Grading the First Debate: "Two more performances like that, and he will be tough to beat."

[DeepModem Mom]

TIME: Grading the First Presidential Debate
By Mark Halperin / Oxford, Mississippi Friday, Sep. 26, 2008


Barack Obama and John McCain during their debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty

JOHN MCCAIN

Substance: His arguments were hard to follow at the beginning, but he found his voice as the debate progressed, although he never seemed fully in control of his message. He had plenty to say about the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia, but often bogged down his own answers when trying to unfurl quips and soundbites. Stuck with bumper sticker slogans on the economy, and while he got a bit more detailed on foreign policy, he stayed at his usual level of abstraction. If he truly knows more about the world than Obama, he didn't show it in this debate.

Grade: B-

Style: Cluttered, jumpy, and often muddled. Frequent coughing early on helped neither his arguments nor his image. Jokes about being deaf and anecdotes about Normandy and George Shultz seemed ill-advised — even his pen was old. His presentation was further hindered by his wandering discussion of the differing heights of North and South Koreans and his angry assertion about how well he knows Henry Kissinger. Fell into the classic politician's trap of inserting familiar stump speech applause lines into debate responses — which only works if done with enthusiasm and clarity (and if received by applause — a big No-No in Lehrer's auditorium, which the audience obeyed seriously and silently). Keenly aware of the grand, grave occasion, McCain wavered between respectful and domineering, and ended up awkward and edgy.

Grade: C-....

***

OVERALL GRADE: B-

***
***

BARACK OBAMA

Substance: Quite manifestly immersed in the past, present, and future details of policy, and eager to express his views, which have been expanded, honed, and solidified during the last 18 months of hard campaigning. Still, he did avoid the nitty-gritty details of policy positions in favor of broad principles and references to working Americans, thereby not presenting the kind of specifics that some voters are waiting to hear from him.

Grade: B+

Style: Polished, confident, focused. Fully prepared, and able to convey a real depth of knowledge on nearly every issue. He was unhurried, and rarely lost his train of thought even when the debate wended and winded — and uttered far fewer of his trademark, distracting, "ums." At times, however, Obama revealed the level of his preparation by faltering over a rehearsed answer. He seemed to deliberately focus on the moderator and the home audience, with McCain as an afterthought — except when on the attack. Chose to avoid humor, for the most part, in favor of a stern demeanor, and in the process, came off as cool as a cucumber.

Grade: A....

***

Overall: Went for a solid, consistent performance to introduce himself to the country. He did not seem nervous, tentative, or intimidated by the event, and avoided mistakes from his weak debate performances during nomination season (a professorial tone and long winded answers). Standing comfortably on the stage with his rival, he showed he belonged — evocative of Reagan, circa 1980. He was so confident by the end that he reminded his biggest audience yet that his father was from Kenya. Two more performances like that and he will be very tough to beat on Election Day.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1845106,00.html

[FSogol]

1. Kick. Good, honest (if somewhat generous to Grumpy) analysis. n/t

[MeDeMax]

2. It sounded quite different in audio

I listened to most of the debate on the radio, maybe missed about 10 mins in the beginning.

Let me tell you, it sounded nothing like the above...

[MeDeMax]

3. you want to know what I mean

find a recording / stream play the debate, close your eyes and listen to entire thing.

You may find it resonating quite differently.

[kurt_cagle]

4. I found that too

I had to go pick up my daughter about twenty minutes into the debate, so while my wife watched the debate on TV, I heard it on the radio for the most part, catching only the final fifteen minutes or so on the tube. The contrast was startling. On the radio, Obama sounded knowledgeable and competent, but McCain definitely sounded more "seasoned", and I was getting very nervous about how well this thing was going. Yet when I talked about it with my wife afterwards, she said much the same thing I'm seeing here - he was rude, tended to wander off on tangents, never looked at Obama and seldom at the moderator and seemed to feel that the volume of the response was more important than the substance.

On the other hand, I think McCain made some huge gaffes. Eulogizing Kissinger (one of the failed architects of Vietnam, in my book) and his repeated glowing view of Petraeus and the "surge" got old very quickly, and his attempts to try to nail Obama with the term "unconditional" talks seemed both petty and very much like he was putting words into Obama's mouth that were patently not true. His lies were evident as well, even on the radio, but you didn't have the subtle clues from body language to see them as obvious (McCain, while he lies frequently, is not all that good at it - his body language is often very much at odds with his words).

[FredStembottom]

6. Thanks for pointing this out.

I listened on radio as well and had the same different experience.

Obama didn't seem as perfectly organized as stated by TIME. McCain very noticeably got into some sort of groove (after a LOT of coughing) that worried me. He used it to dispense variations on the "vote Republican and get money in the mail" mantra that Americans have gobbled down like Freedom Fries for 28 years. I can only hope that the National Ponzi Scheme is really, truly dead in the minds of people this time.

But, overall, the debate format seemed to be a genuine disaster. All that "talk to each other" and "turn and say that to your opponent with a tremble in your voice" stuff from Jim Lehrer......sheeesh!

I think last night was kind of a warm-up. The next one will probably be quite different.

[MeDeMax]

7. if we were an audio nation, McCain won hands down last night

kurt/fred, thank you for those detailed clarifying comments.

McCain said in a clear confident tone - "sanator Obama does not understand" - at least 20 times.

"Senator Obama is being naive", "naivety", "his lack of experience shows", "senarator obama does not care or does not get it", ......

I didn't hear McCain acknowledge Obama as being right on anything.

I heard Obama (god bless his decent moral character) acknowledge McCain being on the correct side atleast 6 times.

When McCain said Obama voted to cut funding for the troops, Obama should you said, how could you say that when you did the same thing on senate bill xyz.

