Pundits and partisans tend to be impressed by attacks, but the portion of the population that actually watches debates with an open mind usually judges debates by intangible factors like demeanor, confidence, and comportment. Why did Al Gore lose his debates with George W. Bush? Because people might have agreed with him but they also hated him. This is often a source of frustration for Democrats, who tend to pay attention to the substance and accuracy of the candidate’s arguments. But it is working in our favor in this election cycle. In the contest over who the American people would rather have a beer with, it’s no contest. The answer is Barack Obama. Barack Obama exudes cool. John McCain is the kind of guy that shouts at clouds and gropes women at last call.
That’s why all the bloggers were goading McCain to attack tonight. We knew that the format was horrible for personal attacks and we knew that McCain would drive up his unfavorables without laying a glove on Mohammed Ali Barack Obama. But, look, don’t listen to me. I’m no better than Andrea Mitchell. I’m just a pundit. Look at the snap-polls:
CNN:
Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned in the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said Democrat Obama did the best job in the debate, with 31 percent saying Republican Sen. John McCain performed best.
The poll also suggested that debate watchers’ favorable opinion of Obama rose during the debate, from 63 percent at the start of the debate to 66 percent at the end of the debate. The poll indicates that McCain’s favorables dropped, from 51 percent to 49 percent.
CBS:
Fifty-three percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed identified Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the winner of tonight’s debate. Twenty-two percent said Republican rival John McCain won. Twenty-five percent saw the debate as a draw.
John McCain lost because he acted like an asshole. Provoking him into being an asshole was the most surefire way to win this debate. And we did it with an assist from his running mate, who is truly a moron of Grand Canyon proportions.
John McCain didn’t just lose this debate. He was crushed. He was literally knocked out. He fell into a trap that we telegraphed for him all day. Please, please, please, attack Obama, we said. We weren’t kidding. We desperately wanted him to attack Obama as often and as harshly as possible. We knew that it would further alienate the very few undecided voters and also lead to a post-debate massacre in the media.
John McCain probably added another two points to his national deficit tonight, and the media will crucify him over the next 72 hours, which will deepen the chasm. I am so enjoying watching Barack Obama just beat the pants off John McCain. This election is really going to change things for the better in this country and the change is going to last a very, very long time.
Plus, the Phillies won the pennant. Bring on Tampa Bay!!
And that comment mocking women’s health is going to reverberate for days in the intertubes.
women all across America pursed their lips and just went ‘ hmm hmm’
Women may feel this way or that about reproductive choice… but we do NOT like to be insulted!!! He basically said our health, our very lives, was no matter. If women die bleeding in back alley abortions or childbirth gone awry, he’d probably gloat over their writhing bodies. If women’s health isn’t an exemption, he probably would agree with Palin and force women to bear a rapist’s child to term as well.
Is that all we are? Vessels for a man’s seed?
Bastard.
A century ago one third of women died in childbirth. Not everybody can pop them out like muffins from a teflon pan. And if the mother dies, what happens to that newborn? And the rest of her children?
Heartless creep.
Half of the independents and undecided are women, and McCain just blew those millions of votes off with one finger gesture.
I’d even be willing to bet that quite a few men thought his mockery was over-the-top. Those that love their wives.
This wasn’t the only point that infuriated us, but for his “best” performance, he certainly managed to show his nasty underbelly. And his obsessions with trivia. And his whining about hurt feelings.
I hope that the caffeine keeps him up for days so that he can relive every last second of how awful he appeared!!!
Senator McCain just got introduced to the rope-a-dope. It wasn’t pretty.
Senator McCranky didn’t win over any undecideds that weren’t going to vote for him anyway, from what I could see. Any reasonable person saw that Obama was clearly the better choice!
I just saw this at Politico. Apparently they talked to “Joe The Plumber” immediately after the debate. He had this to say.
Hmmmm…..wonder why he didn’t reference Gene Kelly instead?
Why does it seem that everyone here in Ohio has to have some kind of racial inference in everything regarding this election?
Or am I just being overly sensitive here?
No Mike, your not overly sensitive. I think you understand Joe the Plumber and his meaning. He will never vote for Obama and its not about taxes.
They also discovered that Joe isn’t even registered to vote in the state of Ohio, so no one should worry too much about losing his vote.
When I first saw the video of Joe’s exchange with Obama, I pegged him as a Limbaugh-listening redneck and it was obvious that he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything Obama had to say. But Obama gave him a very thorough answer anyway.
