England for Obama

John McCain can’t seem to do much right lately, shame.

One surprising outcome of the last debate was the fall-out to a question asked by Oliver Clark, a young African-American who asked about the economic crisis.

McCain brazenly said that the young man had “probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before this”?

Turns out that McCain was a little off track with this comment. This quote from Oliver explains:

Well Senator, I actually did. I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. I have a bachelor degree in Political Science from Tennessee State, so I try to keep myself up to date with current affairs. I have a Master degree in Legal Studies from Southern Illinois University, a few years in law school, and I am currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration from the University of Memphis.

Daily Kos has the full story.

John McCain refereed to Obama as “that one” during tonight’s debate. Whatever he meant by this it didn’t stop “that one” being handed an overwhelming victory by the CNN analyst panel.

The final tally is in. During the debate, six CNN analysts and contributors scored in real time the performances by both presidential candidates. The number next to the pluses suggests the candidate made a “good point” while the figures next to the minuses indicate “missed opportunities.” For example, in the end, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos gave the debate to Obama with 32 pluses and 4 negatives as opposed to McCain’s 28 pluses and 13 negatives. The other five contributors and analysts included Democratic strategist Paul Begala, Sr. Political Analysts Gloria Borger and David Gergen, Chief National Correspondent John King, and Senior Analyst Jeff Toobin.

CNN Have the full post-debate coverage here

It appears that “that one” has managed to pulled off another fine victory with only 4 weeks to go until voting starts.

Michael Seitzman has written a great piece on The Huffington Post about Obama’s performance last night. Called Barack Obama And The Return Of Grace, here’s an excerpt (my bolding) -

“Watch Barack Obama in that debate and you see a man who is confident but not arrogant - hence the regular acknowledgment of his opponent when they agree. He is sure of himself, yet thoughtful in the way he explains his position. He is more than capable of being Commander In Chief, yet just as interested in being Diplomat In Chief. Standing on that podium next to a walking shadow of our past, Barack Obama stands as a clear signpost to our future.

McCain is his own history book, more interested in listing the stamps on his passport and forcing our collective groans at every mention of his maverickness and his POW imprisonment, than he is in providing us a vision of any real future under his leadership. Never mind the new cold war John McCain promises us with our enemies, what about the one he promises to perpetuate with our fellow Americans? Ask yourself this question, can you even imagine that kind of mannerless, undiplomatic, insulting discourteousness from Barack Obama? Not a chance. Obama’s unwillingness to display anger may be something that his critics see as proof of his inability to win, but it happens to be the very quality that proves he can lead.”

Indeed. And about those two bolded points:

As I wrote last night (well, this morning): John McCain was the living embodiment of the status quo and of the past last night; Barack Obama was the living embodiment of the future. Interestingly, in over 90 minutes, McCain only uttered the word “change” - his mantra of recent weeks - once. Is this a reversal of strategy? Has he realigned himself with Bush and the Republican administration? I think this might be the case. John McCain certainly came across as ‘the old guard’ last night - and I don’t see how he can change that frame, now he’s put himself back in it.

Secondly: while many of us knew about Obama’s mild manner, his thoughtfulness, his calm and measured approach to issues and style of delivery - all adjectives that could never be applied to McCain - last night was, of course, about millions of Americans watching this, properly, for the first time.

So the more I think about it, the more I realise that Obama didn’t need to deliver those killer punches that we lily-livered, bleeding heart, liberal egghead communists so wanted him to deliver to McCain. Obama just had to be himself: intelligent, gentlemanly, capable, rational, confident, positive, knowledgeable, reasonable, gracious.

Because while he may not have been tougher, or angrier, or made his points in a punchier, more memorable way, Barack Obama ultimately came across as the better man last night. And in doing so, I think he potentially reached the hearts and minds of the American people far more effectively - and on a far more important level - than he could have done with any killer-punch soundbite.