Who needs to watch the debate when even the liberals say Romney won?

I was aboard ship (more on that later) and then on the phone boasting about having been aboard ship, so I missed the debate.  I’m sure I’ll watch bits and pieces of it on the internet at some later date but, frankly, why bother?  The broad consensus is that Romney won.  This isn’t the broad consensus amongst optimists on the right.  Nooo.  It’s the broad consensus amongst deeply depressed Progressives.  In lieu of the spin we expected, we hear the sound of Progressive dreams shattering.  Simply put, Romney dominated the evening, and that despite Jim Lehrer’s usual weak showing.

I’m still not counting my chickens.  This was just one debate.  It’s worth remembering that, in 1984, Ronald Reagan, who was probably one of the most gifted debaters of modern times, had an absolutely dreadful debate showing against Mondale.  He still managed to pull his chestnuts out of the fire, and Obama may do the same.  Obama’s problem, though, is that he isn’t as gifted as Reagan and that he doesn’t have Reagan’s track record.  Those two hurdles are going to be hard for him to overcome.

What do you think?  Since I assume most of you actually watched the debate, I’m very interested in your insights.