Obama came in as the light weight with little or no foreign experience....... he despelled that notion and went above all expectations in the debate during foreign affairs section. He had an intelligent and detailed comeback for every one of McCains comments. McCain did not learn from the classic first televised debate, Nixon vs Kennedy..... the newer and less experienced candidate (Obama) looked cool calm and collective, was gracious in complimenting McCain, and was aware that the camera was on him the whole time. McCain seemed to forget at times how he may come across on camera, by never looking at Obama, laughs that came across as fustration, and tense. I do believe Obama did study the classic first debate of Nixon/Kennedy and learned from it. Its all an expectations game.... Obama had a lower hurdle to clear than McCain.... But Obama cleared his hurdle much higher then McCain cleared his. Also.... both CNN and MSNBC declared Obama the winner... and its what will be talked about for the next several days on end..... Newspapers will also lean for Obama..... I expect the 2nd debate to be very nasty.
It was as if Obama was reciting parts of a book he read on world politics. The author of that book was McCain. Unfortunly most people are too ignorant of the world too understand the difference
bullshit.... with McCain.. the answer to everything is Iraq Iraq Iraq Iraq Iraq Iraq.......... Obama is right..... we need to stop it already with the tunnel vision of Iraq
The only thing Obama wanted to talk about Iraq was what we did 5 years ago, which his running mate voted for. It is because Obama has no ideas how to settle the war.
I'd like to see the bill that authorized the war, rather than giving authorization if Iraq posed a direct threat. He seems to want to pull the troops out. Doesn't get much more settled than that. Hey, by the way, 22 troops have died so far this month. 23 last month. Any concern at all about that?
The consensus is that Obama had a better showing lilduckling ... Grading the First Presidential Debate By MARK HALPERIN / OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI John McCain Substance: His arguments were hard to follow at the beginning, but he found his voice as the debate progressed, although he never seemed fully in control of his message. He had plenty to say about the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia, but often bogged down his own answers when trying to unfurl quips and soundbites. Stuck with bumper sticker slogans on the economy, and while he got a bit more detailed on foreign policy, he stayed at his usual level of abstraction. If he truly knows more about the world than Obama, he didn't show it in this debate. Grade: B- Style: Cluttered, jumpy, and often muddled. Frequent coughing early on helped neither his arguments nor his image. Jokes about being deaf and anecdotes about Normandy and George Shultz seemed ill-advised - even his pen was old. His presentation was further hindered by his wandering discussion of the differing heights of North and South Koreans and his angry assertion about how well he knows Henry Kissinger. Fell into the classic politician's trap of inserting familiar stump speech applause lines into debate responses - which only works if done with enthusiasm and clarity (and if received by applause - a big No-No in Lehrer's auditorium, which the audience obeyed seriously and silently). Keenly aware of the grand, grave occasion, McCain wavered between respectful and domineering, and ended up awkward and edgy. Grade: C- Offense: Emphasized his bread and butter issues of taxes and spending, and hit Obama on his failure to visit Iraq and his expressed willingness to meet with dictators. But while mocking his opponent on a few occasions, which reflected his acute disrespect for Obama, he did so in an insufficiently sharp and detailed manner - and unevenly worked elements of his rival's record into his attacks. Still he was utterly confident about his own experience, knowledge, and policies, even when tripped by his own tongue and distracted by the strains of debate practice. The main problem: Obama's obvious preparation and sharp answers contradicted McCain's frequent claims that the Democrat was uninformed and "didn't understand" key issues. Grade: C+ Defense: He managed to ignore most of Obama's jibes, but was eventually baited into giving an extended answer about his policy differences with President Bush, after his opponent repeatedly mentioned McCain's regular support of Bush's budgets. Was visibly riled when clashing with Obama over a variety of issues, including Iraq, sanctions, and spending. He also chose to boast about Sarah Palin (although not by name) as his maverick partner, who, after her shaky week, may no longer be his ace in the hole. Grade: B- Overall: McCain was McCain - evocative, intense, and at times emotional, but also vague, elliptical, and atonal. Failed to deliver his "country first versus Obama first" message cleanly, even when offered several opportunities. Surprisingly, did not talk much about "change," virtually ceding the dominant issue of the race. Overall grade: B- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barack Obama Substance: Quite manifestly immersed in the past, present, and future details of policy, and eager to express his views, which have been expanded, honed, and solidified during the last 18 months of hard campaigning. Still, he did avoid the nitty-gritty details of policy positions in favor of broad principles and references to working Americans, thereby not presenting the kind of specifics that some voters are waiting to hear from him. Grade: B+ Style: Polished, confident, focused. Fully prepared, and able to convey a real depth of knowledge on nearly every issue. He was unhurried, and rarely lost his train of thought even when the debate wended and winded - and uttered far fewer of his trademark, distracting, "ums." At times, however, Obama revealed the level of his preparation by faltering over a rehearsed answer. He seemed to deliberately focus on the moderator and the home audience, with McCain as an afterthought - except when on the attack. Chose to avoid humor, for the most part, in favor of a stern demeanor, and in the process, came off as cool as a cucumber. Grade: A Offense: Linking McCain to Bush in his very first answer, he kept it up as his primary line of attack. Forcefully hit McCain for his early support of the Iraq War. Though he never drew blood, he did keep McCain a bit off balance, often with clever references to McCain's recent statements. Grade: B Defense: Had a reasonable answer for every charge that came his way - with little anger, bluster, or anxiety. Often interrupting McCain attacks with swift explanations and comebacks, he managed to spin accusations of being liberal as evidence of his relentless opposition to George Bush (in replies that were clearly planned). Offered a rather clumsy alternative to McCain's well-known, moving story of wearing the bracelet of a soldier lost in Iraq (a gift from the soldier's mother), with a story about a bracelet of his own. Fearless, without condescension, he attempted the gracious move of agreeing with or complimenting a McCain position, occasionally to his own detriment. Grade: A- Overall: Went for a solid, consistent performance to introduce himself to the country. He did not seem nervous, tentative, or intimidated by the event, and avoided mistakes from his weak debate performances during nomination season (a professorial tone and long winded answers). Standing comfortably on the stage with his rival, he showed he belonged - evocative of Reagan, circa 1980. He was so confident by the end that he reminded his biggest audience yet that his father was from Kenya. Two more performances like that and he will be very tough to beat on Election Day. Overall grade: A-
McCain played right into Obamas hands...... by looking like a mean, bitter old man. Obama won the hearts and minds of the independents.... thus winning the debate. The surest way to know this, is just to turn to FOX news... had McCain really won, FOX would be "cock-a-doodle-dooing" non stop..... but instead the are hardly talking about the debate, and when they do.... they're far from enthusiastic about McCains performance.
Obama looked very good last night and he helped me cement my decision to vote for him. These are both good candidates, and despite the criticisms, neither of them are extremists. America will do fine with either of them in office. Most of the polls I've read also say that Obama won the debate, the exception of course being Fox. There was one other exception as well - Drudge. Drudge showed McCain winning handily. However, when you consider Drudge showed Ron Paul winning in a landslide during the primary season, you realize you must take Drudge with a rather huge grain of salt.