HOW
THE DEBATES
CHANGED
THE RACE
PREVIOUS PAGE: SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
★ ★ ★ BY JON WARD ★ ★ ★
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE FIRST DEBATE
in Denver, I ran into Kevin Madden, the 40-yearold, square-jawed senior aide to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in the lobby of the
Denver Renaissance Hotel. Madden is about as
disciplined and professional as they come in political communications. But when I saw him that
night, he was tired, and despite his poker face, it
showed. He’d been on the road with Romney almost every day for the previous three months, and
it was clear he missed his wife and three sons. Romney’s flagging campaign wasn’t helping things.