By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
With 12 days to go and polls tightening nationwide and in several key states, it looks like the 2012 presidential election just might be another nail biter.
That wasn't the case last time around.
In 2008, Barack Obama mopped the floor with John McCain, winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote by wide margins.
But the two presidential contests before that were close ones.
In the 2004 race between incumbent George W. Bush and John Kerry it all came down to the state of Ohio. That could very well be the case a week from Tuesday.
If Kerry had won Ohio, he would have been president.
Going back to 2000, it was even closer. So close it took 36 days and the Supreme Court to decide the winner.
The High Court effectively handed that election to George W. Bush over Al Gore after ordering the re-counting of ballots in Florida stopped.
The five-week drama of counting ballots, hanging chads and legal appeals took a toll on the country.
Fast forward to 2012 and what is by all accounts a tight race. Very tight. Not that long ago, President Obama was favored to win.
But after a monumentally bad first debate for the president and a strong month for Mitt Romney, the challenger now has the wind at his back.
When even The New York Times is out with a piece this week about how Romney has the momentum heading into the home stretch, it's an indication that we might be headed for another election all-nighter and then some.
Here’s my question to you: Which is better for the country: a close election or a clear mandate?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Three presidential debates in the history books. So now what?
After all the hype by the media, the expectations games played by both campaigns, lowering the bar for their guy, raising the bar for the other guy, the three 90-minute sessions themselves, the post-game spin by both sides and all the talking heads on television. After all that, here's what we know:
Mitt Romney did himself some good. Maybe even a lot of good.
Headed into that first debate, some had already written Romney's political obituary. They thought the race was President Obama's to lose. And that's just what he did in that first debate. He tried to throw it all away.
Regardless of who wins the election, one of the most memorable moments of this campaign will likely be President Obama's failure to show up for that debate.
The president's dismal, un-presidential and uninterested performance combined with Mitt Romney's strong showing shook this race to its core. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wisely predicted beforehand, that first debate did in fact turn the race "upside down."
Ever since that moment, as the polls turned against President Obama, he's been playing catch up.
The president came prepped for the remaining debates. He went on the offense against Romney and held his own. However, these last two face-offs didn't provide a clear winner like the debacle in Denver did.
What remains to be seen is whether the president can stop the bleeding and undo the image that he left on the 70 million Americans who watched that first debate.
We'll find out in two weeks.
Here’s my question to you: Now that the debates are history, how much did they matter?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Jack is out of the office today but will return tomorrow with the Cafferty File.
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Two down, one to go.
That's the count when it comes to the number of presidential debates before Election Day.
While the debates offer the voters a rare chance to see the candidates face to face, and tens of millions of Americans are tuning in, these events are almost always a triumph of style over substance.
It's all about show business. But that's not surprising, because that's what we're all about: Real housewives, the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, you name it. The stuff that contaminates our TV screens night after night for the most part is garbage - reality shows, game shows. Politicians fit right in.
And the debates can sort of be like watching a puppet show. You have the handlers pulling the candidates' strings. You have coaches, contributors, advisers putting words in the candidates' mouths. And then after the fact, we have these same folks in the "spin room" telling us what we saw during the debates. If I watched the debate, I really don't need some political hack telling me what I saw.
The candidates never give direct answers to the questions. Instead they maneuver behind a safe barricade of campaign talking points and then just wind up talking about what they want, not the question that was asked.
In President Obama's case, it's a good thing there was more than one debate.
But now voters might be scratching their heads wondering which one was the real president - the docile, seemingly disinterested fellow who showed up at the first debate, or the scrappy, energized man desperate for another four years who showed up at the second one.
Maybe the third one will give us the answer.
As for Romney, there's always the chance he'll show up to the last debate with binders full of flip-flops.
Here’s my question to you: How many presidential debates are enough?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The stakes couldn't be higher for Thursday's vice presidential debate.
After the debacle that was President Obama's performance at the first debate last week, expect interest to be especially high when Joe Biden and Paul Ryan face off in Kentucky for their only debate.
At this point, in the face of plummeting poll numbers for the president, the Obama campaign must rely on Joe Biden to turn this thing around. Good luck with that.
Look for Biden to come out swinging, hitting hard on issues like Romney's "47%" comment, Ryan's controversial budget plan and his proposal to change Social Security.
As one Republican adviser tells Politico, Biden will bring his "proverbial nunchucks and brass knuckles" to the debate.
Of course, this has got to leave a lot of nervous Democrats, because with Joe Biden, you never know what you're going to get. While Biden is a seasoned debater who connects well with voters, he also tends to say dumb things from time to time. Just a couple of months ago, the White House had to sweep up after Biden after he told a largely black audience in Virginia that Republicans "would put y'all back in chains."
Ryan will no doubt ask Biden about foreign policy, including the murder of an American ambassador in Benghazi, more than 40 months of 8%-plus unemployment, a $16 trillion deficit, no federal budget for the last three years and so on.
There's also the risk that in trying to make up for Obama's weak debate, Biden comes across as too aggressive.
As for Ryan, he says the pressure is on him after Romney's strong showing last week. Ryan says he expects Biden to launch at him "like a cannon ball," describing Biden as a gifted, extremely experienced and proven debater. Really?
This is must-see TV Thursday night.
Here’s my question to you: In light of the results of the first debate, how important is the vice presidential debate?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
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