Tapper: Obama Tries To Regroup After Debate Disaster

Tapper: Obama Tries To Regroup After Debate Disaster

DIANE SAWYER: The evidence is pouring in. That presidential debate last week was a game changer, at least for now. Here's the newest poll. For the first time, Gov. Mitt Romney pulling ahead, leading President Obama among likely voters. The president is under pressure tonight, so what are his plans to turn this around? Twenty-nine days to go before Americans head to the polls. It's your voice, your vote, and ABC's Jake Tapper has been working the phones, talking to campaign insiders. He's at the White House. Jake.

JAKE TAPPER: Good evening, Diane. Well, the Obama campaign's official line is that the president's debate performance did not change the fundamentals of the race, but behind the scenes, with that new poll, some top Democrats are getting nervous and say the pressure is on Vice President Biden.

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TAPPER: President Obama is sending a message to his supporters about last week's debate disaster: He gets it. Here he is at a Los Angeles fundraiser praising the opening performers.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: They just perform flawlessly night after night. I can't always say the same.

TAPPER: In the last few days, the pundits have been vicious and the comics no kinder. Whether the New Yorker cover or Saturday Night Live.

CHRIS PARNELL, SNL: Mr. President, Gov. Romney has just said that he killed Osama bin Laden. Would you care to respond?

JAY PHAROAH, SNL: No, you two go ahead.

TAPPER: A new Gallup poll shows those who watched the debate believe Romney did the superior job, 72 percent to Obama's 20 percent. Incumbent presidents walled off from confrontation and in a bubble for years often stumble, as did President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

PRESIDENT REAGAN: I did avoid, I'm afraid, in my previous answer also.

TAPPER: President Obama seemed to have initially thought all went well that night.

OBAMA: This was a terrific debate.

TAPPER: But quickly after leaving the stage, the president talked to aides and realized he had not brought his A game. 'This is on me,' he later told top advisers, and since then he's been studying the video of that night with the goal of a more energetic and crisp performance. While the Obama campaign dismisses the importance of vice presidential debates, other top Democrats say pressure is now on Vice President Biden. A win by Congressman Paul Ryan could create a dynamic of energized challengers squaring off against tired incumbents.

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TAPPER: And, Diane, Vice President Biden is in debate prep, holed off in a Delaware hotel, reading the book that Ryan co-authored, 'Young Guns,' and practicing some of the attack lines the president did not use. There's more room for vice presidential candidates to use those attack lines because their approval ratings do not matter as much.