There’s a diary over at DK suggesting Joe the Plumber is a republican plant.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/16/111449/53/191/632401
I think you are being overly-sensitive. Maybe he thought of Sammy Davis Junior instead of Gene Kelly because Obama and Sammy Davis Junior are both black. So what? That is a natural human thing. Or maybe Sammy Davis Junior came first to his mind because he is a Sammy Davis Junior fan, and doesn’t think so much about Gene Kelly. Again, perfectly natural. And had he said Gene Kelly instead of Sammy Davis Junior, that could also be read as racist.
I do think that in this campaign people have been much to quick to assume both sexism and racism where neither is apparent. That is a form of wolf-crying that does not serve the struggle to eliminate real sexism and real racism, which as we have seen are still alive and well, despite all the tremendous strides this country has made.
My natural tendency is to give people the benefit of the doubt, many times to my detriment, and not prejudge. I don’t know this guy. But I’m sure over the next few days we will be seeing and hearing much more from him while he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame. That may well give is a little more insight into how he truly feels. Thought the fact that he thought “McCain was solid in his performance” in spite of the general panning his performance received in most quarters might be some indication that he’s not really predisposed to be an Obama supporter, though. But that certainly doesn’t make him a bigot.
My sense is that he was already planning to vote for McCain and wasn’t about to change his mind. Or maybe he really DID think McCain was “solid in his performance”. I was shocked at how many otherwise very astute people – people who would NEVER vote for McCain – felt that Sarah Palin was impressive in the debate with Biden!
Last week after the second debate I got into a conversation with a colleague of mine who happens to be Black. We agreed that while McCain’s “that one” remark was terribly disrespectful, there was nothing racist about it. That seems to be the consensus of the Black Americans I know who have expressed an opinion.
The thing is, it is much too easy to assume that any and all negative behaviour toward a Black person is racist simply because it is directed at a Black person. It takes a lot more than that to convince me of racism. It isn’t even so much a matter of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. It is more a matter of logic.
In fact, there is another race-based phenomenon related to the above in which a white person goes out of their way to be extra nice whenever a Black person is involved. In fact, I have noticed it myself, though I am not black, or even particularly dark skinned. I live in a very cosmopolitan, liberal/progressive area of the country. When it is windy, I wear a scarf on my head, which I wrap in a manner similar to a Muslim headscarf. During rush hour if do not get a seat on the train, the probability that someone will offer me their seat is noticeably higher when I am wearing that scarf than when I am bare-heade, and thus look like everyone else. My guess is that people are trying to be extra nice to show their acceptance.
Well, I certainly don’t make the assumption that “any and all negative behaviour toward a Black person is racist simply because it is directed at a Black person.” But I would say that almost all of the behavior that I see around here which is negative toward black people does indeed come with racial overtones.
I don’t live in a cosmopolitan, liberal/progressive area. I am in a very conservative Republican part of Ohio. And racism and bigotry is certainly alive and well in this area. It is not outwardly evident by just looking but as a lifetime resident here I can assure you that it is very actively simmering just below the surface. And while I am sure that in a liberal/progressive area such as yours there are probably people who will give up their seat as you describe in an attempt to validate to themselves that they are not prejudiced, I would guess those instances are probably relatively rare in most places.
I, just like you, discount things such as the view held by some that the “that one” comment was racial. I don’t believe it was at all. But, even with that being said, there is just no way to minimize the role that race has played in this campaign. Have there been people who have gone to excess in their quest to paint everything in a racial context? Sure there are. But I don’t see how anyone could disagree that Obama would likely be four or five more points ahead but for one simple fact. His skin is not white.
If I think back over this campaign and all of the interactions that I have had with supporters of the Republican ticket and all of the conversations in which I have been only a passive listener and not a participant; if the conversation goes long enough, almost without fail, Obama’s blackness will brought up and derogatory racial comments and insinuations will inevitably ensue. And it almost always brings a “You know what I mean?” moment along with laughs and smiles in the group.
That is what I see almost every day. There is a reason the McCain campaign has gone down the “racial code” road in this campaign. It is because across large segments of the country there is a very receptive audience for this type of thing who understand the innuendo and the meanings behind what they are saying.
So while some people might need a lot of persuasion in order to be convinced about the ubiquity of bigotry in the campaign, from the perspective of someone who is not in a cosmopolitan, liberal/progressive environment, it is part and parcel of a significant percentage of what goes on in my area.
