Obama won, but McCain performed better than in the first two debates, by a wide margin.
McCain actually appeared forceful and looked less like a doddering old fool than in the other debates, especially the second. But the "Joe the Plumber" gimmick didn't work for a second, and McCain often muttered under his breath while his opponent was talking, much like Hannity often does.
Still, this was the first of the four debates that actually had a good format- namely, one in which the candidates were able to actually argue with one another and the moderator largely stood out of the way.
A few notes:
- Of McCain's "line of the night," asking why Obama didn't run against Bush four years ago: Obama, obviously, never gave consideration to doing so- but McCain certainly did.
- McCain: "You didn't tell the American people the truth... because you didn't." Wow, he sounds like a second grader.
- Loved Obama's answer on the Ayers/ACORN question, as he rightly pointed out that Obama's tenuous association with a radical from 40 years ago has become the "centerpiece" of McCain's campaign. Made it especially odd that McCain said he "doesn't care about an old washed-up terrorist." Then again, I suppose Bin Laden is "old" and "washed up" too.
- I had no idea a false voter registration for Mickey Mouse- who is not, I'd imagine, likely to show up and vote- constituted "one of the greatest frauds in voter history" with the potential to "destroy the fabric of American democracy."
- Obama baldly lied only once: When he answered "that's up to the American people" when asked if Sarah Palin is qualified to be president. The only factual answer to that question is "no."
- Always amusing to see a 72-year-old four-term U.S. senator denounce the "old boys network in Washington."
- If McCain thinks he can win this election by talking about partial-birth abortion, he's further gone than I thought. And does he really think Sarah Palin's son is autistic? It's Down's Syndrome- McCain made that mistake in the first debate, too.
Bottom line: In order to get back in the race, McCain had to win big tonight. He didn't.
Posted by Stephen Silver at October 16, 2008 01:05 AM