< class="posttitle">Two Guys in Mississippi
Posted by: Steven Perez in TV, current events, politics, the good stuff, tags: 2008, barack obama, bitter old man, debate, jim lehrer, john mccain
I had a blast in the FriendFeed Debate Room last night. The comments were flying fast and furious (as were the vodka shots), and a good time was had by all, as the environment was, for the most part, collegial and civil.
Nothing really surprising about the debate itself. Obama did very well, looking and sounding presidential (which, after eight years of the exact opposite, was a welcome change). He landed some nice shots, bringing up bits of info about health care and economics that don’t get nearly enough coverage.
McCain, well, …
I’ll take a shot at this. McCain hates Obama’s guts. I’m no expert in the field of body language, but what I saw was a bitter, condescending old man (“Obama just doesn’t understand”) who personalized every criticism thrown at him so profoundly that he could barely keep himself in check (the 1:14 mark was fun, though; shades of the real Old Man Surge came through when he came thisclose to shouting at Obama.)
And it showed. McCain ducked and diverted nearly every question asked him, acting like a petulant kid – “Yeah, but OBAMA THINKS THIS!!!” Nice job, Senator. Here’s an original thought: how about you stop telling me what Obama thinks and tell me what you think, and then follow it up with how you plan to solve the problem? And try to use complete sentences that don’t resort to talking points, either.
Poor Jim Lehrer. He really tried to keep a handle on these two guys. He did ask solid questions, though, and didn’t let go when he thought the candidates were trying to pull a fast one. Good moderator all around.
The funniest bit of the night, though, was after the debate. Nearly every pundit I saw on CNN and MSNBC was calling the debate for McCain, gushing about how McCain was pugnacious and really held his own. This lovefest lasted right up until the first polls came out showing that most people polled thought that Obama stomped McCain. Those brainless yahoos couldn’t backtrack fast enough, even though there were a few partisans still left on the tube this morning, trying to paint this as a win for McCain.
Now I can’t wait for the VP debate. Biden v. Palin. That’s gonna be some damn good TV.
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