Nightline Report Card: Who Won the Debate?

Great debate. Best debate I’ve seen in my 46 year lifetime.

I think if u reverse the names on your scores then they would be right Jake!

Obama.

Sen. John McCain won the debate. The media is doing an A+++ propagandizing the American people. Shame on you!!!

I think Senator McCain won the debate – I think ABC is prejudiced. They have been for “Obama” all along. They are trying to brain-wash the public into thinking “Obama” was the winner.

I am voting for McCain. I trust his longer-term experience, his judgment and foreign policy knowledge.
In addition, I trust him to want the office to help the country.
I don’t feel that with Obama and I don’t trust him at all.

Barack Obama won the dabate.

Obama won 3-1. The Economy is really a headache for McCain…he’s not ready for it.

Obama won the debate tonight.

Great debate. Obama was the clear winner.

obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obama by far. Looked more presidential, measured responses, well thought out positions, nailed McCain on his policies that promise continue the Bush legacy, such as it is. McCain used the same tired rhetorical talking points. Obama talked policy and most importantly, his concern for the middle class, health care, education and the issues that matter to most Americans.

McCain A+
Obama C

Obama won by a longshot. He demonstrated greater poise and better articulated his thoughts and positions.

OBAMA WAS MORE ON POINT ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT I WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT UOR FURTURE I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT’S BEEN GOING ON FOR THE PAST 8 LONGGGGG……….YEARS OF THE SAME HURTING THE UNITED STATES ALL OVER AGAIN THANKS OBAMA FOR THE DEBATE.

Obama you won in my eyes!!! Yahoo!!!

McCain was the clear winner, and he is right Obama doesn’t get it!

McCain was clearly a winner to all who watched that weren’t biased………Obama just is not experienced to run the country.

It is evident from these comments that the Republicans are living in a cozy little world of denial. Obama clearly won the debate–as is reported on every other network that I have been checking.

McCain Won no question!

It was a great opening debate. However, it was clear that Obama was more confident,he appeared more presidential, he wasn’t afraid to attack the issues, and face off directly with McCain. McCain on the other hand wouldn’t even as much look at or direct his attention to his opponent.
Long story short, I believe Obama was the clear winner this time!!!!!!!!!!!

McCain no doubt about it Obama still side steps any direct questions. McCain showed that he has the leadership skills needed to run this country and is not bought and paid for like obama. george steph…is so way out of touch and so pro dem he is as sick as some of the pro rep announcers we need real change McCain showed what a true leader is

McCain was the clear winner. Obama looked rattled

OBAMA WON HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!

Obama won the debate. McCain claims he wants change, yet, he continuously sited his past experience (with the Bush administration). John, you can’t have it both ways.

Obama was able to look at John McCain and talk to him as one human being to another. McCain could not even look at Obama which shows such insecurity as a person. How can he negotiate with other world leaders if he can’t even look someone in the eye when he talks to them.
Obama was the clear winner.

obama

McCain – He was NOT stammering and saying UM all the time! McCain talked straight to the point and it was CLEAR! McCain also did not MAKE Faces! McCain 100%

John McCain told us what he would or would not do and why. Obama just kept pointing to McCain. McCain wins!

the media are not rushing to say obama won….which means he lost.

You said Obama was less accurate than McCain but he supposedly won the debate? Isn’t truth important? Is there a donkey in your lobby ABC?

I am in agreement with George on his assessment, only a give Obama even more of an edge on style. I thought Obama’s debating skills FAR exceeded those of McCain. Obama continually attempted to engage McCain in direct conversation and McCain did not even give him a look. McCain, in my opinion, looked shakey at times. If Obama felt shaky, he did not show it. I was interested to see how Obama would do with foreign policy and I thought he did a great job. Nobody questions McCain’s experience, but that should have been his baby – he should have blown Obama out of the water – and he did not. On the contrary, I thought McCain did better than expected on discussing the domestic issues. Obama did not do as well as I expected, but I still thought he had the edge over McCain. Style points by far go to Obama. McCain needs SERIOUS work on that side of his debating. He needs to do a better job of engaging his opponent and addressing the camera when he needs to. It is a minor issue, but one that I nonetheless noticed. Finally, I thought that Obama made a few slips in his factual information, but then again, so did McCain. Overall, though, McCain’s facts were accurate more than Obama’s were. Misquotes and purposeful misinterpretations are part of the political game, though.

