Dickerson: Romney supporters now "very excited"

(CBS News) CBS News political director joined "CBS This Morning" on Thursday to recap the highs and lows of the previous night's presidential debate.

Many consider the debate to be a victory for Romney and Dickerson said that going forward, "Conservatives who were worried about Romney, [who were] not sure if he was on king of a long term slide are now very excited."

He added that now, "Romney doesn't have to deal with those money folks who he's been having to settle down," regarding concerns among big donors that Romney's campaign was on a downward spiral.

From voters' perspectives, Dickerson said that Romney may now get a "second look from those independent voters or folks who are just now tuning in" to the presidential race.

Romney's successes on Wednesday night include what Dickerson describes as his ability to "press the case against the president while also remaining appealing."

Whereas President Obama "stayed away from doing anything that was too terribly aggressive," according to Dickerson. "By not being aggressive he left some of his best material on the cutting room floor."

The next step for Romney? Dickerson says voters got a taste of a "more moderate Mitt Romney, moderate both in the things he said but also in tone" on Wednesday night so the question going forward will be whether he will be able to sustain that balance.

The next step for the post-debate factcheckers will be to focus on the numbers that were at play during the debate. "Mitt Romney talked about his tax plan ... what the president was trying to say was that he can't have a program of tax cuts and also increase defense spending ... that adds up ... and so that's one of the things people will be going after with Mitt Romney," Dickerson explained on Thursday morning.

He added that Romney is "not necessarily telling an untruth, it's that he's not giving us any of the details ... which details are you going to get rid of, what spending are you going to cut."