And the winner is!

Just as I predicted, the winner of last night's presidential debate was indeed moderator Candy Crowley.

Mission Accomplished! Candy Crowley:

• Bailed Obama out having to account for denying for two weeks that the Benghazi attack was a deliberate act of terrorism, not an ad-hoc riot over a Youtube video
  
• Made sure that Obama got more time on the floor than Obama - almost 10 percent more. (What a "Bizarre Coincidence: Democrats Get More Time in All Three Debates.")

On the former, here's the vid, artfully entitled, "Candy Crowley Jumps from the Bench to Tackle Mitt as he Races for a Touchdown."



Brilliant Youtube work that! Here is what I live-blogged at the time:

Q8: To Obama: State Dept. refused extra security to Libya diplomats. Who refused them extra security and why?

Obama: I am not going to answer your question. I will talk instead about how much I love our diplomats. But I did order extra security after four Americans were killed. Like OJ, I want to find the real killers. Now I will attack Romney for criticizing me. And I know the media will carry the ball for me.

Romney: Obama didn't answer your question, but I will pretend he did and thus lay the buckstop squarely on his desk. Reminds that Obama reacted to the attacks by flying to Vegas then Colorado for fundraisers. The Libya attack calls into question Obama's whole Middle East policy. Transitions to Syria critique.

Crowley: Mr. President, aren't you content to let Hillary take the fall for this?

Obama: I will feign anger now. I said the day after the attack that this was a terror attack. (This is a lie. See end note.)

Romney just nailed him on it. Crowley rides to the rescue: No, really, he did say that! It was the riot account that took a long time to develop. Now gosh amighty I am going to shut this down before Obama is really hurt bad.

That Crowley this morning retracted and admitted that Romney was right. But the number of people who will hear of her retraction compared to the number who saw her openly and incorrectly rebut Romney will be tiny. Breitbart.com foresaw Obama's upcoming prevarication on this three days ago: "OBAMA DID NOT CALL BENGHAZI ATTACK TERRORISM ON SEP. 12"

More: "Romney Debates Crowley And Obama On Benghazi, Wins" (except I think Romney lost this one because Crowley just bluffed her way through it; Obama even egged her on from the sideline).

What others have said - Glenn has some links.