Round Two Reaction

Once again, no knockouts but we did see some action tonight. Obama wasn't exactly dazzling, but then he never has been in a debate. He still came across as cool and levelheaded, particularly when viewed next to McCain. At least the senator from Arizona looked at his opponent tonight with something other than a look of utter disdain and disgust, but he largely came across as smug and, for lack of a better way to put it, a prick. Cracks about hair transplants, "did we hear the size of the fine?" and a smartass "thank you" didn't give him an air of respectability. Some more observations:

• McCain seems utterly incapable of subtlety. Obama's repeated comparison of taking a hatchet to the budget instead of a scalpel, McCain's reuse of the already debunked misleading claim that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times (by the same standard, how many times have you, Senator McCain?), equating military strikes against Bin Laden inside Pakistan - an area that hasn't if the Pakistanis can't or won't act with all-out invasion of the nation as a whole... the last thing we need is another four years of a black-and-white view of the world in the White House.
• The format sucked. Either there wasn't enough time, or there needed to be better enforcing of the time limits. Mics can be cut, you know.
• The way McCain rants about earmark spending all the time, it was kind of odd to hear him admit that there are some earmark projects he considers worthwhile.
• "Nailing Jell-O to the wall?" Seriously? If you're going to make an analogy like that, follow through and don't mush it together with the claim of new proposals that keep popping up. 
• McCain also seems incapable of balance - $18 billion in earmarks versus cutting $300 billion in taxes, the US having 3% of the world's oil supply when we consume 25%.
• How many heros does John McCain have? When you say that Ronald Reagan is "my hero," it's kind of lazy to call Teddy Roosevelt "my hero" as well. 
• Speaking of TR, in addition to "speak softly and carry a big stick," he also said "it always pays for a nation to be a gentleman." Continuation of not talking to "enemy" nations a la Bush is not being a gentleman.
• For crying out loud, McCain needs to stop using Senator Lieberman as an example of bipartisanship. He isn't a Democrat any more, and won't be caucusing with Democrats in the Senate come January.
• Apparently, just knowing there's an increased supply of oil (by, say, drilling offshore) will cause the price of gasoline to come down, regardless of how long it will actually take to get that extra oil flowing. Maybe this is just a mental recession after all.
• It's pretty damn ballsy of McCain to talk about how great his judgement on when we should send our troops in and when we can win without even mentioning his support for and claims of easy victory in Iraq.
• Excellent riposte by Obama.
• I like how Obama sat and focused on McCain while he talked. I was less than impressed with McCain getting up and moving around while Obama was speaking.
• Yes, history shows that countries that are strong militarily need a strong economy. It also shows that you can't win an occupation.
• Contrast this with a consistent emphasis on diplomacy and working with our allies around the world by Obama. Who offers the "steady hand on the tiller?"

There wasn't really a clear winner; I'll give the edge to Obama again, since he was the grownup to McCain's brat. The real loser was the debate format - we need a forum where they have more than sixty seconds to reply, and the ability to actually go back and forth.

Only one more to go (thank God),

Regis