Obama won the debate on his clear vision for the future of this country.

I give Obama a A++
Obama won the debate. A leader who wants change and knows how to make that happen. A Leader who can keep our country safe
A CHANGE WE CAN BELEIVE IN
+

No question about it–Obama won and was the only one looking to the future.

McCain won hands down!!!

Obama won! Demonstrated such class and integrity! Took the high road; a man with manners! McCain doesn’t have a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Obama won, though he could have gone after McCain as one of the weathly USA citizens. As a geriatric nurse practitioners, I know seniors the same age as McCain-I fear for his health, and fear more that Sarah Palin would become president.

I feel Obama won this debate. Mr. Obama has more knowledge about foriegn policy than people give him credit for. He has some of the best advisors in the business on his side.
Mr. Obama is correct about Afghanistan.

McCain clearly won the debate. He is substance to Obama’s perceived style. The media should remember that their job is to imform, not persuade. Shoving Obama down our throats leave a bad taste.

Wake up America; McCain is the real deal, Obama is a fake.

obama supporters think he won….mccain’s think mccain won. joy

McCain wasn’t running away from a debate…he was in Washington doing the job he is being PAID to do….where as Obama, whom I am paying as an Illinois resident is too busy apply for a new job to do the job that I am currently PAYING him to do. Thank you Mr Obama!!! Can I have my money back please?

I believe Obama won, I believe he has a good plan for the future. The past will only hold you back.

John McCain won. He shows that he had the ability and will to lead. Obama is all talk and offers no specific details for his ideas on change.

George Stepanopholous gets an F for not grading the debate better. McCain stomped all over the back-tracking Obama. Obama’s warm & fuzzy defense attitude doesn’t work in real life.

Without a doubt. Senator John McCain.

Obama won in a landslide. He was so much more coherent.

Obama all the way unless you want more of the same Bush economics that got us here in the first place wake up lets have some real change

LOOK I SEE THAT McCAIN WON THIS DEBATE STRAIGHT OUT, I DO NOT BELEIVE THAT OBAMA WON. HE DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO ANSWER SERVAL TIMES, BUT LIKE NORMAL YOU MEDIA KEEPS PRAISING A DEMOCRAT, I AM SICK OF THIS AND I AM GETTING TO THE POINT THAT I WILL NOT EVEN WATCH YOUR PROGRAM AGAIN. IT IS A SHAME THAT THE MEDIA HAVE TO PUSH SO MUCH FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS NO EXPERIENCE IN MILITARY OR LEADING ANYTHING AT ANY POINT AND SOMEONE WHO HAS LIED SO MUCH AND WHO HAS HELPED LEAD US TO THE ECONOMIC MESS WE ARE IN RIGHT NOW. WHY WON’T YOU AS THE MEDIA PUT OUT WHAT REALLY HAPPEN INSIDE IN THAT MEETING YESTERDAY WHEN OBAMA DIDN’T HANE A CLUE TO WHAT HE WAS TO DO. WHY DON’T YOU FIND OUT HOW HE GOT ALL THAT MONEY WORKING WITH RAINES AND HOW HE HAD A FRIEND THAT IS A TERRORIST. I CAN HE IS REALLY A MUSLIM AND HE IS OUT TO RUIN US AS A NATION WITH HIS CORRUPTED WAYS AND I HOPE THAT PEOPLE WILL WAKE UP AND REALIZE THIS. BY THE WAY I AM A VETERAN OF THIS WAR AND I AM PROUD TO SERVE AND WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM THAT OBAMA THINKS WE SHOULD NOT. I WILL NOT SIT DOWN AND MAKE FREINDS WITH A TERRORIST LIKE HE WANTS TO.

Obama, Clearly, more presidential, honest and knowledgeable

Obama was better able to answer questions in depth. He was the winner of this debate.

Obama a clear winner wth A+
McCain a poor loser with a c-

people talk about mccains’experience.look what they have done to the country in last 8 years.with all his experience he voted with bush 90 percent of the times.obama was the clear winner in this debate.

McCain appeared to be ill at the start of the debate. He did not do as well as Obama.

