The first big debate is over, the early reviews are in, and – predictably – both sides are saying they’re happy with the way their guy did.
“I would call the debate mostly a tie on points,” blogged Jeff Alworth on BlueOregon this morning. “But as to who was most helped, I would score it a clear political win for Obama. McCain had a catastrophic week, and he needed to do more than tie on points. He needed something that would turn the election around. He didn’t get it. Worse, if you were leaning to Obama and tuned in just to see if he passed the smell test, you’d be pleased. Given the structure of the race, a tie is a pretty big win for Obama.
“Sometimes I think we over-analyze, too. Obama really does hold all the cards. In some sense, this was a low-stakes event because he knows the issues and is right on them. It was far worse debating Hillary because they agreed on everything. We had to start going to the tie-breakers to see who won, subtle things that are the height of subjectivity. But McCain versus Obama is night versus day. They don’t agree on anything, and America largely agrees with Obama. As long as he didn’t start jabbering incoherently, he was going to seem more reasonable simply because the guy you agree with always looks more reasonable. And most people agree with Obama.”
At the other end of the political spectrum, Ted Piccolo (“I Am Coyote”) was live-blogging on NW Republican: “McCain comes into the debate well behind because of his foolish political stunt of being opposed to the debate before he was in favor of it. …
“I am not sure that there was any real knock out. John McCain is clearly the better man and I don’t know that I have ever said that before. …
“As far as debate parsing goes though he missed some opportunities. He did finish strong and he put Obama on his heels pretty good at 7:23. I am not sure there was enough here to change polls one way or the other.”
And for the view from the middle, here’s Jeff Mapes blogging for The Oregonian: “Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain acted like, well, the senators they are, going at each other and the issues with great knowledge of each other and of the issues. What that means is that both did well enough to keep their supporters feeling their guy did just fine.”
For what it’s worth – probably almost nothing – most polls taken immediately after the debate said Obama was the winner. A CNN poll right after the debate found that 51% of those surveyed thought Obama won, compared to only 38% for McCain.
But from The Eye’s vantage point, McCain did slightly better than Obama. On the first couple of questions, focusing on the economy, he stumbled a few times, gave vague responses and seemed ill at ease. But when the topic turned to foreign policy – considered his strong suit – he regained his footing and waded in, pounding Obama as weak on Iraq, Iran, and the newly re-emerging Russian threat in Eastern Europe. He repeatedly called Obama inexperienced and naïve, saying he didn’t understand nuances of military strategy and foreign policy.
We thought Obama at times looked off-balance, ill at ease, and gave rambling, hard-to-follow answers. He also missed some good chances to zing McCain.
For instance, when McCain lambasted him for saying he would sit down and talk with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama could have said something along the lines of: “Senator McCain seems to think it’s wrong to negotiate peaceful solutions to our differences with other countries. I disagree. I don’t want four more years of shoot-from-the-hip cowboy diplomacy.”
(McCain comically had trouble pronouncing Ahmadinejad’s name – but who doesn’t?)
Overall, McCain managed to give the impression he was tougher, more mature, more experienced, and better equipped to handle serious foreign policy problems. In future debates, which will focus more on domestic issues, Obama is likely to have the edge. But The Eye scores Round One for McCain, narrowly.
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2008.
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Read the polls! Obama won! A little tyrant McCain is. he Couldn’t even look at him. Look them in the EYE he says and he didn’t. Wussy! McCain is just like Bush, trying to be a bully and using force, well we see where that got us. He should just quit now. That guy is wound tighter than a Bull Frogs ass!
I think that the eye needs to have their “eyes” examined. First of all, and this is something that we all should be talking more about, McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. If that is any indication of his judgement we should all be concerned if he were to lead our country. For those that have not seen her interview with Katie Kurich they should get a look at who our VP would be if John McCain was to be elected.
Obama is a much stronger leader and instills a level of confidence in our future. A “Maverick” such as McCain aided by the inexperiece and inability to answer straight questions by a reporter should shake up any logical minded human being that is concerned about the future of our country and our planet.
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_way_ahead_in_todays_trac.php
Lots of folks seem to think Obama did better. I’m one of them. He was better on the economy, and more than held his own on foreign policy, McCain’s strongpoint. You’re right, future debates give an advantage to Obama. But he conducted the debate with pose, had sharp answers, and refused to let McCain get away with incorrect “facts.” That he didn’t focus on zinging McCain is part of who Obama is. Although he did get in the “Bomb Bomb Iran,” quip. If you watched on CNN, you would have seen how the independents (and to some degree Rs and Ds as well) disliked the negative attacks in the little running response meter they had at the bottom of the screen, nomatter how appropriate the attack was, or hard hitting they just didn’t like it. This ended up hurting McCain, because he went there more often. Obama resonated with the voters, especially independents whom he’s polling well with right now. I’d say he conducted himself very nicely given all the circumstances surrounding the debate. COuld he have been stronger? Yeah, but he most likely would have had to go more negative to do so. And that wouldn’t be a smart move. His approach was smart. McCain needed more than a tie, which is at best what he got. So score that one for Obama.
Bullshit, Bruce. Even the Multi-Millionaire-Media is giving it to the half white boy. You’ve been reading The Bullshiten too long.
The media declares Obama the winner? Gee, what a surprise.
The Fact That the “EYE” saw it as a victory for McCain is just killing you Lib’s! Just wait until the election, boy will you be suprised when america stands up to be heard.
Whoa, a lot of you seem to be interpreting the post as an endorsement of McCain. Far from it. I’m strongly pro-Obama, as anybody who knows me can tell you. I just thought McCain was a little sharper and more on point in the first debate. But according to the polls most people think Obama won, and since perception is reality in the political game, that means he won.
And that’s fine with me.
We know you’re for Obama. We just think you got sucked into the MacCain’s crazy base world for a second or two. What happened???
Weekly reader – you’re missing the point – it’s not the “media” which I’m sure you think of as the “liberal media” that thinks he won, it’s the polls – scientific polls of thousands of people. Lots of them. that’s not liberal bias, that’s basic statistics.
Also, McCain is losing it. I’m surprised he held together as well as he did given the way he’s conducting his “campaign” these days.
You can’t vote “present” when you are leading this country – doesn’t that frighten any of you? Would you hire an indecisive person to run your business? Look at the record (oh..there isn’t much of one for Obama except wasting more of your money)… It’s time to stop drinking the liberal media-slanted feel good juice and start thinking for yourselves people -please…stop jumping on the bandwagon or your “party” and think for yourself and what is good for our future….Joe Biden is joke, Obama has deep-roots with Chicago’s underground…hmmmmm get out of your trance…
“Ten Bears” post is totally innapropriate BTW
“Independent,” you’re about as “independent” as Newt Gingrich.
BTW, speaking of indecisiveness, how many times has McCain flip-flopped lately? He was against offshore drilling until he was for it. He was against torture until he was for it. He was against regulation of Wall Street until he was for it. He thought the economy was fundamentally strong until he decided it wasn’t. I could go on, but I think I’ve made the point.
Here’s the real scoop. I just got back from a trip abroad and judging by the vast majority of foreigners hatred for anything Bush-like and hope for a new beginning for America – it would be in America’s best interest to elect Obama – before the World retaliates. And on a personal level – I can’t bear the thought of listening to four years of McCain whistling every time he pronounces and “S” sound!!!