I'm going to give John McCain some credit for tonight's debate. He didn't engage in character assassination. He didn't bring up Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, or Tony Rezko. Good for you senator. Hopefully you will send the message to the rest of your campaign.
With that out of the way. I think Obama won the debate hands down. He took on McCain's supply side economic policies, his saber rattling foreign policies, his radical healthcare policy, and his drill baby drill energy policy.
6 comments:
The narrative of the last couple of days, that McCain is frustrated at having to run such a dishonorable campaign to have any shot of winning, do you buy that? Do you think that he's simply ceded control to others who lack any sense of restraint, or is he driving things? It's an interesting contrast: I don't think anyone has any questions over who's in charge of Obama's message. What does the degree of control over their respective campaigns have to say about their ability to be an effective President?
I thought it was interesting after the debate, the media was making a big deal out of McCain's comment when he referred to Obama as "that one." To be honest I wasn't that surprised, and was actually expecting worse from McCain. What did you think about that comment?
I can't tell what the implications of the 'that one' comment according to the media was supposed to be. But, I felt it was one of McCain's more vibrant moments so far. I felt it contrasted to his awkward scoffs/laughs when he's trying to call Obama out in his conventional ways. It was a point at Obama's voting record that I'd never heard and he seemed to deliver it with what seemed like a little emotion. The problem for him is that Obama is capable of those sorts of moments with a bit more consistency, usually actually seeming to care about what he's speaking of.
I guess I have a different view than Mike. It's pretty clear that John McCain has no respect for Barack Obama whatsoever. In the first debate McCain never even looked at Obama, and talked about him as if he wasn't even there.
From my point of view, Barack Obama has every right to be on the same stage as John McCain. Obama won his party's nomination fair and square. I guess my response is that Barack Obama has a title and a name. It would have been nice if John McCain picked one of them.
Jason, I think you raise an excellent question. I do think that the last couple of weeks have raised questions about John McCain's ability to govern.
First McCain is against the AIG bailout before he is for it. Then he fake suspends his campaign, descends on Washington, and throws a wrench into the negotiations over the Wall Street bailout. He ups the ante by saying he wont debate Barack Obama until there is a deal. Debate night comes, no deal is reached, and McCain decides that he will debate after all. It just left me wondering what the hell is going on in that campaign?
If you ask me, we've had a president for the last 8 years that acts first, and considers the consequences later. The results have been disastrous.
Hey Jason, here is a great post by one of my favorite bloggers that is very relevant to your question.
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