Barack Obama: The Next Day Debate Reviews
Weekly Standard (Stephen F. Hayes) “Scoring the Debate, Round two goes to Obama.” John McCain had a very strong debate tonight. It's too bad for him that it came on a night when Barack Obama was nearly flawless. The debate began with questions on the economy and for thirty minutes Obama answered those questions with the kind of substance that I suspect anxious voters wanted to hear and with exactly the right tone--empathic, aggravated, and determined… Obama's test in the first debate was to present himself as a plausible president, as a guy who didn't seem out of place on stage at a presidential debate and wouldn't seem out of place delivering a State of the Union address. Much as I'd disagree with the policies in such a speech, it was clear that he passed that test. Tonight, his job was to persuade voters--particularly independents--not only that he could be president but that he should be president. I suspect polling in the next couple of days will provide evidence that he passed that test, too. LINK
CNN Republican Strategist/CNN Contributor Alex Castellanos 11:52pm: "I think he (Obama) looked Very Presidential"
MO- Kansas City Star (Editorial): The GOP presidential candidate gained no ground on a surging Barack Obama in the town hall-style debate that is supposed to be McCain’s specialty. At times he rambled and argued over small points. Obama, ahead in the polls, made headway in reassuring the public that he has the stature and knowledge to serve as president. He maintained his composure, showed depth with his responses and at times inspired, as when he called for Americans to engage in acts of service…Tuesday’s debate produced few truly memorable moments. But it might be remembered as the night the momentum stayed with Obama. LINK
PA – Easton Express-Times (Tony Rhodin) “McCain loses Nashville debate by not winning big:” No major damage on either side tonight, which hurts McCain just a month before the election. McCain's attacks didn't really appear new or interesting. By not getting a knockout, McCain didn't do what he needed to do, down five or six points nationwide and trailing in most of the states that will tilt the election on Nov. 4. Obama, on the other hand, did himself no harm and by once again appearing presidential before a national audience perhaps calmed a few more fears of those uncertain about his background. LINK
CA – San Francisco Chronicle (Editorial) “Debate Upshot: Obama was the Cooler Hand:” No one had to look at the latest polls to know that Sen. Barack Obama was taking command of the presidential election. The expressions on Sen. John McCain's face, and the irritation in his voice, said it all…On this night, in a venue that put a premium on interpersonal dynamics, Obama was the cool hand at the tiller. LINK
MO- Saint Louis Post Dispatch (Editorial) “Nashville, Without Music:” Mr. McCain was better on the economy last night, but not good enough to calm the doubts created by his 26-year record in Congress, his reputation as an opponent of government regulation and surely not good enough to overcome his inconsistent responses to the financial crisis…Mr. McCain’s response that health care was a “responsibility” because “government mandates make me a little nervous” suggested that he may be out of touch with the realities of the middle class, as well as disconnected from the realities of contemporary American health care. LINK
CO – Denver Post (Dan Haley) “The Beat Goes On:” John McCain needed to make up some ground on Barack Obama tonight, and I don’t think he did that. LINK
AP (Liz Sidoti) “Analysis: Obama gains, McCain seeks game-changer” Barack Obama made strides toward easing voters' concerns about his candidacy in Tuesday night's debate. John McCain, despite raising pointed questions about his rival's readiness, didn't create the game-changing moment he'll need between now and Election Day... Poised and confident, Obama directly confronted his greatest hurdle - and did it by turning the tables on McCain during a foreign policy question. "Now Senator McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I'm green behind the ears and I'm just spouting off, and he's somber and responsible," Obama said as McCain laughed and said: "Thank you very much." Obama then bluntly challenged McCain's steadiness: "This is a guy who sang bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, who called for the annihilation of North Korea - that I don't think is an example of speaking softly." LINK
Los Angeles Times (Editorial) Neither insults nor 11th-hour initiatives will change that dynamic over the next month. What McCain needs to regain his balance is to persuade voters that he has a cogent, coherent economic proposal and a command over this dominant issue. He did not deliver either Tuesday night. LINK
New York Times (Editorial) But apart from promising to buy up troubled mortgages as president, [McCain] offered no real answers for how he plans to solve the country’s deep economic crisis. He is unable or unwilling to admit that the Republican assault on regulation was to blame…Ninety minutes of forced cordiality did not erase the dismal ugliness of his campaign in recent weeks, nor did it leave us with much hope that he would not just return to the same dismal ugliness on Wednesday…In a way, we should not be surprised that Mr. McCain has stooped so low, since the debate showed once again that he has little else to talk about. He long ago abandoned his signature issues of immigration reform and global warming; his talk of “victory” in Iraq has little to offer a war-weary nation; and his Reagan-inspired ideology of starving government and shredding regulation lies in tatters on Wall Street.
