 |
Second Presidential Debate Open Thread |
 |
Barack Obama and John McCain are debating now at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. This is your open thread, enjoy.
My take:
Even some of the cooler heads in the blogosphere are starting to wonder aloud about an Obama blowout come November 4th. A collapsing economy should be the nail in the coffin for Republican credibility, while McCain’s and Palin’s antics are destroying whatever credibility “the mavericks” might have been able to claim.
What does that mean for Obama tonight? I think all he has to do is project leadership, something he does very well. He may not be the best debater, and of course I’d like to see Obama land some knockout blows, but even if that doesn’t happen I think a draw benefits Obama.
My eye tonight is on Brokaw. I don’t trust him. Brokaw’s been called “NBC’s Liaison with the McCain Campaign,” and his general “Greatest Generation” outlook would seem to favor “tough guy” McCain.
If you find anything unfair about Brokaw’s moderation of the debate, I’d urge you to call his bosses at NBC and let them know: (212) 664-4444 is the number to NBC’s operator, and they’ll transfer you from there to the comment line.
From Jason:
For folks on Twitter, you can rank each candidate’s performane live and watch the aggregated results in real time:
1. Follow Plodt on Twitter.
2. Tweet about the debate, ranking the candidates’ performance on a scale of 1 to 10. For instance:
Let me be clear, I’m ambivalent. *Obama 5.3*
If they use the words Main Street one more time, I’m going to slit my wrists. *McCain 1* *Obama 1*
Take that, non-maverick! *McCain 6*
The pressure’s on McCain. He needs a decisive win. Obama’s just looking for a draw. I just hope he doesn’t get too defensive.
On first Q. Obama was pretty much giving his stump speech and didn’t address how to quickly help older Americans BUT McCain was lame in bringing up energy first. McCain’s response re: buying up mortgages was good.
yep. Obama not being out in front of the buyout of mortgages is Annoying.
He did just say that he has to correct McCain’s history “not surprisingly”
McCain looked Obama in the eye when they first met on stage. McCain wins!
John McCain is not wearing a flag pin.
Surprised that McCain isn’t being more aggressive.
Are the comments working?
On Q.2 about what is in the Bailout for the average person, Obama actually answered the Q whereas McCain got into an obscure Fannie Mae discussion
when McCain tries to tell a story or sound inspiring, he sounds kinds condecending and fake.
and creepy…
McCain is breathing heavy. Making me nervous.
In Q. 3 about Why should anyone trust either party when they both got the economy in trouble, Obama’s history lesson was good, though talking about the Bush budgets and McCain’s relationship when the Q. calls out for a discussion of bipartisanship wasn’t the best strategy. McCain got into an inside the beltway talk about earmarks. Neither candidate is really speaking to the people in the room.
In Q. 3 about Why should anyone trust either party when they both got the economy in trouble, Obama’s histo
Bob Barr for President!
Spending freeze is reckless beyond belief. Totally unworkable.
McCain responds to the question about what he will ask us to sacrifice as Americans by going off on earmarks and bureaucracy?
We have to eliminate earmarks?
No! No! Oh the horrible sacrifice!
But in all seriousness, McCain just has no idea what this question was about.
Obama gets it, brings it back to a call to service. I figured McCain would at least have some talking point answer to this, since he’s always talking about serving a cause greater than one’s self.
Neither candidate is actually telling us of a real sacrifice we need to make. And I was surprised that Obama was the first to mention Sept 11th — even if it was a good point, I wish he didn’t.
Pretty funny of McCain trying to label Obama with the Hoover title — Mr. The Fundamentals of the Economy are strong.
McCain also says Hoover was the last president to raise taxes during hard times. Wrong. FDR did it, and it actually helped. What a crock.
Bush Sr. raised taxes too.
read my lips noah
Good move by Obama to make sure the tax question is set straight.
Is anyone watching the dial group meter on CNN? I’m watching on MSNBC….
i watched on cnn at a bar and the dial group was favoring obama. they were reacting well to mccain at times, but obama had consistently high rankings. all the pundits were scoring heavily in obama’s favor as well. That being said, CNN is a joke.
McCain called Obama “that one.” This could hurt him.
Obama saying t hat he is going to go overtime because McCain “threw a lot of stuf out there” makes him look like he doesn’t want to play by the rules.
Obama is taking McCain to school on health care. This is fun to watch!
Obama killed it on health care.
The line that McCain is right, I don’t understand everything such as why we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9-11 was the line of the night for me.
Yeah, that was a great line. I’m sure it will be a McCain ad by the end of the night though: “Barack Obama says that John McCain’s right, Obama doesn’t understand….”
McCain has no vision for peace and welfare beyond US interests. It’s quite disturbing.
That’s right. Obama brought up “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.”
This heated exchange over foreign policy seems to indicate that our nation’s greatest anxiety is still terrorism. The discussion of the economy was nowhere near this passionate. Fascinating development.
paging McCain. KGB is three letters, not four.
Neither candidate is doing particularly well in this format. They haven’t really addressed the specific questions asked, they rarely refer to the questioner’s name, and they get in a petty tit for tat that isn’t good for this audience.
agreed, but the format inherently favors obama. the motion involved, the mobility demonstrated in being able to rise, move, and address the question. every move of mccain’s reminds one of the age, while Obama looks cucumber cool.
McCain says we are going to face challenges from countries that most Americans couldn’t identify on a map.
Yeah, including your fucking running mate!
Notice that McCain never mentioned Sarah Palin once during the debate.