First Presidential Debate, 2008

There is always this sense, both before and after a Presidential debate – or most debates – that when the debate is over, there must be a winner and a loser. Of course, in a Presidential debate, the debate between the candidates is simply followed by the gazillion debates about who won the debate.


My take on the first McCain-Obama debate is that I felt zero need to see it in a win-lose kind of way. Which is really refreshing. And which I thought was a surprising switch from what we saw in at least the two previous debates. Not too many can accuse McCain of overly managing the stagecrafting of a debate. What you see is what you get. Obama has often been accused of being too lofty and professorial – in other words, too remote and eager to pretend he’s not too remote by covering it up with nuance – but that’s not what I saw in this first debate in Oxford, Mississippi.

Obama was a little slick, but not very much. McCain was a little testy, but not very much. Overall, I think they stayed more or less on topic. It was a relief not to examine and consider whether one or both of them carefully arranged a handshake pat on the back in order to appear physically larger, or how a podium was gripped, and so on. Which means I could trust that both were far more interested in the day-to-day work of governing than candidates I’ve seen in previous races. It was, well, a Presidential debate the way it should be, no huge fireworks, nothing to get distracted by, and nothing, mercifully, very phony about it. It was nice to be able to relax. And that’s what gives me confidence.