Quick Debate Thoughts

This was easily John McCain's best debate. It seems like he has gotten stronger with each one, and has gained his footing a bit in these settings. I think clearly he liked the sitdown format. For the first 15-25 minutes, I thought he was getting the better of Barack Obama, and had the Democrat on his heels with his strong, direct criticism and attacks. McCain was crisp in many parts, and sharper than usual.

The problem is that Barack Obama is just too good in these things. After a slow start, Obama too gained his footing, and was completely stable until the end. In the face of McCain's hyper-criticism, Obama remained poised and collected throughout. McCain might be getting better with each debate, but unfortunately for him, there are no debates left to fight.

I think it was pretty clear that McCain's handlers hammered into his brain to be on the offensive at every possible moment, and he was, though often to his detriment as the debate went on. He came across nasty at times, quite shrill, and even whiny when he was complaining about being attacked himself. This last point seemed silly given his attack mode the entire event.

Another problem McCain had was that he harped for far too long on issues that appeal to his base supporters and no one else. Abortion. Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court. Earmarks. Pork barrel spending. The Iraq war. Sure, this stuff is music to the ears of his true believers, but undecided voters and independents, even socially conservative ones, do not care much about these themes in this election. By focusing his time on these and other issues, McCain pulled himself away from the key economic issues he needed to be focusing on in order to win critical independent voters. In the end, the CBS (53-22) and CNN (58-31) instant polls showed not only that Obama won the debate by a wide margin, but that he crushed McCain among independents (57-31 in the CNN poll). This is a terrible showing for Senator McCain.

Let's just be fair and blunt. Barack Obama is better in these types of things than John McCain. There is no shame in that. Obama is a spectacular speaker, and incredibly polished. He is almost as good as Bill Clinton, though he lacks Clinton's aura of empathy and personal warmth that makes the former President the best I have ever seen. John McCain simply appears old, stale, and even a bit unsure of his footing next to Obama. His mention of Joe the Plumber was a nice trick, but saying it in every answer became almost a pathetic joke, and it made McCain look even older and more out of it. McCain caught Obama early, but for the whole event, Obama just rolled with the punches and was even able to control the flow from a sometimes-defensive posture, much like a superior boxer deflecting blows from a wild puncher opponent. I am not trying to be funny, mean, or a partisan, that is just how I viewed the whole thing.

On balance, John McCain did better tonight than in the previous two debates. There is no question about it. But the only way for him to really score points in this election -- a race he finds himself down in with 19 days left -- was to score a decisive blow or two, or have Obama make a brutal error. Neither event happened. As a result, as sharp as McCain may have been overall (at least in comparison to his other two debate efforts), this debate will not change anything for the better for the Arizona Senator. If anything, it will further harder voters' positive views' of Obama, and make it even tougher for McCain to find a way back up.

Grades:

Barack Obama. Poised and polished, seemingly unflappable, always on message and not overly nasty. A-

John McCain. Better than ever for him, sharp early, aggressive throughout, but more grating and overly nasty as the debate went on. B+