| To follow up on what Robert said about the debate, I also believe that Obama won. But it might be more accurate to say that John McCain defaulted.
McCain almost never used the words "middle class" and made no attempt to bring things down to a kitchen table level. Obama may lack Bill Clinton's genius for turning simple economic questions into bluegrass spoken-word epics about a place called Hope, but he at least has the sense, the empathy, the discipline, the whatever, to use the words "middle class" (he also used the words "food stamps") and talk about household economics like he means it. McCain does not.
The reason for this, I think is clear -- McCain has been well-to-do for his entire life. He's from a wealthy family and he married into a much wealthier one. But his inability to overcome this is a crushing handicap in a race that focuses on economic crisis.
That said, I thought this wasn't a bad debate and that both candidates made thoughtful points about foreign policy and some budgetary matters. |
