Obama and McCain met for the first time last night to debate as official Presidential nominees. Thank God for the digital video recorder. I watched the debate with earnest this morning. As you know I am a staunch Obama supporter and Democrat but, honest, I went in with as open a mind as possible. I actually didn’t know what to expect. Part of me was quite worried that Obama would not do well. He is fantastic at giving speeches and is a great orator but he has a tendency to dodge questions. I’m happy to say I was pleasantly surprised.
My initial assessment is that Obama won; and, I promise that I am being honest. Thankfully, I’m not the only one who thinks so. See here and here. What I saw was McCain focusing most of his answers on attacking Obama, his plans and his record. He would have fared better had he succinctly laid out his plans and policies, like Obama did. I was happy that Obama remained quite calm under the pressure and only seemed to get defensive once. On the whole he remained tactful and diplomatic while McCain lobbed accusation after accusation and criticism after criticism. Both men accused and criticised but it seemed McCain made it his main mission.
On of my favourite quotes, albeit a stupid one, came from John McCain. To me it is the understatement of the century, the definitive ‘no shit Sherlock’ statement. It is regarding lessons learned from the war in Iraq. And I quote:
“…you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict”
The reason that is an understatement and a ‘no shit Sherlock’ statement should be plainly obvious, but just in case, let me explain. You never want a failed strategy; you want a winning one. You don’t want to lose a conflict; you want to win it. Of course a failed strategy isn’t going to work. That’s why it’s called a failed strategy. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me but when McCain said that it seemed blatantly obvious that he was desperately searching for the right words and these clearly weren’t them. I just found it utterly ridiculous, but then again, I can’t stand the man!
So, on we go to the Vice-Presidential debate next Thursday evening. I may not be able to watch it until the weekend but, rest assured, I will watch it. I thought McCain was searching for the right words; I can’t wait to see Palin in action. This is going to be great; even hysterical possibly. I am looking forward to it and will, of course, provide my own valuable, authoritative, excellent (ha, ha, ha, ha I crack myself up) commentary as soon after as possible. I know the world sits on the edge of its seat waiting for what I have to say. Oh well, at least YOU care. Until then…