Romney Fires Big Bird, Stewart Prepares for O’Reilly, and More

Throwback Thursday:

By most accounts, Mitt Romney won Wednesday night’s presidential debate, the first of three that will be held this month. So it should come as no surprise that the next morning, President Obama’s campaign switched tactics by utilizing an old attack line against the Republican nominee, painting Romney once again as a flip-flopper. (Read more)

Trillion-Dollar Question: One of the issues Mitt Romney and President Obama danced around during the debate was whether the GOP presidential nominee’s tax plan amounted to a $5 trillion tax cut. Obama said it did, while Romney denied the charge. PolitiFact took an in-depth look at the claim. According to the fact-checking site, the figure is based on a study done by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. If you add up the lost revenue over a decade and round up, yes, it would equal the $5 trillion amount. But according to PolitiFact, Obama’s assertion is misleading because Romney would offset the figure by closing some tax loopholes and deductions. Problem is, though, he hasn’t offered specifics about which ones he would change. Thus, Obama’s claim rates as a half-truth. (Read more)

Romney’s Rebuff: In the debate Wednesday, Romney said he would not decrease taxes for the highest-income earners in America. However, during the GOP primaries, Romney was singing a much different tune: At the time, he promised to reduce taxes for all Americans. So either Romney doesn’t support his own tax plan anymore or his tax plan has completely changed since he made the remark at a debate in February. (Read more)

(No) Girl Talk: Considering women’s issues have been a hot button topic this election cycle — hello “war on women” — one would think Obama and Romney would have spoken about them at least once (other than the president mentioning his grandmother and wife Michelle) during their first debate. Alas, while the candidates sparred on economic issues, health care, entitlements and more throughout the evening, the ladies were all but ignored. (Read more)

Ruffling Feathers: Women may not have gotten a shoutout during the presidential debate, but Big Bird sure did — although it’s likely not the attention the “Sesame Street” icon (or the people behind the children’s program) were seeking. Romney made waves when he said that, although he loves Big Bird, he still wanted to cut federal funding for PBS. Translation: Romney would like to fire Big Bird. Not to worry though; Big Bird isn’t going anywhere anytime soon since parent company Sesame Workshop does most of its own fundraising to produce the popular show. (Read more)

High Anxiety: Al Gore has his own theory on why President Obama was less than stellar in the debate. After the event, the former vice president suggested on Current TV that Denver’s high altitude was to blame — maybe. Gore hypothesized: “Obama arrived in Denver at 2 p.m. today, just a few hours before the debate started. [Mitt] Romney did his debate prep in Denver. When you go to 5,000 feet and you only have a few hours to adjust — I don’t know, maybe.” Cue the jokes. (Read more)

Video of the Day: If you watched the debate Wednesday night, then you will probably agree that this auto-tuned version is much better than the real thing. Best part: Jim Lehrer does not moderate it.

Bonus Video of the Day: “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart prepares for his “Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium” debate against Bill O’Reilly this weekend by practicing against Stephen Colbert. Hilarity ensues.