Schumer: Obama Clear Winner

Before President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were done sparring late Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer took his message to the media’s Spin Alley, calling his party’s candidate the clear winner.

“He showed a president who’s calm, who’s strong and focused,” Schumer said of President Obama's latest performance.

While the night’s biggest winner was Hofstra University, which played host to the debate, Schumer said Obama connected on issues while Romney, “Got weaker and weaker and more flummoxed as the debate went on.”

“This is going to be all about the average middle class swing voter and I think that the president appealed to them, showed he understood them and had real plans to help them,” Schumer told reporters. 

Schumer also issued a warning to Republicans.

“If the president wins the election – and I think after tonight it’s a little clearer that he will – I think mainstream Republicans, those who are willing to talk to us, will gain an upper hand. And the hard right people, who Romney has always appealed to, will lose some strength.”