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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/04/spin-it-reader-presidential-debate
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| Spin it! The best reader-generated spin from the first presidential debate | Spin it! The best reader-generated spin from the first presidential debate |
| (30 days later) | |
| Throughout this marathon election season, there's been a ton of talk about spin – who's creating it, who's buying it, who's spreading it. On Wednesday, we gave our readers a chance to create their own. | Throughout this marathon election season, there's been a ton of talk about spin – who's creating it, who's buying it, who's spreading it. On Wednesday, we gave our readers a chance to create their own. |
| Our interactive team created Spin It, a tool that allows readers to use the candidates' words to construct something new. | Our interactive team created Spin It, a tool that allows readers to use the candidates' words to construct something new. |
| We'll give Spin It a runout again on future debate nights. But you can play with our selection of quotes from Wednesday night's debate here. | We'll give Spin It a runout again on future debate nights. But you can play with our selection of quotes from Wednesday night's debate here. |
| Using the tool is easy: use key words from our selected quotes to create your own soundbite, then share your creation using the hashtag #MySpin. | Using the tool is easy: use key words from our selected quotes to create your own soundbite, then share your creation using the hashtag #MySpin. |
| Here's a mix of reader and Guardian journalist-generated spins from Wednesday night: | Here's a mix of reader and Guardian journalist-generated spins from Wednesday night: |
| Original quote from Barack Obama: | Original quote from Barack Obama: |
| The question here tonight is not where we've been, but where we're going. Governor Romney has a perspective that says, "If we cut taxes, skew towards the wealthy and roll back regulations that we'll be better off. | The question here tonight is not where we've been, but where we're going. Governor Romney has a perspective that says, "If we cut taxes, skew towards the wealthy and roll back regulations that we'll be better off. |
| I've got a different view. I think we've got to invest in education and training. I think it's important for us to develop new sources of energy here in America, that we change our tax code to make sure that we're helping small businesses and companies investing here in the United States, that we take some of the money we're saving as we wind down two wars to rebuild America and that we reduce our deficit in a balanced way that allows us to make these critical investments. | I've got a different view. I think we've got to invest in education and training. I think it's important for us to develop new sources of energy here in America, that we change our tax code to make sure that we're helping small businesses and companies investing here in the United States, that we take some of the money we're saving as we wind down two wars to rebuild America and that we reduce our deficit in a balanced way that allows us to make these critical investments. |
Spin from the Guardian's Gizelle Lugo: | Spin from the Guardian's Gizelle Lugo: |
Spin from reader @amadasommer: | Spin from reader @amadasommer: |
| Original quote from Mitt Romney: | Original quote from Mitt Romney: |
| I'd like to clear up the record and go through piece by piece. First of all I don't have a five trillion dollar tax cut. I don't have a tax cut of the scale that you're talking about. My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class but I'm not gonna reduce the share of taxes paid by high income people. High income people are doing just fine in this economy. They'll do fine whether you're president or I am. The people who are having a hard time right now are middle income Americans. Under the president's policies middle income Americans have been buried. They've just been crushed. Middle income Americans have seen their income come down by $4,300. This is a tax in and of itself. I'll call it the economy tax. It's been crushing. At the same time gasoline prices have doubled under the president. Electric rates are up. Food prices are up. Health care costs have gone up by $2,500 a family. Middle income families are being crushed, and so the question is, "How to get them going again?" | I'd like to clear up the record and go through piece by piece. First of all I don't have a five trillion dollar tax cut. I don't have a tax cut of the scale that you're talking about. My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class but I'm not gonna reduce the share of taxes paid by high income people. High income people are doing just fine in this economy. They'll do fine whether you're president or I am. The people who are having a hard time right now are middle income Americans. Under the president's policies middle income Americans have been buried. They've just been crushed. Middle income Americans have seen their income come down by $4,300. This is a tax in and of itself. I'll call it the economy tax. It's been crushing. At the same time gasoline prices have doubled under the president. Electric rates are up. Food prices are up. Health care costs have gone up by $2,500 a family. Middle income families are being crushed, and so the question is, "How to get them going again?" |
| Spin from Guardian reader @IleneDawn: | Spin from Guardian reader @IleneDawn: |
| Original quote from Romney – far and away our reader favorite last night: | Original quote from Romney – far and away our reader favorite last night: |
| I'm sorry Jim but I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, Iove Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I'm not gonna keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it. So that's number one. | I'm sorry Jim but I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, Iove Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I'm not gonna keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it. So that's number one. |
| Spin from the Guardian's Amanda Holpuch: | Spin from the Guardian's Amanda Holpuch: |
