The Clincher
I’m biased. I support Barack Obama wholeheartedly. But I was ready for McCain to do better in the town hall format.
I was wrong.
John McCain did much WORSE in this format than last time. In the first debate I though the two were roughly tied, with an ever-so-slight advantage to Obama for beating expectations on foreign policy.
In this setting McCain looked aged, bitter and lost. When he said “That one” and pointed to Obama he showed his worst side. McCain cannot hide his contempt for Obama, just as he could not hide his disdain for Senators with whom he has disagreed.
Bill Bennett said it best: John McCain has an incredibly impressive biography. But his campaign has served him poorly, and this debate failed to lift McCain.
Once again, the polls are overwhelming. CNN has Obama winning the debate by 54-30, and scoring huge in several categories.
So, is this the clincher? Barring an external national security event, a major revelation or an atrocious error on Obama’s part, this campaign is over. And yes, I say that with full knowledge of the racial issues at work here. There are people who won’t vote for Obama because he’s black. I know some of these people. But they will not tell a pollster otherwise. They are already accounted for in the polling up to now.
Will the numbers narrow a bit? Yes. No way does Obama win by 9 points as Gallup has it today. But this debate went a long way toward solidifying voter support about Obama’s leadership abilities.
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7 Responses to “The Clincher”
I thought McCain seemed sort of jittery tonight, and he seems to actually dislike Obama. I don't understand why this would be, afterall, it's the McCain campaign which has done more to provoke that particular response. Go figure…
Well, at least you're honest and open this time, Elrod! Is it due to relief at seeing Obama increasing his lead? [grin] (I wonder what it will take to get Shaun to calm down…)
I always admit my biases!
Shaun's got a few years on me so…well, I guess he's a little more jaded.
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Tonight's debate sure does feel like a clincher, doesn't it? Of course, it only ended a couple hours ago, not enough of a perspective to get a real true feel of how things went.
McCain went into this debate two runs down, needing a home run just to get within striking distance of getting back into the game. Instead, he hit a double, ended the seventh inning with no score, the fans started filing out towards the stadium exits.
After the debate, McCain essentially needs a miracle to win. Not impossible, but highly improbable at this point. Of course, four weeks is an incredibly long time in politics, and in this 'anything goes' atmosphere, well, who knows? But don't count on it. “That One”, won.
Instead, the political discourse may turn to just how many seats in the Senate the Democrats will pick up. 55? 57? 58? Dare hope 60?
Oh, and beginning Wednesday morning I expect the McCain surrogates (but not necessarily McCain himself) to start going extra-slimy negative. If you think their lies, innuendo and thinly-veiled accusations were bad over the past couple of days, you haven't seen nothin' yet. We've only seen a taste of what's to come.
I'm right with you, for the most part, Elrod. Except I did give the first debate ever so slightly to McCain – but essentially a draw, given its foreign policy tilt and personal histories of the two.
Tonight was a clear win for Obama, and by every metric. He won in the arena that supposedly played (again) to McCain's strengths. He won on the issues. And he won on personality – presidentiality, if you will. Again, while the first debate was a bit cloudy, with Obama a worthy competitor through being able to legitimately occupy the stage with McCain, tonight was a clear win for the Democrat.
All makes sense to me, Elrod, except for
” John McCain has an incredibly impressive biography. But his campaign has served him poorly, and this debate failed to lift McCain.”
1. A 70+ old biography (mostly his POW experience)does not necessarily help one almost 40 years later (Just like someone's criminal actions 40 years ago do not necessarily smear someone who was 8 years old at the time)
2. McCain served himself poorly–not necessarily his campaign