Did Romney tell the truth last night? Did the president? The truth is, that's not what is going to make a difference.
The president accused Romney of proposing tax cuts that'll hurt the middle class.
"The average middle class family with children would pay about $2,000 more," he said.
FactCheck: The president's numbers are shaky. Romney's proposed tax cut is $5 trillion over 10 years. The president assumes there will be no change from increased economic growth.
When it came to the healthcare debate, Romney made a similar assumption.
"I can't understand how you can cut Medicare $716 billion for current recipients of Medicare," Romney said.
FactCheck: The $716 billion is again a 10 year projection. The president's plan saves that much by limiting payments to insurance companies, drug companies and hospitals and they've all agreed to those reductions.
So both men are relying on their own assumptions and the facts take beating.
"I think basically, people are judging on the performance itself on who seemed more confident, who seemed more relaxed," ABC7 News political analyst Bruce Cain said.
Cain says nobody is judging the debate on who had the most factual argument. Both stretched the truth to fit their assumptions.
But based on performance, Romney won and it will help him in the polls.
But Cain says that's not the bottom line.
"I think the most important that happened last night is not that the race is going to tighten but that the money will continue to flow into Romney's coffers," he said.
Cain says before the debate, Romney's campaign was looking like it could be a lost cause. Financial backers needed to see a turn around and they saw it.
And if the president was relying on the facts, this should be a wakeup call.
"You have to make the case yourself and you have to do with a certain amount of passion and energy and that's not what we saw last night," Cain said.
Cain has been saying all along this is going to be a very close race.
