The Front-Runner
posted by Silvana
The thread in ding's debate open thread surprised me. Were you guys drinking? For one night, I put down the computer, and went to watch the debate with some friends. Obama supporters all, there was a lot of cheering and yelling at the tv, and saying "come on, bring it home..." and then "yes!" when he did so. When you get six lawyers in the room together, well, you sound like you're getting ready to tell a lawyer joke.
All joking aside, I thought Obama came out of the debate a clear winner. McCain performed well, at least when he was speaking (he looked awful when he was listening), and it's a testimony to how poorly his campaign is going that a competent performance from him was a surprise. Standing up on that stage, he seemed like a reasonable candidate for the Republicans to have chosen, unlike the rest of the time where his flurry of surrogates, and his attempts to be a Republican, a maverick, and appeal to the Christian conservative base all at the same time make him seem utterly incoherent. Tonight, at least when he was talking, he seemed okay.
When he was listening, he showed to the country a side of him that even his supporters won't deny exists. He is grumpy, easily frustrated, and temperamental. A lot of what he's done in his years in the Senate, things that have been spun as evidence that he's a "maverick," are really evidence that he's just pissy. He doesn't like to be challenged, and he's so secure in his own importance and moral and intellectual righteousness that he seemed, time after time, insulted and angry that Barack Obama dare challenge him, even in the most polite and diplomatic way possible. Sputtering and huffing, he got his back up time after time when Obama corrected his assertions, refused to lie down and be steamrolled. And his answers to questions were either pro forma or overly-rehearsed, like his piece on Georgia that he'd written to fit as many foreign names into as possible, to make it seem like he knows what he's talking about. And on tonight's most crucial issue, the economy, the issue that he claimed to consider to be of such paramount importance that he "suspend" his campaign and cancel the debates, what did he do? He talked, over and over again, about earmarks. Earmarks are not the problem with the American economy. Earmarks are not the reason that unemployment is rising, that banks are failing, that oil costs $4.25 a gallon.
John McCain's insistence on myopically focusing on earmarks during an overwhelming financial crisis demonstrates that he is either completely ignorant, or has no respect for the intelligence of the American people.
All this is to say that John McCain was flailing around like a dying fish trying to get jabs in. Because he's losing. If there's anything that tonight's debate demonstrated to me, it's that Barack Obama has become the front-runner in this election, and is behaving as such. Throughout the evening, he was relaxed. His answers were, down to the very last clause, coherent and even elegant. He seemed prepared without even once sounding rehearsed. He never stumbled or faltered, and did not let McCain have a single "gotcha" moment. He was firm without being indignant, and when appropriate, twisted the knife ever just so much (the moment where he brought up Spain was brilliant).
Meanwhile, for an old guy, McCain was acting childish. Grimacing and looking mildly constipated, he refused to look at Obama. He seemed frustrated that he was having to prove himself. He seemed frustrated that this younger, first-term senator was standing on the other side of the stage as his political equal.
And Obama seemed pleasant and calm, perfectly happy to show up and debate all night about why he had it right and John McCain had it wrong.
Just like a winner.
All joking aside, I thought Obama came out of the debate a clear winner. McCain performed well, at least when he was speaking (he looked awful when he was listening), and it's a testimony to how poorly his campaign is going that a competent performance from him was a surprise. Standing up on that stage, he seemed like a reasonable candidate for the Republicans to have chosen, unlike the rest of the time where his flurry of surrogates, and his attempts to be a Republican, a maverick, and appeal to the Christian conservative base all at the same time make him seem utterly incoherent. Tonight, at least when he was talking, he seemed okay.
When he was listening, he showed to the country a side of him that even his supporters won't deny exists. He is grumpy, easily frustrated, and temperamental. A lot of what he's done in his years in the Senate, things that have been spun as evidence that he's a "maverick," are really evidence that he's just pissy. He doesn't like to be challenged, and he's so secure in his own importance and moral and intellectual righteousness that he seemed, time after time, insulted and angry that Barack Obama dare challenge him, even in the most polite and diplomatic way possible. Sputtering and huffing, he got his back up time after time when Obama corrected his assertions, refused to lie down and be steamrolled. And his answers to questions were either pro forma or overly-rehearsed, like his piece on Georgia that he'd written to fit as many foreign names into as possible, to make it seem like he knows what he's talking about. And on tonight's most crucial issue, the economy, the issue that he claimed to consider to be of such paramount importance that he "suspend" his campaign and cancel the debates, what did he do? He talked, over and over again, about earmarks. Earmarks are not the problem with the American economy. Earmarks are not the reason that unemployment is rising, that banks are failing, that oil costs $4.25 a gallon.
John McCain's insistence on myopically focusing on earmarks during an overwhelming financial crisis demonstrates that he is either completely ignorant, or has no respect for the intelligence of the American people.
All this is to say that John McCain was flailing around like a dying fish trying to get jabs in. Because he's losing. If there's anything that tonight's debate demonstrated to me, it's that Barack Obama has become the front-runner in this election, and is behaving as such. Throughout the evening, he was relaxed. His answers were, down to the very last clause, coherent and even elegant. He seemed prepared without even once sounding rehearsed. He never stumbled or faltered, and did not let McCain have a single "gotcha" moment. He was firm without being indignant, and when appropriate, twisted the knife ever just so much (the moment where he brought up Spain was brilliant).
Meanwhile, for an old guy, McCain was acting childish. Grimacing and looking mildly constipated, he refused to look at Obama. He seemed frustrated that he was having to prove himself. He seemed frustrated that this younger, first-term senator was standing on the other side of the stage as his political equal.
And Obama seemed pleasant and calm, perfectly happy to show up and debate all night about why he had it right and John McCain had it wrong.
Just like a winner.
Labels: m. leblanc
Posted at 10:20 PM
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