President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney squared off Wednesday night in the first debate of the 2012 presidential election. We followed along with you on on Twitter and Facebook.
If you missed any of the action in the debate itself or in the discussion online, checkout our timeline below for the highlights (read from the bottom):
10:38 p.m. ET:
What stood out to you tonight? #HLNYourTake cc: @momsmatter2012 @ep15 @erica_holloway @tjwalker @jenwesthoven @jimspellmancnn
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
10:33 p.m. ET:
Who will play Big Bird? RT @travistn: So who will play Lehrer on SNL this weekend?#hlnyourtake
— Grayson (@_Grayson) October 4, 2012
10:32 p.m. ET: The debate has concluded.
10:31 p.m. ET: Romney says if he is elected Americans will see the economy pick back up again.
10:30 p.m. ET: Obama says he promised in the last election that he was not a perfect person and he was not going to be a perfect president, and that's a promise that Romney probably thinks he kept.
10:29 p.m. ET:
@hlntv I want more digestible info. Or a commercial break to breathe. A lot of numbers repeated and disputed.#HLNyourtake
— Allison Rampley (@AllisonCNN) October 4, 2012
10:28 p.m. ET: Closing statements happening now
10:26 p.m. ET: Obama says he has been able to accomplish things with a Republican controlled congress.
10:25 p.m. ET: Romney says he will reach across the aisle to democrats the day after he is elected.
10:23 p.m. ET: CNN's Jim Spellman is tweeting from outside the debate hall with the crowd on the University of Denver's campus.
Crowd here at debatefest are listening closely but I don't think much has moved the dial so far for this crowd.. #cnndebates @hlntv
— jim spellman (@jimspellmancnn) October 4, 2012
10:22 p.m. ET:
RT @suprduprdad: Romney doesn't care about the people just the peoples money #HLNYourTake on.hln.tv/5ChQJi
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
10:21 p.m. ET:
47% of Americans are beginning to think that this #Romney fellow might be on to something. #CNNDebate #debate #Debate2012 #HLNYourTake
— David J Givot (@EMSLawyer) October 4, 2012
10:18 p.m. ET: Someone is tweeting as silent Jim Lehrer.
...yeah...al..right...
— Silent Jim Lehrer (@SilentJimLehrer) October 4, 2012
10:14 p.m. ET: Lehrer asks the candidates about their view on the role of the federal government.
10:12 p.m. ET:
What was that big boom at the debate? #HLNYourTake
— Kyra Phillips (@KyraHLN) October 4, 2012
10:11 p.m. ET: Romney references Reagan when talking about reaching across the aisle.
10:10 p.m. ET: Obama: Romney wants to repeal Dodd-Frank.
10:08 p.m. ET: About 20 more minutes left of the debate. Have you heard enough? Have you made up your mind on who you are going to vote for?
Tweet us with #HLNYourTake
10:07 p.m. ET: Romney: Government is not effective at bringing down the cost of anything.
10:05 p.m. ET:
Interesting how Twitter gets quiet when they start talking about people and not numbers. #Debate #HLNYourTake
— Grayson (@_Grayson) October 4, 2012
10:02 p.m. ET: Obama: My healthcare plan was a bipartisan idea, and it was the same plan that Romney came up with.
10:01 p.m. ET: Romney: Obama pushed Obamacare despite what the country wanted and divided the country.
10:00 p.m. ET: Obama brings up the fact that Romney passed the same healthcare legislation as Obamacare in Massachusetts when he was governor.
9:58 p.m. ET: Some people are not happy with Jim Lehrer:
@hlntv Jim sounds like that teacher in Charlie Brown. "wahwahwahwah." #HLNYourTake
— Ms. T... (@Browneyes_2060) October 4, 2012
9:56 p.m. ET: Romney says he wants to repeal Obamacare.
9:54 p.m. ET:
So, who do you think won the debate on Medicare? #HLNYourTake
— Kyra Phillips (@KyraHLN) October 4, 2012
9:53 p.m. ET:
9:50 p.m. ET:
Objective? RT @hlntv: RT @ep15: Romney does much better when he tells stories rather than reciting facts. #HLNYourTake on.hln.tv/5ChQJi
— Makeda(@KedaTakesMIAMI) October 4, 2012
9:49 p.m. ET: The candidates continue to duke it out over Medicare.
9:48 p.m. ET:
It looks like @robportman really helped Romney's delivery in this debate. #HLNYourTake
— Kyra Phillips (@KyraHLN) October 4, 2012
9:45 p.m. ET:
17,000 Tweets per minute for "Big Bird" and 10,000 Tweets per minute for "PBS". #debates
— Twitter Government (@gov) October 4, 2012
9:45 p.m. ET: We are at the halfway point! 45 minutes left of the debate.
