I think the left expected Obama to clean Mitt's clock, by basically repeating all the attack ads. And Obama tried some of that, but it fell flat because Romney called him on his lies. Obama can't hide on the stage, and he doesn't have surrogates to lie for him or an adoring media to cover up for him. Put Obama on the spot, and it's not a pretty picture.

How did the left think that 90 minutes of an opponent challenging you each time you try to lie, as well as attacking your failures and detailing your follies, was going to end well? Obama can't defend his record, or his ideas, and any attack he ever tries to mount on Romney's business experience is going to blow up in his face.

Now, I'm sure that Obama will assemble his defecation for the next debate and will come out with more lines of attack. So Romney had better be ready. Unfortunately for Obama, he will be.