Sep 27
I’ve already been asked for my opinion on the subject twice so I might as well take a few minutes to throw out my reaction to tonight’s presidential debate.
I really don’t like the notion that a candidate can “win” a debate; the total absurdity of the concept is only further reinforced by the immediate press releases from both parties proclaiming their candidate to be the night’s overwhelming victor. In truth, I was generally impressed by both senators and were this debate my first and only exposure to the candidates I would have almost certainly come to the conclusion that regardless of which man ends up winning the election, the United States of America will be just fine. Both candidates showed themselves to be both extremely knowledgeable and genuinely committed to their country. As a typically crass aside: tonight’s debate reminded me of season 5 of American Idol. Yes Taylor Hicks ended up winning, but I remain convinced that any of that season’s final four contestants (T-Hicks, Katherine McPhee, Elliot Yamin, and Chris Daughtry) could handily have won in almost any other season. It was simply their bad luck that so many great singers were forced to compete against each other. This year’s election feels very much the same way.
In 2004 the debates were underwhelming as an overstatement when George Bush took on John Kerry. Bush solidly reinforced his image as a functionally retarded fraternity douchebag while John Kerry introduced himself as a very boring, know-it-all professor: the horrible teacher who can’t be fired because he’s tenured, but it doesn’t matter because you wind up dropping his class after the first midterm when he tests you on material he never bothered teaching you and then acts like an asshole when you complain. I mean, I guess technically I wanted Kerry to win, but even then it was hard to get too excited about it. The 2000 election was similar to 2004 with the small exception that back in 2000 nobody really cared who our president was. In fact, my only regret at the time (I have a lot now, obviously) was that John McCain lost the primary nomination so I wouldn’t be able to vote for him in the general election. Kinda weird how things turn out, eh?
Anyways, as for my specific impressions:
Senator Obama
In my eyes he came across as extremely well-informed and knowledgeable; confident without being cocky. I was impressed by his fearlessness at deflecting and countering most of McCain’s attempts to mis-characterize Obama’s history or policies. I kept waiting for him to offer an explanation for the 800-odd million dollars in earmarks that Senator McCain repeatedly mentioned, assuming that it was simply another trademark distortion by the Republican candidate. I appreciated Barack’s straightforward and honest comments when he agreed with something that Senator McCain said, and it actually served to highlight to me that McCain never said anything positive about any of Obama’s answers. Barack’s willingness to demonstrate the things the two had in common also made it much more distinct and powerful during those other times when he expressed the various “fundamental disagreements” between the two. Although he allowed himself to be bogged down in the semantics of “preconditions vs preparations” and “strategy vs tactic” Senator Obama did a generally excellent job at explaining his various policy positions, albeit without going into much specific detail.
In the end I am almost certain that Obama brilliantly succeeded at doing what he needed to do most. As has been the case since 2006, Barack’s biggest weakness is in the general perception that he is too inexperienced or weak-willed to be a decisive commander-in-chief. I have a feeling that much like Hillary Clinton’s debates in the primary, the most important end-result to this debate was not for him to extend his already firm advantage in the areas of economic policy, but rather to reassure the typical voter that he can hold his own under pressure and be counted on to stand strong in the face of confrontation. He needed to demonstrate gravitas, a grounded seriousness, and a capacity for toughness that does not immediately translate out of a campaign built around Hope and Change. In that respect I felt he did extremely well.
Senator McCain
In stark contrast to Senator Obama’s straight-faced serious tone, McCain repeatedly tried to tell his trademark variety of thoroughly unfunny jokes. “I don’t even have my own seal yet!” he quipped when asked if he would meet with the leader of Iran. While Obama made an effort to appear more dignified than usual, McCain seemed bent on making himself appear younger and more vivacious. It really didn’t work for me, though. It certainly didn’t help his case when even the jokes he made were about how old his pens are. He also made repeated historical references, often citing names and events that are so old or obscure that they baffle even me (at one point he ranted for at least thirty seconds about how long he has been friends with Dr. Kissinger – a name I know, but don’t particularly care about). His lone high point for me among these historical callbacks (unavoidably reminiscent of the classicly boring old man story, “I remember back in the day…”) was a story about General Eisenhower on the eve of D-Day. I’m a big fan of World War II from an academic standpoint and McCain actually used the story to illustrate an unexpectedly powerful point about accountability in the modern world. Unfortunately, it took the senator an excessively long time to make that point, which wouldn’t have been terrible if it weren’t also so typical of the rest of his night. McCain seemed alternately brilliant and confused, talking for long periods of time with seemingly no purpose other than to make noise or keep Obama from getting a chance to talk. Whereas Barack was almost always in control of himself it was repeatedly the case where I felt that Senator McCain’s brain was about two steps behind his mouth and was desperately trying to keep up. He would randomly start repeating himself to the point of stuttering and then babble nonsense for a few seconds before closing his “argument” with an equally senseless line from his stump speech. I don’t know if Obama’s clearly superior level of preparation threw McCain off a bit from time to time, or if he really is a victim to his own age, but for a while there it was almost embarrassing to watch. Of course, it wasn’t all bad news for McCain. In between his bumbling answers and failed efforts at comedy the senator still managed to convey an expansive understanding of foreign affairs. At the end of the debate I found myself glad to have him as a U.S. senator, though certainly no closer to wishing him to be our president.
Final Verdict
I assume that the media will generally declare this debate to be a win for Obama if only because he expressed himself far better than McCain. In terms of policy it is most likely no better than a tie, though. I don’t agree with most of what McCain stands for, but in the end he at least did a fairly good job of explaining what that is. The same is true of Obama. I would expect that neither side really won or lost much as a result of this debate because, like I said before, both candidates are heavy hitters: formidable both as men and as candidates.
I will say, though, that after seeing two highly intelligent and generally well-spoken individuals battle it out to a stalemate tonight I am now, more than ever, excited to watch the Vice Presidential debate on Thursday.
Seriously, it could be really, really embarrassing.
Sarah Palin proved herself to be utterly incapable of dealing with Katie Couric for just thirty minutes, I am morbidly curious to see how she acquits herself of Senator Biden for an hour and a half. Whereas Joe Biden appears to be a man of such extreme intelligence and wealth of knowledge that his (arguably) justified (over-)confidence leads him to occasionally say some politically stupid things, Sarah Palin seems to me so utterly devoid of insight or understanding that she is forced to make up for her lack of substance with repetition and campaign-devised catch-phrases. Depending on how aggressive Senator Biden decides to get – and if you’ve ever heard him speak there’s definitely reason to expect some aggression – this debate could be a thing of legend.
Seriously, bring popcorn.