October 08, 2008

The Debate

Another big win for Obama. To stop the momentum towards an Obama landslide, McCain needed to shake things up, do things differently, and either win the debate or not lose. He did none of the above. A few observations:

- Obama was confident and in command, while McCain looked uncomfortable and grouchy, mangling various phrases throughout the night. He did absolutely nothing differently than in the first debate or previous appearances, and took no advantage of the town hall format, his alleged specialty. He also tried to make jokes on three different occasions, all of which were met by dead, dead silence.

- Calling Obama "that one"? Really?

- Three debates so far, and three absolutely horrible formats. So, the people asked their own questions, but Brokaw picked which ones and the order? No follow-ups or cross talk? Both more boring than the alternative, and teaches us even less about the candidates.

- McCain arguing that Obama was "wrong on the surge and Iraq" was sort of undercut by his actually saying his opponent was "long on the surge and Iraq." Mangling the Rwanda phrasing wasn't a fine moment either.

- Obama: "We will take them out. We will kill Bin Laden, we will crush al-Qaeda." Let me say this: if that happens in the Obama Administration, no one will ever make the Obama/Osama mistake again.

- Brokaw asked the candidates to define "The Obama Doctrine" and "The McCain Doctrine." I won't even make the obvious Sarah Palin joke.

- Obama has improved significantly as a debater since the primaries. I don't think he won any of the one-on-ones against Hillary, but he's done much better in the general.

- How bad a night was it for McCain? Not even Hugh Hewitt gave him a decisive victory! Hugh says McCain won the Fannie/Freddie argument, and that "the rest of the debate is a non-event which favors Obama." McCain is so, so doomed.

Posted by Stephen Silver at October 8, 2008 12:45 AM
Comments

Isn't "that one" the singular form of "you people"?

Posted by: jabbett at October 8, 2008 02:17 PM
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