HOPE & CHANGE, ROMNEY STYLE:  The takeaway from the first presidential debate was–somewhat ironically–a message of hope and change.  But the messenger wasn’t President Obama; it was Mitt Romney.  From his beginning line about the economy (“Yes, we can help, but it’s going to take a different path. . . .  Trickle-down government will not work”), to his final promises and examples of bipartisan leadership, Romney offered a stark contrast between the “hope and change” of President Obama (higher taxes; bigger government; more bailouts, handouts and class warfare) and his own (lower taxes; smaller government; equal treatment of all).  Now that’s hope and change we can believe in.