Official Obama- McCain debate thread

I think Obama won this debate. John McCain never talked about education once during the debate. Obama mentioned it several times.

John McCain also never looked at Obama. I thought that was rude.

After watching the whole thing, I am shocked that the two candidates who are running for President are so much less informed about the world than I am.

People like McCain cant even pronounce words like "naivety" and thinks he is living in 1920 rather than 2008 with his ignorant rhetoric about Putin and Iraq. Obama on the other hand is also so naive about Iran and adopting the irrational fears about Russia and their position on Georgia.

I personally expected (from all the hype !) Obama to come out decisively on top in a debate where as he just ambled along. Unlike a true statesmen he seems to be more inclined towards an academic discussion. I also didnt expect him to take a position of ignorance against Russia and South Ossetia. On Iraq, he didnt even press McCain hard enough. And with Pakistan he didnt press hard enough.

But at the end of the day I found both of them disappointing with Obama less disappointing than McCain. But in the debate, they both came out as even.

[edit on 26-9-2008 by IAF101]

I think I had pretty low expectations of McCain and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did. He had a lot of information in his head that he was able to recall with no trouble.

He did get off subject quite a bit and went into stories a little too often for me. He was a bit dramatic and emotional, but that's who his is. His anger was palpable at times and he never looked at Obama. He even scooted off to the right side of the podium to apparently get further away from Obama and his defensive moments made him seem just a little "off" to me. It was really strange. He was livid at times.

As far as having good information and being able to convey their thoughts and ideas, I thought they both did amazingly well.

Of course, I prefer the content of Obama's message and I prefer his style of straightforward information without all the stories, and I appreciate his intelligence and ability to remain calm and not get offended. He seemed quite presidential to me, whereas McCain seemed insecure and defensive.

So, while McCain supporters will probably see McCain as the "winner", from my perspective, Obama convinced me once again that my support should go to him.

I was also pleasantly surprised that Obama did so well on the subject material. He is supposed to be "weak" on Foreign Policy and strong on economy, but I couldn't see any weakness tonight. He knew his stuff and I liked and agree with most of his ideas.

reply to post by Frankidealist35

I agree with the commentators on the fact that the first 40 minutes about the crisis in the economy was lacking, I think a lot of people in America tuned in to hear more about their plans and where they stand on that issue in Congress and we didn't really hear anything new.

I think McCain spent more time trying to back Obama into a corner and grill him and less time actually laying out his plans as to what he is actually going to do about foreign policy. I don't know if that will hurt him in the long run or what, but it felt like I was hearing more about Obama from McCain than I was hearing about McCain from McCain.

I guess we'll find out how this first debate affected independent voters eventually in the coming days.

Must add, supposedly McCain did not get much rehearsal in. That's been the word going into this. Of course a leader shouldn't need rehearsal but it still gives someone advantage to have one.

I like how humor was kept on the downlow. Compared to other presidential debates, I think the seriousness of the state of the nation was brought across really well.

Needless to say it was sorta dry and not entertaining. A good sign for this day and age.

[edit on 9/26/2008 by AndrewTB]

Well in all honesty I think they both lost

I see better debates here on ATS

Overall Obama "looked" better during the debate although one could argue that McCain was looking at Lehr when answering questions while Obama was staring at a camera. Obama was on the defense most of the night, even on the economy which surprised me.

Obama tried to play pin the McCain on the Bush, but it didn't seem to work for the most part. McCain did his best to portray Obama as inexperienced and naive and for the most part it stuck. Overall, no major blunders, but McCain wins on points. He whacked Obama on earmarks, taxes, the Surge and Georgia and Iran. Obama counters to those were mostly ineffective, he was definitely blocking while McCain was punching.

The coolest / strangest part of the debate was when Jim Lehr asked both of them what would they have to cut from their plans because of the bailout and neither would cut anything. Classic politicians there. They both came up looking rather empty on that one.

reply to post by TheAgentNineteen


I noticed this too. Most times, when Senator Obama interrupted Senator McCain, McCain would just let him talk. A couple of key moments, when it was McCain's turn to respond, Obama attempted to interrupt, and McCain just doggedly and calmly continued...... whatever Obama said was lost, and right after that McCain pushed hard to be heard and succeeded.

