McCain Complains in the Debate: “I don’t even have a seal yet”

The Politico staff has compiled a list of zingers, stats, and sound bites from last night’s first presidential debate, and it’s worth the read:

‘“Number of times Sen. McCain referred to Sen. Obama as ‘Barack’: zero

‘“Number of times Sen. Obama referred to Sen. McCain as ‘John’: 23

‘“McCain zingers: ‘Sen. Obama has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. It's hard to reach across the aisle from that far to the left. … I'm not going to set the White House visitors schedule before I'm president of the United States. I don't even have a seal yet.’

‘“Obama zingers: ‘Coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don't know, you know, how credible that is. … I've got a bracelet, too, from Sergeant — from the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek, given to me in Green Bay. … John mentioned me being wildly liberal — mostly that's just me opposing George Bush's policies.’

‘“Best Obama sound bite: ‘You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong. You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shiite and Sunni. And you were wrong.’

‘“Best McCain sound bite: ‘We've seen this stubbornness before in this administration — [for Obama] to cling to a belief that somehow the surge has not succeeded, and failing to acknowledge that he was wrong about the surge is — shows to me that we … need more flexibility in a president of the United States than that.’

“Declared Obama the winner: ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, pollster Frank Luntz on Fox, Slate’s John Dickerson, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin, CBS News instant poll and CNN post-debate poll.

“Declared McCain the winner: Politico’s Roger Simon (‘The Mac is back’), Fortune magazine’s Nina Easton, The Weekly Standard’s William Kristol and Fred Barnes, Fox News Texting Poll and Drudge online poll.

‘“Tie: Republican strategist Mike Murphy, who said on MSNBC: ‘No game-changer, and we're going to have a rematch.’

‘“McCain’s repeated message: ‘I'm afraid Sen. Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy ...What he doesn't understand … I don't think that Sen. Obama understands … What Sen. Obama doesn't seem to understand … He doesn't understand … Sen. Obama still doesn't quite understand — or doesn't get it … Sen. Obama's plan is dangerous for America … I mean, it's just dangerous. … Again, a little bit of naiveté there … It isn't just naive; it's dangerous.’

‘“Obama’s repeated message, perhaps aimed at swing voters: ‘I think Sen. McCain's absolutely right … Sen. McCain is absolutely right … He's absolutely right … Sen. McCain is absolutely right … John, I — you're absolutely right … Sen. McCain is absolutely right.”’

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