Call it a Draw

The first McCain / Obama debate went off to a draw.


If you were looking for Obama to get a bit of schooling by McCain of Foreign Policy ... well, yes that happened.


If you were looking to see if McCain can handle the task of speaking in public (comparable to Obama and contrasted to W) ... well, yes he can.


But if you were looking for McCain to knock foreign policy out of the park or for Obama to fall on his face ... nope. Didn't happen. Obama was able to hold his own. The people that were for him before the debate are still for him. The folks that were leaning his way can still lean and feel OK about it.

The problem for McCain is that he needs more than ties in these debates. The country is already divided by party lines -- people who will not be easily swayed regardless of what is said at these debates -- leaving 15% +/- of independent or undecided voters that need to be wooed in order to tilt the balance of the election. McCain needs to provide stark, compelling reasons for why Obama is not their guy.

McCain could have scored some more significant points by hitting Obama on Obama's discussions Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki on delaying troop withdrawls. During the economic discussions he needs to hit Obama with more details get more details The bit about Obama on earmarks (almost $1 billion) was strong but is something that McCain needs to continue to press. Obama again pulled out the "90% agreement" point which McCain hasn't strongly rebutted. McCain is also going to have to be clearer and more direct on the ideas of taxation, where the money comes from and where the money goes.