Actual Debate Analysis

So I doubt many of us watched the full debate last Friday. As a public service, I would like to offer up my personal debate analysis. Before I get started, let me set the scene so you don't think I'm some political wacko watching a debate on a Friday night with nothing better to do! We had friends in town and went out for dinner and drinks. We recorded the debate and watched it late night with beer and buzzed. MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE!

Anyway, I feel it my patriotic duty to report back my findings, as the news headlines the following couple of days have been an absolute joke. I really don't think debates even matter anymore. The only thing that matters is you get a highlight reel zinger in there that gives you the "victory."

McCain won this debate hands down.
Going in, I genuinely thought Obama would make McCain look like a bumbling fool and talk circles around him with not much substance, but plenty of catchy rhetoric. That was clearly not the case. McCain was on the offensive throughout the debate. He made very clear and concise arguments, and repeatedly pointed to his strengths while contrasting them against Obama's weaknesses. McCain had Obama on the defensive the entire night. So much so that you could repeatedly see Obama get rattled while McCain was talking. He would mutter, move around and smile uncomfortably. He even had nasty white spittle on his lower lip betraying his obvious nervousness. Seriously! We were totally grossed out and laughing. He was sweating pretty good too. These physical tells proved to me that even Obama thought he was losing.

Obama has trouble thinking on his toes.
Whenever Obama answered a new lead question first, he stumbled a bit. It is clear that he is reliant upon the teleprompters that he uses at every campaign speech he gives. Without the teleprompters, you could see him struggle to think. He gave a lot of "umms" and "ahhs" as he tried to somehow work his way into his regular talking points. Then he would sound fine.

Obama agreed with McCain repeatedly.
Whenever McCain answered first, he sounded calm, cool and collected. He obviously was very well prepared for the questions they fired at him. When it was time for Obama to respond, at least 5 or 6 times, he said, "I agree with John." McCain only agreed with Obama once about the need for a financial bailout - DUH!

Subversive formalities?
I wondered why McCain addressed Obama as "Senator Obama" while Obama addressed McCain as "John." Seems a bit informal. I wonder if he was trying to belittle him in some way. Maybe he was just being friendly, but it seemed very odd to me.

Worst response of the night. (Small font for space)
Lehrer: As president, as a result of whatever financial rescue plan comes about and the billion, $700 billion, whatever it is it's going to cost, what are you going to have to give up, in terms of the priorities that you would bring as president of the United States, as a result of having to pay for the financial rescue plan?

Obama: Well, there are a range of things that are probably going to have to be delayed. We don't yet know what our tax revenues are going to be. The economy is slowing down, so it's hard to anticipate right now what the budget is going to look like next year.

But there's no doubt that we're not going to be able to do everything that I think needs to be done. There are some things that I think have to be done.

We have to have energy independence, so I've put forward a plan to make sure that, in 10 years' time, we have freed ourselves from dependence on Middle Eastern oil by increasing production at home, but most importantly by starting to invest in alternative energy, solar, wind, biodiesel, making sure that we're developing the fuel-efficient cars of the future right here in the United States, in Ohio and Michigan, instead of Japan and South Korea.

We have to fix our health care system, which is putting an enormous burden on families. Just -- a report just came out that the average deductible went up 30 percent on American families.

They are getting crushed, and many of them are going bankrupt as a consequence of health care. I'm meeting folks all over the country. We have to do that now, because it will actually make our businesses and our families better off.

The third thing we have to do is we've got to make sure that we're competing in education. We've got to invest in science and technology. China had a space launch and a space walk. We've got to make sure that our children are keeping pace in math and in science.

And one of the things I think we have to do is make sure that college is affordable for every young person in America.

And I also think that we're going to have to rebuild our infrastructure, which is falling behind, our roads, our bridges, but also broadband lines that reach into rural communities.

Also, making sure that we have a new electricity grid to get the alternative energy to population centers that are using them.

So there are some -- some things that we've got to do structurally to make sure that we can compete in this global economy. We can't shortchange those things. We've got to eliminate programs that don't work, and we've got to make sure that the programs that we do have are more efficient and cost less.

So in Obama's response to what he would CUT to pay for the bailout, he proposed increased spending for 4 programs, including my absolute favorite - building broadband access for rural farmers. Ever hear of satellite??? Please don't overlook his agreement with McCain that we need to drill to produce more domestic oil.

Obama and Afghanistan???
Obama supports a troop surge in Afghanistan to make sure we win that war. He said it implicitly in this debate. I actually stopped the debate, rewound it and listened again to make sure I heard it correctly. He said it. So how is this any different from the troop surge in Iraq??? He refused to acknowledge that the surge was a good plan or even worked in the same debate a question or 2 previously. Then he proposes the same plan in Afghanistan! This guy is clueless. See if any news article brings up this fine point of his foreign policy. That single position undermines his entire argument against McCain and Iraq.

The Bush strategy.
Obama tried to repeatedly link McCain to Bush. It's the primary Democrat strategy. Bush is unpopular, so try to make people think a vote for McCain is a vote for another 4 years of Bush. This one cracks me up. McCain is so unlike Bush that his own party was hesitant to nominate him! He almost became Independent a few years ago. Hannity and Limbaugh, the blowhard Conservative radio hosts HATED McCain and decried his nomination. McCain smoothly outlined multiple disagreements he has had with the current administration. However, Obama is correct that McCain does vote the administrations way almost 90% of the time.

Obama scored too.
Ready to lead. That was a major point McCain tried to make regarding his record. He tried to show naive positions Obama currently has or had taken in the past. He even called Obama "dangerous" to our national security. While I agree that McCain has more qualifications in foreign affairs, taking a trip to the wilderness of Afghansistan has nothing to do with that. Furthermore, I don't think Obama would be a dangerous President, and it ended up making McCain sound a little silly.

In conclusion, the 4 people that watched the debate at my house all agreed that McCain had scored a convincing victory. Our opinions were backed by the TV media analysts immediately after the debate. The conservative guys said McCain had won and had Obama on the defensive. The real tell is that the liberal commentators said it was a draw! If the liberal pundits didn't claim a victory, then you know McCain did very well. I don't understand the media headlines the next day that claimed Obama the winner. They definitely seem to have an agenda, and I felt I needed to bring you the truth.

I think Obama will improve next week here in Nashville, and I can't see McCain pulling out another near perfect performance. The end result will probably be a pretty even debate, but will be received as a rousing Obama victory in the media, so I advise everyone to watch for themselves to get the whole story.