DISQUS

Mumon · 1 year ago

From what I've read and seen, McCain lost the debate rather big, evidently because he did not engage Obama. He never made eye contact with him; he never referred to him in the 2nd person, and as one of Josh Marshall's readers pointed out, that kind of makes him look like the gamma monkey, and evidently snap-polling of undecided voters wound up scoring for Obama.

Don't get me wrong: I think Obama could have done much better on the foreign policy bit (the "surge" per se didn't work, it was the pay-offs to sheiks that did the trick; we could have saved oodles just by writing checks and sending troops home). And it took forever for Obama to point out that McCain didn't know the difference between a strategy and a tactic.

But one thing is evident: these things are won viscerally, not because Americans actually delve into policy.

Richard Bennett · 1 year ago

I watched most of the debate, and my immediate reaction was that Obama won it as well. But the first reaction gave way to the realization that Obama relied too heavily on painting McCain with the Bush brush, and even though that's mostly accurate, it doesn't square with the public's perception that McCain is a maverick.

The main thing Obama should stress is that this is not a time to send a team of disjointed, free-wheeling mavericks to Washington - we need a sober team with good judgment and grasp of economic matters. As teh man said, in presidential politics "it's the economy, stupid."

Mumon · 1 year ago

You're right; it's time for Obama to put away the Bush brush; McCain's an incompetent in his own right.

Shadow · 1 year ago

McCain soundly beat Hussin just as Gov Palin throughly splattered Biden tonight.The markets will swiftly make an up swing once President McCain is elected.  God forbid, if the muslim is elected blue fabric will be in strong demand..

Richard Bennett · 1 year ago

I love that sense of humor.