New York Daily News (Michael Goodwin) “Obama keeps momentum in debate with McCain” The calendar says John McCain has nearly a month to reverse his slide, but don't believe it…He didn't do it last night, and so Obama walked away with a victory - and keeps the momentum solidly in his favor. Most important for Obama, he went a long way to establishing his commander in chief credentials through impressive answers to national security questions on Pakistan and Afghanistan. LINK
Boston Globe (Scot Lehigh) “McCain without a knockout” What Obama also did well was to tie McCain to the policies of the current Republican administration. Stressing his opponent's longtime support for deregulation and his plan to retain all of George Bush's tax cuts - and offer more - he made it hard for McCain to portray himself as a true change agent...In the end, McCain didn't do what he needed to. LINK
Boston Globe (Derrick Z. Jackson) NOW WE UNDERSTAND, even if John McCain does not. With sweeping analyses of Iraq, health insurance, and the economy, Barack Obama swept McCain into a political box in last night's second presidential debate, a box that President Bush built…Odds are, that with states moving in his way, Obama himself won even more support last night. LINK
New York Times (Adam Nagourney) There was no indication that the debate did anything to change the course of a campaign that appeared to be moving in Mr. Obama’s direction…Mr. McCain was under pressure to alter the dynamic of the race, with polls giving Mr. Obama an advantage nationally and in most battleground states and just four weeks left until Election Day. There were no obvious dramatic breakthrough moments by Mr. McCain; indeed, although the two men pummeled back and forth, it was Mr. Obama who more consistently drew sharp contrasts between the voting records and campaign promises of the two. LINK
Newsweek (Richard Wolffe) It was the McCain camp, after all, that had proposed a town-hall forum every week during early discussions about the debate schedule. Given the instant polls gauging the outcome Tuesday night, McCain ought to be grateful that Obama said no: a CNN poll showed a 24-point lead for Obama… [McCain] needed a knockdown Tuesday night to help change the narrative of the campaign. At the end, Obama was still standing, and smiling. LINK
USA Today (Susan Page) Ninety minutes later, there had been no big flubs or knockout punches by either man, nothing that signaled the sort of "game changer" that McCain needed at a time Obama is rising in polls nationwide and in key states. LINK
Chicago Tribune (John McCormick and Jill Zuckman) But at a point in the race when McCain badly needs to shake things up, the debate was short on the sort of fireworks that could alter the campaign's trajectory. LINK
Los Angeles Times (Doyle McManus) If McCain's principal mission was to change the course of the campaign, it was difficult to find evidence that he succeeded. LINK
Wall Street Journal (Laura Meckler and Christopher Cooper) Heading into the debate, the heavier burden was on Sen. McCain, who has fallen behind in polls, and in most battleground states. Neither candidate could afford a big mistake -- and neither made one -- but Sen. McCain, more than Sen. Obama, needs to change the trajectory of the contest. Amid the immediate post-debate analysis, it didn't appear that the Republican candidate had accomplished that goal… In one instance, Sen. McCain did raise the eyebrows of television pundits when he referred to Sen. Obama as "that one." LINK
Los Angeles Times (Mark Z. Barabak and Michael Finnegan)With less than four weeks until the election, the 90-minute session before a national television audience presented McCain one of his last best chances to turn around a contest that seems to be moving decidedly in Obama's direction. There was no obvious momentum-shifting moment… LINK
New York Times (Thomas M. DeFrank) John McCain confronted a more daunting challenge Tuesday night than Barack Obama's expanding margins in key states - America's accelerating psychology of fear. That was simply too high a hurdle for an underdog to overcome in a single debate. With the stock market cratering another 500 points yesterday, McCain wasn't able to achieve his most critical objective: changing the subject to more favorable turf. LINK
Reuters (John Whitesides) The Arizona senator, who has been criticized as unresponsive on economic issues, was under pressure to turn in a strong performance that would stop his slide in the polls and halt Obama's surge during the economic crisis. Two quick polls taken immediately after the debate, by CBS News and CNN, both judged Obama the winner. McCain could be running out of chances to recast the race.
AP “Body language: confident Obama, combative McCain” And it was McCain, slipping in the polls and increasingly on the attack in recent days, who appeared to have far more trouble concealing his apparent distaste for his opponent… And then there was the comment, likely to be much remarked upon, about Obama's vote on an energy bill. "You know who voted for it?" McCain asked, thrusting his finger in Obama's direction but not looking at him. "That one." It was a comment that could be interpreted several ways - harmless, offensive, merely annoying - but it bothered Tim Groeger, an undecided voter from Morristown, N.J. "I didn't feel that was very professional," said Groeger, 28, an accountant. "I felt McCain was very aggressive. Obama seemed to stay cool and collected."…Obama strolled the stage while speaking, while McCain seemed to pace it. LINK
MSNBC (Chuck Todd) Part 3 of the four part debate series is now over and the one big conclusion is that nothing's changed in the race. And nothing changing is not a good result for John McCain. LINK
Washington Post (E.J. Dionne) Last night's debate, a town-hall discussion dominated by economic questions, made it clear that John McCain's efforts to change the campaign's focus to the culture wars of the 1960s is not going to work. Voters want candidates to talk about problems and how to solve them, especially the enormous ones confronting us now…Last night's debate raised a different question: Who is the real John McCain? Is he the man who used to tout himself as a problem-solver, or is he the desperate candidate who lurches from attack to attack? LINK
The Hill (Sam Youngman) “Analysis: Debate wasn’t McCain’s game changer” The second debate between presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama was, for the most part, a rehash of the first debate, and for McCain that might as well be a loss. The Arizona senator, who has fallen behind in national and battleground polls over the past two weeks as the economic situation has worsened, is in need of a game changing moment to swing the race and he was not able to deliver one for himself Tuesday night. LINK
Politico (Roger Simon) “McCain loses by not winning” Watching John McCain and Barack Obama at their second presidential debate was like watching two fighters circling each other, throwing a jab here, landing a blow there, but neither one ever delivering a knockout punch. The trouble for John McCain, however, is that he needed one. So if you had to say somebody lost Tuesday night, it was McCain. Because he had to win and he did not. He is the one who has to change the current trajectory of the campaign, and he did not do that. LINK
Politico (Carrie Budoff Brown and Bill Nichols) “Debate II: McCain struggles to derail Obama” John McCain came here Tuesday hoping the second presidential debate would help him jar loose a campaign that for the past three weeks has been about the economy, the economy and the economy. He didn't get his wish. LINK
