Memorable Debate Moments...
- Kissinger is for sitting down with Iran/no he isn't! -- advantage, Obama
- In invading Iraq we took our eye off the ball with respect to Al Qaeda -- advantage, Obama
- McCain's "Senator Obama doesn't understand" followed by Obama responding with something substantive that shows he does understand -- advantage, Obama
- Bracelet exchange -- advantage, Obama
What are the memorable moments that will be shown on the news shows that show McCain to advantage? I did not note any...
Ezra Klein:
Ezra Klein: 10:37: Final statements. McCain says Obama is unready. Obama says his father came from Kenya and loved America and its values. That basically encapsulates the debate.
10:34: More Bill Schneider: "McCain almost certainly misspoke when he said he wouldn't speak with Spain…I am not sure that's a fair thing for Obama to call him on." Here's McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann: "The questioner asked several times about Senator McCain's willingness to meet Zapatero (and id'd him in the question so there is no doubt Senator McCain knew exactly to whom the question referred). Senator McCain refused to commit to a White House meeting with President Zapatero in this interview." I agree that McCain misspoke. But then his adviser turned his verbal slip into official policy. That's actually worse...
10:00: Bracelet wars. McCain tells a story about his bracelet, from the mother of a soldier who said "don't let my son's death be in vain." Obama tells of his bracelet, from a mother of a soldier who said "don't let other mothers go through what I'm going through." Maybe jewelry is not the right way to understand geopolitics?...
9:58: Long exchange on Pakistan, where McCain accuses Obama of recklessly threatening attack. Obama responds: "Coming from you John, who threatened North Korea with extinction and sings songs about bombing Iran..." Nicely done...
9:44: After a back-and-forth on whether the question with Iraq is whether we should have gone in or whether we should have surged, Obama hits it on the head: "John likes to pretend the war began in 2007." Interestingly, Obama is MUCH more compelling on national security and foreign policy...
9:37: Obama gets in a clean shot here. McCain voted for most all Bush's budgets. How can he say he's spent his career fighting to cut spending? McCain returns with a monologue about how the American people know him, and he's not understood to be "Mr. Congeniality" in the Senate. All fair enough. But how does the combination of his colleagues thinking him a jerk and his press person being good at booking him on tv change those budget votes?...
8:55: Chris Matthews suggests that it would be hard for Obama to capture "the racist vote." Yep...