I am glad to see that I am not crazy and that there are several other people who saw that McCain was the clear winner! How many times did Obama tell McCain that McCain was right? How many times did Sen. McCain get Obama’s name wrong? 0 times. Obama messed up twice. Once he called him Jim then another time he called him Tom. How hard is it to pronounce the name John?
Obama is too young and too inexperienced to run our country. Voting for him is a mistake. On Nightline they said that Obama looked smooth and McCain looked choppy, then they showed a clip of how McCain moved his arms. I am not sure about this but didn’t McCain have is arms pulled out of his sockets as a POW? Shame on you ABC. Show some respect. And please stop your left-wing propaganda and this is coming from a former Democrat. I was a Democrat until I saw through all the smears.

As an Independent voter I would say Obama won the debate. He has a good grasp of the issues facing the country at this time. McCain seems to have a narrow focus on Iraq and he gives general answers to questions with no real solutions. Obama said he would give taxpayers who make under $250,000. a tax break. I did not hear what McCain will do for the Middle Class.

McCain won the debate even if he didn’t show up. Oboma does not represent Americans. He only represents Islamic terrorists.

Obama won the debate. McCain I would only trust to keep us safe with a strong military and economy in place.(we do have the best military its just a little stretched.)

Barack Obama WON Because He made McCain look like he was dumb

I would’nt want Obama in the same fox hole with me? When it comes time to kill or be killed and make a decision all I’m going to hear from Obama is that he is PRESENT

Obama looked and handled himself more presidential than McCain. He also looked like he was in more control than McCain. At times McCain Looked somewhat frustraited. Obama was very poised and cool at all times. Great Job Obama.

McCain was the winner…No Doubt. I watched ABC news coverage, and I can tell everyone of them is a Democrat…Stephanopolous giving commentary…give me a break…He is a Democrat…FOX news is the best source if you want the Truth. Go McCain..We need experience in the White House, not a 4 year Senator.

Obama won.

Obama held his own against Sen. MaCain’s strongest debate topic. This point is further reinforced by the post debate polls showing Sen. Obama pulling ahead.

obama won, why was mccain so wrong about going to war in iraq when he’s had so much experience and knowledge with foreign affairs. after 8 years of mistakes and a failing economy how can anyone vote for more of same

McCain looked tired and old. Obama was calm and cool. I’d rather see calm and cool running this country.

MCCain Won the debate! He is clearly the most experienced person in the race.

Obama probably has my vote.
McCain was mocking and show comtempt. How dare the 90% Bush tag along!
Or perhaps all that refusal to look at his opponent during a debate was an early sign of senility.

Obama won the debate!Hands up.Theres no question who our next president should be and will be.

McCain was the winner but the obamacons will never admit it. Their Harvard Law School graduate got too many answers wrong to be credible and his answers seemed to have been memorized.

John McCain won tonight´s debate, he was firm, knowledgable and showed a good presidential image.

I truly brlieve that McCain showed true leadership in the sense of experience. I think Obama would like to have said “Present” many time by saying, “I agree with John.” He didn’t know what to say but that as he was somewhat lost on some issues.

McCain won outright. Obama stuttered and clmmered in various places, indicating his lak of confidence and knowledge agin……and by the way A- and B+. These scores are cop-outs, there virtualy the same..

Obama clearly won the debate.
We need change and a true leader who can free us from this out of control spending administration who has put the USA in debt by over 9 Trillion dollars in just 8 years.
It took what, 42 Presidents to get us to 4 Trillon in debt and then came GW who in just 8 years spent another 5 Trillon now with the 700 Billon bailout to a whopping 9 or possbily 10 Trillon in debt. Just unbelievable. Yes this is facts and not fiction. Look it up on the web under national debt clock.
McCain is for the same ole polictics bunch. He is 72 yrs old and has his hand in the polictical cookie jar for way to many years. Is now a multi millonaire as a professional polictican with 7 houses, 13 cars, made thousands more thanks to the “Keating 5″ coruption scandal and do you need more reasons.

McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN McCAIN
WON——–WON——-wON——WON!

Obama won People are so afraid in life its a shame. How can anything work if we don’t come together. If I was running for president. I would talk with the other countries that we don’t get along with. We are not living in the 1800′s but the 21st century. We need to move beyond the past and look towards the future. I love my kids and I hope you people as well love yours because I want my kids to have a better future. Not living in fear, but living to know that they will see another day.

