AFTER THE DEBATE 

I was watching on C-SPAN. They have a policy of sticking to the picture while the principles are still on screen.

While everyone else was no doubt cutting over to talking heads, C-SPA covered the post-debate crowd stuff.

There was some initial glad-handing the crowds by both the candidates. Michelle gets out there, too. John's doing his part, but Cindy just stands by, awkwardly.

Odd little interlude. McCain taps Obama on the arm. Obama tries to shake his hand, but McCain won't, so instead Obama shakes Cindy's hand.   

Margie notes Obama's doing a lot more about shaking the hands of folks outside the front row.

And ... the joy of C-SPAN, Obama stayed on the floor talking with folks a loooooot longer than McCain did. And actually talking with folks, not just shaking hands. Following up with folks who asked questions.   

Meanwhile, McCain actually disappeared after a few minutes (C-SPAN actually informed us he'd left). Barack and Michelle made the full circuit around the audience, and then continued to hang out, taking pictures with folks talking with individuals, just being there with the people. He was there a half hour after the debate, vs. five minutes for McCain.

Class act.

SO WHO WON? 

McCain avoided losing his temper.

Neither candidate made a significant stumble (aside from McCain arguing that nuclear energy is safe and clean).

Both candidates relied on talking points.

I don't think the Town Hall format helped much. The rules of the debate prevented much direct addressing back and forth, though the candidates forced that a bit at the end.

Obama was articulate, clear, if somewhat aloof. McCain was more personable, but more aggressive, more talking-pointish, and more prone to dropping into standard lines and verbiage at the end of his statements.

Neither candidate scored a knock-out, and it was probably close to a tie rhetorically. On the one hand, that might shore up some McCain support by his not actually worsening his position. On the other hand, it wasn't a momentum-changer. 

To that end, McCain didn't lose, but if that's all he did, then Obama won.

Filed under :: Elections 2008
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One thing that I noticed was that there were a lot of digital cameras in the crowd. When the debate was done the vast majority of the folks who took pictures asked Obama if they could have a picture taken with him (or they took one of him.)

They wanted to preserve an important moment. Methinks more and more folks are coming to see him as a real possibility for president.

Those of us not American are holding our breaths. It feels as if we're in the eye of an enormous financial storm. The world's economies are still tied to the U.S. one. It's going to take someone of extraordinary intelligence, openness, and creativity to get us out of this.

It kills me that some how being elite isn't seen as a good thing in politics in either of our countries. Americans and Canadians would never send Joe Six Pack or the hockey mom down the block to the Olympics to represent them. They send their athletic elite. You know what? I want someone elite steering my country, too. Give me the best. I don't need someone I want to have a beer with.

I just pre-voted in our Canadian election. I chose a guy who's smart, compassionate and whose platform talks about planning on a generational scale, not just one election term. I have my fingers crossed that both our countries take this tack. It's scary to think what will happen if we don't, eh?

Indeed.

My only concern with the "we need elite!" meme that has come up to counter the "we need a joe six-pack that we can hoist a few with!" meme that Dubya started and Palin is continuing, is that it can very easily turn into a "we need our betters to lead us, and we will follow that guy on the white horse." There are certainly risks there.

That said, what we need is both someone who is smart *and* someone who can reach out and lead people -- whose leadership is not "trust me because I am smart" (or "trust me because I am just like you") but "here is why we need to go there, so follow me."

Again, I think the best thing Obama did in the whole debate was work the crowd afterwards. He came across as engaged and interested and approachable, quite different from McCain's vanishing act (Michelle's being right in there with him also stood in huge contrast to Cindy gingerly touching a few hands, then standing with her hands behind her, clearly uncomfortable).

Obama hanging out was a pragmatic thing, sure -- it looks good (esp. when the talking heads are doing their post mortem in front of it), and it will certainly improve any after-debate interviews with the participants. But it was also the *right* thing to do, and, honestly, I think Obama enjoys that sort of interaction. And it wasn't just "shake a hand and move on," but some real talking and meeting people. It was very impressive.

Aside from that, the best moment of the night was when it was all over and the two candidates came out, stood together and looked at Brokaw -- totally blocking his teleprompter. :-)

You have to wonder about the minds of people who can make "Elite liberal" into a pejorative.