I think he held his own...He definitely appeared calmer and more composed than McCain...Given that this was supposed to be McCain's "area of expertise," I'd say Obama did just fine! What is the general topic of the next debate?
Submitted by Frances Buckley on Sat, 09/27/2008 - 2:05pm.
Hey, let us not forget McCain's last minute shenanigans - dragging Obama off to DC for NOTHING. Nice attempt to exhaust him. Guess he forgot that BO isn't the same age as he.
Submitted by ilemiami on Sun, 09/28/2008 - 11:15am.
Obama held his ground I think alot of undecided voters will be swayed !
On another note I think McCain's new commercial where Obama is shown agreeing with him; will backfire. Alot of the people I've spoken to said they really liked the fact that Obama showed integrity by not disagreeing with McCain all the time. Shows willingness to work across the isle. With McCain seems like he knows everything and any other idea is off the table.
Submitted by WheresMyRepParty on Sun, 09/28/2008 - 12:34pm.
Whether or not either individual's performance won the debate seemed irrelevant to me Friday night. What seemed clear is that Obama's policy positions clearly won over McCain's positions.
- More Americans may be concerned about how we are viewed abroad, recognizing that we are losing influence in the world. I think Obama made a clear distinction that he would be better at improving our image. McCain showed no interest in our image. To me, this shows that McCain doesn't understand this impact on our economy and security.
- I think more Americans recognize that political isolation of unfriendly, even enemy, regimes has failed to produce results. McCain is obviously still tied to this failing approach. Even if unsuccessful, Obama's position would go a long way to restore our credibility and gain more partners.
- The Iraq question. I think Obama may have missed a couple oppurtunities to call out McCain on what is considered victory in Iraq, but I didn't think he missed on this topic. On the "surge", I thought a subtle point was made that the "sruge" is now over, so did we win or not McCain? But this may have been lost on the average viewer. Again, I think Obama missed some oppurtunities to highlight that the "surge" hasn't led to victory in Iraq, but the message is starting to form.
- There were some subtle points about how McCain's Iraq position leaves us vulnerable elsewhere, while Al Qaeda reconsitutes itself in Afghanistan and strengthening ties in Somolia, Sudan, Pakistan, etc. I thought Obama hit a couple points about McCain's misunderstanding of strategy versus tactics at the preseidential level, but unfortunately I don't know if he connected all the dots for the average viewer.
I am not sure what debate the analysts were watching on the news networks, but I thought they gave too much credit to McCain on his style. McCain may be able to drop names and places, but he looked like he was ready to blow half the time, not to mention his obvious disdane for Obama. He looked silly when he cracked his trademark jokes, partially because the audience were told not to react to the candidates.
Obama wasn't the greatest either, but I thought he was defintely more composed than McCain. I could see Obama handling himself better when dealing with foreign leaders, especially if they presented a differing argument or action.
In the end Obama reinforced my position that he intends to lead with an eye toward the future, while McCain is looking toward the past (and not learning from it).
Submitted by TinSoldier on Sun, 09/28/2008 - 9:34pm.
With regards to foreign policy, I think that Obama hit it out of the park. At least with regards to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He kinda whiffed on Russia where he had the chance to make yet another home run.
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, & wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russel
Submitted by LesleyM on Sun, 09/28/2008 - 10:35pm.
Of course we missed you! You always offer calm, solid information and opinions and I enjoy reading them. I was just asking the other day where & Wolfman had run off to.
Congrats on the new job!!!! Drop in when you can :-)
I was afraid the public might be fooled by John's tricks, like it was 4 years ago in similar debates. But polls show that they understood the contrast between judgement and haste, pragmatism and dogmatism, a sound leader and an opportunist politician.
Obama did very well considering that Foreign Policy is not his best subject / background.
Dick Morris just released his Article & was firm that Obama won!
The next debate (Oct 7) has no topic. It is a town-hall forum in which pre-determined audience members will ask questions on all kinds of subjects.
The third is supposed to focus on domestic and economic policies.
Frank Luntz interviewed undecided voters in Las Vegas. Verdict? Obama won.
FOX News Focus Group: Obama Wins Debate
Obama/Biden 2008
And he was gracious.
Obama held his ground I think alot of undecided voters will be swayed !
On another note I think McCain's new commercial where Obama is shown agreeing with him; will backfire. Alot of the people I've spoken to said they really liked the fact that Obama showed integrity by not disagreeing with McCain all the time. Shows willingness to work across the isle. With McCain seems like he knows everything and any other idea is off the table.
Whether or not either individual's performance won the debate seemed irrelevant to me Friday night. What seemed clear is that Obama's policy positions clearly won over McCain's positions.
- More Americans may be concerned about how we are viewed abroad, recognizing that we are losing influence in the world. I think Obama made a clear distinction that he would be better at improving our image. McCain showed no interest in our image. To me, this shows that McCain doesn't understand this impact on our economy and security.
- I think more Americans recognize that political isolation of unfriendly, even enemy, regimes has failed to produce results. McCain is obviously still tied to this failing approach. Even if unsuccessful, Obama's position would go a long way to restore our credibility and gain more partners.
- The Iraq question. I think Obama may have missed a couple oppurtunities to call out McCain on what is considered victory in Iraq, but I didn't think he missed on this topic. On the "surge", I thought a subtle point was made that the "sruge" is now over, so did we win or not McCain? But this may have been lost on the average viewer. Again, I think Obama missed some oppurtunities to highlight that the "surge" hasn't led to victory in Iraq, but the message is starting to form.
- There were some subtle points about how McCain's Iraq position leaves us vulnerable elsewhere, while Al Qaeda reconsitutes itself in Afghanistan and strengthening ties in Somolia, Sudan, Pakistan, etc. I thought Obama hit a couple points about McCain's misunderstanding of strategy versus tactics at the preseidential level, but unfortunately I don't know if he connected all the dots for the average viewer.
I am not sure what debate the analysts were watching on the news networks, but I thought they gave too much credit to McCain on his style. McCain may be able to drop names and places, but he looked like he was ready to blow half the time, not to mention his obvious disdane for Obama. He looked silly when he cracked his trademark jokes, partially because the audience were told not to react to the candidates.
Obama wasn't the greatest either, but I thought he was defintely more composed than McCain. I could see Obama handling himself better when dealing with foreign leaders, especially if they presented a differing argument or action.
In the end Obama reinforced my position that he intends to lead with an eye toward the future, while McCain is looking toward the past (and not learning from it).
With regards to foreign policy, I think that Obama hit it out of the park. At least with regards to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He kinda whiffed on Russia where he had the chance to make yet another home run.
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, & wiser people so full of doubts.
-- Bertrand Russel
There you are!! We missed you :-)
Did you really?
I took something of a break. First I got caught up in an internet flash game and then just... stayed away for a couple of days.
Monday I start a new job so I still might not be here much.
It's nice to be missed, though. Thank you!
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, & wiser people so full of doubts.
-- Bertrand Russel
Of course we missed you! You always offer calm, solid information and opinions and I enjoy reading them. I was just asking the other day where & Wolfman had run off to.
Congrats on the new job!!!! Drop in when you can :-)
Senator McCain didn't lose because President Obama spared him
I was afraid the public might be fooled by John's tricks, like it was 4 years ago in similar debates. But polls show that they understood the contrast between judgement and haste, pragmatism and dogmatism, a sound leader and an opportunist politician.