McCain said the American people were "angry" four times in abaotu 15 seconds during his opening comments on the economy at the beginning of the debate.

Frank,

I completely agree. Hey, you all have a great time tomorrow night. I will be thinking of you. Say hi to Jill for me and remember, next time, do this on a weekend. I will fly in and be there.

Ken

Am I dreaming all this? Is America about to elect the smart, rational, compassionate person? What is in the kool-aid these days - brain matter? Just pinch me already.

"PS: The Oracle of Conventional Wisdom David Gergen just announced that McCain needs to begin worrying about the damage he is inflicting on his party and reputation."

I think what you're saying here, and I agree entirely, is that this is exactly analogous to Tim Russert's proclamation that "we now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be." It was true, and it was devastating.

These mindless debates are not won on points. You win them by creating the most positive impression in your audience. Like it or not, that's our political reality. Obama seems to have an intuitive sense of this, while McCain does not.

It's as if politics is the one game in which HOW you play really does matter most.

OK, Congressman Peter King, making the case that McCain won, just invoked Dewey. I said in a previous post that the first time the McCain camp raises the Dewey/Truman race then the fat lady can be said to have engaged her vocal cords. I stand by that assessment. Barring an act of God, of course. Or the Supreme Court.

Anyone who watched the debate could see that McCain knows it's over.  He'd do well to spend the rest of the campaign suspending his campaign to solve all our national crises, and take a few mental health days while he's at it.

I must need a new TV. I don't get this boring and lethargic business. I've been watching debates, well, since the beginning - Nixon vs. Him.

Obama is as good as the best, better than almost anyone who has gone before. His command of the details, his breadth of knowledge on virtually all subjects, his commanding presence and aplomb, and his ability to connect with both the common man and the highly educated - this is boring?

And he's new to the national scene! He defeats two of the most popular and powerful politicians in America (and throw in all of those guys in the primary), Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and some are still saying "Well, it just wasn't a Republican year."

Damn right, it's Obama's year. He earned it, we're lucky to have this guy as the next President of the United States. By the way, do you remember Reagan in the debates? Bromides, wisecracks, and a Hallmark vision of America. He set us down this road (i.e., down).

(What does Barack Obama have to do to not be "boring"? Levitate?)

I'm with you, fougasseu. Obama's temperament and intellect are a thing to behold. He's smart, he's charming, he oozes competence. And he's run circles around the most skilled politicians of our time.

As for the video composite of McCain's angry, irritated moments, Andrew Sullivan has already posted one:

andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/.../mcangry.html

Re: Gergen's comment

McCain is where he is today - losing, that is - because he embraced the core of GOP theology and shed his Maverick persona to embrace the base.  He has lashed himself to the mast and is going down with that ship - the party will sink whatever he does, and it is too late to abandon the ship.  Someone else will have to save what's left of the GOP, but it will have to be someone who is ready to shed the Rove-Bush legacy, rather than someone like McCain who tattooed their names on his soul.

His reputation has been badly tarnished -- but he has three weeks left in the limelight.  That's enough time to claw back some shred of decency, some small measure of respect.  Personally, I don't believe he has the resilience needed to make such a turnaround.  He seems completely absorbed in the rationalizations and delusions that he offered up last night - unable to face the stark reality of the ugly campaign he is responsible for.  

It is impossible to save his party, and I don't see him doing anything to repair his reputation.  It is a pity, but his campaign has revealed the true John McCain to us, and what we see is disgusting.

Neil

I thought McCain's head was going to explode when, after demanding to know how much Obama was going to fine Joe the Plumber for not having insurance, Obama said "Zero."

Seriously, his head explode.

Does McCain even read stuff before he goes rambling on about it?

One of McCain's charms is that he is a lousy politician. In the best sense of the word. Too bad he wasn't able to translate that into something which might dignify our collective conversations. He has some defensible dispositions to offer. But blaming the powers that be for impotence is a sure loser.

Obama OTOH has oodles of political instinct which he demonstrates with too much facility for my own comfort zone. The ability to tack political winds is not necessarily indicative of constructive leadership talent. It DOES show that he is a very bright and capable man. It is my hope that he knows the difference between sailing and where the rubber hits the road. Those are two different beasts though motion still dictates.

Big hopes. I offer my sincere blessings with a cautious note that the Age of Aquarius wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

Grace under pressure vs. gracelessness under pressure.

Who needs Yosemite Sam at a time like this?

"Grace under pressure vs. gracelessness under pressure.

Who needs Yosemite Sam at a time like this?"