A lot of people under the age of 50 don’t know Gene Kelly unless they watch the old movies. Sammy Davis, Jr. was a Vegas star through the 80s. He’s better known. Kelly doesn’t come naturally to mind any more; neither does Fred Astair. It could be racism, it could be ignorance. Doesn’t matter.
it is what you think it is
Watching the video of Obama and Joe this morning, you knew that was a guy who wasn’t going to vote for Obama at all. If Obama promised to take that guy’s kids to school every morning, give him a 2 week vacation anywhere in the world and offered to buy him whatever he needed, he wasn’t going to vote for Obama.
But wait – wasn’t McCain going to whip Obama’s you-know-what?
I’m confused.
Plus, the Phillies won the pennant. Bring on Tampa Bay!!
Missed this last debate. I was watching the PHILLIES!!! How sweet it is!!!
Well, I read it here first.
My loyalties are…well, let’s just say I can walk to Tropicana Field.
Indeed, the month of October is going very well for fans of the Phillies and the Rays. And Obama, him too.
You nailed it Booman. Biden, Obama and the Netroots goaded McCain into personal attacks. McCain went after Obama but Obama never took the bait and stayed cool the whole time. Now, McCain looks like even more angry than ever. Obama just rope a doped him again.
West Virginia, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina.
Now comes the blizzard of money to close out those GOP states poblano has in the low 50’s:
Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Mississippi.
425
I’m glad Obama never took the bait. Go away Country Last. Go away
Was scouting around and ThinkProgress’ debate blog noted:
Also, McCain stayed seated and didn’t pace aimlessly behind Obama. By that measure, he won the last debate.
There’s two ways to look as these awkward observations: either they are cheerleading for McCain or they really don’t see what’s right in front of them.
I flipped through the cable channels and saw some embarrassing arm-waving. It was like walking into a bar where some drunk was arguing why his team would win the Super Bowl after it had been eliminated and everyone had left his table.
You always knew when McCain had a zinger lined up because his face would light up. My husband said, ‘OMG, I’d love to play poker with McCain.” Which kills me because, as we all know, McCain’s a gambler. He must lose a lot of money if he plays cards.
I laughed a lot throughout the debate at McCain’s statements and instaduds, but this is a moment to treasure:
GRRRRRRRRRRR
Here is the video.
Craps is McCain’s game. Just roll the dice, and count on being lucky.
Barack’s coolness is a great thing to admire. I don’t agree with him on some issues, but on the ones I do, I’m very proud of him.
Separately, I wish the Dodgers had made a series of it, but they were clearly lacking in the pitching department. On the bright side, Greg Maddux in Dodger blue was a great thing for me on a personal level. Even if he retires or doesn’t come back, I’ll get a jersey of his in the near future.
I guess I am glad that Manny isn’t going to the World Series.
McNasty always looks so pained and angry. Does he need some kind of enema? It’s like the whole world is constantly giving him a hard time and his reaction is one of exasperation mixed with impatience. Maybe, if he learned how to smell the flowers and tell the truth, his disposition would improve.
Not the guy you’d want to have a beer with. Maybe the guy who offers you a piece of hard candy from the dish on his living room table while he alternately waxes on about Tommy Dorsey and complains about how noisy the kids are next door.
He appeared to be such an unpleasant, unattractive person last night. It’s hard to imagine that his television appearances do anything but discourage people from voting for him.
Smell the flowers? He seems to be wrapped too tightly to connect with nature.
Another two points to his national deficit? Really?
I’m not so sure – can McCain actually get any lower? If he sheds many more points, he drops into sub-40% territory. We haven’t seen a candidate get below 40% of the vote since McGovern in ’72.
I guess Obama could add to his vote totals and push the margin up higher over 50% to increase that deficit for McCain, but since I’ve never seen a Democrat get such a large margin of victory in my entire lifetime, it’s hard to believe such things.
Of course, I still can’t believe that we’re looking at roughly 10% of the population that hasn’t decided yet, so there’s that.
Most of the undecideds I know aren’t looking to make a decision between Obama and McSame. They’re looking for a reason to vote at all. They think I’m delightfully naive and quaint for “buying into the corrupt two-party system” and that all I’m doing is assuring the problem will never be fixed.
We’ve all got friends like that, the ones who are too cool to “waste their time voting.” I don’t think either side will move them at this point, which is bad, bad news for McSame.
Ass-Whooping? Damned East Coast elitist egghead. That’s “Ass-Whuppin'” Sheesh.
But, but–
Joe! You forgot Joe the Plumber!
All the news dudes are saying that Obama won the debate, but Joe the Plumber is supporting McCain. So that makes it a tie, you see?
And then I reminded Demetrius to please put headphones on when he’s listening to that stuff in the office.
All better now.