| Spin from the Guardian's Kennedy Elliott: | Spin from the Guardian's Kennedy Elliott: |
| Original quote from Romney: | Original quote from Romney: |
| Well first I love great schools. In Massachusetts our schools are ranked number one of all 50 states and the key to great schools: great teachers. So I reject the idea that I don't believe in great teachers or more teachers. Every school district, every state should make that decision on their own. | Well first I love great schools. In Massachusetts our schools are ranked number one of all 50 states and the key to great schools: great teachers. So I reject the idea that I don't believe in great teachers or more teachers. Every school district, every state should make that decision on their own. |
| Spin from reader @HeshPhoto: | Spin from reader @HeshPhoto: |
| Original quote from Romney: | Original quote from Romney: |
| Dodd frank and it includes within it some provisions that I think have some unintended consequences that are harmful to the economy. One is it designates a number of banks as too big to fail and they're effectively guaranteed by the federal government. This is the biggest kiss that has been given to New York banks that I've ever seen. This is an enormous boon for them. There have been 182 community and small banks that have closed since Dodd frank. So there's one example. Here's another: in Dodd Frank its says... | Dodd frank and it includes within it some provisions that I think have some unintended consequences that are harmful to the economy. One is it designates a number of banks as too big to fail and they're effectively guaranteed by the federal government. This is the biggest kiss that has been given to New York banks that I've ever seen. This is an enormous boon for them. There have been 182 community and small banks that have closed since Dodd frank. So there's one example. Here's another: in Dodd Frank its says... |
| Spin from reader @ArmenianJames: | Spin from reader @ArmenianJames: |
| Original quote from Romney: | Original quote from Romney: |
| What kind of American do you want to have for yourself and for your children? And they are really two very different paths that we began speaking about this evening and over the course of this month we're going to have two more presidential debates and a vice presidential debate we'll talk about those two paths but they lead in very different directions and it's not just looking to our words that you have to take in evidence of where they go, you can look at the record. There's no question in my mind that if the president were to be reselected you'll continue to see a middle class squeeze with incomes going down and prices going up. I'll get incomes up again. You'll see chronic unemployment. We've had forty three straight months with unemployment above eight percent. If I'm president I'll create, help create 12 million new jobs in this country with rising incomes. If the president is re-elected, Obamacare will be fully installed. In my view that's going to mean a whole different way of life for people who counted on the insurance plan they had in the past. Many will lose it. You're going to see health premiums go up by some $2,500 per family. If I'm elected we won't have Obamacare. We'll put in place the kind of principles we put in place in my own state and allow each state to craft their own programs to get people insured and we'll focus on getting the cost of healthcare down. If the president were tobe re-elected you're going to see $716 billion cut to medicare. You'll have 4 million people who will lose Medicare advantage. You'll have hospitals and providers that will no longer accept Medicare patients. I'll restore that $716 billion to medicare. And finally, military. If the president is re-elected you'll dramatic cuts to our military. The Secretary of Defence has said these would be even devastating. I will not cut our commitment to our military. I will keep America strong and get America's middle class working again. | What kind of American do you want to have for yourself and for your children? And they are really two very different paths that we began speaking about this evening and over the course of this month we're going to have two more presidential debates and a vice presidential debate we'll talk about those two paths but they lead in very different directions and it's not just looking to our words that you have to take in evidence of where they go, you can look at the record. There's no question in my mind that if the president were to be reselected you'll continue to see a middle class squeeze with incomes going down and prices going up. I'll get incomes up again. You'll see chronic unemployment. We've had forty three straight months with unemployment above eight percent. If I'm president I'll create, help create 12 million new jobs in this country with rising incomes. If the president is re-elected, Obamacare will be fully installed. In my view that's going to mean a whole different way of life for people who counted on the insurance plan they had in the past. Many will lose it. You're going to see health premiums go up by some $2,500 per family. If I'm elected we won't have Obamacare. We'll put in place the kind of principles we put in place in my own state and allow each state to craft their own programs to get people insured and we'll focus on getting the cost of healthcare down. If the president were tobe re-elected you're going to see $716 billion cut to medicare. You'll have 4 million people who will lose Medicare advantage. You'll have hospitals and providers that will no longer accept Medicare patients. I'll restore that $716 billion to medicare. And finally, military. If the president is re-elected you'll dramatic cuts to our military. The Secretary of Defence has said these would be even devastating. I will not cut our commitment to our military. I will keep America strong and get America's middle class working again. |
| Spin from reader @TweetTheFridge: | Spin from reader @TweetTheFridge: |
| What would you add? | What would you add? |
| Visit the Spin It generator now, then share your creations with us by using #MySpin on Twitter. | Visit the Spin It generator now, then share your creations with us by using #MySpin on Twitter. |
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