Blakeman: Crowley Was ‘Wrong’ to Correct Romney

Republican strategist Bradley A. Blakeman tells Newsmax that CNN’s Candy Crowley was “wrong” to correct GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney during Tuesday’s tempestuous presidential debate.

“Candy Crowley was wrong. The president used the term ‘terror’ generically, not specifically. And if the president is telling us today that he knew when he entered the rose garden that it was an act of terror, then why did he let his subordinates go out and spin the story that it was not?,” said Blakeman, a Newsmax contributor who appears regularly on Fox News.

CNN's Candy Crowley overshadowed the candidates themselves at times. (Getty Images)

Crowley’s now famous interjection in the second of three presidential debates overshadowed the candidates themselves to some extent, according to Blakeman.

“Candy Crowley became a participant in the event — kind of the teacher helping the student, especially the Libya response from the president,” he said.

Crowley interjected “He did in fact sir” in response to Romney’s assertion that the president blamed an anti-Muslim video the day after the Libyan attack rather than calling it an act of terrorism.

Blakeman, who was a senior member in the last Bush administration, insisted that Romney was correct in calling the president out for misleading the American people.

“The president — if you go back and listen to his remarks — he used the remarks ‘terror’ generically and not specifically to what happened in Benghazi. And even on Univision, he said ‘we’re still investigating,’” said Blakeman. “Well if we’re still investigating, then it wasn’t an act of terror Mr. President, was it?”

While many observers have given Obama a slight edge over Romney, Blakeman believes that the former Massachusetts governor proved himself to be the stronger candidate in Tuesday’s debate.

“The president pretty much spent the entire debate on defense, talked about the last four years but spent literally no time about the next four years.

By contrast, Romney took an offensive position for much of the night.

“The American people saw a Romney that they saw at the first debate. He was assertive, he was sure of himself, he was factual and the president was on defense,” asserted Blakeman. “He couldn’t justify the record that he had promised in 2008. It wasn’t delivered in 2012. And I think that Romney did himself a service tonight.

“I think the president certainly was not as deficient as he was in the first debate but certainly I don’t think the American people or independents will take too kindly to his rewriting of history,” he added.

Overall, Blakeman said he was disappointed that the questions didn’t better reflect the concerns of average Americans.

“Clearly this election will turn on the economy. Why was the debate almost entirely driven by foreign policy and the military?” he asked. “Clearly the questions didn’t match what the polling tells us are on the minds of the American people first and foremost, and that should’ve driven the question that we’re asking.”