For the last several weeks we heard and read  about how important the first presidential debate was to Gov. Romney.  We heard everything from he had to “hit it out of the park” to advice on how he needed to improve his likeability.

We heard both campaigns attempting to lower expectations for their candidate.  I heard someone on the Obama side say the other day that Romney had done more preparing than was done for the Normandy Invasion .  Now we’re hearing that President Obama didn’t  have enough time to prepare because he was busy running the country.

I don’t believe any of this. I don’t believe Gov. Romney needs to improve his likeability to convince undecided voters  to vote for him, and I certainly don’t believe President Obama didn’t have enough time to prepare. Frankly, it just doesn’t matter. This election is an election of stark differences.  Almost every voter has already made up their minds.  Most people viewed the first debate hoping to see the “other” guy make a mistake!

A couple points I’d like to make:  neither man needs to prove he is likeable.  I believe the electorate is way beyond that…this time around.  The likeable guy got elected in ’08.  The 2012 Presidential Election is about substance over style.  The question we’ve all been asking ourselves the last several months is, “Who can best lead our country during  the next four years?”

To determine the answer to that question we need to look at only two things:  1)  Each candidate’s demonstrated track record  and 2) Each candidate’s strategy for accomplishing the job.   It’s important to examine what each man has done in the past that proves his ability to pull our country out of the economic doldrums we’re in.   Just as is done in the business world  each man’s past performance should be evaluated and appraised.  In business a person’s continued employment depends on  the results they’ve achieved.   In addition we should examine what the respective candidates will do to accomplish the enormous tasks at hand .  By the way, spare us the gory details, but as our chief executive define the strategy….How will you correct the abysmal unemployment issue?…How will you help to grow the GDP from 1.3% back to a respectable level?  How will you restore consumer confidence?  How will you work with Congress?  How will you help restore the value we’ve lost in our 401(k) plans and our homes?  Gov. Romney began to do just that in the first debate.  President Obama did not.

Finally, two very important questions for me are,” “Who will lead with integrity?” and “Who will take full accountability everything that happens on their watch?”