I told you that Mitt Romney, for all his height, financial success, and executive hair, was a Beta. One display of dominance in the first debate, the first in what is now six years of running for president, does not an Alpha make. Recall that before the debate, Scoobious Doobius noted this:
“In terms of “game” theory (as opposed to “game theory”), it’ll be
interesting to see tonight if things turn into the classic “real alpha
versus beta huffing and puffing and trying to look like an alpha” sort
of thing. If Obama takes that bait, then I’ll be a little more
open-eared towards the predictive power of game.”
The case, she is closed. Obama not only came out huffing and puffing, but he even managed to prevent Romney from dominating him the way Romney had in the first debate. The real indicator of Romney’s Betatude was not that he failed to AMOG Obama a second time, but rather the way in which he permitted a woman to not only overrule him, but the rules set out for the moderator prior to the debate as well.
There is no excuse for this failure. A true alpha would have shut her up and forced her to submit to him without even requiring an appeal to the rules. But, given how the rules were not only clear, but Candy Crowley openly declared her intent to flout them before the debate, Romney’s failure to shut her up and force her to stick to her appointed role is conclusive proof that he is not, and has never been, an alpha male.
All he had to do, the first time she opened her mouth in violation of the rules, was read them to her and ask her what part of them she did not understand. Later, when she attempted to play fact-checker, he should have immediately asked her what the score was, then informed her that if she isn’t keeping score, she isn’t the judge of the debate and she should stick to her moderator duties as she agreed prior to the debate. The fact that Romney’s failure to deal with the woman led directly to him fumbling his best opportunity to publicly drive home Obama’s responsibility for the Libyan debacle is merely rubbing salt in the wound.