Washblog || Post Debate Open Thread

Post Debate Open Thread

By Arthur Ruger
Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 09:10:05 PM PST
Section: Stories In Progress Topic: General news/info

Your opinions solicited.
Others ...

kos
That said, there's no doubt what the public will think. Anyone watching CNN on a hi-def TV could see the dial focus group of a bunch of Ohio undecided voters. And throughout the night, it often seemed that Obama would break the darn meter, his ratings going through the roof.

McCain, on the other hand, was the king of the flatline. I swear, you could see the downticks every time McCain said "my friends" -- a tell to the audience that he was about to serve another heaping dish of b.s. It was painful.

According to the Republican pre-debate spin, McCain was supposed to use "humor" to soften the blow of his mighty attacks, but 1) did any of his attacks connect? and 2) can anyone say, in all seriousness, that McCain delivered a single effective laugh line?

Goldy
MY IMPRESSION: This debate sucked, and would have been intolerable without beer. But more
importantly, whoever Americans ultimately determine won the debate (shh... Obama), there's
no way McCain did what he needed to do to shake up this race and seize the momentum.
Therefore, Obama wins. (Shhh.)

Andrew Sullivan
this has not just been an Obama victory. It has been a wipe-out.It has been about as big a
wipe-out as I can remember in a presidential debate. It reminds me of the 1992 Clinton-Perot
-Bush debate. I don't really see how the McCain campaign survives this.

Jeralyn (Talk Left)
Thankfully, it's over. It was a terrible debate format, Tom Brokaw disappointed, McCain was
incoherent, snivelling and condescending. Obama appeared Presidential.

Josh Marshall (Talking Points Memo)
This debate struck me as a marginal victory for Obama on points, but because of the state of
the race a substantial victory in terms of the overall race. Obama more than held his own. I
think Obama's answers were more coherent. And there were several exchanges where I think
Obama had very strong answers, which I noted in the live blogging.

That said, McCain did fine. I think his supporters will think he put in a solid performance. But the bottom line is that right now McCain is losing. He has to shake things up. But he didn't.

John Aravoisis (America Blog)
McCain mocking Joe Biden's hair plugs. What? That's just deranged, and it shows the depth
of McCain's inner anger. McCain is simply not a stable individual. He's a very angry man,
and he showed that tonight. Every time he tried going negative on Obama he did it in such
a heavy handed way that it blew up on him.

Pharyngula
<sigh> If ever I hear the words "my friends" again, I shall gag. Defining moment for me was
when McCain insisted that Obama was dangerous because he would speak too loudly (while
later castigating him for advocating diplomacy), and Obama came back to point out that
McCain was the one singing "bomb bomb bomb, bomb Iran".

In other words, McCain was a desperate fraud while Obama was calm and well-spoken. Although I also felt Obama was thin on specifics and rich in politician-speak. He didn't thrill me, but he was solidly better than his opponent.

< King County Tackles Mental Illness | One Editor's View of the Rossi Candidacy Pt. I >

Post Debate Open Thread | 9 comments (9 topical)

I think Brokaw almost did us a favor

being so mean about audience reaction and tough on Obama. I think the silence for McCain might have been deafening.

I think Obama is laying pretty low and it's probably smart as I believe the election is won if we make sure everyone votes. But, I'm disappointed as some of his framing.

Best line on Dailykos: 'A public service announcement: If anyone's drinking game includes the words "my friends," please, I beg of you, put down your glass now.'

by ktkeller on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 10:46:05 PM PST

* 1 none 0 *

My friend I couldn't agree with you more. by Arthur Ruger, 10/08/2008 09:01:52 AM PST (none / 0)

The best lines for me were the question/answers

that speak directly to the underlying cause for our failed capitalis system of health care in this country.

Health care a right or a commodity subject to supply and demand market pricing?

McCain thinking on his feet at dial-up 72-years-old speed came up carefully with "responsibility." What did he mean by that?

Obama, thinking on his feet and without hesitation
simply said, "a right of course."

I don't believe McCain has the intellectual grasp of what that question from a thoughtful non-stampeded voter really asked.

Arthur
What they inwardly imagine is the only thing they'll accept.

by Arthur Ruger on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 09:12:30 AM PST

* 3 none 0 *

My Good Friend in Boston by ktkeller, 10/08/2008 12:28:20 PM PST (none / 0)

Even better, how about "public good"? by eridani, 10/09/2008 12:37:52 PM PST (none / 0)

On overhead projectors

What McCain considers an overhead projector (thanks to Josh Marshall:

It turns out that that "overhead projector" John McCain claimed Barack Obama tried to get a $3 million earmark for was actually money to rebuild Chicago's Adler Planetarium, the oldest planetarium in the United States.
McCain's "overhead projector" is the apparatus that runs the planetarium, which is a bit like calling thePalomar Observatory a new set of glasses.

Obama could have responded to McCain with a similar comparison, as in ... Senator McCain calling the object of my support an "overhead projector" would be like me calling a Navy Fighter a paper airplane.

Arthur
What they inwardly imagine is the only thing they'll accept.

by Arthur Ruger on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 12:18:57 PM PST

* 4 none 0 *

the real story here... by fake consultant, 10/08/2008 02:13:44 PM PST (none / 0)

Why couldn't McCain say to Obama's face

all the smeary stuff he and Gov. Palin have been saying on the campaign trail?

He should have the courage to repeat the kind of hate mongering that their campaign has been spreading on the trail -- such as described by the The NYT editorial this morning --and say it to Obama in person in front of the US people. I think this shows cowardice.

Or maybe he's just senile, as where he calls Americans, "my fellow prisoners":

by noemie maxwell on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 01:58:54 PM PST

* 6 none 0 *

that stuff is great... by fake consultant, 10/08/2008 02:16:21 PM PST (none / 0)

Post Debate Open Thread | 9 comments (9 topical)

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