Do you want Mr. Congeniality??- Obama… Or a man who has been around the block and actually takes care of business??- McCain MCCAIN ALL THE WAY!!! AND… Who cares how much McCain looked at the camera.. It was a debate,, not American Idol. Give me a brake.

I thought Obama was the clear winner of this debate. I don’t want a maverick, sheriff, or deregulator running this country. I would prefer an educated person who is in touch with the real issues that affect the everyday person.

Obama clearly won the debate. McCain couldn’t even look at him. He wouldn’t even talk directly to Obama. Maybe he was unable to do so. Was he scared? What kind of President would that be? We need a President that’s able to look our enemies in their eyes and talk to them.

Omaba won , he will lead better than the old school that brought shame to Americams

Obama was clearly more presidential and made a lot more sense than McCain. Clearly, McCain doesn’t get it – we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq in the first place.

McCain won this debate.

Obama has the knowledge and the poise. McSame is bluster and jingoistic jibberish.

Obama A and McCain C.McCain was so rude to Obama not looking at him at ALL.If this is how he treats another American regardless if it’s another Candidate or not I can imagine how he would treat a World Leader from another Country.This attitude is not one that is President Material.McCain is so out of touch.
Obama has the smarts that can get our Country back on track.

Obama.

How can anyone think that someone who does not understand the economy think he should be President? McCain only knows how to talk the talk…not walk the walk. His temper was getting to him tonight. Obama looked like John Kennedy back when he beat the heck out of Nixon. Obama like any other speaker who does not rely on notes will stutter while answering questions. Did y’all see that McCain had a pad with notes with answers!
Obama was the clear winner..Good Job

McCain landed some good points, but only when he was lying about Obama’s positions. McCain’s “zingers” won’t hold up to scrutiny.
McCain’s strong on foreign policy, no doubt, but Obama’s no slouch either. He showed that tonight.
And McCain is Bush II on the economy, healthcare and energy. That was reinforced tonight.

Obama won, McCain did good, but Obama won.

I think we’ve got a problem with each of them and their running mates. But, I actually think that we need to shoot for the future and that would be Obama.
If I were McCain, it’s embarassing that he’s been a huge part of the last 8 years….and look at the pain Americans are in on his watch!

I tried listening to both without bias. I cannot deny McCains bravery and patriotism but those qualities do NOT qualify him for President. Years in the senate do NOT qualify one as a leader. None of our past Presidents elected for the first time had any experience at leading the nation. Obama, I think won this first debate hands down.

Obama won hands down! Obama was informed, confident, cool. McCain was condescending, ignored specifics of questions and emotional instead of factual. I was proud that Obama was not as agressive as some thought he should be. I want him to remain presidential.

Mccain came across very presidential in his confidence , experience, & knowledge of the facts issues & especially of his knowledge of world affairs in the past as well as in the present. It was very evident of his travels to hot spots in the world & his meetings with world leaders during numerous crisis. He also demonstrated his character of courage to stand for his beliefs & doing what is right for our country & challenging even his own party. our allies respect him & our enemies fear him . our enemies will have a field day if Obama’s elected America Wake Up! before it’s to late !

McCain won without a doubt.

Obama won, very decisively.
VP debate will also show who has better judgment.

MC cain needs to rest up and take a vacation then show up on nov. 5 and than declare him self the winner. sounds like before?

Obama clearly won the debate. John McCain came across as a meano-spirited person that wants to live in the past and not address the future. A spending freeze except for Veterans issues, military, or entitlements — that is 85% of the budget. How does that resolve the massive deficit created by President Bush and the Republicans. Then he supports Capital Gain cuts that will just reduce the U.S. Gov’t's ability to address the issues that matter to me – Health Care, Social Security, Reduction in the Deficit.

Who Won? OBAMA BY A MILE.

McCain won and I resent the news casters showing clips of Obama hammering and not showing McCain’s responses. If you think the US is in a mess now, elect Obama and he will sell us totally out to foreign countries. This man should not even be a representative in the Senate, he is not informed enough to represent the office of the President of the United States. He is a good speaker, but ignorant of facts and we don’t need an ignorant President. We started getting in a bigger mess after the Democrats gained majority in the House. Obama wants war with Russia & step it up in Afghanistan, but where does he think that money is going to come from? Hello, it is time we stopped supporting the whole world on money we borrow from them.

