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The Debate
Sep. 27th, 2008 09:05 amMcCain was better at sticking to his talking points.
Obama was good at answering the questions, but really exceeded his opponent in rebuttal. That's powerful and indicates clarity of thought.
Both of them seemed surprised by certain things to the point that there was too much hemming and hawing.
Lehrer needs to be replaced (yes, I know he's not doing the next one.).
I'm angry because this was supposed to be a debate about Foreign Policy. I recognize that the financial crisis had to be addressed, and, while I'm not thrilled it took over more than half the time, I appreciate that Lehrer started with it rather than making it the elephant in the room.
However, once the elephant had taken its seat back in the corner, I expected a debate about Foreign Policy. Instead, I ended up with a debate arguing over Defense Policy.
There's a reason that State and Defense are two separate departments, each with its own cabinet Secretary. They require different ways of thinking about the rest of the world. Obama at least left me with the impression that diplomacy was not an alien concept to him. McCain, I'm not sure grasps the idea at all.
Still, I blame Lehrer for not asking the right questions and for trying to encourage direct discussion rather than reining in the discussion and helping to shape it. That's what a moderator is for.
Obama was good at answering the questions, but really exceeded his opponent in rebuttal. That's powerful and indicates clarity of thought.
Both of them seemed surprised by certain things to the point that there was too much hemming and hawing.
Lehrer needs to be replaced (yes, I know he's not doing the next one.).
I'm angry because this was supposed to be a debate about Foreign Policy. I recognize that the financial crisis had to be addressed, and, while I'm not thrilled it took over more than half the time, I appreciate that Lehrer started with it rather than making it the elephant in the room.
However, once the elephant had taken its seat back in the corner, I expected a debate about Foreign Policy. Instead, I ended up with a debate arguing over Defense Policy.
There's a reason that State and Defense are two separate departments, each with its own cabinet Secretary. They require different ways of thinking about the rest of the world. Obama at least left me with the impression that diplomacy was not an alien concept to him. McCain, I'm not sure grasps the idea at all.
Still, I blame Lehrer for not asking the right questions and for trying to encourage direct discussion rather than reining in the discussion and helping to shape it. That's what a moderator is for.
