American Presidential Debate

I wasn't sure what I was looking for in the debate but I did come away with some impressions.

First off, I think Senator Obama did well. He stood Presidential. He looked into the camera, more importantly, at Senator McCain. For his part, McCain kept his eyes fixed on Jim Lehrer.

On the line for Obama were the "swing" votes from Independents. It remains to be seen if he managed to earn some credibility with them.

Another thing I noticed was how Obama seemed to be always searching for common ground. While in a strict political sense this may be viewed as a faux pas, I found myself appreciating the strategy and it made McCain's attacks seem somewhat condescending.

McCain clearly was playing the experience card and found his "voice" when it came to issues on foreign policy - which is pretty much in line with the neo-con doctrine. He certainly looked assured. McCain didn't have to find the TK punch. He just had to cast doubt in the minds of undecided votes about Obama. In parts, he looked like he was on the way to doing that.

While Obama seemed a tad more uncomfortable in more parts, I think both held their lines.