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December 2, 2008 3:47:35 AM CST

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McCain Didn't Manage to Inflict Major Damage

Posted Oct 16, 08 10:17 AM CDT in Opinion,  Politics 

(Newser) – The debate last night was all about whether John McCain could pull off a game-changer; while some pundits saw his best debate performance yet, most agreed that he didn't score.

  • Time’s Mark Halperin liked what he saw at first, as McCain "showed off the best of himself—dedicated, sincere, patriotic, cheery, earnest, commanding." But he lost it in the second half, getting "aggressive and distracted."

  • Tom Shales, in the Washington Post, says McCain got off some good lines, but looked "inflated and aloof. Sometimes he could have been posing for a spot on Mt. Rushmore. Other times, he looked as though he might explode."
  • "McCain came off as sour, agitated, and petulant," Rod Dreher writes at Beliefnet. If you’re voting for a “solid, experienced hand at the wheel"—supposedly McCain’s strength—"you'll want to vote for Barack Obama."
  • Still, in the National Review, Mark Steyn chides McCain for tentativeness. “McCain lacked the killer instinct. A man who cheerfully crashes planes and survives years of torture appeared nervous that clobbering his opponent might dent his image as Mister Bipartisan."

Sources Washington Post, Time, National Review, Beliefnet.com

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Barack Obama and John McCain wave to the audience after a presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008.   (AP Photo/Pool, Charles Dharapak)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during the presidential debate, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Barack Obama and John McCain are seen after the presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY.   (AP Photo/Gary Hershorn, Pool)
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McCain lacked the killer instinct. A man who cheerfully crashes planes and survives years of torture appeared nervous that clobbering his opponent might dent his image as Mister Bipartisan. - Mark Steyn

That, for me, was the debate in a nutshell: McCain fulminating angrily, if sometimes effectively; Obama yielding more than he should at times, but still deadly on bottom-line differences. - Noam Scheiber

After tonight, McCain is done. The RNC ought to pull money from McCain and use it to save as many imperiled senators as they can. - Rod Dreher

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
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Barack Obama • Election 2008 • John McCain • debates


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