The first debate verdict? A tie
OK, so I’m not going to go into a long dissection or commentary on the presidential debate here - it’s 3.50am for gawd’s sake - except to sum it up with the following:
Obama absolutely held his own. He came across as very smart, very calm, very thoughtful, very measured and yes, presidential. He was, of course, probably far too wordy and wonky for some people - and while there were flashes of emotional brilliance, they were, sadly, only that: flashes. The snappy sucker-punches we were all hoping for failed to materialise.
McCain came across much better than he has done in recent weeks. Possibly because he wasn’t using a teleprompter. He’s much better off-the-cuff than when reading prepared speeches and suddenly seems emotionally connected with what he’s saying.
Obama kept saying “John is right”. On the one hand, this made him seem generous, intelligent and bipartisan; on the other, it kept making McCain sound good. Arrrgghh.
McCain tried the opposite tactic: continually telling us that Senator Obama just “doesn’t understand”. It was at best patronising and at worst aggressive. But I’m sure his base loved it.
McCain never looked at Obama once. This made him seem scared (and rude). Obama, on the other hand, would often look across at McCain as he made certain points.
In general: Obama focused on the future; McCain focused on the past (and even seemed to be bringing up the idea of the past in our future. Cold War seconds, anyone?). Obama was positive, McCain negative. I’d say that this was the starkest difference between the two, and the nub of how they came across.
McCain kept talking about what he had done - votes and decisions and anecdotes, “I” this and “I” that - keen to remind us of his record and his history (he even invoked himself when asked about 9/11). This tactic made him seem arrogant, defensive and backward-looking - but Obama could have done with more of the “I” stuff. People don’t know him well enough; they don’t know his record.
It’s hard to say right now who came out with the best soundbites, but I’m suspecting Obama. Which could mean that some of the post-debate spin will go his way.
But in short: I’d say it was a tie.
And the overriding feeling as it was all being played out? That we were, quite simply, witnessing the status quo versus the future. The current regime, the current situation - the way America has operated for the past 8 years - versus a new regime and the possibility of a very different future for the United States.
John McCain represents one. Barack Obama represents the other. There they were: your two choices, America. And that’s another reason why it’s a tie - because I can’t see many people changing their minds, one way or the other, based on tonight’s performance from the two of them. You either want the status quo to continue - or you want a change. And it really is as simple as that.
Tags: barack obama, debate, debates, John McCain
September 27th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I agree with your verdict on this. It looked like a tie from my view. Obama took the initial part of the debate. It got even near the middle and McCain was stronger at the end (how much stronger is what is argued).
I thought Obama shouldn’t have said that McCain was right as much as he did. That played into the repeated condescending comments of “Obama doesn’t seem to understand” from McCain making the compliments from Obama (in the spirit of diplomacy) one sided. For the McCain campaign that is god sent and they’ll run with it.
Obama had an impressive and dominating depth of knowledge in the economic crisis facing ‘mainstreet’, using this to show up the flaws on McCain’s economic plan and one sided arguably ineffective tax cuts. However, you could say the same on McCain’s experience on Iraq issues which he used to put Obama in the back foot.
But if I were an Obama supporter I’d be pleased to see that my candidate didn’t get dealt a knockout blow on an area (foreign policy) that he seemed to be less experienced in - which constituted 75% of the debates topic. This isn’t what the McCain camp wanted.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I agree about the dynamic of “John’s right”/”Obama doesn’t understand” - together, as you say, they make a powerful hit. but that said, it also highlighted the negativity and antagonism of McCain versus the positivity and bipartisanship of Obama. and there was McCain, continually talking about how *he* was the one that ‘reached across the floor’!
Also agree on Obama’s depth of knowledge. I never doubted that, but realise that many people will have been watching - *really* watching - him for the first time last night. And I think he passed the knowledgeability test with flying colours.
On Iraq, he could have been more forceful about how it was about not making the same mistake again - and absolutely should have done so when McCain put him on the backfoot about this. He did say it, and probably more than once, but as with many of his other brilliant points, it was lost somehow in the language he couched it in. Indeed, he was making many brilliant, potentially hard-hitting points throughout the debate - just not in a sufficiently memorable, hard-hitting way. It would be great if he can improve on that for the next two debates.
In short: I think he did great. As you say, all he really needed to do in this one was not be dealt a knockout blow. And while he may not have been tougher, or angrier, or made his points in a better way, ultimately he came across as *the better man* - which counts for an awful lot in the minds of the public, I think.