I thought McCain was much more fluent with geographical knowledge, and it rolled easily for him, or seemingly so. His experience was brought into play, and while I think they both were well prepared and spoke fairly decisively, I think McCain showed style, and patience and seemed ...... well......... Presidential.

I'll be the first to say that I've not been an Obama supporter. I've not really been a McCain supporter either, though leaning more that way.

I think McCain stayed to answers to the questions for the most part, and sounded seasoned. I think the tale will be told in the upcoming debate between the potential VPs. I think Biden will be a difficult aversary. We'll see.

Originally posted by argentus
I think the tale will be told in the upcoming debate between the potential VPs. I think Biden will be a difficult aversary. We'll see.

I think it's telling when Biden shows up for an interview after the debate to get his thoughts and the GOP declines to let Palin talk and instead brings Giuliani in to speak. That doesn't bode well.

[edit on 26-9-2008 by davion]

reply to post by Dollar Bill


I don't understand what you mean........ you mean that people discussing Senator Obama DON'T use his middle name, or are forbidden from doing so?

and yes, I think "big ears" is a less than savory middle nickname for the Senator, somewhat disrespectful, but perhaps you coined that in response to a perceived insult by a member of the Democratic party.

Originally posted by AndrewTB
I like how humor was kept on the downlow. Compared to other presidential debates, I think the seriousness of the state of the nation was brought across really well.

Needless to say it was sorta dry and not entertaining. A good sign for this day and age.

Obama isn't one to crack a funny line for the most part. That might end up hurting him. When McCain made the crack about "what, did you think I couldn't hear him", I just couldn't picture Obama doing something similar.

Originally posted by Sonya610
Seriously, yes Obama appeared to be on the defensive. McCain appeared to be under a bit of pressure, but speaking his own truth and not basing his existence and his reactions on his opposition.

I do not think OBAMA seemed on the defensive at all. In fact my couple here from NZ
thought OBAMA was more commanding, relaxed and they pointed out that he was the one pressing the momentum.

I thought Mccain did good don't get me wrong...

In my opinion, the debate comes down to this. One candidate was looking forward, the other was looking back. Obama concentrated on what we need to do, McCain concentrated on what he has done. In my opinion, we need someone looking to the future, let the history books worry about the past. Another thing that struck me was McCain never looked into the camera, or into my eyes, where Obama spent most of the debate did. Then there was the graph on the bottom that showed how the audience was reacting, which clearly showed Obama won this one, and I'd have to agree.

John McCain did very well in this debate, so did Obama, the unfortunate part is that both were lying through their teeth the entire time.

I thought that Obama by consistently saying that McCain is right made for a weaker statement. However some may have seen this as crossing party lines and being non partisan. However McCain kept using fear of terrorism to promote himself as the choice for America, which America is sick and tired of being played like that.

reply to post by davion


It really doesn't does it? Very good point.


You know what I really dislike about all these debates? The prattle on the "news" stations afterward, telling us what we saw. I have to shake my head sadly and wonder if I was watching some sort of alternate reality Bizarro feed. Sorry just a side rant -- someone on CBS just characterized McCain as "nervous" and "hesitant". I sure didn't see that. I also didn't see him with a sheen of sweat, although that's not really fair to say, me being a terminal sweaty person and all

reply to post by davion


I have a feeling they will keep Palin under wraps till the debate.....it won't give Biden much to work off of in practice. Who is the moderator for that debate BTW? I think Palin is going to surprise quite a few people in a positive way with their debate. I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating her, plus Biden will have a hard time attacking her without looking like he is beating up on her. I don't think Mr. Ego can pull off a subtle debate, but maybe he will surprise me too.

reply to post by argentus


I don't watch the play-by-play after these debates. All they provide is entertainment.

Last time I checked, I had a brain, intelligence, and common sense. I think I can figure out for myself what these guys were saying and what they weren't.

I don't need others to decipher it for me (and I don't like the implication that I can't think for myself), and I hope that other intelligent voters don't, either.