The First Presidential Debate

*I'm an Obama supporter, let's get that out of the way.

Observations on the first debate (completely subjective, this is what I felt when watching it, not what I would base a vote on):

• McCain would not look Obama in the eye, even when directly challenging the veracity of his statements;


• Obama paused a considerable number of times during extended speeches, in my mind clearly vetting exactly what he was about to say in a way McCain didn't - this was beneficial for Obama in that it gave McCain little to feed off, but at the same time McCain seemed more passionate and wilful in his arguments;


• Both men made crass references to bracelets given to them by mothers of dead soldiers. In a presidential debate, I'm all for anecdotes, but this was insensitive bear-baiting between the candidates;


• Obama clearly stated that he agreed with McCain on several points, but also clearly stated when he thought McCain was lying;


• Obama frequently looked at the camera; McCain looked only at Jim Lehrer, the moderator of the debate;


• McCain has poor body language and seems rigid compared to Obama's fluid, expressive gestures. Obama is also a better orator, despite what I have said previously;


• On several occasions, McCain made up words, W. style;


• McCain kept accusing Obama of not understanding key policies and issues. This made Obama seem less experienced (particularly when coupled with his tendency to agree with McCain) but it also made McCain look older.

See this here fact checker too, one of the many reasons I did not focus on what was said.

Comments

[John Sparrow]

Neither candidate took the plunge, both were extremely guarded. Perhaps unsurprising, given that neither wanted to appear too aggressive compared to the other. Lehrer's questioning was partly to blame, asking vague questions which really set the stage for 90 minutes of semi-meaningless grandstanding from both men. There was really not much we hadn't heard before from either party, though McCain was, I think, more guilty of regurgitating the soundbytes of previous weeks. The "you will know their names" line is practically as old as him, and it doesn't look good if you constantly have to resort to your script.

Another of McCain's mistakes was certainly to look down on Obama in a way which made him look almost belligerent.

As CNN have pointed out, although one could convincingly argue that the two were comparable (Obama came out just on top, I think) this was essentially a failure for McCain, who should have been able to debate foreign policy better than his rival, but failed to do so.

The VP debate will be interesting, and I'm convinced that the two-week distraction tactic of Sarah Palin will continue to be a fire-fighting nightmare for the McCain campaign until election day. Biden should win - but he has to be careful not to patronise or be seen to bully his opponent. She will have been intensively trained for the moment - and he will presumably try to throw her off the script and dig her own grave. That is, as long as he doesn't commit any howlers himself.

I'm an Obama supporter too. It's interesting to be in the US while this is going on, and it seems that it's swinging Obama's way, for now. But, as I'm repeatedly told, 40 days is a looong time in US presidential campaigns.