[Ghoser777]

Wow, McCain seems to be doing a lot better job tonight.

[Dakar V]

McCain is way ahead right now.

[hyteckit]

Why does McCain look like he wants to cry all the time? Blinks like 60 times a minute when he talks. Bad sign.

Wow, McCain whines a lot.

[Ghoser777]

Most memorable part of the debate: Joe the Plumber.

[Dakar V]

McCain with the first deep breath of the night!

[hyteckit]

McCain looks like he is about to explode and kill someone.

[Dakar V]

Ayers reference! Looks like McCain is going to empty every chamber tonight. I imagine Big Mac is pleased.

[Dakar V]

I don't think Obama could have handled the Ayers & Acorn subject any better than he did. Cool, calm and collected.

[Dakar V]

He's not dealing with the "Is Palin qualified" question so well, however.

[Krusty]

Are the original posts serious? McCain comes across as quite twitchy and nervous from the outset. Glad the Ayers/Acorn issues came up. I predict the electorate will care even less about it over the next few weeks.

[Dakar V]

McCain was solid on the first two questions. Then he seems to get flustered and irritated as time goes on. He seems more centered again, for the moment.

[tie]

McCain needs to come back to the Ayers issue. If Obama is really a terrorist and secret Muslim, then isn't that by far the most important issue? What is McCain doing talking about the economy? "Off with his head," is what he should be saying, like they say at their rallies.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

McCain was solid on the first two questions. Then he seems to get flustered and irritated as time goes on. He seems more centered again, for the moment.

Yeah, he seems calmer and more centered now.

[hyteckit]

I think Obama smiles too much, even when it seems odd to smile.

[Dakar V]

That was genuine laugh on the sit down reference, and an awesome segue by McCain.

[Ghoser777]

Damn! Obama just told McCain on the pumber.

[Dakar V]

Was McCain's reaction to the zero penalty answer genuine surprise or sarcasm? I couldn't tell.

[hyteckit]

I think McCain is losing the healthcare insurance argument badly.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Was McCain's reaction to the zero penalty answer genuine surprise or sarcasm? I couldn't tell.

He seems shock and dumbfounded. What!

[ironknee]

I saw an eye role

[hyteckit]

Joe the Plumber will be the superstar tomorrow.

Everyone will be asking who's Joe the Plumber.

[Dakar V]

McCain has put out some great statements on this abortion issue, and Obama has managed to make himself come off pretty passably. I think McCain did himself a disservice with his irritated rebuttal at the end (Air quotes eloquence! air quotes).

[Dakar V]

"swiftly, after they are given an opportunity to prove themselves."

I actually loled.

[design219]

On balance, I'm giving this one to Obama.

[hyteckit]

Wow. McCain sounds like he is pleading/begging for votes.

[Dakar V]

Closing statements:

McCain came off as more genuine.
Obama didn't sound like he completely believed what he said until the very end of his statement.

[hyteckit]

McCain was genuine in the closing statement.. genuinely begging/pleading for your votes.

[tie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

"swiftly, after they are given an opportunity to prove themselves."

I actually loled.

Democrats have to toe the union line on education. Republicans don't, but they couldn't care less about the issue, so they never do anything about it. It's too bad, because we really need to change something here. Overall, I think Obama has the advantage, since he at least has a real interest in the issue.

[hyteckit]

Winner: Joe the Plumber

[pooka]

God. How anyone can BELIEVE anything coming out of either man's mouth is dumbfounding. What a complete crock of ****. You all lose.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by tie 

Democrats have to toe the union line on education. Republicans don't, but they couldn't care less about the issue, so they never do anything about it. It's too bad, because we really need to change something here. Overall, I think Obama has the advantage, since he at least has a real interest in the issue.

I don't give a ****. The point is he proposed a contradiction. It was funny to hear.

[tie]

Originally Posted by hyteckit 

He seems shock and dumbfounded. What!

I guess he believed his own mendacious attack ads and never looked into Obama's proposal himself? Looking ignorant on national TV doesn't win debates.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by ironknee 

I saw an eye role

Does it involve "seeing?"

[ironknee]

McCain was bold

Obama was strong

closest one yet

however

[hyteckit]

I can say McCain does seem erratic.

Going from calm and collective, to almost blowing his top, and then to shock and dumbfounded. I love McCain's funny faces.

[ironknee]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Does it involve "seeing?"

explain?

[hyteckit]

I say it's a close debate. I predict no clear winner in the polls on the debate, although I agree with Obama more on health-care and education reform. Again, Obama was cool, eloquent, and collected.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by ironknee 

explain?

rick roll != rick role

[Big Mac]

McCain got stronger with each debate, with this being his best performance yet. Unfortunately, he still missed major opportunities to hammer BHO on taxes (especially his ridiculous 95% mantra), Entitlements and health coverage. He brought up Ayers and ACORN but only as essentially an afterthought. He failed to point out the radicals advising BHO on foreign policy. He didn't link BHO to Jimmy Carter, which he could have done easily as a retort to BHO's linkage of him to Bush. He could have said something like, "Senator, you're wrong about me being indistinguishable from George Bush, but if you want to play that game I'll give you a much more apt analogy: You're the second coming of Jimmy Carter. And my friends, even in this sluggish economy I think we can all agree that we're still far better off than we were under Jimmy Carter." That would have worked very well, but McCain apparently didn't want to go all out - perhaps he really doesn't want to be President that much. McCain was on the attack much of the time but didn't deliver a knock-out punch, and his closing remark while positive and heart-felt, was too soft and didn't drive home the distinctions between him and his opponent.

