CHICAGO -- Obama for America released the following statement from Campaign Manager Jim Messina in reaction to tonight’s debate:

“President Obama clearly won tonight’s debate. The American people saw their leader tonight – a strong, steady and decisive president with an affirmative vision to move this country forward and build the economy from the middle out, not the top down. He pointed out that Mitt Romney is offering the American people a ‘sketchy deal’ – his plan to spend $5 trillion on a tax cut for the wealthiest that they don’t need and $2 trillion for a defense buildup the Pentagon says it doesn’t want, without explaining how he’d pay for it. Romney misfired on his attacks and fired blanks on his own proposals. When he was exposed on the emptiness of his own plans, he was rattled, lashed out against moderator and refused to explain his indefensible ideas.”