in me and I look forward to continue serving as your President."