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by pooka 

God. How anyone can BELIEVE anything coming out of either man's mouth is dumbfounding. What a complete crock of ****. You all lose.

^^ Sums it up.

Thank you all for participating, that's a rap.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

McCain got stronger with each debate, with this being his best performance yet. Unfortunately, he still missed major opportunities to hammer BHO on taxes (especially his ridiculous 95% mantra), Entitlements and health coverage. He brought up Ayers and ACORN but only as essentially an afterthought. He failed to point out the radicals advising BHO on foreign policy. He didn't link BHO to Jimmy Carter, which he could have done easily as a retort to BHO's linkage of him to Bush. He could have said something like, "Senator, you're wrong about me being indistinguishable from George Bush, but if you want to play that game I'll give you a much more apt analogy: You're the second coming of Jimmy Carter. And my friends, even in this sluggish economy I think we can all agree that we're still far better off than we were under Jimmy Carter." That would have worked very well, but McCain apparently didn't want to go all out - perhaps he really doesn't want to be President that much. McCain was on the attack much of the time but didn't deliver a knock-out punch, and his closing remark while positive and heart-felt, was too soft and didn't drive home the distinctions between him and his opponent.

And how many people he would be addressing actually experienced life in this country under Carter's leadership that ended in 1981? How many people have this solid an understanding of history?

You overestimate the intellect of the public.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

And how many people he would be addressing actually experienced life in this country under Carter's leadership that ended in 1981? How many people have this solid an understanding of history?

Not enough, I suppose. But if Obama is going to deceptively bring up Great Depression keywords, then the much more recent Carter administration should be on the table, too.

You overestimate the intellect of the public.

You're probably all-too right, but researchers do claim there can be wisdom in crowds so I guess we'll have to see.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by design219 

On balance, I'm giving this one to Obama.

And so do the majority of those polled. 58% Obama to 31% McCain.

McCain won in two categories. Eighty percent of debate watchers polled said McCain spent more time attacking his opponent, with seven percent saying Obama was more on the attack. Fifty-four percent said McCain seemed more like a typical politician during the debate, with 35 percent saying Obama acted more like a typical politician.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/...oll/index.html

[Mrjinglesusa]

I'm sorry, but McCain just comes across as a grumpy old man. I just can't see him as the President of the United States.

[Krusty]

The main problems with the Carter analogy is that the policies of Obama look a lot more like "Republican lite" than Carter. The entire county has moved to the right over the last 28 years or so... what about Obama's policies look like Carter ??

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Krusty 

The main problems with the Carter analogy is that the policies of Obama look a lot more like "Republican lite" than Carter. The entire county has moved to the right over the last 28 years or so... what about Obama's policies look like Carter ??

Socializing health care (Carter was talking about that in his debate with Reagan), high marginal tax rates, weak, appeasement-based foreign policy, lack of remedies to an energy crisis. Should I go on? Oh, and opposition to true reform of Entitlements.

[TheMosco]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

I'm sorry, but McCain just comes across as a grumpy old man. I just can't see him as the President of the United States.

Yeah, someone was saying that part of McCain's plan was to try and get Obama to get riled up. Which is funny, because the only people that McCain riled up was himself.

McCain was good last night, but Obama was better.

[Dakar V]

I gotta hand this one to Obama. Here's why – in my mind you can't bother judging the debate on policy (at least heavily) because, short of a candidate meltdown, it's always going to fall along partisan lines.

Last night McCain started confident and aggressive. He took it to Obama. But by the third question, Obama hadn't been rattled and that seemed to rattle McCain. Once McCain pulled his trump card (Ayers & Acorn) and Obama gave as calm and collected a response as I thought possible, McCain got worse (culminating with the "None?!" reaction to the small-business taxes which blew my mind).

McCain gave a better response on the Roe v Wade issue, but somehow Obama managed to do some creative lawyering to his answer that would leave most of the clueless not realizing that he essentially supports a litmus test.

In the end McCain threw everything but the kitchen sink (which would be a Carter comparison, that I was surprised not to see pulled out), and Obama handled most of it fairly well. I think that, in turn, made McCain look poorer in that he couldn't get his accusations to stick. Game Obama.

[paul w]

I disagree - I've never heard a better defense of Roe V Wade by a presidential candiate than by Obama. BUT McCain was excellent in speaking about judge confirmations.

All in all - I'm not sure who McCain expects to pick up from the Obama supporters or undecideds by constantly attcking Obama - especially when it became a question of Obama saying something, McCain saying you're wrong. Attcking Obama, allowing him to eloquently respond and so on.

McCain needed to be more substantive, and he failed on that.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by paul w 

I disagree - I've never heard a better defense of Roe V Wade by a presidential candiate than by Obama.

Then you haven't heard many Roe v. Wade defenses. They all talk about the "right to privacy." Have you ever read the decision itself? The problem with Roe is that it's just bad judge-made law. Judges are supposed to interpret the law, not make it.