No clear win for Obama in last night’s debate

Forgive me but I didn’t see last night’s debate as a clear win for the president. In my opinion, Obama and Romney were pretty evenly matched, while debate moderator Crowley sounded whiney most of the time.

The Washington Post’s Stephen Stromberg was also unimpressed, but he did give the edge to Obama:

President Obama might have saved his campaign at Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Not that his performance was all that great.

At the first presidential debate two weeks ago, Obama seemed prickly and disengaged. This time around, he retired the arrogant grin and delivered his lines with force. He did voters the courtesy of bringing his A game, instead of conceited complacency. Mitt Romney, meanwhile, went from confident and affable two weeks ago to defensive and pushy Tuesday night. He often sounded flustered, even repeatedly arguing petty points of procedure with moderator Candy Crowley. By the end of the debate, members of the

audience clapped after Crowley called Romney on a fact he got wrong.

Obama also did a better job hitting Romney on a few matters of substance. The president calmly added up the numbers in Romney’s mathematically-challenged tax plan, insisting that Romney the investor would never accept such a “sketchy” deal. Romney’s response to the criticism of his numbers was about as convincing as his usually are: “Of course they add up,” he insisted, following that with no plausible reason to believe him.

On substance, however, Obama still only looked great relative to Romney’s unrealistic tax plan. 

Read more:

McCain vs. Obama: a Town-hall Style Debate in Nashville Tonight

In the run up to tonight’s debate in Nashville, Kate Seelye at the Caucus (NY Times) mentions that Obama is leading McCain in most of the national polls; however, both CBSNews and Reuters/CSpan/Zogby Tracking now show Obama ahead of McCain by only three points. And according to RealClearPolitics, Obama’s average national lead has shrunk to 5.3 points today. The race is still tight.

Seelye offers scheduling information for the second presidential debate and also a few pointers regarding what to expect from McCain and Obama:

“If Senator John McCain is in fact trying to shift the focus of attention away from his ability to deal with the economy, it should show up tonight on the debate stage.

“Mr. McCain meets Senator Barack Obama at Belmont University in Nashville in the second of three presidential debates.

“The event starts at 9 p.m. Eastern and runs for 90 minutes. You can see it on the networks, most of the cable shows, all over the Internet and, of course, right here, live. We will also be live blogging the debate as it unfolds and fact-checking along the way. And tonight we have asked members of the U.S. military to watch the debate along with us and share their thoughts.

“The debate comes just a month before Election Day, a time when undecided voters — are there really any left? — traditionally start making up their minds. It affords Mr. Obama a chance to “seal the deal,” since most opinion polls show him leading Mr. McCain.

“This should make for a riveting encounter. Mr. McCain needs to do something dramatic to halt his slide. He and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have taken a sharply negative turn on the campaign trail, and he may well continue that tone tonight.

“The format is a town-hall style meeting, with about 80 uncommitted voters on stage with the two candidates, and that may play to Mr. McCain’s strength. He has a way of warming up with a live audience and feeding off their energy.

“But here’s the thing about voters: they are concerned with their pocketbooks (or wallets, as the case may be). So while Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin have been trying to get some mileage out of Mr. Obama’s past — and fleeting — association with a former 1960s radical, it seems likely that the voters will pull tonight’s conversation back to issues that matter most to them, like the economy, health care and education.

“Questions posted on the Internet for the debate show that voters are intensely interested in what the candidates will do to shore up the tanking financial system. They also want to know how the $700 billion bailout for Wall Street will alter their plans for other domestic and foreign programs.”

Read more.

Obama’s Lead Shrinks in Latest Washington Post/ABC Poll

In the aftermath of the first presidential debate between Obama and McCain, the Washington Post/ABC poll shows Obama’s lead has shrunk five percentage points from 52-43 on Sept. 22 to 50-46 on Sept. 29. For complete poll results go here.

Campaigns Seek to Shape Perceptions on Who Won the Debate

Lots of discussion going on across the Web about who won the first presidential debate last night between John McCain and Barack Obama. As reported by Jim Rutenberg at the NY Times, it’s laughable how far spinmeisters will go to convince the populace their guy won. Not so laughable is the reality that large numbers of people are actually persuaded by such tripe.

Go here to read Rutenberg’s piece titled The Next Day, a New Debate on Who Won.

McCain Suspends Campaign; Seeks to Postpone Friday’s Debate

John McCain appears to have seized the initiative from Barack Obama in providing bold leadership in the financial crisis facing Congress this week. Beth Fouhy at the Associated Press reports:

“NEW YORK (AP) — Republican presidential nominee John McCain challenged rival Barack Obama on Wednesday to suspend their heated campaign, postpone Friday's debate and work together to deal with the nation's financial troubles.

“Obama did not immediately respond to his rival's surprising political move, but campaign officials said the senator is inclined to move ahead with the debate. The dueling statements came after the two senators spoke privately, each trying to portray himself as the bipartisan leader at a time of crisis.

“But McCain beat Obama to the punch with the first public statement, saying the Bush administration's Wall Street bailout plan seemed headed for defeat and a bipartisan solution was urgently needed. If not, McCain said ominously, credit will dry up, people will no longer be able to buy homes, life savings will be at stake and businesses will not have enough money to pay workers.

“The move was an effort by the Republican to claim leadership on an issue that has been troublesome for him at a time when his rival is moving ahead in the polls.

“McCain said he would put politics aside and return to Washington Thursday to focus on the nation's financial problems after addressing former President Clinton's Global Initiative session in New York. He also canceled his planned appearance Wednesday on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" program.

“McCain said he had spoken to President Bush and asked him to convene a leadership meeting in Washington that would include him and Obama.”

Read more.

McCain and Obama Prepare for First Debate; Biden and Palin on Their Own

The first presidential debate between Obama and McCain is scheduled for this Friday night, Sept. 26, in Oxford, Miss. According to the Caucus (NY Times):

“Both campaigns know the debate could be a pivotal moment in the race for the White House. The 90-minute event, scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday at the University of Mississippi, will discuss foreign policy and national security. Given the interest in the race so far, viewership is expected to be high.”

While McCain and Obama continue their usual campaign activities in addition to preparing for the debate, the Caucus reports the VP candidates will keep to their own schedules:

“Ms. Palin is scheduled to make her first visit to New York since she became Mr. McCain’s running mate. In addition to meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan on Tuesday, Ms. Palin plans to meet with former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia.

“Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. Obama’s running mate, will be in Baltimore on Monday, Washington on Tuesday and then Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.”