Was the Debate any Good?

My expectations were perhaps too high. I was hoping for a street brawl, with the beginning like the old Saturday Night Live takeoff on Point/Counterpoint, where Dan Ackroyd turns to his opponent and says " Jane, you miserable little slut..."

John McCain did much better than I thought. He wasn't the bumbling old man, staggering around without a clue to what's really going on in the world, the way he seemed the last two weeks. He made some strong arguments and actually maneuvered Obama onto his turf during the first part by talking of tax cuts and earmarks.

But the real focus of the debate was foreign policy, which was McCain's strong point, or so it was said. Barack came across knowledgeable and had a more graceful style. he missed a few zingers, like the fact that McCain hasn't taken care of the vets, has a horrible voting record on veteran benefits bills; and the problem now in Iraq after the surge is that the Iraqis are arresting those people as traitors who had been convinced to turn against Al Qaida and fight with the US in Anbar Province. The real sniping just began at the end and they had to stop and say their set closing remarks.

For a third party analysis of the debate, click on this link to Bob Barr's column, The Debate that Wasn't. Needless to say, he felt they both were pretty spineless when it came to explaining the economic crisis and how to get out of it.

Polls were taken afterwards, pundits had their analysis, both campaigns said their guy had won. Many said it was a draw. Perhaps it helped John McCain get back on the right path and he's not taking so much meds now that the swelling on left side of his face went back down. Perhaps Barack Obama showed that he had a clearer understanding of what our foreign policy needs to accomplish, which is why the polls among undecided voters put him as the winner.

As for me, I remained sober because McCain didn't resort going to the well of his POW experience more than a couple of times. Not really worth downing a shot.