Madison Burke | Lindenlink Contributor

The largely Republican county of St. Charles, Missouri was greatly impacted by the first Obama-Romney debate. The county is known for being Republican, but that is not to say that Romney himself had a huge following in the area. Ron Paul has many supporters in the county, evidenced by the large turnout during his primary campaign in St. Charles. Rick Santorum also has many supporters, as he also campaigned in the county. This debate gave the Republicans of St. Charles County an opportunity to get to know Mitt Romney better and understand him as a candidate. 

The Republican citizens had to put aside any disappointments that they might have had after the Republican candidate was announced. “I really wanted either Ron Paul or Rick Santorum to be going against Obama in this election. I almost didn’t watch the debate because I wasn’t that in to Romney at all” Lindenwood senior Hannah Victor said.

Romney was able to reach voters like Victor who sympathized with the many GOP beliefs and politicians, but did not know much about Romney. Hannah went on to say, “The debate really opened my eyes. I found out so much more about what Romney believes. I really like him now.”

One of the St. Charles GOP grassroots leaders, David Evans, is proud of how hard many St. Charles Republicans have been working. He said, “We had a good turnout of volunteers working at the grassroots levels for success in the 2012 Presidential election.”

 St. Charles native David Dunard attended the St. Charles debate watch party at St. Charles 18 Cine. Dunard said, “I think he knocked it out of the park. He stuck to his points. Obama tried to re-define Romney’s position over and over. Romney would not stand for it. “ Dunard’s view was reflected by many of the citizens that attended the party. Loud cheers could be heard after Romney made a point or rebutted something that Obama said.

Romney’s plan certainly seemed to work as he is thought all around to have been the winner of the debate. Lindenwood Professor Don Heidenreich shared his opinion, “Romney did what he needed to do. A challenger cannot win an election during the first debate, but he can loose it.”

Heidenreich believes that Romney’s chief concern was to not do anything that would cost him the Presidency. Romney then had to “keep the money coming in from his supporters.” He was successful at both.

Romney stressed points that would connect him with the voters. Paul Ryan tweeted during the debate, “A clear contrast: Mitt Romney making the case for jobs and growth; Barack Obama committed to higher taxes. Keep up the great work, Mitt.“

Romney took a chief concern of the American people and promised improvement if he is elected. This promise of change and improvement provided voters with an idea of what this man stands for.

Missouri GOP senatorial candidate Todd Akin also tweeted his views about the debate; “Retweet if you agree President Obama has a rough month of many more questions ahead of him!” Akin, like many Republicans took this debate as a good omen of what is to come.