Obama won the election three weeks ago when the markets were melting down and he brought forth his assemblage to say what needed to be said and how it needed to be said. He measured the right tone and content. Knowing mass psychology is important. Obviously one of the most important things you must understand if you want to be president. All I'm saying is that it isn't everything but it is a big part of it.

I also loved Gergens other line when asked what McCain should do now: "beats the hell out of me." Wonder how many of McCain's people are saying the same thing.

I watched it on CNN and the split screen just devastated McCain. As 3mjesus mentioned, McCain challenged Obama about the fine, when Obama said zero, it was like McCain was hit square in the face, he visibly rocked back. Never ask a question that you don't know the answer. After that haymaker McCain nonsensically said "Joe you are rich. Spread the wealth around" instead of rebutting Obama about health care.

Also McCain mentioned twice how elequont Obama is. Once after Obama basically, said Lets take a look at the offshore drilling issue, Oil companies must drill on their leases, use it or lose it. And McCain said see how Obama talks he said lets look at offshore drilling, not do it.

Well, one, what Obama said in that exchange wasn't elequount, two he said lets look at the issue, not lets look at offshore drilling, so McCain was so wrapped up in how Obama was talking and not what he was saying. If you bring up the eloquounce issue, at least you should make a comment how Obama wraps up words into shiny packages that have nothing inside, or how he will sell sand to a bedouin. But he didn't. It was as though he thought saying Obama was eloquount was enough of a put down in itself.

The first 30 minutes were McCain, the middle part was a muddle, but Obama completely destroyed McCain the last 30 minutes (half due to McCain). When McCain talked in a way that had highly positive reaction, Obama looked respectfully at him and listened attentively. McCain looked angrily out at...what or who I don't know.

Last thing, did anyone hear about McCain's troop to teachers? He said lets bring them from the battlefied to the classroom without certification or training. Yeah, putting a soldier fresh off the battlefield into a classroom full of 12 year old is a great idea sure to mesh well. Biggest misspeak of McCain of the night (at least I hope so, or hope I misheard him)

He's A Rambling Man , By Noam Scheiber Hey Joe! You May Think It's 'Socialistic,' But

Blackton, I heard that too and had the same reaction. What the f? That had to be one of the most bizarre ideas I have ever heard. Some military folks do have plenty of experience with teaching and training, although boot camp to second grade would require something of a switch in methods. But the general idea seems utterly crazy, except maybe to people who worship "those troops".

Unless Joe the Plumber becomes a national rallying cry (please, God, no), there was nothing McCain did that fundamentally altered the course of his campaign.

Let me third that. Maybe he meant troops who were already teachers didn't need to be re-certified? Bizarre is the right word.

Troop to Teacher -- McCain talks the idea up as if it would be a good thing for the students, but he goes out of his way to insist that these candidates for teaching jobs should not have to obtain a teaching certificate or pass any tests.  Just stick'em in the classroom and see what happens.  What a maverick.  Sounds pretty haphazard to me, but then I think of Katrina and I remember that effectiveness is not part of the GOP governing model.

I predict that in addition to the bulging eyes and the creepy smile, his scare quotes around "health of the mother" will be SNL fodder.  As in, what do those "doctors" with their "medical expertise" know about the "health" of some "trollop" who probably slathers on "makeup".  Tina Fey will be all over that.

And my husband and I laughed without benefit of comedic parody when he pulled out that Troops to Teachers stuff.  We were picturing some PTSD guy fresh from Iraq in front of a room full of high schoolers...not fair, maybe, but it's what comes immediately to mind.

Blackie et al.

I heard the Troops to Teacher line and nearly fell of my chair.  He can't really have meant that - but if he did, I wonder how many of his own supporters would be foolhardy to want bootcamp for the second-graders.

And the scare-quotes around "health", the mocking tone, "extreme" ... I suspect that those few seconds will get played and replayed all over the country.  Looking at the tracking lines, what was fascinating was that women and men were diametrically opposed in their reaction to McCain's abortion segment: women two points below, consistently, men two point above.  For Obama's segment, the men stayed the same, while the women hit the maximum.  It was quite illuminating.

McCain was great on "Meet The Press" and other shows where he'd come on, dump on fellow Republicans, make a witticism and disappear. I liked him.

But you know, he doesn't wear well. Clinton, Obama, Reagan, and a few others have that knack - in their case, familiarity doesn't breed contempt. I thought McCain had it because he was the darling of the Sunday shows for years. But he doesn't.

You can't learn it, it's just some inexplicable chemistry. Johnny Carson had it, Jon Stewart has it, McCain has something close to it but not close enough.