Falls Church Voters Have Different Views of Debate

While presidential candidates Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney went head to head in their first debate, Falls Church residents rendered different views of their how things went.

Ken Feltman, chair of the Falls Church City Republican Committee, said Romney showed a presidential side for the first time during his campaign. He said it was a side Republican voters have been waiting to see.

“I have a hunch people are going to be happy with this,” Feltman said. “Obama had an off night and he left a lot of things he could have used on the table.”

Democratic supporters, including Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) and Lilly Ledbetter, the driving force behind the Fair Pay Act, gathered at the Obama campaign office in Falls Church to watch the debate. More than 50 people gathered to see the two presidential hopefuls debate for the first of three meetings.

As Obama and Romney went back and forth, Bryce Bhatnagar applauded some of the witty comebacks the president served up to his opponent. Bhatnagar said Obama laid out a clear-cut plan while Romney didn’t have any details about any of the changes he plans to make.

“That makes you wonder what’s in the mystery meat,” Bhatnagar said.

Ledbetter riled up the Democratic crowd at the watch party before things got underway. She said Obama has started so many programs for the middle class and needs to be re-elected. An activist for women’s rights, Ledbetter took her case to the Supreme Court to get equal pay for women in the workplace. The bill, which Connolly voted for just after he was elected, is known as the Ledbetter Bill.

“President Obama was a senator at the time my bill was introduced and he supported the bill,” Ledbetter said. “And that’s one of the reasons I support him.”