9:45 p.m. ET: Obama is talking about Romney's voucher program proposal for Medicare, and the problems he has with it.
9:44 p.m. ET: Romney talking about how Medicare needs reform. Some doctors won't take Medicare patients.
9:43 p.m. ET:
I think Mitt is doing well but Jim Leher gets and F #HLNYourtake
— Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) October 4, 2012
9:41 p.m. ET: Obama is talking about his plan for Social Security and Medicare.
9:40 p.m. ET:
#HLNYourTake I wish they would stop bouncing around so much. It's confusing!!!!
— Amy Pollard(@Amyblue64) October 4, 2012
9:38 p.m. ET:
9:36 p.m. ET:
RT @shannonkokeefe: As a person in the middle class I don't feel like the guy on the left is on my team on.hln.tv/5ChQJi #HLNYourTake
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
9:35 p.m. ET: Obama: We spend to much on corporate welfare.
9:34 p.m. ET: Romney: 40% of our economy is spent on government.
9:32 p.m. ET: Romney: You shouldn't raise taxes when the economy is slow.
9:30 p.m. ET:
RT @lisalulutweets: Romney appears smug when the president speaks. His people need to help him work on that. It's off putting. #HLNYourTake
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
9:29 p.m. ET: Obama: When I came into office I had two wars paid for with a credit card.
9:28 p.m. ET: Romney says he would cut Obamacare and PBS.
9:27 p.m. ET:
RT @jenwesthoven: i almost wish their were graphics or a chalkboard to keep up with the math theyre slinging at each other #HLNYourTake
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
9:26 p.m. ET: Romney: I am not in favor of a 5 trillion dollar tax cute. That's not my plan. People need to be put back to work.
9:24 p.m. ET:
#Debate2012 Answer the question..where r the jobs Mr President? Please tell me. Two years+100s of resumes wth Bachelors=no job. #HLNyourtake
— Jeannette (@Italian_Foodie) October 4, 2012
9:23 p.m. ET: Romney and Obama duke it out over corporate tax rates.
9:20 p.m. ET:
All this talk about taxes has me wondering who picked out Romney's red tie and Obama's blue tie... #HLNYourTake
— Kyra Phillips (@KyraHLN) October 4, 2012
9:18 p.m. ET: Obama: For 18 months Romney has being running on a tax cut.
9:17 p.m. ET: Romney: I have 5 boys so I am used to people saying things that aren't exactly true.
9:16 p.m. ET:
Romney: "Middle income Americans are being crushed." Solution, energy, trade, helping small business on.hln.tv/5ChQJi #HLNYourTake
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
9:15 p.m. ET:
#HLNYourTake Score one for POTUS he has a "mole" on the left of his nose and I have one of those too.
— Public Lobbyist (@PublicLobbyist) October 4, 2012
9:12 p.m. ET:
9:08 p.m. ET: Obama: We need to improve our education system. We need to also keep college tuition low. I also want to close loopholes that provide incentives for companies to take jobs overseas.
9:06 p.m. ET: Romney congratulates on his anniversary, and begins to answer Lehrer's question. Romney says his plan to create jobs has 5 parts.
9:05 p.m. ET: Obama: The auto industry has come roaring back
9:03 p.m. ET: The candidates are introduced and shake hands. Obama has a blue tie on, and Romney has a red tie on. Lehrer's first questions is about job creation, and Obama starts off his answer by mentioning his wife and wishing her happy anniversary.
9:00 p.m. ET: Let it begin! Jim Lehrer lays down the rules, before asking his first question.
8:56 p.m. ET:
RT @austinlouis5: @hlntv I think during the Debate the two of them will battle it out. #HLNYourTake // on.hln.tv/5ChQJi
— HLN News and Views (@HLNTV) October 4, 2012
8:55 p.m. ET: Fun fact about the debate moderator Jim Lehrer: He collects bus memorabilia, because his father was a bus driver.
8:49 p.m. ET:
If Romney is playing Jenga. What is Obama playing? via Getty twitpic.com/b0sjim
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) October 4, 2012
8:44 p.m. ET: If you are following along with us on Twitter use this hashtag: #HLNYourTake
8:39 p.m. ET: CNN's Jim Spellman just tweeted a picture of people watching the debate outside the forum.
Only a small # of people can be in debate hall,so DU put together Debatefest,big screens on the quad #cnndebate @hlntv twitter.com/jimspellmancnn…
— jim spellman (@jimspellmancnn) October 4, 2012
8:36 p.m. ET: Here is a picture from the debate hall that HLN Producer Brian Rokus took for us earlier in the day.
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