A number of snap polls taken just after the debate ended have all shown the same thing. Obama won. Even more important, swing voters thought he won big.
A tie would have been a win for Obama while McCain needed a knockout to take the lead in the race. He didn’t get it, and Obama did better than a tie.
So, it now may be Obama’s race to lose, not McCain’s to win.
As I’ve said before, I expect Obama will be a moderate centrist. After 8 years of reactionaries plundering the country, that’s fine with me. Of course he’ll do things we don’t like – but no doubt way fewer than Bush has done or McCain would do.
As for the ongoing train wreck that is Sarah Palin, even members of her own party are calling for her to step down, saying she is “clueless.” She was conspicuously absent from any debate interviews tonight too.
Strictly in terms of political calculation, I hope they don’t dump her. But in the larger realm, I mean, can you imagine if McCain won, then died, and she as president had to play hardball with Putin?
I hope you are right. McCain did better than I thought he would
I wasn’t too surprised with the snap poll results. Obama had the lead going in and all he had to do was look as credible as a candidate as the other guy on an issue that should have favored McCain.
It was pretty much a tie on the issues, except for a few minor slams like Obama had on Iraq (“Wrong, wrong, wrong” – paraphrased).
McCain was behind going in to the debate and not hitting any homeruns when he needed at least a few didn’t help him.
I find the whole thing about Obama supposedly not attacking enough – some Bloggers complain – was a bit of a non-issue for Obama and a tell on McCain.
What does a leader do in the race? He leads.
What does the trailer do in a race? He attacks.
That isn’t to say that Obama shouldn’t hit back when there is a big opening but he sounds and acts like the leader and McCain sounds and acts like a VP attack dog or surrogate should.
Speaking of which…
Biden was out there doing the attack thing on the shows afterwards… Where was Palin?