Here's how I see it:
Obama spent time explaining things and McCain spent time attacking and changing the subject.
McCain was going after moderate voters, but might not have endeared himself to any die-hard conservatives watching - so he's counting on their love for Palin to carry them to the polls come November.
Obama did the best when he was willing to call out McCain's hypocrisies. Obama also did well when he remembered to return the conversations to the most serious issues, but he sometimes let himself get distracted.
Oh, and this is going to make me unpopular - but Jim Lehrer's repeated appeals to the candidates to 'talk to each other' instead of talking to the audience got on my nerves.
What did you all think?
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5 comments:
Here's how I see it,
Obama was given a golden opportunity tonight-The fact that the economy was front and center during a debate on foreign policy.
and he blew it.
McCain looked like a political war vet tonight and was clearly coached to change the subject as soon as possible to...
Earmarks!
Thanks McCain, cause that's what's been keepin us up at night.
The sad part is that Obama let him get away with it. Seriously, a week like this and they spent 10 min talking about marked ears!
The Dems should not underestimate this guy.
Yeah to me it seemed like Lerher was looking for that Dan Quayle moment. You know the JFK quipp.
I thought that Obama scored some really good points in the debate, however he needs to stop affirming McCain and saying that he is right. This is not the way to go. I know that he is trying to look like the compromise candidate but in war you don't stop to praise your opponent. You go for the juggler and then you move on. He has plenty of time after the election to praise John McCain.
Well, I agree with you both. Everyone is saying that a draw is a win for Obama, since Obama is ahead in the polls (yeah!), but I think I've seen Obama handle himself much better in other debates, and he could have really cleaned up.
In general, I thought Obama did a good job considering that this was supposed to be McCain's strongest debate (re: foreign policy). I thought McCain was generally rude and condescending and Obama seemed relaxed and dignified, and I think that came across pretty well, which is a definite plus. However, it worries me how many times McCain said "Obama doesn't understand _______" and that Obama kind of let him get away with it several times even though it clearly wasn't true (not always, as his great comeback on the whole strategy v. tactics comment showed).
Regarding Jim Lehrer: it actually irritated me more than despite suggesting several times that they look at each, Obama was the only one who ever looked in McCain's direction. McCain always looked down or out at the audience, never at Obama, which seemed very rude and calculating to me.
@Renee: Yeah, Obama constantly affirming McCain (even if it is a time-honored debate strategy to acknowledge your opponent's argument before you dismantle it) is definitely a problem.
I was also annoyed at Lehrer!
For the debate it self, I think Obama did a fairly good job. I think the draw as a win for Obama is not only said b/c he's ahead in the polls, but b/c it was basically the "tough" debate for him. People see foreign policy as his weakest area and McCain's strongest, so it should be an easy win for McCain. The fact that McCain just kept repeating the same talking points (900mil in earmarks, the surge was a success) made him look lost.
I wish Obama had attacked a bit more at times, but I think that if the debates get progressively stronger for him, he'll be the clear winner in the end.
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