No more than five weeks from now, half the country will be besides itself with glee while the other half gnashes its teeth, sobs in a corner, or wrings its hands while proclaiming the actual end of the world in 2012.

The current presidential race has long surpassed ‘competitive.’ It’s narrowing on vitriolic. I am sick of antagonistic commercials, ads popping up on YouTube, and incessant calls from political telemarketers.

Most people, including myself, were eagerly awaiting the first debate Wednesday evening between president Barack Obama and governor Mitt Romney. People wanted to both hear what the candidates had to say, and watch how the two men acted under pressure. I expected an intense debate, as I believed both candidates to be intelligent, talented politicians. However, what actually ensued was entirely unexpected.

From the beginning, Romney took command of the debate. He was aggressive, clear and confident. He looked presidential. Romney, not moderator Jim Lehrer, was in control of the debate.

Obama, on the other hand, was unusually hesitant and meek. The cameras are merciless, and the candidates’ body language was scrutinized as they stood on stage. While Romney was focused and continued staring directly at Obama, the president looked listless, keeping his head down and refusing to make eye contact with his opponent.

Obama proved unable to form cohesive arguments. His rebuttals were all over the place and rife with awkward spaces. Americans uncomfortably watched their president struggling without the aid of his teleprompter. The strain on the president was evident, because although both debaters repeatedly ignored Lehrer, Romney did so in a relatively civil manner, simply speaking over the moderator. Obama, on the other hand, resorted to a surprisingly snide comment when Lehrer tried to cut him off: “No, I think I had five seconds before you interrupted me.”

In defense of Obama, several claimed afterwards: ‘But the president hasn’t debated for four years now.’ To this I respond: he’s the PRESIDENT. Running the country is his job. He should know matters inside and out by now, and be more than prepped for a debate at any time.

Another common complaint: ‘Romney completely contradicted everything he’s said previously.’ Unfortunately the masses have been hopelessly disillusioned, and rather than listening to what Romney says himself, insist on soaking up the false image Obama and the media has projected of the governor.

Challenging his impression of an unrelatable rich guy, Romney came off as remarkably personable, cracking several jokes and landing zingers to which the president could only respond with an uncomfortable smirk.

Obama didn’t supply adequate answers to several questions. After hacking through all the fluff he spewed, his only real solution to cutting the deficit and current $16 trillion national debt was the usual: raise taxes on the wealthy. All (not just taxes) the money from the top one percent would run the federal government for no more than half a year at the rate it spends.

“You don’t just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers,” Romney said, in one memorable line, of Obama’s funding to various green companies.

“Mr. President, you’re entitled as the president to your own airplane and to your own house, but not to your own facts,” Romney quipped when Obama continued to refer to an arbitrary $5 trillion figure Romney continuously shot down as false.