Debate Liveblogging
| Fri Sep. 26, 2008 5:59 PM PDT
DEBATE LIVEBLOGGING....Here it is. The main event. Obama vs. McCain. Is your skin tingling? Are you drunk yet?
Wrapup – Am I off base, or was this one of the most soporific presidential debates in a while? Frankly, I didn't think either one of them did very well. There was way too much rambling, and way too few sharp points. Overall, McCain was more lively than Obama, but if the point of the debate was for Obama to show that he could hold his own on national security, then count it a win for Obama. I wouldn't call him a big winner, but he certainly did at least as well as McCain, and that might have been all he needed.
Of course, within a few minutes I expect conservatives will all be telling us that McCain was simply brilliant tonight. Absolutely masterful. I expect many repetitions of McCain's talking point about Obama being naive. If they say it often enough, they figure eventually everyone will agree with them.
10:36 – McCain says directly that he thinks Obama is unprepared to be president. Was that a good move? Or too much?
10:32 – Why does Obama keep starting to make a good point and then suddenly veer off to something else? He was about to make a good point about the danger of overfocusing on Iraq, but suddenly he's off on China, then healthcare, then the economy, then veterans affairs. Shouldn't he instead drill home a point about winning in Iraq requiring that Iraqis themselves take responsibility for their own security? Or something. But finish the point, in any case.
10:29 – Obama supports missile defense? I didn't know that.
10:24 – Todd Gitlin notes that Obama looks at McCain and reacts to him, but McCain stares rigidly ahead and refuses to make eye contact with Obama. Weird.
10:22 – McCain is really driving home two themes: (1) He's visited everywhere and met everyone, and (2) the world is full of threats, threats, threats. Will his constant repetition of these things wear on people? Not sure.
10:17 – Obama had some opportunities to drive home his point on preconditions, but I'm not sure he did. Conversely, McCain's little burlesque about sitting across the table from Ahmadinejad while he insults Israel was demagogic, but it might have been effective.
10:07 – Obama says the Iraq war has made Iran stronger. That's a good point, and maybe one that a lot of viewers don't understand. But he didn't really make the sale.
10:04 – According to the audience-o-meter, even Republicans didn't react to McCain's reference to "existential threat" and "second Holocaust."
9:52 – Decent answer from Obama about what we need to do in Afghanistan in Pakistan. Things are picking up a little bit.
9:39 – McCain: I hate President Bush. I'm a maverick!
9:34 – How did we get on nuclear power plants? Wasn't the question about what programs they'd cut because of the cost of the Wall Street bailout?
9:31 – This is just excruciatingly boring.
9:27 – Obama just said we have to free ourselves from dependence on Mideastern oil. I think that's one of our bingo squares. Hooray!
9:25 – McCain is kinda rambling now.
9:22 – If the audience-o-meter is any indication, these guys are putting the entire country to sleep.
9:20 – Hmmm. Obama has decided to refer to McCain as "John," not "Senator McCain." Good idea? Or bad?
9:19 – McCain: Spending is bad. Earmarks are evil. Gateway drug. DNA of bears. Yada yada yada. Obama: Senator McCain is absolutely right. But....tax cuts for the wealthy. CEOs! 95%! McCain: Earmarks! I'm the sheriff! Sigh.
9:13 – Come on, guys. Let's pick up the pace. So far this isn't even as interesting as a stump speech.
9:08 – Wow. McCain actually had the balls to say that House Republicans "decided to be part of the solution to our problem"? That's chutzpah.
9:07 – John McCain is feeling better tonight. Why? Because Republicans and Democrats are sitting down together to work on our financial crisis. You could have fooled me....
9:05 – What is that weird line at the bottom of the CNN screen? Instant audience reaction, it seems. Is that really necessary?
9:02 – Ah. "National security" includes the global financial crisis. Glad to get that cleared up.
8:59 – Apparently the French conduct better debates than us. Sheesh. We're losing our global lead in everything.
