LuckCounts said:
willythekid,
I read in the newspaper in my area, (The Tribune Review, a paper that is not friendly at all to the conservative point of view) that in their opinion it was "Advantage McCain". Their reasoning was that on the economy, Obama was better, but only by a slight margin. On the safety and security of our Country, McCain was, hands down, better prepared to lead us. Not sure if that's how America viewed it. Kissinger came out minutes after the debate refuting Obama's claim. Didn't hear too much of that in the media though, I may have missed it.
After listening to all the Sunday shows, and then going out to look at a bunch of sites, even the Conservative commentators were saying that Obama more than held his own. In fact shockingly, many were saying he out performed McCain, and they were disappointed in his performance.
After reading all of the polls that have come out since that time, pretty much all declaring Obama certainly the winner, if not a pretty clear winner, can we all now agree that this forum of guys know nothing about how "average" Americans are going to view anything? Particularly how they view a debate?
the CNN poll, conducted among debate-watchers asked this
Regardless of which candidate you happen to support, who do you think did the best job in the debate -- Barack Obama or John McCain?
Obama 51%
McCain 38%
Did _______ do a better or worse job than you expected?
Obama: Better 57%, Worse 20%, Same 23%
McCain: Better 60%, Worse 20%, Same 18%
Next, regardless of which presidential candidate you support, please tell me if you think Barack Obama or John McCain would better handle each of the following issues:
• The war in Iraq: Obama 52%, McCain 47%
• Terrorism: McCain 49%, Obama 45%
• The economy: Obama 58%, McCain 37%
• The current financial crisis: Obama 54%, McCain 36%
Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think each one better described Barack Obama or John McCain during tonight's debate:
• Was more intelligent: Obama 55%, McCain 30%
• Expressed his views more clearly: Obama 53%, McCain 36%
• Spent more time attacking his opponent: McCain 60%, Obama 23%
• Was more sincere and authentic: Obama 46%, McCain 38%
• Seemed to be the stronger leader: Obama 49%, McCain 43%
• Was more likeable: Obama 61%, McCain 26%
• Was more in touch with the needs and problems of people like you: Obama 62%, McCain 32%
Based on what _______ said and did in tonight's debate, do you think he would be able to handle the job of president if he is elected?
Obama 69%-29%
McCain 68%-30%
I was shocked!
So another poll from CBS (
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/26 ... 2028.shtml)that I found found similar results among undecided voters. With them, Obama won by a huge 15-point margin.
And, on top of that, check out the reactions of people in this Fox News focus group. Even they gave Obama the win:
What the hell?
On a different note, I was going to mention how struck I was by how visibly furious John McCain seemed to be the whole time. Did you all notice? Go watch a clip from the debate again. The not-looking at Obama was parsed a lot in the early morning news shows...was it contempt? was it guilt? what was it? It was total rage!
All of McCain's body language and mannerisms were exuding the fury of someone used to getting their way and thwarted by someone thought to be inferior. To me it was striking.
Otherwise I think there's a lot of worried second-guessing this week, and I think it's easy to underestimate how fully Obama has adopted the stance of unflappability to his advantage. Where as liberals still nursing painful memories of wimpy Democrats from Kerry all the way back to Dukakis long for a candidate who will get angry and fight back, Obama's responses seem carefully calibrated to seem tough without being threatening. I'm sure Obama and his handlers are acutely aware of the line he must walk here.
Many people from varying backgrounds see McCain's relentless condescending attacks as signs of weakness rather than strength, and Obama's refusal to be baited as signs of calmness under pressure rather than weakness.
So in that light, I do think alot of you are underestimating Obama's performance.
I anticipated that he would bury McCain (based mostly on McCain's inability to read a teleprompter) and when they were done and it was close, I was mildly shocked to say the least. Later, as I was listening to the discussions about the debate and remembering key moments, I started to realize how well Obama performed. He really grilled McCain on his Iraq decisions and his comment on McCain's bracelet ("I have a bracelet too...") was masterful; he completely deflated what could have been a strong anti-withdrawal statement from McCain.
This was the foreign policy debate. Obama was supposed to lose and if he succeeded in keeping pace or even coming out a few points ahead, it's a big win for him.
The Republicans hopefully took notice and make some changes before election day.
uke:
