Who won?

[Ban my account ffs!]

Who won?

[Ronnie]

*waits for the flood of Obama votes*

I say it was a tie.

[© tweed]

Obama by not losing

[Ban my account ffs!]

It was fairly evident to me throughout that Obama won this debate rather handily.  Of course that is my biased opinion....

But Obama was much cooler, had more specifics, was generally quite calm, and was very respectful.

McCain came off as faltering here and there, husky at points, and got very smug.  He was very negative.

[Alcon]

Obama, although not solidly.

McCain really could have used a victory of some type, though.

[bullmoose88]

Obama, although not solidly.

^^From the portion I saw...towards the end...I agree with Alcon.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I'm just afraid McCain came off as arrogant with his attempts to belittle him the entire debate.

[Lunar]

Anyone else waiting for William Wallace to descend upon this thread.

[NDN]

But Obama was much cooler, had more specifics, was generally quite calm, and was very respectful.

McCain came off as faltering here and there, husky at points, and got very smug.  He was very negative.

^^^

That said McCain may "win" because of how dominating he was.

[Thomas Jackson]

Trying to pass this off as any type of Obama win is laughable.

It shows the huge disconnect that a lot of this board has with the rest of the world.

I realize that people who use the internet tend to be young/liberal but this is just too much!

[exopolitician]

McCain acted bitter and tired and almost seemed like he didnt want to be there. He didnt even look at Obama the entire debate, and his body language was going against him.

Obama looked Presidential. He was calm and stuck to the issues and even agreed some of the time with McCain and such.

Overall though....it was a tie.

[ChrisFromNJ]

Trying to pass this off as any type of Obama win is laughable.

It shows the huge disconnect that a lot of this board has with the rest of the world.

I realize that people who use the internet tend to be young/liberal but this is just too much!

You? Talking about a disconnect with reality?

[Lunar]

Anyone else Like Marc Ambinder's description?

It seems to be the consensus:
No  memorable moments.
Fascinating body language.
No major gaffes by either candidates.
No major surprises.
Experience v. judgment
A good debate for both men.
The big policy news: McCain floated an across-the-board spending freeze (with a few exceptions).
McCain did not filter himself, letting his frustration and contempt for Obama show; he wouldn't let himself look at the challenger. He seemed to be channeling that famous Saturday Night Live skit featuring "Michael Dukakis" who looks to the camera and says, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy."  Over and over, he adopted the pose of an impatient school teacher: Obama  "doesn't understand" or Obama "is naïve."
Obama was a cool cat throughout - although I am reliably informed that GOP spinners are claiming the exact opposite.
 He seemed confident enough to stand up to McCain's challenges and in a deferential way. He seemed at times to go out of his way to agree with McCain when agreement was warranted, which the McCain campaign will surely point out. One impish moment: when Obama said "I have a bracelet too" after McCain movingly recounted his conversations with the families of deployed troops. And some of his early pivots back to "hard working Americans" seemed canned.  But generally, he did not overspeak; he got to his points quickly, and he drew plenty of direct contrasts with McCain.
As the candidates debated the bailout, it was McCain, not Obama, who sounded senatorial, and his obsession with earmarks presupposes an earmark pitchfork brigade that does not exist.  McCain didn't even defend his tax plan; he simply returned to the comfort zone of earmarks. 
Where McCain was shaky in the first half of the debate, he was on much firmer ground as he navigated Jim Lehrer's  broad foreign policy questions, particularly those questions which did not require McCain to defend his Iraq war.  Obama agreed with McCain - and said so - almost as much as he disagreed.  But he didn't topple or stumble..
Thresholds are artificial, but both candidates seemed to meet them - although Obama's threshold was arguably higher.
The press will probably conclude that McCain did not fundamentally change impressions tonight.  And that Obama held his own.

[Thomas Jackson]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You know as well as I do that this board leans to the left. That's a fact.

This board would have voted for MONDALE over Reagan.

[JohnCA246]

McCain did a bit better a the beginning and Obama did better at the end.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I will say this: McCain put Obama on the defensive a lot of the night. Obama would say "not true" over and over again and, like McCain, would smirk occasionally. Barack was constantly defending himself and making excuses, while McCain did that a lot less.

That being said, I'd say Obama won the first part and McCain slightly in the second. I'd say it was a draw which is good for Obama and not so much for McCain. We'll see what people say in the morning.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I say a tie.

[Eraserhead]

Obama

McCain seemed really nervous early on and too arrogant by the end.

[JohnCA246]

This also seemed like one of the most gaffe-free first debates.

[cp]

I definitely saw the divide between the opening/closing halves. Obama rocked McCain on the economic security angle. McCain was far more comfortable with the heavy foreign policy stuff at the end.

As for their tussling, Obama seemed reluctant to interrupt McCain, whereas McCain was constantly speaking over Obama toward the end. This got on my nerves after a while as it both cut down on Obama's speaking time and made McCain seem impatient and frenetic: constantly reacting to everything, rather than sitting back and taking his time to reflect and respond.

Obama was cool without being cold, which is a HUGE win as far as his performance is concerned. Though McCain did get a bit more empathetic toward the end as the issues favoured him, Obama didn't come off as disconnected at all - academic, perhaps, but not in a spiteful or condescending way.

All in all, a slight Obama victory. It should be noted, too, that this will be McCain's best moment as far as debates are concerned - the VP debate and the economy come next and he's not going to fare well. The town hall I expect will be a wash, but an interesting watch.

[Stranger in a strange land]

I wish there was a "neither" option. It was a pretty boring debate.

[Thomas Jackson]

The pundits seem to think McCain won.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Marginal Obama victory, altho neither side did itself any harm.  McCain tried a bit too much with the prepared zingers, and he didn't deliver them well enough to zing.

Considering what one of Sarah Palin's accomplishments was as a young woman, McCain needs to stop using that line about him not being "Miss Congeniality" in the Senate tho.  Once during the debate, might have been okay, since he was using it before he picked Palin to be his running mate, but twice is likely going to be fodder for a television comic or two.

[ChrisFromNJ]

The pundits seem to think McCain won.

The pundits seem to think Obama won.

Who cares?

[Sam Spade]

In terms of debating, McCain won, quite clearly in my mind because he was clearer in his answers and had Obama on the defensive most of the debate.

However, Bush won against Gore in that 1st debate because of the fact that Gore looked mean, and I think a case can be spun that McCain was mean in some ways.  We shall see.

Obama did too much smirking, however.  That will not come across well.