presidential debate october 15 2008

presidential debate october 15 2008

Presidential Debate 2008 election are now over, brought to a close by an at-times testy back and forth between Barack Obama and John McCain at Hofstra University in New York.

McCain did not score the knockout blow that many Republicans had hoped but he did land several solid body shots — the best of which was his repudiation of Obama’s contention that he represented four more years of President George W. Bush.

Obama, well aware of his lead in state and national polls, refused to be flustered by McCain and instead brought nearly every question he was asked back to the economy and the struggles of average middle class families. Obama wasn’t particularly dynamic, but he didn’t have to be.

Presidential Debate

Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran

Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran

The fact that John McCain once sang “Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran” to the tune of the 1960s hit Barbara Ann came up again at tonight’s presidential debate. Whatever one makes of this fact, it should be noted that McCain and much of the media have been guilty of perpetuating a pop-cultural misunderstanding in connection with it.

When McCain originally sang those lines on the campaign trail in 2007, (here’s a YouTube clip), he introduced them as “that old Beach Boys song.” Reporters, pundits and others have typically described the incident as McCain parodying a Beach Boys song.

But while the Beach Boys recorded a popular version of Barbara Ann in 1965, the original version was recorded by a group called the Regents and charted in 1961.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zoPgv_nYg

Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran

Who Won the Debate Mccain Obama

:

McCain, Obama fight for title of ‘most qualified’
In their first head-to-head debate Friday, Sen. John McCain criticized Sen. Barack Obama as a candidate who “doesn’t understand” the key issues the country faces, and Obama linked McCain to President Bush on several issues.

Who Won the Debate Mccain Obama

Debate Results,Poll Results,Obama Mccain Debate Results

The Debate Scorecard, With Mixed Results

Here’s a summary of the smartest new political analysis on the Web:
by Gerald F. Seib and Sara Murray.

The initial reviews on the first presidential debate rolled in without a clear declaration of a winner.

The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder found “no memorable moments, fascinating body language, no major gaffes by either candidates, no major surprises. …a good debate for both men.” Ambinder writes that Sen. John McCain “did not filter himself, letting his frustration and contempt” for Sen. Barack Obama show through. Obama, in turn, “was a cool cat throughout–although I am reliably informed that GOP spinners are claiming the exact opposite. He seemed confident enough to stand up to McCain’s challenges and in a deferential way. He seemed at times to go out of his way to agree with McCain when agreement was warranted, which the McCain campaign will surely point out.”

Overall, “where McCain was shaky in the first half of the debate, he was on much firmer ground as he navigated Jim Lehrer’s broad foreign policy questions, particularly those questions which did not require McCain to defend his Iraq war. Obama agreed with McCain – and said so – almost as much as he disagreed. But he didn’t topple or stumble…Thresholds are artificial, but both candidates seemed to meet them – although Obama’s threshold was arguably higher. The press will probably conclude that McCain did not fundamentally change impressions tonight. And that Obama held his own.”

Obama Mccain Debate Results