When the white haired war monger is going for your jugular, REPEATEDLY, you don't defend or explain your actions, YOU SMASH HIS LYING LOBBYIST LEGISLATIVE RECORD TO PIECES.

I hope someone in the Obama camp is reading this...

[bettyellen]

5. interesting- i found mc caine's body language very distracting he seemed stressed

unabale to keep still. i thought he was trying to be condesending, but was having a hard time with it.

[drlefty]

8. Obama Won Big!

I think giving McLame a grade anywhere above a C- is excessively generous. He was fuzzy, out of touch, and rooted in the past (talking about where he has been and what he has done way back when...what America wants to hear is what the candidates plan to do in the future and where they will take all of us).

The one thing that bothered me just a little about our guy was that I think he pandered just a bit too much to the right wing warmongers. I am just a little uncomfortable with some of the jingoistic tough talk although I am pretty confident that Sen. Obama doesn't really view the world through that type of prism and I am equally confident that McLame does.

In any event I think we can all start planning our victory parties. Lets just hope that McLame and Florida Gov. Crist don't suddenly discover they are long lost brothers and another election gets stolen from us!

[OakCliffDem]

9. Obama can only be beat if Republicans cheat n/t

[Lionus]

10. Question: How Does A Candidate Finish 3rd In a Two Person Debate?

Answer: When 34% of those watching the debate mistook you for Walter Matthau...and even they knew Walter Matthau is dead.

I honesttly did think about doing a serious Posting on what truly is a very serious situation. However, when one candidates' entire game plan is to lie about the other candidate enough times while hoping that what you say might actually become true in the interim period...well, all I can say is, if the candidate can't take the debate seriously...why should I?

I know that I occasionally have a different take on things. And, yes...I agree that Obama could have hammered Wally more on the economy, spent way too much time responding to the earmark attack, and held his own on the foreign policy portion of the debate in ways in which Johnny "I've Been Everywhere And Know Everybody" probably never thought would be possible.

And, yes...I agree that Johnny "My Dead Dad Can Beat Up Your Dead Dad" looked even more childish than usual with his facial expressions, passive aggressive antics, and repeated abortions of all things true.

However, while there were any number of statements which might have caused virtually every post-debate poll to show that viewers identified Obama as the winner...not one commentator has zeroed in on the one single topic which sealed the fate of Johnny "Bronze Medal".

Okay, so it was something of a passing, and sort of abstract comment offered by Johnny Warhol. At first I thought I had dreamed it...that perhaps illegal aliens had traversed the Rio Grande and made their way through an open window in our humble abode and drugged me, sometime between McRepitionIsTheKeyToSuccess saying that Obama didn't understand the war, taxes or the economy...and when he said that Obama didn't understand basically the proper means by which to either tie shoes or strap on a clean "Depends".

However...my lovely wife heard it, too.

Not only did she also hear what Johnny "WHATDIDHEJUSTSAY," actually said...but, first we just looked at each other, then we broke out into stereo cackling...and finally we ran to separate bathrooms and missed at least the next ninety seconds of the proceedings.

In case you missed it...Johnny "ToHellWithThoseDamnedGooks," somehow felt the need to inject into the very first Presidential debate...in the middle of an answer to a question that I don't even remember at this point...the fact that "the average North Korean is three inches shorter than the average South Korean."

Better yet...while my lovely wife and I were still in mid-cackle...Johnny "IWasOBVIOUSLYBeatenWayTooMuchWhileAPrisoner"...went on to suggest that the reason why North Koreans are, on the average, three inches shorter than their South Korean counterparts...was "because the entire country of North Korea has got to be the biggest Gulag on the planet."

WHAT?

And...trust me, even I can't believe that it just keeps getting better...from the look of sheer amusement on his face, I honestly couldnt tell if he was in the middle of a PTSD Flashback...or if he was going to reach over and ask Obama to pull his finger.

Clearly, the comment got to Jim Lehrer, too. Only about four minutes of the nine alloted for each segment had actually been consumed on whatever the question was at that point. However, Lehrer immediately determined that it was time for a new topic...as the Director had to quick tell Camera Two to "get off of Obama," for fear that he would be caught cackling along with those of us playing the Home Version of the new hit Game Show, "He Said WHAT?"

PLEASE...if you didn't hear this comment...which could not possibly have been an appropriate answer to any question Jim Lehrer might contrive during the course of a debate occuring in 1964 in the open air of the Hate Ashbury Section of San Fransisco...go back and listen to it again. Listen to it over and over again...and PELASE, email Obama and BEG HIM to turn this textbook psychotic episode into some portion of each and every campaign ad which will produced over the course of the next five and a half weeks.

And here I thought that the "I will freeze govmint spending" comment was going to be the highlight of the evening.

And, all of this on the heels of Sarah Palin telling Katie Couric that trade missions to Russia and Vladmir Putin "FLYING OVER ALASKAN AIRSPACE" qualify her to be President?

Screw the long lines at the gas station this week, My Friends...we had all better get to the CVS Pharmacy and load up on those Depends before the Vice-Presidential Debate.

For those of us old enough to remember the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey...almost every Street Corner Pharmacist I have ever known swore that the wildest drug-induced moment tthat any of them ever enjoyed...was watching the last sixteen minutes of that film, while toasted to the BeJesus. Something tells me that the full ninety minutes of Joe Biden and Sarah "MyNeighborsAreAllCountries" will definitely be entitled to the same prescription.

Where is Montel Williams and that damned PPA Bus full of Halcion when you need it...for purely medicinal and therapeutic reasons...of course?

Has a candidate for President ever actually lost by 100% of the vote? Wow...this election really could produce history making results.