5 Things Mitt Romney’s Debate Win Means

Now Romney has to win the next one too.

Image by Jim Bourg / Reuters

Romney Finally Has Some Momentum

After three weeks of the worst press of his presidential bid, Mitt Romney finally has a clean win, a kind of reset he is immediately using — and from which to launch a new campaign offensive.

Romney has taped a series of direct-to-camera ads, and is restarting his campaign schedule on Thursday after spending the better part of the last week in debate prep and fundraising.

His challenge will be to channel the newfound energy into his campaign.

Obama’s Not Going To Let This Happen Again

President Barack Obama is nothing if not competitive — and he just got beat in front of 50 million people.

The president will go back to debate camp, and bring the knives to the next debate, because he has no choice.

Another performance like this one would further undercut the advantage that comes with being an incumbent, and close the gap in stature between the two men —something Obama can’t afford.

Now Romney Has To Win The Next Debate Too

Romney advisers spent much of their time in the spin room lowering expectations for the next debate — at Hofstra University on Long Island — noting that its “town hall” format is favorable to Obama.

“We won the day,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told BuzzFeed. “We’ve won the week so far. In order to beat an incumbent we’ve got to win everyday.”

Obama’s Going To Go More Negative

Obama let his foot off Romney’s neck, and now he will do his best to put it right back on.

The usual method: A wave of brutal attack ads in key states, aimed at cauterizing Wednesday’s wound, and at keeping Mitt Romney’s poll numbers from floating upward.

Obama won the summer with attacks on Romney’s character and record, but some of his toughest spots have focused on the Republican’s time at Bain Capital, which swing state viewers may well hear a lot about this weekend.

Romney’s Ready To Bring More Specifics

Aides predicted the emergence a more-detailed Romney early Wednesday, promising an explanation of how he’ll pay for his tax plan, but this won’t be the only area the campaign will start laying out specifics.

Team Romney’s takeaway from tonight was that unfettered access to their candidate repeating well-rehearsed (and carefully-tested) campaign lines might actually not be such a bad thing.