Nearly forty minutes in...McCain is kicking Obama's ass. You'd think this friendly, personality setup would favor Obama but it's not.I don't agree with McCain on a lot of things but compared to Obama he's simply filled with substance. I don't mean on policy prescriptions (though McCain is stronger there) but just on being a man. McCain has lived, he's succeed, he's failed and he just come off as someone who knows himself and the world he lives in.
The Weekly Standard Blog catches Captain Bullshit...well, bullshitting.
If this were a fight it would have been a knockout for McCain.
Final thought...
McCain big time. I think my position on McCain is well cataloged on this blog (I'm not thrilled to put it mildly) but even I was impressed. Yeah there were no immigration or global warming questions tonight and the luster will likely wear off from this performance in time but he did nothing but help himself tonight.
Matt Lewis at Townhall.com also calls it a McCain win:
Obama did well, but McCain just came on -- and I think it is clear who has the gravitas. McCain looks good without the necktie. He is humorous tonight. And though he has been criticized for being uncomfortable talking about religion, I think talking about character is his wheelhouse.
Obama did well during his opening session. But McCain is doing great. I'm not just saying that because I'm a conservative. Quite often, I've written that though I favor McCain against Obama, that McCain has not been an effective communicator (usually, this has been when each were giving speeches -- which is different from answering questions).
I'm not sure what it is, but McCain seems extremely focused tonight -- like a baseball player who is "in the zone". He is quick and eloquent tonight. He is blunt and delivering "straight talk". He has a passion and seriousness about him which I have not seen in a while. But perhaps more than anything, he looks extremely comfortable tonight ...
Amanda Carpenter at Townhall.com concluded:
The biggest contrast of the evening between the two candidates came down to their ability to answer questions clearly and forthrightly. McCain did, Obama didn't. You can see this in the Q & A I transcribed below. The very first question alone shows how "safe" Obama stayed all night. When asked who he admires the most he relied said his wife, his grandma and didn't even name a third. He even ducked the softballs!
Amanda Carpenter transcribes both candidates' responses: McCain at Saddleback and Obama at Saddleback.
Byron York at National Review writes How McCain Won Saddleback: In an unusual setting, his experience overwhelmed Obama.
Mark Hemingway at National Review writes McCain As Good As Obama Was Bad
I don't want to get to overheated about what occurred tonight, but I do think McCain had a clear and decisive victory over Obama. It all comes down to something that Phil Bredesen, the Democratic governor of Tennessee recently said about Obama: “Instead of giving big speeches at big stadiums, he needs to give straight-up 10-word answers to people at Wal-Mart about how he would improve their lives.”
By that standard, McCain did extremely well and Obama did very poorly. McCain's answers were direct, confident and, most importantly, serious. When asked about what leaders he would consult as president, he first suggested Gen. Petraeus, architect of the surge, who he correctly praised as one of America's all-time great military leaders. By way of contrast, Obama suggested he would seek out the advice of
a typical white person, er, his grandmother and his wife Michelle, who's still trying to decide whether she's proud of her country.
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