just watched the first debate today. i really felt it was a draw. if you were really "listening between the lines" so to speak, all we really got were the same talking points (and even a lot of the same jokes on McCain's part) we've heard a thousand times in the past 3 months. I really refuse to believe there's this vast majority of people out there who don't start paying attention to the campaign until the debates comes on, so why not get down to the nitty gritty? both candidates pulled out some old chestnuts--McCain beating the long-dead "no preconditions" horse, and Obama going on and on about how many times McCain sided with Bush.
Like nubbins, I'm also disappointed in either of them for talking specifics about the programs they want to push and which ones would feel the razor's edge if this bailout ties up a lot of federal money. But I think obama did do a good job of "attacking" McCain. A lot of people for some reason want Obama to fall into the trap and start doing some angry yelling and fist-pounding, but his slice-and-dice of McCain's earmark math and the obviously stupid refusal to be persistent in diplomacy with Iran and North Korea were fundamentally solid, true points and i think he got the logic of it across. And it seemed to me his interruption of McCain whenever he made some outrageous claim with a stern "That's not true, John." or "You know that's a lie, John," came across as meaningful and made McCain look stupid for trying to reword it seconds later. We can't have Obama acting like some forum-junkie just going "WTF Dude?"
Also slightly worrisome was the fact that both candidates really treaded water on the russia question, seeing as how neither of them has a plan. of course, that's gonna be up to the handlers, analysts, and State Department officials later, but stepping in a hole by saying "i'm totally against what they did to georgia but obviously did nothing about it" is kind of stupid.
overall, McCain's tone and tenor did come across as pissed off and irritable, but he was definitely more well-behaved than he could have been. Obama to me seemed spot on, mostly avoided the Vaudeville routine that demo candidates of the past 20 years have been doing with the "i'm reminded of a middle-class factory worker i met in Dead Indian Falls last month who had an unbelievably sad story blah blah blah" (save for that stupid bracelet skit, what was up with that? it was like a Mac/PC commercial), so that's a plus. but i really don't feel any more confident about Obama or have any more spite for McCain than I did yesterday. Both of them are locked into the party mode based on data and plotlines they had to start spouting way back in january, and things have changed. Right now to me, personally, the Iraq war has gone through a sea change and we need to analyze the new data before making any plans, and this bullshit about sending more troops in Afghanistan that both of them want is another band-aid when cold hard surgery is needed (i.e., getting Pakistan on our side and getting the UN to share in the care of the Afghani infrastructure).
So we'll see how things go with this next town hall debate. but overall, i expect they'll all be about the same unless one of them makes some unbelievable gaffe that the other one can just hit over his head for 90 minutes in october. Palin and Biden though....bring the popcorn. i think it'll come across as part-SNL sketch, part-Baboon dominance fight. As I overheard someone say recently: "It's like watching a monkey fuck a coconut: it's funny, but more than that, it's sad."
