Hotline After Dark -- Is His Bark Worse Than His Bite?
Some highlights from analysis of the second presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain:
MSNBC's Matthews: "The dog that didn't bite. ... McCain never took an opportunity to take a shot at his rival on the issue that his running mate has been pushing now for four days. The question of his relationship to Bill Ayers. ... The fact that the running mate was assigned that responsibility, starting on Saturday, and that John McCain never picked that up tonight with an hour and a half of opportunity to do so, tells me that he's not personally comfortable with that kind of personal attack on his rival. ... He must be somewhat embarrassed by it. ... John McCain would not stick it to his rival on the very issue his campaign has been sticking it to him the last four days" (10/7).
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), asked if the camp made a conscious decision not to have McCain bring up Obama's associations: "We were trying to answer the questions that were asked and focus on the economy, and I think John did a very good job tonight. ... We didn't talk about things that I think were not asked of us to talk about" (CBS, 10/7).
New York Times' Brooks: "I didn't think it was a great debate. They have CD-ROMs in their head, and they spit out the old answers" (PBS, 10/7).
CNN's Toobin: "It's worth noting the two words you didn't hear in the debate were Palin and Biden. They were not mentioned at all. I think she's becoming an irrelevant factor in the campaign; neither a plus or minus. Biden has never been a factor. This is a race about Obama and McCain" ("AC 360," 10/7).
FNC's Hume: "At times [the debate] seemed to be more taken up with the worries of the moderator about the time requirements and with making sure that he got his own share of questions. ... Neither man seemed uncomfortable with himself or with the material in the any of the questions. Both candidates seem to be comfortable, confident, on their games" (10/7).
More after the jump.
(KATHERINE LEHR)
Weekly Standard's Kristol: "The fact that it was that kind of extremely conventional, inside the beltway, cabinet secretary type debate, of course helps Obama, because on a lot of these issues his positions are as popular as McCain's and he is good at articulating them" (FNC, 10/7).
CBS' Couric: "John McCain did not use the M word tonight, so all those people doing drinking games when 'maverick' is mentioned are going to be sorely disappointed and very sober."
More Couric: "I thought he was kind of upbeat and can-do and actually pretty optimistic in his rhetoric" (10/7).
Politico's Simon: "McCain needed to change the trajectory. He needed to knock Obama out. He needed to score some solid punches, and he didn't do it. And, because McCain didn't win, he lost" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 10/7).
Brooks, on why Obama got the edge: "I think, first, in style. He has a calmness and a fluidity that I think is easy to be around. And it provokes a certain amount of reassurance, so I think it's easy to imagine him as president. And for the leading candidate, that's the most important thing. The atmosphere is frosty between them, so you don't get a lot of human back-and-forth. On policy, I thought they were both reasonably fluid, I thought Obama a little more fluid. ... I just thought Obama seemed more confident, more at home in the times. McCain sometimes seemed a little labored" (PBS, 10/7)
CNN's Brown: "I actually thought it was a far more interesting debate than the first one. And I thought they both sort of learned from the first debate and brought something different into this. I mean, they both seemed to me more engaged" ("AC 360," 10/7).
See today's Hotline for the latest reviews.
I hated the rules and Brocaw's self-aggrandizing style. McPain seems totally out of gas, beyond grouchy and horribly stuck in the hell he has made of his campaign. Obama was his usual serene, confident and verbally competent self. While the Rs change up their theme every few days, he has stuck to his original themes and elaborated on them for months now and it shows. Mc pain's rudeness and and anger are more and more not even worthy of a senatorial relationship much less appropriate for a would-be president.
I hated the rules and Brocaw's self-aggrandizing style. McPain seems totally out of gas, beyond grouchy and horribly stuck in the hell he has made of his campaign. Obama was his usual serene, confident and verbally competent self. While the Rs change up their theme every few days, he has stuck to his original themes and elaborated on them for months now and it shows. Mc pain's rudeness and and anger are more and more not even worthy of a senatorial relationship much less appropriate for a would-be president.
The big, unasked question in this election is not race, nor is it gender. We have spoken of both. Rather, it is age. And, last night, we were all drawn into a picture of a man who, even if you like him and agree with his policies, seemed to lack the vigor, the stamina, the spark to undertake the presidency. Even more disconcerting, at times McCain simply seemed lost, physically, mentally and emotionally. I'm not sure he has four (4) years of a demanding, stressful job in him. He needs to stay in the Senate. 2000 was his time, and 2000 is oddly distant.
Take a look at the before and after pictures of various presidents comparing how they looked at their inauguration versus when the left office. Then take a look at a picture of McCain right now, and try to visualize what his after picture would look life if he gets elected.