The reviews are in: Obama scores higher, “Won,” “Quick on his feet,” “Well prepared and focused,” “Excellent command”
TIME (Joe Klein): He won. He not only won by not losing, but he also won on points--and on demeanor, and on quickness… LINK
Time (Jay Carney): Hillary Clinton missed some opportunities tonight. Her complaint at the beginning about the format of the debate seemed to fall flat. LINK
TIME (Mark Halperin) …Obama: B+, Clinton: B- “Avoided lofty rhetoric and focused on presenting himself as cool, deliberative, and substantive. Well prepared and focused.” LINK (On Clinton: “Her conviction that the media is biased against her seemed to throw her off throughout, and she was too distracted by her frustration with Obama and the press to truly shine.”)
NBC (Mark Murray): … Obama has an excellent command of his plan and his defense. LINK
MSNBC (David Gregory): …What you see time and time again with Barack Obama is a coolness about him. He absorbs a particular attack or a question or a pointed statement and tries to maybe acknowledge the point and then turn it around.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza) …Obama successfully parried most of Clinton's offense and even turned some of her aggressiveness against her. LINK
Politico (Ben Smith) “Back to the war”: … it's always been Obama's trump card, and he returns to it tonight LINK
AMERICAblog (Joe Sudbay): … Obama was steady on a broad range of issues … In my view, the win goes to Obama. A clean win. LINK
The New Republic (Michael Crowley): …Obama is quick on his feet and good humored. He also conveys a certain bemused remove from the bizarre conventions of traditional insider politics LINK
ABC (Rick Klein): …Notice that Obama is the first to try to turn the argument to Sen. McCain -- their battle has already begun, if tentatively, and Obama welcomes it. LINK
