Who Really Won the 2012 Presidential Debates?

It’s extremely difficult to predict the future. Political forecasters make a lot of money to do a lot of guesswork. And so often, elections are won and lost on how one candidate views the future, while their lasting legacy is defined by the accuracy of their vision.

It’s been about two years now and today, we look back at the 2012 presidential debates between President Barack Obama and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Romney dealt a vicious blow to the president in the first of three debates, at least in the eyes of the audience. Obama’s tired facial expressions and outburst against the moderator gave the PR victory to his challenger.

The next two debates were heralded as swift and decisive victories for President Obama, after he punched Romney with several memorable quotes. When Romney declared Russia as the number one threat to the US, Obama accused him of trying to stir up the Cold War.

Now, US – Russian relations are more strained than at any point since the Cold War.

Romney also attacked Obama’s policies in Iraq, and said he would put more troops in Iraq. Now void of American troops, Iraq is in complete disarray and falling under extreme Islamist control.

And just today, a new Congress-appointed panel ruled that Obama’s shrinking of the US military – another hotly contested point of debate – was a seriously poor str ategic move. Romney warned that shrinking the military would be a bad move, but Obama beat him in debate points by mocking what he called “outdated” information.

Americans once believed that Obama’s foreign policy was a strong point. Now, they don’t.

And funding for the president’s pride and joy – The Affordable Care Act – has been rejected by 68 percent of US states. Obamacare initially required each state to set up their own exchange to pay for the insurance. And at least one court has already ruled against the federal exchange, calling it unconstitutional.

Romney has said many times that he won’t run for president in 2016, but if 2012 voters knew then what they know now, plenty of evidence suggests Romney might have won.