Oct 08 2008
Your Second Presidential Debate Thread
You will no doubt sense a theme when I tell you that no, I didn’t watch the second presidential debate last night. A friend of mine asked me why not, and I said it’s because right now I don’t want to pay for a new TV after I throw a shoe through the old one. But as always I caught the highlight reels and after-commentary, which once again suggested that John McCain didn’t get the momentum he needed and thereby Barack Obama, aided by a calm demeanor and a collapsing economy, came out ahead. Naturally I think this is just fine.
Since I know how much you all love to chat about these things, here’s a comment thread for you to discuss your own take on last night’s debate. As always, be respectful of each other when you comment, because I know you all are just polite and excellent that way.
I'm the Creative Consultant for this television show, appearing Fridays on Syfy. Miss a week? For US residents, 
Wait, what happened to your TV? Did Tobias Buckell reveal to the evening news which of the grooming products you tainted were poisonous when combined?
No meaningful political comment, just wanted to say that the pic you have above would make a GREAT promo piece for a buddy cop movie (think Tango & Cash, but for a lower demographic)
There seems to be a certain amount of apathy towards the Presidential debates like they’re a let down after the VP debate.
Bring back the windbag and the hot mom! That’s quality pgrogramming!
Personal, I’m not sure what the point of presidential debates are, other than to show off the candidates’ spiffy (and very shiny) suits and color coded ties.
I’d find the whole thing a lot more entertaining if we did them in a fashion similar to the old Roman gladiatorial manner, i.e. both candidates square off in a pit and fight to the death. Naked. Ties optional.
I thought that Obama comported himself well last night. He was cool, relaxed (almost languid), and right to the point most of the time. He stumbled on Russia a little bit, but he’s got time to work on that.
Unless there’s some sort of October surprise, he’s going to be the next president.
Is it just me or does John McCain seem really creepy whenever he says the words “my friends”? I’m sure it’s not his intent but someone should maybe tell him to not do that anymore because no matter how hard he tries he will never be personable.
I have it dvr’ed, along with the first debate, but I haven’t watched either yet. I probably will this weekend leading up to the final debate next week.
Of the postmortem analysis, one that I found interesting was that McCain never mentioned the middle class or Sarah Palin.
If you can imagine, I had better luck watching the VP debate, with squeaky nasally Sarah Palin than I did last night’s debate. We watched about fifteen minutes before I grew weary of the grating sound of McCain’s voice and Tom Brokaw’s toadying.
After action reports say that Obama came off as nicer and more presidential.
To which I say: Duh!
I didn’t watch either. If they ever figure out a way to get every candidate to answer the exact question that was actually asked, then I may give them another chance.
You know what would be fun? If the candidates said they’d stop spending a weekly 28 Million on ads and instead give that to middle class families who are losing their homes.
I thought that the candidate that I previously supported did a magnificent job, and the candidate I did not previously support made an ass of himself. This confirms my superior intellect in choosing the candidate I previously supported.
Signed,
America
To Laura Herbertson, Very very very good idea ;)
Watching the debate whilst Twittering with friends makes anything bearable. Including McCain’s jokes. Support or don’t support the man, I don’t think anybody would argue that they just didn’t work. At all.
McCain sounded like a snake oil salesman part of the time and an Evangelist the rest of the time. Neither one was very good.
Watched the first 60 minutes of the debate, but spent the last fifteen of those lying on the couch, my head on pillow and my eyes closed. So, really, just spent those 15 minutes listening to the debate. At around 10:00 pm my wife insisted that I get off the couch and go to bed. I follow politics closely, I have some very entrenched ideas about what the federal government should and should not be doing, and who should be the next president of the United States. But even a political junkie like me just could not work up much enthusiasm for the collective performance last night.
I keep wondering if McCain is really just letting the election slip away on purpose. He really did seem freaked out by the whole Wall St. meltdown, whereas Obama seems energized by it, like something he can tackle during the transition.
Kinda like I used to think of McCain back in 2000.
Daniel @ #6 – I’ve read that his advisors have tried to stop him from using that phrase – to no avail. Last night he used it 24 times.
Every time that McCain said ‘my friend’, I was reminded of Emperor Palpatine. All he was missing was a hooded robe.
For some reason, Obama’s comment about how “one of the wheels must have fallen off the Straight Talk Express” or something to that affect really cracked me up. I was tired though. He’s just smooth. It was so ironic when McCain was trying to paint himself as the “even handed level headed one” Really?!?!?! So the opposite.
Also, for some reason when I came down to the end of the page to comment, I noticed zakur’s name was already filled in under “name.” I find that odd. Anyone know why that would be?
Just a glitch.
On last week’s SNL News, Amy Poehler, in commenting on who won the VP debate, said it was “whoever you liked in the first place” (or something to that effect). Of course, both camps are saying they won the debate. Various pundits and bloggers from both sides are saying how _______ destroyed _________. I think people see what they want to see.
I don’t know if it is possible to objectively analyze the debate, but here goes:
-Tom Brokaw did a lousy job. I like Brokaw, but he just seemed too chummy with both of them. “Now Senator, let me remind you for the 15th time about our time limit (chuckle).” He should have made more of an effort to leep them on time. Gwen Ifill at least pointed out when they didn’t answer the question. They shouldn’t have been allowed to regurgitate their talking points.
-I thought both of them did a decent job addressing the audience and each other. Both moved around the room and seemed comfortable. McCain seemed a little more ‘ornery’, but he didn’t act as tempermental as some have suggested he is.
Both did a decent job of including content, overall. In some areas, McCain did better, in some, Obama did better. Many of the people interviewed after the debate named a winner, but didn’t say that either of them had a resounding victory. I would agree.
-I’ll let my bias take center stage now. One of the issues that is very important to me is foreign policy. In that portion of the debate, Obama clearly won. His ideas were far more detailed and made more sense. McCain was vague and seemed like he was struggling.
Im sorry guys, but that picture is just tooo creepy!
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