Seemed mostly a draw to me which is a net loss for McCain since he needs to catch up. The snap polls show folks regarding Obama as the winner by a fair margin. Technology like the snap polls and the viewer-meters seem to short-circuit the ability of the spin machines to gear up a narrative that alters the perspective retroactively. (Gore’s “sigh” being a big deal, for example.)
Now, if there was a “sigh” moment from tonight, I’d say it’s McCain referring to Obama as “that one.”
Format sucked. Brokaw’s “Russia: Evil empire? Yes or no?” question was ridiculous.
Yes and when he condescended to explain to Oliver, the black guy who ‘probabably had never heard of Freddie & Fannie’….sheesh.
Obama was televised at length on C-span
greeting people after the debate and McCain,having ducked out early,was conspicuous by his absence.
It reminds of a time I ducked out of school just after after the dismissal bell and heard about it later from a parent. Little things like this people don’t miss.
Did anyone notice that McCain mentioned Meg Whitman as a possible Sec’y of the Treasury? He lost about half a million votes from eBay users who are pretty pissed off with the way they are treated. Good one, John.
I’ll second “format sucked.” And who were those cardboard cutout people in the background?
My initial impression was an Obama win, and David Brooks said the same thing so I must be right.
Joke
Obama didn’t come off as angry, but serious. McCain on the other hand seemed shaken in the beginning and obviously found his footing during the foreign policy segment.
The so-called ‘Town Hall’ doesn’t work. Real town hall meetings hinge on give-and-take between neighbors, where even if there’s a little frostiness, they know they’ll meet in the grocery store tomorrow. So there’s pressure to (a) deal with the issue, and (b) find some kind of consensus.
The lack of follow-up is frustrating too. I keep wanting to say, ‘your honor, please instruct the witness to answer the question.’ That’s the one thing I like about being in court…
I’ll second (third.. forth) the “format sucked” comment – even less likely than usual that you’ll hear anything of substance.
I walked over to the Obama rally in Indy today (it was “in my hood”). I guess rallies aren’t my thing – 15,000(ish) people who all think the same way doesn’t get me anywhere. But I’m glad I went all the same – to people watch and listen. Also, interesting to see a more firey version of Obama from the more formal speeches and debates.
Obama highlights (for me):
paraphrasing Reagan with “Ask yourself if you are better off than you were 4 WEEKS ago”
“raise your hand if you make under $250,000”
(BTW, no candiate wants to talk about the “lower class” but I heard several people joking afterward about the $200,000 cutoff for getting a tax break being so VERY far away from where they are.)
On the McCain/Palin smear attempts: “I can take 4 more weeks of John McCain’s attacks, but the american people can’t take 4 more years of John McCain!”
Oh! and the line about how the one glimmer of light in the current situation is that in 3 1/2 months there won’t be any more Bush administration! HA!
The huge majority of people with of any view point are polite and civil generally,but I think the increasing vile tone by some supporters at the McCain-Palin rallies, like yesterday in PA ,are inspired by super-heroine Palin,with Cindy McCain also contributing yesterday.
This may be an irrational connection,but what jumped to mind was Dutch home exchange friends relating to me years ago how beautifully the German soldiers sang when they marched into Holland,all these handsome young men like they were a traveling choir.It’s the incongruency of the overall picture,and scary when we ponder it.