Enough people, most of them smarter than me, have posted and/or pontificated on the results of Friday night’s debate that I am not going to spend a lot of time analyzing it.

I’ll put in my quick two cents worth. John McCain probably lost by showing up after suggesting that he wouldn’t and Barack Obama probably won by not losing.

Now maybe Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis and Marc Salter convinced McCain that he couldn’t afford to give Barack Obama 90 minutes of free uninterrupted air time. Maybe McCain decided that the MSM would play his not appearing as a negative or perhaps the negotiations on the financial restructuring were at a point where his staying in Washington wouldn’t have been that helpful, either to the negotiations or his campaign. Personally, I would have liked to see McCain stick to his guns but what do I know.

The two lines that struck me were both by Barack. (If he can call my candidate John I can call him Barack.) The first was “I opposed the Iraq War when it was politically risky to do so” and the second was “This crisis is the result of 8 years of failed policy.”

As to the first point, in the next two debates, Barack will again undoubtedly raise this point of his opposition to the Iraq War. Senator McCain’s response needs to be:

Senator Obama. In our last debate you said, and I quote “I opposed the Iraq War when it was politically risky to do so.” I am curious how it was politically risky for a liberal state Senator from a liberal district on the south side of Chicago to oppose the War? What constituency did you risk losing?

After Barack’s errs and uhhms, Senator McCain should follow up with this question.

In your Primary debate with Senator Clinton you said you “made that speech in the heat of your campaign for the US Senate.” Senator Obama. You made that speech in 2002 and you didn’t declare your candidacy for the US Senate until 2003. How was that made in the heat of a campaign that didn’t even exist at the time?

After more errs and uhhms from Barack, John McCain should ask “Senator Obama”…

You imply that if you had been a US Senator in 2003 you would have voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq and yet you have voted for every war funding bill. Senator Obama. You said it was a “dumb war”. You said that the Bush administration had “cooked the intelligence”. You also knew that the funding resolutions would pass without your vote. So Senator Obama, why did you NEVER vote against those resolutions? Senator Obama. I am asking you, in front of a thousand people here and 70 million people watching on television, when have you ever made a principled stand, in opposition to your party and cast a politically unpopular vote for change we need? When have you ever reached across the aisle to work with Republicans for change we can believe in? Please. Name one time.

When he can’t name one time, McCain needs to hammer Obama on the economy but it is late and this post is already too long. More on the economy tomorrow.

Tags: Next Debate

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