I have to say that I am totally disappointed in Senator Obama’s performance tonight. This was a perfect opportunity to put away Senator McCain, and Obama blew it. Instead, he spent a great deal of time defending himself and explaining himself. Throughout the debate, Obama was cool and collected, and he was able to connect to voters on important issues like health care and education, but he allowed McCain to assume the dominant and aggressive position throughout the night. Now, Obama did not have to hit a home-run tonight because he is in a commanding lead in the polls, but he really should have performed better. He was flat and boring. In short, Obama sucked tonight.
On the other hand, while McCain was aggressive and in attack mode (his comfort zone), he failed to hit a home-run, as well. He failed to provide any details or background on his proposals. More importantly, he failed to follow through on his attacks on Obama, vis a vis Ayers and ACORN. Like his campaign thus far, he was erratic and all over the place, instead of being focused and on message. To his credit, he beat Obama over the head with two issues: Obama’s tax policy and the economy. The latter has been Obama’s strength, but McCain bested him tonight on that topic. However, overall, McCain came across as mean spirited, hateful, and angry. This may have been the cause of his erratic responses throughout the night. While McCain may have pleased his base on issues like abortion and taxes, he did not connect with Independent voters, who will be deciding this election. And, as I wrote in my previous blog, they hate attacks, which is all McCain did tonight. It will be interesting how they respond to tonight’s debate.
Tonight was a draw. Simply put. Obama failed to wow the viewers, and McCain failed to prove his case that he is any different from Bush or that Obama is a dangerous individual. Though tonight was a draw, that is essentially a default victory for Obama and a default loss for McCain. Obama needed only maintain the staus quo of the race, while McCain needed a decisive victory, which he failed to get.
The real winner in tonight’s debate, however, was moderator Bob Schieffer, who succeeded in drawing the two candidates away from their talking points and succeeded in getting them to confront one another. He asked thoughtful and interesting questions tonight that made this the best debate of the election. Good for you, Bob!
Now, we’re off to November 4th!
Oh, and I do have to make one other point. I went to Canada over the summer for my honeymoon. My wife and I stayed in Victoria. We fell in love with the place, but we also fell in love with the people. They were so kind, tolerant, intelligent, thoughtful, and giving. I thought, “Wow, the Canadians are very different from Americans.” I come across so many people in America who are ignorant, hateful, loud, and selfish. By no means do I think all, or even the majority, of Americans are that way, but there are elements of our country that fail, I think to live up to the standards of our forefathers. I thought Canadians had.
Well, that bubble sure burst when I started getting such hateful posts from an individual called clancop, who is a Canadian. He’s a little ball of hate, that guy. I guess I was wrong about Canada. Well, that’s what happens when you make generalizations, I suppose.
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October 16, 2008 at 4:48 am
franknitty41
The post debate polls aren’t saying what you’re saying. BO showed how in control he was. JSM wanted to “bait” him, but couldn’t do it. BO stayed on point and actually won the debate!
October 16, 2008 at 5:05 am
dissentiscool
I totally agree that Obama was in control of himself and that he was cool and collected, but I do not think, despite the polls, that he won the debate.
McCain, on the other, was trying to bait Obama, and was aggressive to that end throughout the debate.
However, I do not think Obama was spectacular. I’m glad the polls show that he won, but I personally do not feel that way.
October 16, 2008 at 5:22 am
franknitty41
I can agree with your perspective. Sometimes people carry burdens. BO seemed to have the pressure of this last debate wearing on him. I noticed that he was beginning to say, “um and aw” a lot when he seemed to have conquered that in earlier debates. I think he’s beginning to feel the weight of this responsibility and privilege that is being placed on him. Good insight dissentiscool….keep writing. Sometimes when your team wins ugly, talk to them about it after they win the next game pretty…hint, hint…
October 16, 2008 at 2:49 pm
coolhand
I have to agree with you comments, but disagree with the conclusion. Barack Obama won the debate, I think in both an objective and substantive sense. The CNN poll had it at 58% to 31%. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/15/debate.poll/index.html
A key aspect to this debate, and Barack Obama’s candidacy, is his consistent demonstration of his superior intellect, knowledge of issues, and having solutions for the real issues. I was cheering for Obama to mop the floor with McCain on the character assassination stuff, and instead, he took the tough guy approach- He can handle be attacked for the next few weeks. He belittled McCain and his entire campaign to little more than an annoyance on his way to the White House.
There will always be a fraction of the population that will be totally unswayed by any rational arguments. There are also very rational reasons for some people to be conservative.
Health care was a huge point for Obama. McCain’s arguments for his plan had to have alienated many of his supporters. No one is excited about getting to take care of their own health care they way he insinuated. No one is begging for the opportunity to shop around for the best deal for a health care provider. Does he expect the majority of rural America, which is not online, to get their health care access from late-night infomercials?
In this debate, rationality was clearly on the side of the ‘Elite’ candidate. America is ready for a President who knows what he is doing, and doesn’t have a tax-break for every problem, but a solid, well thought-out solution.
October 16, 2008 at 11:34 pm
dissentiscool
Oh, yeah, the polls totally showed that Obama won the debate, by a far larger margin than the previous debate. But… I have a habit of not neccessarily agreeing with the public.
Obama has always shown a grasp of the issues, without being too specific. I think he could have done more to outline his latest economic plan, for instance. And Obama definitely cleaned the floor with McCain when it came to Health Care and Education, but those were his best moments of the debate. I do not think Obama was spectacular last night. Sure, he was calm and cool and collected, but he has been throughout the election. He could have done more to challenge Americans, to remind them of the tough times we face and to expect them to be ready to face some sacrifices.
Yeah, he’s smart, he’s eloquent, but he could have risen to the occasion and essentially end the election. He didn’t do that. That’s not to say that Obama should have lowered himself to McCain’s level, but it is to say that Obama could have hit a home-run. He clearly did not, in my view. Instead, the debate last night gave McCain some energy, and he might gain some points in the polls because of it.
Now, to be clear, McCain did not appeal to Independents, who will decide this election. Attacks do not sway them– issues do, which is why McCain’s tactics were a double-edged sword.