Jamal Simmons writes at U.S. News & World Report that Mitt Romney's failure to anticipate the president's impressive debate performance in the "rock 'em, sock 'em" exchange was typical of the GOP.
Republicans often underestimate Obama and it seems Romney fell into that trap …
The former Massachusetts governor wasn't ready to handle the jabs the president was eager to throw. It is at if he forgot Obama came up the hard way. Forget about Columbia and Harvard, the man is the son of a single mother raised in great part by grandparents, without familial connections to cash in for jobs or school admissions. He paid for college and law school with scholarships and student loans and cut his professional and political teeth on the roughneck South Side of Chicago. Ten years ago, Obama was a failed congressional candidate sitting on the back benches of the Illinois state senate and today he is running for his second term as president of the United States. As Bill Clinton would say, if you see a turtle on a fence post, it didn't get there by accident.
While some viewers may have been put off by the rock 'em sock 'em nature of the candidate's exchange, nobody wants a president who is too soft. Last night President Obama proved he has a plan for his second term and was willing to stand up for himself. That strength will serve him well.
Read Jamal Simmons' entire piece at U.S. News & World Report.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.