The First Debate

Overall I think it was a very good. It was…. an actual debate! Substantive and detailed. Both men knew what they were talking about. I got to see how they think, their core messages and core personalities -- light-years better than the last two presidential debates. Obama cited a lot of basic facts and figures and kept the focus on ordinary people. McCain keeps coming back to a more morally-oriented view – its that honor thing again. He talks about corrupt financial officials, victory with honor in Iraq, a Russia run by an evil KGB. On foreign policy, Obama is now the prudent realist and McCain is the impulsive neoconservative.

Obama did very well, and I’m relieved. I’ve been very fearful of this moment; I was never impressed with his debate presentation during the primaries, and sometimes, as in the infamous ABC debate, he was terrible. He has a halting manner that makes him look like he lacks command of what he’s saying – like he’s just thinking through the issue in the moment he answers rather than drawing on thinking that he’s done before. But that was gone tonight. He was comfortable and forceful. His best debate performance yet. More than that I thought his foreign policy arguments were clear, coherent and assertive, even a little aggressive sometimes (like on Pakistan). He is confident in his national security positions; he is not Kerry or Dukakis. He is the best candidate on these issues the Democrats have had in a while.

McCain was ok, though a little passive, and also a little annoyed sometimes. He never looked Obama in the eye and refused to call him by his first name when Obama occasionally called him “John”. He also seemed to have a little contemptuous sneer as Obama talked. My guess is that this reflects a real feeling – I think he can’t STAND Obama. Still, he didn’t have any bad moments, could bring up impressive personal anecdotes and on certain answers, like on Russia, he showed his extensive command of the issues.

One thought that occurred as I was watching. I imagined Palin in this kind of debate…. Shudder.

Some specific moments:

9:35 -- When asked how the financial bailout would affect their plans Obama responds with superficialities, but McCain responds with a suggesting he would have a spending freeze. That seems specific and unexpected.

9:37 -- Obama: "It's been your president... who presided over this increase in spending. This orgy of spending and enormous deficits you voted for almost all of his budgets. So to stand here and after eight years and say that you're going to lead on controlling spending... I think just is, you know, kind of hard to swallow."

9:42 -- Obama on Iraq: “you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong.

You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. And you were wrong.

if the question is who is best-equipped as the next president… then I think we can take a look at our judgment.”

9:54 -- Obama’s talk on Pakistan feels a little blustery and maybe empty. When he says that we coddled Musharraf, I wonder if a Democratic administration would have done anything different.

10:04 -- McCain is talking about his idea of forming a League of Democracies to deal with Iran. This seems like a potentially reckless, bad idea, the kind of idea that I am worried about given McCain's personality: His League would not include Russia and China and might cause dangerous splits and tension among world powers. Obama counters in exactly the right way, by pointing out that we need Russia and China to deal with Iran.

10:08 -- Obama defends his “negotiating without preconditions” well. McCain brings up Kissinger and Obama flips Kissinger back onto him by pointing out that Kissinger agrees with Obama.