"Binders full of women?" Twitterverse goes crazy over second presidential debate

The second presidential debate is in the books and it was quite a show. By all accounts it was a slugfest. As I watched the debate and followed the Twitter feed, it was clear that both candidates were in it to win it and the Twitter feed showed they were clearly making an impression.

Several of the polls immediately following the debate called President Obama the winner, but Governor Romney wasn’t far behind. Other polls claimed victory for Romney in breakout categories. One of the most glaring issues was Romney’s ongoing disrespect for the process, the President and the moderator Candy Crowley. As I monitored Twitter during the debate that seemed to be a feeling shared by many online.

During last week’s debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan, Biden was criticized for smiling and making faces as a sign of disrespect. Last night Romney took disrespect to another level. I don’t know how that will impact voters, but a lesson in civility would be nice.

The post-debate analysis is always interesting, and in this day in time so are the social media monitors. According to Mashable, a popular Internet news blog, Romney’s response to the question about equal pay for women triggered a Twitter rush.

The Republican Presidential candidate recalled a time when he asked women’s groups for names for his cabinet and he got "binders full of women." That comment took on a life of its own online. “Binder” became a trending topic according to Google Politics’s Twitter feed. Undoubtedly Romney’s response left women perplexed and they are expressing those feelings all over social media.

Google Politics goes on to say “the search interest in the word 'binders' " increased by 425% during the debate’s first hour. Online blogs say the hottest topics were the economy, taxes, foreign policy, energy and environment and immigration.

It will be interesting to see how women, a coveted target for both candidates, respond to last night’s debate. On the other hand I’m curious about the undecided voters, whoever they are, and how they feel after last night’s showdown. For me, Governor Romney’s invading the President’s space, talking over the moderator and not answering the questions was irritating.

Despite all of the analysis and posturing from both parties, we won’t know the real winner of the debates until Election Day. The final debate will focus on foreign policy and will certainly be another all in kind of night.

Clearly Obama was well prepared and did a much better job of being present and on point in the second debate. Romney continued trying to be the aggressor and again offered few specifics about his plan to move the nation forward. After the first debate many of the President’s supporters acknowledged his performance was disappointing and gave the nod to Romney.

I don’t imagine the other side will ever give the President credit for anything he does. Of course that would be a departure from what we’ve seen over the last three and half years. Whichever candidate you support, there were certainly several memorable moments. Romney held his own and was very aggressive while the President drove his narrative and nailed his messages points.

In fact, conservative journalist George Will called it “immeasurably the best” debate he’s ever seen. Quite a declaration from someone who has seen every presidential debate since Nixon and Kennedy in 1960. If a show is what you wanted, then you were probably well served.

Kim Davis is a journalist with more than two decades of experience covering sports, news and politics in television, radio and print. Kim does weekly "Chalk Talk" segments on Fox 26 Morning News.