Comments on: Recap of the Last Debate

By: timr

timr — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:07:31 +0000

McCain won? Boy you must have been watching a different debate than I was. McCain did say that he was not Bush, but you ommitted Obamas followup. “Well if I confuse the 2 of you its only because you voted for Bush budgets the last 4 times and all of your economic plans are the same as Bush”
But McCain looked totally “gobsmacked” when Obama told him that he was wrong, that Obamas plan had him paying nothing. McCains face looked like someone kicked him in the stomach.

By: roro80

roro80 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:20:51 +0000

You thought McCain looked cool and presidential? I thought he looked like his head was going to explode every time Obama opened his mouth. He even had a few extremely noisy anger-breath-groans (that's the technical term, I think) where he seems about to lose his temper.

By: lurxst

lurxst — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:23:46 +0000

I am pretty amused at the contortionists trying to give the "win" to McCain last night despite him stepping into obvious traps laid by Obama. His "oh-sh*t" moment when Obama talked about zero fines for small business under his health plan proposal (watching McCain silently mouth an incredulous "Zero?" was worth the entire viewing committment). McCain was solid in most respects, his "you should have run against Bush in 2004" comment was pretty good, but when Obama effortlessly swatted aside McCain's Ayers and ACORN attacks, it was pretty evident (especially watching the CNN debate-o-meter) that any further use of these is only going to damage McCain's chances with independents.

Be sure to check out FactCheck.org if you are really interested in the nuggets of truth from both sides arguments, otherwise practice saying President Obama.

By: DLS

DLS — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:13:08 +0000

I'll add here that liberals on this liberal site are much better behaved today (out of a sense of confidence and impending victory?) than lefty talk shows so far today. The Bill Press show is extra loud-mouthed, for example, and as juvenile today as the very immature Stephanie Miller show typically is. Press and other guys on his show were openly laughing at Dick Cheney's latest medical complications, among other things. Scumbags.

By: DLS

DLS — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:11:21 +0000

Obama won. Score 60-40 to 70-30, Obama, if anyone cares.

I saw it on television and Obama was composed while McCain was squirrely and in over his head.

The broadcast I got to see was CNN, and it included an audience impression-meter graphical presentation during the speech, and Obama seemed to do better than McCain. (Obama hit the top of the scale when discussing parental involvement with children.)

By: kritt11

kritt11 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:43:55 +0000

McCain was solid- and less noticeably stiff– but I don't think he delivered any knockouts. It may be too little too late. It annoyed me that Obama didn't fight back a little harder–especially about Acorn and McCain's hideous choice of Palin.

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » Final debate: game changer?

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Final debate: game changer? — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:00:11 +0000

[...] Jazz Shaw, who ran our chat room last night, thinks McCain won and did everything he could to pull out a [...]

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:00:01 +0000

Good one, CStanley.

By: GeorgeSorwell

GeorgeSorwell — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:22:12 +0000

I agree about Bob Scheiffer. This debate had a lot more interaction and somewhat more substance because of the way he ran it.

By: HappySurge

HappySurge — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:58:56 +0000

I was just playing, Jazz. I'm very giddy tonight. It's an all right slip to make, I guess. Just glaring in the context of how central that was.

By: CStanley

CStanley — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:56:37 +0000

Yes, and Bob the Builder is obviously an Obama supporter (“Yes we can!”)

By: Jazz

Jazz — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:44:30 +0000

Absolutely right, Happy. I'll fix that. It's not excuse, but I was also moderating a live chat with 1500 people in it during the debate. Anyway, the narrative seemed more important than the name, but it's worth looking over.

By: ChrisWWW

ChrisWWW — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:44:21 +0000

Jazz, I think we both agree that McCain was able to control the debate, but we reach ed different conclusions. As I said on Why We Worry, I think this debate was pretty much a replay of the dynamics of the first debate. McCain controlled it, but at the cost of being a jerk.

That attitude didn't work for McCain with voters in debate 1, so I doubt it will work this time.

By: HappySurge

HappySurge — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:41:38 +0000

For the record, Bob was a builder. Joe was a plumber.

By: HappySurge

HappySurge — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:38:20 +0000

It's “Joe the Plumber.” Maybe it says more about your analysis that you couldn't remember a name put forward about 90 times in a debate. Maybe if I watched the debated as closely as that, I'd also think John McCain was the winner…

By: CStanley

CStanley — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:21:26 +0000

One can always Monday morning quarterback these things, so I could certainly say that McCain missed a few opportunities…but I wholeheartedly agree with your conclusion, Jazz.

McCain had Obama on defense most of the night. The only problem is that Obama has become good at playing defense (he responded smoothly to all of the blows) and he didn't need to put points on the board tonight so it wasn't really a loss for him even though McCain did about as well as possible.

By: C-SPAN Debate Hub » Blog Archive » McCain: Aggressive, Solid, Competent

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:08:02 +0000

[...] McCain: Aggressive, Solid, Competent October 16, 2008 at 12:07 am [...]

By: Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Barack, John, and Joe The Plumber: The Blogs React

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:50:45 +0000

[...] Jazz Shaw: In the end? I give this one to McCain. He was aggressive, solid, competent and on his game. They both looked presidential, but McCain seemed able (for the first time) to play the part of the elder statesman schooling the new kid on the block. Was it enough to sway the minds of undecided or marginal voters? Time is short but we shall see. I do believe that McCain did everything he could possibly do to turn this thing around. [...]