last night that McCain was so pathetic in the debate it wasn’t even worthwhile going into the details of how pathetic he was. But in today’s
Richard Lowry captures several of the same aspects of McCain’s performance that convinced me he’s finished. So I’ve copied the
below, with the especially telling points bolded.
THE FINAL DEBATE: STYLE MATTERS
McCain: Couldn’t close the gap.
Richard Lowry
October 16, 2008
Barack Obama must have awesome powers of concentration. He kept his attention last night from wandering onto measuring the White House drapes and drawing up invitation lists for state dinners.
Obama knew that if he effectively parried McCain’s attacks, didn’t get noticeably flustered or angry and avoided major mistakes, he’d be a huge step closer to the presidency, having emerged from the three debates with his credibility enhanced and his biggest lead in national polls yet.
McCain was more peppery than ever last night. He was direct and pointed in his criticisms of Obama and has been getting stronger on domestic policy throughout the debates. Maybe if they had a series of 10 more debates stretching into next year, McCain would get fully up to speed on all that he’s neglected to learn about domestic policy throughout his long career. Maybe then he’d put Obama away with a proverbial knock-out blow once and for all.
Maybe. But Obama would still enjoy beguiling stylistic advantages. McCain comes off as too tightly wound. He had a strained, insincere laugh much of last night. At times, if you didn’t know, you might think he was the newcomer to the national stage—writing furiously on his yellow pad and referring to his notes, and stumbling over his words because he’s trying to get out so much at once.
McCain has a weirdly jagged way of speaking. He tries to communicate passion by jamming as many bullet points as possible into his sentences. He foreshortens his points so drastically it has to be hard for the average listener to understand them.
McCain had three themes he returned to repeatedly:
* Obama is going to raise taxes in tough economic times.
* More spending is Obama’s answer to everything.
* Obama’s eloquence has to be examined carefully, because it contains slippery evasions.
All true, but Obama—even under McCain’s onslaught—continues to do a plausible imitation of a moderate to conservative Democrat.
Obama’s rejoinder on taxes is his promise to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, by showering them with various tax credits; he promises vaguely to cut spending; and his eloquence is usually put to good use, as he speaks in full, clear sentences that give him an expository power McCain can’t match.
For all that, Obama was a little lackluster, a product no doubt of his defensive strategy. Sitting on a lead is not conducive to a high-energy performance. The split screens showed him laughing and smiling to himself often during McCain’s answers, as McCain’s relentless offensive clearly irked him. But he kept his equilibrium, and some viewers might have thought the laughs showed good nature under pressure.
McCain occasionally used to good effect the plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, who had confronted Obama on the campaign trail about taxes, to try to show that Obama will burden small-business people. But McCain cited “Joe the Plumber” so many times—15—that it began to seen a kind of tic.
In a bite that will be re-played often, McCain pointedly told Obama that he’s not George Bush, and if Obama wanted to run against Bush, he’s four years too late. Obama batted away the line by replying that McCain’s economic policies are largely the same.
Pundits eagerly awaited an exchange between Obama and McCain on Bill Ayers. It was a fizzle. When moderator Bob Schieffer asked a question inviting McCain to talk about Ayers, McCain initially demurred. He instead complained about Rep. John Lewis comparing the McCain-Palin campaign to George Wallace and weakly declared it was “hurtful.”
It wasn’t until later that McCain mentioned Ayers, and only after stipulating he doesn’t care about a “washed-up terrorist.” So what’s the problem? Obama’s stock answer probably satisfied most viewers.
Overall, McCain may have helped himself, but only marginally. He still has lots of ground to make up, and badly needs an Obama misstep in the weeks ahead. Maybe Obama will let his attention wander—thinking about those drapes.
another of McCain’s strangely out-of-touch and incompetent replies which said to me that this guy is not in the race: