• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Who won the debate

Who won the debate?

  • McCain

    Votes: 10 11.8%

  • Obama

    Votes: 50 58.8%

  • Ron Paul

    Votes: 7 8.2%

  • Megalon

    Votes: 18 21.2%
  • Total voters
    85

seayakin

Graduate Poster
seayakin
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
1,437
You vote. My personal opinion is mostly a draw with slight edge to McCain. He sounded more little more like the maverick than Obama as a positive change agent.
 
Watched about 30 minutes of it this morning before boredom set in. Thought it was pretty even from what I saw and it was refreshing that both could articulate clearly a point of view.
 
Nogbad said:
Watched about 30 minutes of it this morning before boredom set in. Thought it was pretty even from what I saw and it was refreshing that both could articulate clearly a point of view.
Click to expand...

Pretty much my view based on the content of what they said, presentation-wise I'd say that the Democrat came across ever-so slightly better.
 
They both held their own. I'd call it a tie for the most part. Obama was a bit more in command of his answers, but McCain's experience shined through significantly.

As to who benefits most, it would have to be Obama. He held his own when he could've easily been upstage by McCain. He looked Presidential when it came to foreign policy, his weakest area. That should help the perception of him with undecideds. McCain didn't hurt himself, but he didn't stand head and shoulders above Obama in an area that was a big strength of his.
 
Pookster said:
They both held their own. I'd call it a tie for the most part. Obama was a bit more in command of his answers, but McCain's experience shined through significantly.

As to who benefits most, it would have to be Obama. He held his own when he could've easily been upstage by McCain. He looked Presidential when it came to foreign policy, his weakest area. That should help the perception of him with undecideds. McCain didn't hurt himself, but he didn't stand head and shoulders above Obama in an area that was a big strength of his.
Click to expand...

Correct. Obama only needed to hold things even. No need to take risks because he knows the VP debate will be a meltdown of Sarah Palin and will finish the job of sinking the McCain candidacy.
 
seayakin said:
FYI, I didn't mean to create a separate debate thread because there is one:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124939

I just thought it would be nice to have a poll to quantify people's opinion. Also, Megalon (if you are unaware) is the The Supreme Command Chief of Everything on Planet X.
Click to expand...

Yes, but's that's actually the LOWEST title on Planet X. The person who's in really in charge (me) holds the title of Filthy Disgusting Worthless Garbage.
 
I think that Obama won because foreign policy is McCain's strong suit and Obama at least held his own. People who were worried about Obama's relative inexperience would be reassured. It was like winning an away game.
 
Ron Paul needed to be there, but he still won.

Even a Ralph Nader on stage would have been a great addition to call both Obama and McCain out on their mostly scripted responses that didn't say really anything or address any issues.
 
BenBurch said:
Correct. Obama only needed to hold things even. No need to take risks because he knows the VP debate will be a meltdown of Sarah Palin and will finish the job of sinking the McCain candidacy.
Click to expand...

This debate was supposed to be a McCain meltdown. If the VP debate is anything like last night's, I think Palin will do much better than some are giving credit. These debate questions are agreed on before hand behind the scenes. I'm sure Palin is doing a lot of mock debates to prepare for this.
 
Last edited:
Nobody won the debate.

Depending on what areas you evaluate their performances each scored points and made mistakes. McCain never looked at Obama, he appeared to be dismissive and condescending. Obama seemed long winded and lecturing at times making it hard to focus on the points he was trying to make. McCain's refrain of 'Obama is naive, inexperienced', "he doesn't understand" was used a little too often and came across as a an attempt to create a catchphrase instead of underscoring the areas where Obama was weak. Obama's use of "John is right" detracted from the attempt to point out where substantively McCain was wrong.

McCain's rhetoric was clearly stronger when actually discussing foreign policy. He appeared self assured and comfortable when making his points and the declarative admission of never allowing the US to torture prisoners again; the first time IIRC that someone in the Republican party has actually admitted in an open public forum that the US has "tortured", was very powerful.

Obama's strength was to provide more substantive information clearly and concisely. He opened with 4 detailed points for the bailout plan delivered facing the camera and effectively looking the American public in the eye. Some of his facts/information was inaccurate but he was factually correct more often then McCain in all areas. When he told McCain he was "wrong" or pointed out what he was saying was "not true" Obama's rebuttals were factually correct.


McCain's overall body language and demeanor communicated his personal dislike of Obama. He was unable to hide that he was there under duress and would have rather been anywhere but on that stage with Obama. I feel this reflected poorly on McCain; while he was able to keep his infamous temper in check, I have to wonder if he would display the same type of demeanor and body language if meeting with heads of state with whom he fundamentally disagrees with or dislikes. He doesn't need to win "Miss Congeniality" but he should at least be able to appear congenial.


In contrast, Obama came out open and smiling with his hand extended. He appeared attentive, thoughtful and actually looked at McCain once Jim Leher admonished them to speak to each other. There were a few times he stood with his head down while McCain spoke forcefully during an exchange, giving him the appearance of the youngster being taken to task. Overall, I would say his body language and demeanor reflected confidence and self assurance.


The debate was a tie, however, the advantage always go to the person with momentum and in this debate that is Obama.

The next two debates are set in different formats and will, hopefully, allow them to demonstrate clearly why they would be the better President. This debate simply was not what was needed to help anyone who is undecided.


Boo

FWIW, I am voting for Obama and had decided to do so during the primaries.
 
This is probably the only time I have ever voted for Ron Paul for anything. It just made so much more sense than usual.
 
I pretty much agree with Boo (#12), but would like to add this:
In several instances McCain went on at length misrepresenting an Obama position or record. This is common and expected in politics, but still pisses me off. In this debate however, McC's misrepresentations were so blatant and obvious that it made him look petty. I don't think this helped him.

Obama was much more subtle with his misreps of McCain's positions, and didn't resort to this tactic as often as McCain did.
 
Obama seems to have won the debate in terms of public opinion, and that means he won the debate.
IMHO it was a wash, but since the momentum is moving in Obama's favor, anthing other then a clear cut McCain victory would favor Obama. And McCain did not come close.
 
As a follow up:

CBS News and Knowledge Networks conducted a nationally representative poll of approximately 500 uncommitted voters reacting to the debate in the minutes after it happened.

Thirty-nine percent of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Barack Obama was the winner. Twenty-four percent thought John McCain won. Thirty-seven percent saw it as a draw.
Click to expand...


The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey is not a measurement of the views of all Americans, since only people who watched the debate were questioned and the audience included more Democrats than Republicans.

Fifty-one percent of those polled thought Obama did the better job in Friday night's debate, while 38 percent said John McCain did better.
Click to expand...


MediaCurves.com reported Independents favored Obama overall 61% to 38%.
Click to expand...



http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html



The polls are declaring Obama the winner. Regardless of party or pre -debate outlook debates are about undecided voters taking a first real look at the candidates and which one appeals to them. They are the audience for the debates and the one whose opinion counts at the end. The majority went to Obama.



Boo
 
I gave it to Obama solely because of McCains ridiculous refusal to look at or speak to him. It came off looking childish and petty. I can't think of a time when even W has done that.
I was almost expecting him to say "Mr Lehrer, will you tell Senator Obama I am not speaking to him?"

That and at times his locked on maniacal grin looked like he was barely keeping his temper in check. Once or twice when it was his turn to speak I was waiting for him to yell "**** YOU!" at Obama and walk off. (Perhaps he wouldn't look at Obama as that helped him keep his temper under control?)

I give points to Obama for being nicer than me as if it was me I think I would've maybe tried pushing McCains buttons to see if I could make that happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom