Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

a plus for Obama: on post-debate news Biden is available for his points, Palin is not.

ha!

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Might as well post my opinion for history. Neither one did so well / so bad that they'll gain / lose support in the polls. McCain stuck to his script. Obama seemed to adjust better. But Obama didn't go after McCain about his poor voting record on recent veteran's funding and not support the new GI Bill. Obama should have gone for the jugular then. McCain not looking at Obama when Obama was engaging him was a clear dick move by McCain, but I doubt most people noticed.

Jason

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Obama could've scored big if he had attacked McCain when Johnny dipped into the Petreaus/Victory In Iraq puppetline by talking about Petreaus' more recent comments that there is no "victory" in Iraq:

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09...y4482028.shtml

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Just the first of three guys.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

CNN gives it to Obama too. Overall:

Fifty-one percent of those polled in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey of Americans who viewed the debate say that Obama won. Thirty-eight percent of those polled say that John McCain did the best job.

Tonight supposedly being McCain's strongest subject, I'd say this is a damaging loss for him.

A Drudge Report poll has McCain winning right now though. Although I think Drudge Report pulls in more conservatives than liberals.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Here's a detailed CBS poll showing numbers pre- and post- debate among undecideds. Some areas of improvement that Senator Obama made with the group are astonishing just after the first debate.

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/2008Debate1.pdf

Per CBS:
Nearly half of those uncommitted voters who watched the debate said that their image of Obama changed for the better as a result. Just 8% say their opinion of Obama got worse, and 46% reported no change in their opinions.

THE DEBATE’S EFFECT ON OPINIONS OF THE CANDIDATES
(Among uncommitted voters who watched debate)


McCain saw less improvement in his image. 32% have improved their image of McCain as a result of the debate, but 21% said their views of him are now worse than before.

Obama McCain
Better 46% 32%

Worse 8% 21%

No change 46% 47%


Jason

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

This can only mean one thing...




http://i38.tinypic.com/spkc1s.gif

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

did mccain make eye contact once with obama - it was weird, came off as so angry that he couldn't even look at him. what a bizarre dynamic from a presidential candidate.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

There was hardly any eye contact from McCain - it was like he didn't want to be seen to be acknowledging Obama as an equal. I suspect he'll be briefed on that between now and the next debate - along with that creepy smirk and that occasional Bush-like snickering that he did.

Gotta say, I'm surprised CNN etc are reporting that Obama 'won' the debate. Pleased but surprised.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Yeah, that's what a lot of pundits were discussing. McCain didn't look like he wanted to acknowledge Obama. But to be fair, one of Obama's big mistake(s) was saying "I agree with John" too much. I'm guessing some GOP ads in the coming days will have that spliced next to whatever McCain said.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Yeah, I thought that seemed a little low-class. Obama would be speaking directly to McCain, and McCain would just stare off into the crowd refusing to return the eye contact, almost like he was pulling a fingers-in-the-ears "la la la la! I'm not listening!" type of thing.
It seemed like a toss-up at first, with the pundits calling it a draw overall....until the external poll numbers started coming in. That's when they started calling it for Obama. I feel so relieved for the moment.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

he's that high school chick that sent invites to her party, and then bears an ubergrudge to those who didnt come to her party. re: the tone of his campaign is snarky because Obama refused his townhall meetings (and he repeats this when he said that the debate wouldnt have been important if only obama came to my party)

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

i tend to side with McCain on the town hall meetings. i think that would've been interesting— but we'll see how they do in the next debate, which is a town hall meeting.

personally, i thought it was a draw. McCain made some good points, and Obama made some good points. it was nothing like the first debate 4 years ago when Bush made a complete ass of himself; McCain and Obama are a better match.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

i want you to go to my town meeting

i want you to suspend your campaign as i'm suspending mine

i want a meeting with the president and you need to be there

i want the debates posponed, and you shoud pospone it also.

i did this, i know how to do this.


with that kind of attitude, i don't think McCain would've been acting any differently whether it was a standard debate or a townhall meeting.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Leave it to Chris Rock to uniquely analyze the debate on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BStLF-jaIK8


Jason

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

Good comments, i agree with y'all!

The debate was pretty entertaining, in that comincally, neither candidate actually answered any questions specifically, but rather gave their canned talking-point responses. Especially brilliant was the final question, which turned into their closing remarks instead of sticking to the issue.

That said, Obama seemed much more confident and willing to engage McCain and called him out on various "facts". Granted, he got some mixed up, too.
McCain did seem a little whiny with his "Sen. Obama just doesn't understand" repetition. Sadly, some folks will fall for that. Age and experience doesn't always equal good judgement. Then again, a strong debaterdoesn't automaticaly equate witha good next president.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

I thought that this debate was pretty poor. They didn't even really debate, they just spoke on different points.

I feel like neither person actually 'won'.

One thing I noticed that I didn't like about Obama was that he couldn't even get McCains first name right! He called him the wrong name 3 times that I heard!

I think that while Obama has some good speeches, and is an excellent orator, his choice of language is too heavy at times for the general American audience. While, McCain, on the other hand, may not have the vocabulary, but when he speaks he does so in simply common language, which more people can quickly pick up on and relate too.

The VP debate should be much more entertaining and sporting event like.

Re: a thread to discuss the 9/26 debate
 

CNN's "poll of polls" just came out showing that the debate changed nothing. The conclusion based on this was that while Obama didn't "win" the debate, the draw plays into his favor as the front-runner, and leaves McCain still hoping for some way to break out.

Yeah, I remember wincing a little when that happened. It scared me given how the campaigns and media today are so ready to pounce on any tiny detail and immediately exploit it.