Debate wrapup
Meh, not too much to say. I liked the format. A little less sound-bitey than most of these things have become.
McCain frustrated me at first by his bizarre refusal to confront Obama's repeated assertion that the whole of our current fiscal crisis is attributable to "eight years" of anti-regulatory ideological zeal on the part of Republican leadership. Granted, there is plenty of blame to go around here, but McCain squandered two great opportunities to highlight specific examples of Democratic culpability. Oh well. And McCain also twice referred to "deductions" as "dividends." Anyone else notice that?
But other than that, did anyone else think that McCain did better on the economic half than the foreign policy bit? Maybe it's just where expectations were set, but I thought McCain was pretty strong on the economy overall.
I think Obama did pretty well too, but after the first hour I could no longer pay attention throughout his lengthy, meandering, rambling responses. According to Lehrer, they both used about the same amount of time, but McCain held my interest with his straightforward and conversation tone, while my eyes would sometimes glaze during Obama's blahblah.
And just like at his convention speech? I though McCain finished strong, and probably did himself some good tonight overall. Thoughts?
Comments
I am obviously very biased in favor of Obama. However, McCain did better than I expected. He was mostly coherent and he was able to deliver hits (by repeatedly lying).
Obama won in substance. He clearly had better handle of facts and he is clearly more intelligent than McCain. IMO Obama won with a slight margin. For the people who support McCain, McCain was able to reinforce their support. I dont think this 1st debate will have any effect on the race. My prediction is that Obama will be more aggressive in the second debate.
P.S. Obama delivered a devastating blow on McCain (calling him on his irrational and bizzare refusal to meet the Spain PM), but I am not sure it stuck. It will dependent on whether the media will repeat that part in clips.
Posted by: Blue Wind | September 26, 2008 11:34 PM
This is the first time I've seen McCain do a one on one debate in some time. I thought he did well. That said, I think he made the mistake that many in his position do. Instead of telling the audience how prepared he is and how unprepared his opponent is, he should let that be the voters' decision and simply demonstrate his capacity to deal with issues.
The problem with McCain has always been his temperment. While I've admired him in many ways, I've always heard from those who worked with him that he's a showboat and a bit full of himself even in a room full of men full of themselves.
I think his stunt this week did not help the budget process at all and his whole will he or won't he show up added unneeded drama. Add to this the condescension McCain showed for Obama and I think it created questions for many voters.
On points, I believe they both made their cases for their positions and I think that McCain was slightly more on than Obama (who has been better but who was OK).
Still, I think that there are reasons the focus groups of "undecided voters" mostly went for Obama. (On both Fox and CBS.) Obama showed cool. He dealt with people's concerns. He seemed focused and smart. In short, he seemed prepared which belied what McCain was saying about him.
Posted by: PE | September 27, 2008 08:03 AM
They both seemed to spend most of their time on outlandish and bizarre lies. The country is beyond bankrupt, thanks to Bush and Supply Side economics, which is really just deregulated theft. The transfer of wealth from the middle class to the ruling wealthy is pretty much complete. There is nothing left.
Neither candidate will be able to do anything. It's all spent, it's all mortgaged to the hilt, and the credit cards are maxed.
Thanks Reagan!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 28, 2008 12:16 AM