Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Debate Reactions: Desperate, Angry McCain

The reviews of the final presidential debate are coming in, and they are not pretty for John McCain. McCain sneered, snarled, and grunted his way through the 90 minute match in hopes of throwing Barack Obama off his game. He failed, and miserably at that.

The snap polls conducted by CNN and CBS showed that Obama overwhelmingly “won” the debate. Here are the numbers:

CNN
Obama 58%
McCain 31%

CBS Undecided Voters
Obama 53%
McCain 22%


Snap polls have been criticized by Republicans as unreliable in the past few debates, yet they actually showed Obama underperforming compared to traditional multi-day polls. Republicans instead point to online “polls” at such places like Drudge Report, which suggest that McCain “won” the debate 73% to 25%. Gee, I wonder who is reading Drudge.

In addition to the snap polls, several networks had focus groups. All of those networks, including the Republican Fox News, had Obama as the clear winner of the debate. From the Fox News focus group:



McCain’s main problem tonight was that he was unfocused. He lashed out at Obama over everything, and didn’t even try to explain how he, John McCain, would be a better president. He pretty much called Obama a liberal tax increasing baby killer who pals around with terrorists. The reaction shots of John McCain when Obama was talking were priceless. He rolled his eyes, made strange noises, and sneered at Senator Obama. The voters, focus group members, and pundits all viewed that as desperate.

From the McCain-friendly Roger Simon at Politico:
John McCain needed a miracle in his final debate with Barack Obama on Wednesday night, a miracle that would wipe away McCain’s deficit in the polls and re-energize his flagging campaign.

He did not get one. The clouds did not part. Heavenly choirs were not heard. Instead, the American public heard angry attacks from McCain.

Sometimes McCain attacked directly, and sometimes he attacked sarcastically, but he never stopped attacking. And he never rattled Obama. Obama answered every attack and kept his cool.


Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic believes that ‘on points’ McCain may have actually “won” the debate:
But debates aren't usually won on points.

They're won on valence and visuals.

Emotions and body language.

And tonight, we saw a McXplosion. Every single attack that Sen. McCain has ever wanted to make, he took the opportunity tonight to make. Around 30 minutes in, McCain seemed to surrender the debate to his frustrations, making it seem as if he just wanted the free television.

His substance suffered; it didn't make sense at times. He seemed personally offended by negative ads; he tried to make a point about Obama's character, but all the sleight were those Obama allegedly inflicted on Obama: the town halls, campaign finance, negative ads, etc. He allowed himself to get caught up in his own grievances. It was just plain unattractive on television. He moved quickly from William Ayers to taxes without a transition. From Obama's opposition to trade agreements to taxes. No intermediate steps. Blizzards of words without unifying strings.


Ezra Klein at The American Prospect agrees with Ambinder that ‘on the points,’ McCain might have won but he lost the debate. He adds:
He was looking to land shots, and often succeeded. But the effort to find openings and vulnerabilities left him with little time to appear presidential. And if he connected with jabs, he never found his knockout blow. Worse, the attacks came at a cost: The angry energy showed on McCain's face as clearly as in his answers…

…McCain looks angrier and more petulant than any participant in any major debate I've watched. Watching him try to stay seated is like watching a furious child try and obey a timeout. He can hardly hold still.


Already, YouTube roll of McCain’s disgusted reaction shots have hit the street.



Overall, McCain may have fatally damaged himself tonight at a time when he needed to fatally damage Obama. I’m not talking about the presidential campaign, but about John McCain’s legacy. Instead of going out as the maverick straight-talker the public thought he was, he will be known as the angry old man who waged a nasty and dishonorable campaign. Nothing he does in the next 18 days will change that.

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