More than 67 million people watched the first presidential debate of this election cycle — nearly 15 million more people than watched the first presidential debate four years ago.
That 67 million, however, falls very short of the Mother of All Presidential Debates: the Oct. 28, 1980 smackdown between President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, which had drawn a whopping 81 million viewers.
About 12 million of the 67 mil who watched President Obama square off with GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney at the University of Denver were aged 18-34 years. Nearly 31 million of them were 55 years or older, Nielsen reported Thursday.
The debate was carried live across 11 networks; Telemundo aired it on tape delay.
67 million people finally got to see Obama without the aid of his teleprompter. They finally got to see the real Mitt Romney without slanted editing or vile opinion attached. For once in the misbegotten last 4 years, at least 67 million people finally got to see it for what it is.
There’s hope for this election yet.