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Continued From Above
Comments
Does anyone else find it odd that McCain refuses to address Obama directly?
At one point, Leher asked McCain to direct his answer towards Obama & McCain answered looking straight at Leher, not Obama.
McCain, so far, seems to to think he's delivering a stump speech. His timing is odd, like he's waiting for applause hits. Obama, on the other hand, seems to be actually responding to to questions with real answers. Does that matter? In the end, probably not, but so far, from what I've seen: Obama pwned McCain. Period.
Submitted by Independent Perspective (not verified) on Fri Sep. 26, 2008 6:48 PM PDT.
McCain said he disagreed with Bush on torture - that is a LIE. of course, Bush final act was too endorse it.
McCain has flat out lied servral times already in this debate. McCain is saying things that are patently false.
Also, does anyone find it odd that McCain, so far, has responded to every question with an anecdote instead of actual policy proposals?
Obama is behaving like this an actual debate. McCain is acting like it's a platform for the greatness of McCain. McCain's continuing reluctance to directly address Obama is confusing & could be spun in a negative way, unflattering to McCain.
I disagree with everything McCain believes. But Obama is the worst Democratic debater since Mondale.
This is blow-out: McCain is convincing the so-called "Reagan Democrats" that Obama is a mere child compared to McCain.
This is very sad.
Four more years, my God.
French politicians of whatever stripe tend to be intelligent and able to speak. For that matter, in debates the Brits beat us, the Canadians beat us, everybody who debates beats us. Part of that is the format we insist on using nowadays, which is ludicrous, and part is that one party in particular always nominates idiots. Idiots don't debate well and it's pretty much impossible to debate an idiot and have it come out well.
Both sides will claim victory. Within the margin of error, it has been a tie.
McCain gave Obama plenty of chances to clean his clock and Obama failed to captitalize.
Obama has GOT to quit saying "John is right about ..."
This election is going to be close enough that the Publicans will be able to steal it. We're frakked.
Lehrer had to give McCain the last word...
McCain repeated a lot of his talking points, but they didnt work against Obama in the primary and I don't think they'll move a lot of opinion. McCain needed a breakthru and didn't get it.
This is blow-out: McCain is convincing the so-called "Reagan Democrats" that Obama is a mere child compared to McCain.
Oh bullshit, the whole debate is crap, and it's because Jim Lehrer is the suckiest EVER moderator, because Lehrer sitting on his ass, doing nothing but letting the whole thing diminish into a mud slugfest. Lehrer is suppose to moderate and hardly even present.
Oh, and there McCain goes again about torture BUT McCain BACKED Bush's torture policy, Obama needs to look that up.
McCain is looking sick to me, that man is sick, or has a sickness, his talk about "winning" in Iraq. With the bailout haning over our heads, talk about Iraq is simply stupid as hell.
And Jim Lehrer SUCKS BIG TIME.
Submitted by MB (not verified) on Fri Sep. 26, 2008 7:40 PM PDT.
Kind of wish Obama were showing more strength in this debate in terms of getting through. Too many times when he and McCain talk at the same time its McCain who ends up talking and getting his point across. While that may have been polite, the body language coming across was that it seemed McCain was the stronger of the two. Also, Obama keeps letting McCain get away with saying "Obama just doesn't understand ..." I think he's got to cut that out or he's done for.
Submitted by bob5540 (not verified) on Fri Sep. 26, 2008 7:51 PM PDT.
For me, the clear winner was Obama, of course, but from the point of view of an undecided/independent, I'd call it a tie.
You have to remember: A tie with McCain on foreign policy is really a win for Obama.
Submitted by Independent Perspective (not verified) on Fri Sep. 26, 2008 7:53 PM PDT.
Wrapup:
Jeebus McCain's talk about Iraq and Vietnam there at the end, that was just creepy as hell. With this Bailout, why talk about success in Iraq if we sinking as a nation.
We need to get out of Iraq. That's is the issue.
