Presidential Debate #1: Open Thread/Live Blogging

Open Thread/Live Blogging.

Looking forward to your comments below.

So far, Obama has missed a number of chances to hit back hard. And McCain keeps lying.


6:26 pm:

McCain is lying about tax breaks. He's simply lying.

Obama says, "That's simply not true", and hits back with "Your plan would give the oil companies $4 Billion dollars." McCain looks like an OLD man, totally at a loss for words.

Obama needs to just say, YOU ARE LYING. Is it possible for you reply without lying?


6:38:

Obama: You voted with the President 95% of the time. How can you say now you're against the budget when you were for it?

McCain: I'm well known as the Maverick of the Senate. I was against the Budget, against the war, against everything, and I'm glad I have a Maverick with me as a partner.

OH MY FUCKING GOD. And the moderator just moved on to the next question. Oh.My.God.


6:45:

Obama is on the attack, big time.

McCain: Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a strategy and a tactic. Then tells a story about soldiers reenlisting. Then LIES about Obama on cutting funds for troops. Again.

Obama cuts him short. Says that simply isn't so. Said also, I DO understand difference. Here is difference. Furthermore, here is how we should do this. And this is the result.

McCain is winning on raw emotion. He is reaching his base.

Obama is on the defense. He keeps having to say, "that's not true, that's not true." That is DEFENSE.

Obama needs to rock McCain back on his heels. Obama needs to CLOBBER McCain.
McCain is lying all over, but they are simple lies, lies which will work with McCain's base, and with simple undecideds who don't pay attention. People vote on emotion and character and trust. Onama is defending and McCain's simple lies may work for this debate if Obama doesn't get off his ass and KICK MCCAIN IN THE FUCKING BALLS. In a post-partisan way.


7:00

McCain keeps telling stories. It's all about stories for McCain.

Obama is clearly fed up with McCain.

Problem is, being fed up comes across. The undecideds are not going to like this.

McCain is also coming across as, um, bluffing. He's obviously not as smart as Obama. He is obviously a D- student against a Harvard A+ Honors graduate.

Oh fuck. Obama just made a fucking PUN. Dumb, dumb, dumbshit.

STOP BEING THE SMARTEST KID IN THE CLASS. Now he's playing back and forth doing careful pronunciation between Iraq, Iran, and centrifuges. Jesus.

Well, we're going to see who wins the debate.

The SMART KID WHO IS CLEARLY RIGHT AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT, or the DUMB LYING ONE WITH LOTS OF EMOTION.

It is going to come down to how bad everyone thinks this shit is. If people think this shit is TRULY bad, Obama wins. If people think it isn't that bad, they'll give it to the old white guy. Anything before giving it to the ni***r arrogant smart ass who knows everything. You only vote for him if EVERYTHING is fucked. Truly everything.

So the outcome of this debate (the polls three days from now) will tell us how people view how bad things are. 'Cause Obama sure as hell has failed to take this to McCain. He is STILL coming across as the smart kid, and McCain is still the dumb guy who lies and tells stories that don't really have any point.


7:15

Obama: A resurgent Russia is a threat. You can not be a 21st Century Superpower and act like a 20th Century Dictator.

Nearby countries should be free to join NATO and we should have a action plan to bring them in.

We need to work with Russia, not based on staring into his eyes and seeing his soul, not to go back to the Cold War, but to head off nuclear proliferation.

McCain: I look at Putin and I see only three letters: K and G and B. It's all about oil.

Obama: It isn't just about oil. It's about solar and other alternate fuels.

McCain: It's about drilling. Drill offshore. And nukes. That is what will make the difference. Obama is totally against nukes.

Obama: No, actually, what I said was, you have to store the fuel safely. Once again you are misrepresenting me.

McCain: adfadfadfgadjglaj (Talks over Obama. Again.)


7:26

PBS: How much safer are we now than after 9/11?

McCain: Much safer than the day after.

Obama: Need to focus on harbors. Nuclear proliferation. Gives credit to McCain for his work on torture (Ed note: Idiot... You don't give points to your opponent during your close.) And (missed this one. Sorry.)


Final Statements

McCain: Obama doesn't get it. Withdrawing from Iraq, date certain means everything would be lost if we do what Obama says.

Obama: Over the last eight years, the administration and Sen McCain have been solely focused on Iraq, while Bin Laden is active and not captured. While China is loaning us Billions of dollars and they are active everywhere. We are missing what they are doing, not to mention our economy is being destroyed while our military and veterans affairs are ruined because of the destruction of the economy due to this war and lack of a broad strategic vision. That is what I'm looking to restore.

McCain: We've seen this stubbornness before in this administration. We need more flexibility in a President of the United States. The veterans know me and love me, and I love them. I'll take care of them.

Ed note: WHAT! McCain just compared Obama's plan for withdrawing from Iraq, more accurately, McCain's LIES about Obama's plan for withdrawing from Iraq, with Bush's staying in Iraq: "We've seen this stubbornness before in this administration." Holy SHIT. McCain simply can NOT STOP LYING.

Obama: In the 60s my father who came from Kenya, wrote letter after letter to come to college, because the notion was no other country in the world was you could make it if you tried. Part of how we're going to make America safe is, we're going to invest in issues like education, issues that make ordinary Americans safe.

Jim: October 2, Vice Presidential Debate


SUMMARY

OBAMA WINS.
Being Presidential: Obama
Toughness: McCain
Character: Obama
Lying: McCain --> Obama wins big-time!
Trust: Obama (See Lying) --> McCain loses big-time!
Smart ass/arrogance: Obama --> McCain wins
Story telling instead of knowing what he's doing: McCain --> Obama wins

Bottom line: Obama Wins
Because when the shit hits the fan, you don't turn to the D- student with good stories and a golf game. You turn to the smart person who knows what the hell they're doing, a well-designed plan, and enormous patience. In moments of crisis, you don't want a hot-head running the show; you want someone fully trustworthy.

McCain did well on toughness but really what he had was stories. McCain obviously failed at having the facts. So he lied. Over and over again.

Obama did great on facts, but not so great on emotion. Obama failed to kick McCain's ass or put him on serious defense. So Obama ended up on defense to McCain's emotion with "So that's just not true" and "Well that's just not true" followed by explaining to McMain what the facts in question actually were. And how much they cost!!

McCain kept speaking over Obama. We could say Obama let him, or McCain didn't give Obama a chance to speak. I think both are valid. The old guy may simply not have heard Obama, Obama may have simply been being polite or not wanted to be rude to his elder, or on the flip side, McCain may have been aggressive, and Obama may have been unwilling to contest the floor. Regardless, McCain comes out the looser I think, over the long-haul. He looks distracted and unaware. The framing/direction by the PBS camera team didn't help him, as he was cross-framed, looking in the wrong direction. Plus McCain himself was always hunched over, refusing to ever look Obama in the eye.

McCain looks petulant, old, and angry.

Obama looked Presidental. He demonstrated patience. He showed control, control of the facts.