Do you think John McCain or Barack Obama won the Oct. 7 presidential debate?

Obama

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by Marie Neira

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Senator Obama came away the victor, but not by the overwhelming margin his supporters would have hoped. This election appears to be a near tie and the "tie breakers" are the undecided and independent voters who don't particularly have an affinity for either candidate. Obama and his campaign pride themselves on trying to "stay above the fray", not to get their feathers ruffled, etc. However, as the general election nears at less than a month away, his cool and collected strategy, should have been "ratcheted" up a notch or two, (to use a word from McCain last night.)

All of us realize that this is a tight race, often within the margin of error. For several weeks, Obama has been on the upside of the scale, though this is not the time for him to rest on his laurels; it's not celebration time yet! Despite the fact that the Obama camp is really sitting pretty financially and can outspend McCain on advertising, this race is still too close to call. It would have been a relief to hear new, fresh sounding oratory (even if they all mean the same thing.) People need to hear authenticity and a bit more passion; they want it laid out simply and without ambiguity.

Last night, Senator Obama did not appear outraged by the McCain camp's recent attacks. I believe I heard Obama muttering his disgust under his breath rather than making a strong stand. His supporters, as well as the undecided and independents would more have appreciated a display of real time human emotions rather than calculated, predetermined verbiage. McCain was there for the taking, and he missed the opportunity to fact check in front of his audience and call McCain out. Surely he is aware of specific facts and hard hitting rebuttals that would make sense to common Americans, why didn't he? There were many opportunities to appear not just Presidential, but human and in the now. Obama isn't the only one sick of McCain diverting the issues and repeating the same old rhetoric, we all are (except for Sarah Palin.) The "I don't understand" opening that McCain gave him could have been taken much further. Instead he held at the Iraq war when it could have been used as the lead into many other issues Americans don't understand! His attempt to delineate his plan to lead over McCain's, came across as tired and wrote.

In the end, the victor Obama could have been much stronger and probably needs to be in order to come away with a comfortable win at the White House. Maybe Obama and his advisors felt that this race is so close that he can not afford to show himself in a different light this late in the game or perhaps he was advised to put a little more fire in the belly and was not able to convey that. It is clear Obama has that fire or would not have gotten this far though showing it a bit more would not hurt. Let's face it, when McCain and his people comfortably call themselves the "underdog", that speaks volumes considering McCain, a well known politician/war hero with an impressive track record vs. his opponent, Senator Barack Obama: a man of color, who, up until 2004 most had never heard of or for that matter, dreamed of.

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