I think people were underestimating Romney going into the debates and are now overrating his performance. Romney managed to string together a coherent argument while avoiding having a freak out or insulting half the country, so people are impressed with him relative to how they previously viewed him. Unfortunately for Romney, there were several weaknesses in his performance that ultimately will prove fatal to what he hoped to accomplish in the debate: reverse the course of public opinion which had turned increasingly against him over the past month.
Romney often came across as both nervous and boorish. People are complimenting Romney for talking fast and seeming to yell, but he didn't come across as strong to me. His manner of speaking suggested desperation and exasperation. His delivery did improve towards the end of the debate, but throughout at least the first two thirds his manner of speaking was suggestive of someone who lacked confidence, was unsure of themselves, and was unsure of how others viewed them. It also is not a good thing for Romney that people perceived him as speaking more than President Obama even though the converse was true. The audiences' inaccurate perception likely was fueled by how fast Romney was speaking (which made him seem needy and nervous), and his inexplicable arguments with the moderator over time (if President Obama talked more than Romney did, why was the moderator arguing with Romney and not President Obama?). Regardless of the source of the audiences' inaccurate impression of who talked more, that Romney was the one who got into arguments with the moderator about talking too long and that the inaccurate impression of who was hogging the mike even exists contributed to the impression that Romney is a boor with poor social skills.
For evidence, we only need to look to the only two genuine moments in the debate: Jim Lehrer cutting off Romney when he tried to argue for more time, and President Obama eliciting sympathetic laughter from the audience after scolding Jim Lehrer when he was interrupted with five seconds of his time remaining. People also keep making a big deal about Romney seeming to be able to begin and end segments. That might have been a bad thing for President Obama, but combined with the other shortcomings in Romney's delivery, the structure of the debate seemed to convey the impression that President Obama, whatever his other shortcomings, was a man of respect with important things to say. Romney, by contrast, seemed to almost be begging for attention and approval. President Obama would offer a defense of his record and a description of his (somewhat limited and scattered) vision, while Romney sometimes seemed to almost whine from the peanut gallery. Romney looked amateurish and immature at times. President Obama looked, if not energetic........... Presidential.
Finally, and most fatally to Romney, he really failed to offer any details to his proposals. His main argument seemed to be the standard Republican rant against the federal government combined with attacks against President Obama for failing to turn the economy around. He also offered a somewhat bizarre defense against President Obama's attacks on what we all thought Romney's policies were. Romney simply said that what President Obama said he was going to do he wasn't actually going to do. He didn't say what he actually would do.
