After watching this debate which was supposed to be more suited to John McCain's liking, all the polls show that Barack Obama won by a landslide. Once again McCain appeared very impersonal and disdainful toward Obama by refusing to look at him, even when Obama was talking directly to him. There was very little electricity or confrontation, but there were a few telling moments that worked against McCain. One instance occurred when McCain accused Obama of wanting to bomb Pakistan, and Obama hit McCain with the fact that he wanted to bomb Iraq, North Korea, and Baghdad, which left McCain speechless. Another telling moment was when McCain referred to Obama as "that one" when talking about how the two of them had voted differently on an issue. This was very disrespectful, no not racial, but not a term I had ever heard one candidate use before when describing his opponent.
While most pundits were surprised that McCain didn't bring up the relationship between Obama and Bill Ayers, I think he played it smart by avoiding that issue. His association with Charles Keating was much more damning and it was definitely a subject he didn't want to touch when the main topic of the day is bailout. Although Town Hall formats are supposed to be McCain's strength, there was a different feel without the crowd bias he was used to. While he tried to crack jokes, because of the rules where the audience was to remain silent and unbiased, McCain lost his comfort zone, and it showed. The main thing that has made these debates boring is the fact that they have time limits on their responses. At the beginning it seemed like they wanted to go at each other, but moderator Tom Brokaw kept reminding them of the rules they had set up which actually limited their responses. Look, Presidential elections are extremely important. Get rid of these time limits, forget what's coming on TV in the next time slot, and let these candidates talk !!! Hell, programming is pushed back for sporting events, why not these debates? It doesn't make sense.
At the end of the debate, everyone noticed that McCain and his wife left after a short session of thanking people and mingling with the crowd while Obama and his wife stayed a considerable amount of time longer, talking to the crowd. I also noticed the post debate handshakes. At the very end, both candidates stood together for Brokaw's closing comments, but had to split apart so he could read the teleprompter, and they started on opposite ends of the crowd shaking hands. When they came back together, I saw John McCain shake Michelle Obama's hand, I did not see Cindy McCain or Michelle greet each other, and I saw Barack Obama offer his hand to John McCain who directed it to his wife Cindy. She shook his hand, while McCain turned away.
Afterwards, all the polls showed that once again, Obama had won the debate, mostly because he answered more of the questions that were asked. It seems that is what these debates are based on, who answers the most questions, because all four candidates have a way of avoiding certain issues. The two biggest revelations from the debate was first, the announcement by McCain about his plan for buying out mortgages, which most people thought was already included in the $700 billion bailout bill. The second was the announcement by Obama that AIG officials had used $400,000 of their bailout money to go on vacation, and his call for them to be fired and return that money. But the most ironic thing about the evening was that Michelle Obama was wearing red and Cindy McCain was wearing blue!!!
While most pundits were surprised that McCain didn't bring up the relationship between Obama and Bill Ayers, I think he played it smart by avoiding that issue. His association with Charles Keating was much more damning and it was definitely a subject he didn't want to touch when the main topic of the day is bailout. Although Town Hall formats are supposed to be McCain's strength, there was a different feel without the crowd bias he was used to. While he tried to crack jokes, because of the rules where the audience was to remain silent and unbiased, McCain lost his comfort zone, and it showed. The main thing that has made these debates boring is the fact that they have time limits on their responses. At the beginning it seemed like they wanted to go at each other, but moderator Tom Brokaw kept reminding them of the rules they had set up which actually limited their responses. Look, Presidential elections are extremely important. Get rid of these time limits, forget what's coming on TV in the next time slot, and let these candidates talk !!! Hell, programming is pushed back for sporting events, why not these debates? It doesn't make sense.
At the end of the debate, everyone noticed that McCain and his wife left after a short session of thanking people and mingling with the crowd while Obama and his wife stayed a considerable amount of time longer, talking to the crowd. I also noticed the post debate handshakes. At the very end, both candidates stood together for Brokaw's closing comments, but had to split apart so he could read the teleprompter, and they started on opposite ends of the crowd shaking hands. When they came back together, I saw John McCain shake Michelle Obama's hand, I did not see Cindy McCain or Michelle greet each other, and I saw Barack Obama offer his hand to John McCain who directed it to his wife Cindy. She shook his hand, while McCain turned away.
Afterwards, all the polls showed that once again, Obama had won the debate, mostly because he answered more of the questions that were asked. It seems that is what these debates are based on, who answers the most questions, because all four candidates have a way of avoiding certain issues. The two biggest revelations from the debate was first, the announcement by McCain about his plan for buying out mortgages, which most people thought was already included in the $700 billion bailout bill. The second was the announcement by Obama that AIG officials had used $400,000 of their bailout money to go on vacation, and his call for them to be fired and return that money. But the most ironic thing about the evening was that Michelle Obama was wearing red and Cindy McCain was wearing blue!!!
