The Buffalo Bean on WBEN Wednesday Morning
Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, WBEN
Earlier today I was asked by WBEN Newstalk 930 to provide some short commentary after tonight’s presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. My comments will be pre-taped and aired tomorrow as part of their morning news.
UPDATE: Just pre-recorded my thoughts on the debate. It’s been a while since my last radio interview, so I hope I communicated my thoughts effectively. I’ll give a brief synopsis of my thoughts on the debate.
As for who won, I said McCain won on points, and Obama won on style.
I thought McCain focused on three points, 1) his record of bipartisanship, 2) his experience and 3) comparing his record with Obama’s. I think these points will be brought up constantly for the remainder of the campaign.
Even though Obama won on style, it was clear this was not his best format for a debate. He’s obviously more comfortable with a big crowd, a teleprompter and a script. He won on style by sticking to his talking points and stump speech.
I think McCain missed an opportunity to hit Obama harder.
I think Obama missed an opportunity by failing to present himself as someone who can be bipartisan.
I think McCain used his experience and judgement to advantage. He spoke about the uncertainty of tomorrow, and I think he was talking to those voters who may be leaning towards Obama, but are wary of his inexperience.
Still, in the end, despite the opportunities of a townhall style debate, the structure of the debate was horrible, and Tom Brokaw picked a lot of lousy questions that didn’t give the candidate an opportunity to give unique answers.
Matt Margolis is co-author (with Mark Noonan) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at Blogs For Victory. Follow Matt on Twitter.