Third Debate

[sunken]

Well the third debate is almost upon us, and thus far, there hasn't been any sort of deep fireworks between the candidates. No one on either side has knocked out his or her opponent according to the polls. Do you all think that McCain will pull out the stops this time around or will he stick to the respectful status quo? I think he won't mention Ayers or Wright or any of that because judging from what he's said now on the campaign trail, he wants to ramp up the respect given to Obama in the final days. But the question is, will his campaign force him into it or will he tow the line to keep what's left of his dignity.

And will being passive anger his base?

[Mary Catherine]

Well, so much for ramping up the respect... I found myself wanting to turn off the debate when McCain started in on Ayers again. I guess he was in a tough place and maybe he felt like he had to go there, but I'm tired of listening to it, and it has nothing to do with the things I want to hear about. I am very glad that Obama had the opportunity to explain his votes on partial birth abortion. I needed to hear those answers. I'm still struggling with that particular issue, but at least I have more clarity on his position now.
I don't think this debate will make a huge difference for either candidate, but I do think that Obama maintains a calm, steady tone that we seem to need right now in the midst of this economic chaos.

[sunken]

It seems that Obama won the debate in all the snap polls last night. It will be interesting to see how that translates in the state and national polls. I think he was calm and collected, no doubt due to his training as a lawyer. I think McCain did get some shots in that his base loved, but didn't play well with the independants and democrats. Obama did what he needed to do. Not fall into the traps that McCain was trying to set for him, causing him to mess up. Since he is so far ahead, Obama really had to only tow the line and he did very well at that. McCain, on the other hand, kept throwing life preservers, hoping to catch one on the sinking ship.

As far as Ayers, I don't think it was really McCain's fault. I don't think he would have mentioned it at all if Schieffer hadn't brought it up. I did find it odd that when McCain was confronted about the hateful and violence inducing comments made at his rallies that he basically stood up for the people. Also I noticed that he didn't use any words like experience, trust, ethics, when describing Sarah Palin, unlike Obama did with Biden.

I can see why the right wing blogs thought that McCain won. He was the forceful fighter, but Obama stood his ground as a smart, tactful, presidential like figure, while McCain shot everything at him.