So I watched last night.

mccain_obama_debate_1.jpg

Going into the debate I was about 60% Obama, 40% McCain, based on my thus far unscientific review of the candidates and my positions on the issues (no matter what Nutmeg might think).  I felt Obama at least had assembled an economic plan and was going to be better able to adapt to the quickly changing financial landscape, and that’s got to be among the most important, immediate challenges facing the next President.

Then the debate got rolling. McCain spoke in simple terms about votin’, fightin’ and taxatin’ that reminded me a little of Sara Palin. Not an advantage.

Obama was very articulate. At the start. I don’t know if he felt like he was coming off as elitist relative to McCain, but soon he was talkin’ ’bout taxatin’, too. By mid-debate the closed captioning service had to make a run to Wal*Mart for more apostrophes.  It didn’t seem to take very long before it appeared Obama was getting flustered and on the defensive, accidentally thwopping his mic and spending a good portion of each of his time chunks explaining and clarifying.
Obama fired the first salvo, the first negative shot. He spoke first, so I suppose that’s to be expected.  McCain, possibly following on the success of Obama’s lines in his acceptance speech about things McCain doesn’t understand, sang the same refrain about Obama, and did it often.

One thing McCain did on a few occasions with success was to give a more historical perspective on current situations; an understanding of what happened in the previous two decades  that led to today’s current state in the various situations abroad (Pakistan, Iraq, Russia) that were discussed.  He made a point that resonated with me; if Obama was so concerned about the situation in Afghanistan or Pakistan, why didn’t he get on a plane and go see for himself?  McCain claimed that as the chair for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on European Affairs, he’s done little.  It’s a job his running mate worked to be able to turn into something truly substantive.  The selection of Biden for his credentials as a foreign relations guru came because of his work holding the very same position Obama holds in the Senate.

Another thing that resonated was the claim of meeting without preconditions Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (totally copied and pasted that name, btw).  And not the substance of the point, but the nitpicking of factual details, mainly because they were so easy to track down and verify.  Obama claimed Henry Kissinger and other of McCain’s own aids said the very same should be done.  Ha!  Except that I was near a computer, googled it, and discovered that Kissinger never said the President should meet with Ahmadnoyoudi’int without preconditions (this wasn’t the page I found at that moment, but I can’t find that page now - google it yourself to do your own fact checking).  He said talks should begin at a much lower level.  Obama had it wrong.  Next, Obama said he never indicated he would meet personally, but would possibly have a cabinet member start the discussions.  Nope.  Unless he wants to channel Bill Clinton and challenge the meaning of the word “I”.

And advice to Obama - the telecast was carried live in the Middle East, so when Obama described Ahmadinejad’s rants as a crazy lunatic (or whatever it was, I don’t recall exactly), he may have soured Ahmadinejad on Obama, should the conditionless meeting ever come to pass.

In the opening statement Jim Lehrer quoted Dwight Eisenhower.  Shortly thereafter McCain provided as part of an answer an anecdote of two letters Eisenhower wrote.  One of Diane’s concerns was whether the 72 year old McCain still had all his faculties.  Either it was spectacular luck that Lehrer opened with that quote, of McCain really does still possess his full compliment of mental abilities.

I thought Lehrer did a great job of making this about the two candidates speaking to each other and not to himself.  And he tried his best to get both to answer the “what would you do without, now that we have to spend $700B on a bailout” question; McCain fired from the hip on Lehrer’s second time around, while Obama stuck with the things he wanted to spend on, not the things he’d have to cut out.

In all, I thought Obama did not perform as well as I’d hoped.  I think this debate could be chalked up as a McCain win.  This makes my decision harder, as now I’m back to about 50-50 for each candidate, with VP selection favoring Obama.  Two more to go.  If Obama wants my vote, he’ll need to have a better command of his opponent’s record, his own record and be able to take control of the debate instead of very much looking the subordinate.

And one last thing - I think I agree with Nutmeg on one part of her earlier comments - most everyone has already made their decision and will not be swayed by the debates or any facts presented contrary to their beliefs.  McCain and Obama are probably fighting over 10-15% of the population that have not yet made up their minds.  I’m part of that population, so taking notes during debates and doing some online digging then posting my findings here feel relevant to me.  I’m not really trying to change a McCain or Obama supporter’s mind; I’m not of the left, nor necessarily the right (though I’ve made my leanings as clear as I’m able, and an argument on that last point could probably be made).

Game on, Obama and McCain.