It was another easy victory tonight for Barack Obama over John McCain. He was more persuasive, and much more presidential. McCain is a grumpy old man.
So much for the anticipated personal attacks from McCain. It’s much harder to make these types of attacks when you have to face the person you’re smearing. McCain didn’t have the guts to try it.
Barack Obama has been surging in the polls, and now the Obama campaign is bringing out the big guns.
Bill Clinton campaigned today for Obama in Florida. John McCain’s lead has evaporated in Florida and Ohio, and some polls show Obama with a lead in those states. Clinton can be a huge help getting independents and Democrats to fall in line for Obama, particularly in the current economic environment.
Up to now Clinton has been a liability. He’s terrible in interviews as he can’t hide his disapointment that Obama beat Hillary for the nomination. But on the stump he’s a huge asset. He knows how to give a speech, and he knows how to frame an argument that will persuade voters. If he keeps this up and Hillary continues to hit the campaign trail, Obama should be able to close the deal.
Both candidates did well tonight. McCain’s campaign was imploding, and he needed to get back in the game tonight. He accomplished that, despite a slow start. Obama needed to demonstrate a working knowledge of foreign policy, and he accomplished that.
I think Obama did a little better. Both had good points on Iraq, and each was able to make their respective arguments. Given that McCain has the edge on experience and foreign policy, this is a win for Obama. Along those lines, here’s the best moment of the debate for Obama.
McCain did a good job of emphasizing his experience and knowledge of the issues, and he repeated over and over his argument that Obama did not understand the issues. That said, Obama was able to deflect those by being able to speak intelligently about the issues.
We’ll see how this plays out. McCain did not hide his utter contempt for Obama. McCain always hates his opponents, and he was barely able to even look at Obama. The grouchy candidate rarely wins, so this might hurt him. Obama, on the other hand, was confident and tough without being arrogant or antagonistic.
Joe Biden has been a gaffe machine over the past several days. He said he didn’t approve of one of Obama’s ads about John McCain, and he jumped the gun saying that the government shouldn’t bail out AIG.
Fortunately, Biden has rebounded impressively this morning, with a powerful speech on foreign policy. He delivered a blistering attack on John McCain’s foreign policy positions while providing a very persuasive argument for a new approach under a Barack Obama administration. More importantly, he attacked McCain’s judgement, explaining how McCain’s bluster is counterproductive. He also ripped Bush and McCain for ignoring al Qaeda and Afghanistan. We must find and kill Bin Laden, and Biden made that absolutely clear.
The themes in this speech were clear and powerful. I suspect Obama will be repeating all these themes on Friday in the first presidential debate.
Barack Obama has been rebounding in the polls, but he still has a tough road ahead of him in Ohio. Fortunately, Hillary is ready to help out in the Buckeye State.
Hillary just held a private conference call with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and dozens of donors to her campaign and to Ohio Dems, urging them to plow funds into the coffers of the Ohio state party so it can help execute the ground game on Barack Obama’s behalf, a Hillary aide confirms to me.
“There isn’t any doubt that Ohio once again will be the pivotal state in this election and I know that it’s extremely close in the state,” Hillary told the donors, according to excerpts of the call sent our way by her office.
Hillary also promised extensive future visits to the state on Obama’s behalf. “I will be back campaigning up and down the state to make the case that the failed leadership of the last eight years should not be rewarded with another four,” she told the donors.
Obama’s team has been working closely with Hillary and Governor Strickland. They have an excellent ground game and lots of new voters. It will be interesting to see if that puts Obama over the top. I still think he has better opportunities in Virginia and Colorado, but he can probably lock up the election with wins in either Ohio or Florida.
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