Obama won

There’s no way to deny it, McCain cleaned Obama’s clock.

McCain was the obvious winner but we will never hear that from the media. Then McCain will be elected and it will give them something to talk about for the next 4 years. Do you have a moral compass???

McCain had to resort to emotional pleas and stories to distract from his lack of knowledge and being called out on direct facts. Are American’s really ignorant enough to fall for that?
Obama did an excellent job of steering the conversation away from this and back onto facts and policies. And not getting sucked into melodrama as a distraction.

Obama by a loooong shot!!…did you see how jittery McCain was?? …Obama had him on the ropes the whole night…even McCain’s P.O.W. ace card didn’t work for him this evening… True Obama agreed with many points that McCain put forward But that’s part of Obama’s appeal to the intelligent American… it’s called integrity… he has the ability to find common ground even with those he disagree with …

Obama is a gifted orator, no doubt. He comes across as a well-versed, experienced lawyer who knows how to deliver the goods. But then again….there’s the goods. That’s where McCain comes in.

Obama won in my opinion. After 8 years of President Goofy, this country can ill afford 4 years with President Grumpy. It will be so refreshing to have a president who is intelligent, articulate and emotionally stable.

obama

Sen. McCain A
Sen, Obama A- (got a little defensive)

I think if you mean what you say at least look at the camera .
That’s what Barack Obama did so I believe Obama .
Also McCaine sound like BUSH and I’m tired of 8 years and middle class is
suffering .
WE NEED A CHANGE REALLY
but you wont agree if you doing great under BUSH.
THINK CHANGE OR SUFFER BUSH MCCAIN AND HATE WORLDWIDE

Obama won.
McCain kept repeating that he has better judgment (as if repetition makes it true) but he never delivered the goods.

This debate was not rocket science, and all who think John McCain is your deliverer need to look back at 2000-2004 elections. You were lied to then and you’re being lied to now. To fall into a trap once is forgiven, but to buy into this same bu**sh** a third time, you deserve everything that happens to you and your other believers.. And by the way, I am retired NAVY as well as John McCain, but that war is over and all he knows about it is what he was told…GO BARACK OBAMA…YOU THE MAN>>>

McCain won hands-down! McCain is more experienced in all areas, no matter how much you guys in the media want Obama to win. Obama is green.

Obama held serve and had more coherence and composure…..advantage Obama.

Can ABC be anymore pro-Obama?? What terrible coverage. Next time I will watch NBC.

McCain did the best job. How does George S. grade McCain higher than Obama on accuracy, yet still give the victory to Obama? Hello?!….what matters in this crzy world?

OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA. He has managed to remain calm and collective throughout all of the lies and ridicule. To all of McCain’s supporters, you clearly just don’t get it.

McCain WON! Even the media admitted that Obama had his facts wrong! A lot of studdering, but no real plan ever spelled out by Obama. Obama lacks in the experience arena. McCain is a proven, reach across the aisle, Leader. A true patriot who knows what it means to put country first. Country meaning Americans. Obama thinks that he is the country. Mr. Hollywood. His acting abilities should take him to 42nd Street, not 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Barack Obama shined…

They both did well but Obama did slightly better and clearly came across as someone who is smart, able to stand his own, gracious and the person we need to lead us into the future. McCain’s choice of Palin, trying to get score points in solving the financial crisis are both good examples of putting his own election before the good of the country. The bogus claim of suspending his campaign, claiming he would stay away from the debate only to change his mind when he realized Obama would get time on his own are all disappointing examples from someone who claims to be different.

Simply McCain!

I watched the debate and I truly felt McCain did a much better job! He remained calm and articulate, while Obama obviously lost his cool a couple of times giving incorrect information. It bugs me that so many people who are giving their opinions on the air are all for Obama. Why doesn’t Nightline show people who felt McCain was better? Obviously, from so many opinions expressed by Americans in this poll, there are many who disagree with Nightlines “report card.” Grading actually seems like a silly way to determine the “winner.” I also felt Obama insulted McCains character at times!

Yes, McCain has the edge in experiance …. AFTER ALL HE IS 71 YEARS OLD! Obama won the debate with fresh, new ideas for changes that we need…. Not the same old same old that McCain talked about.

OBama Wins. He was more self assured, addressed McCain and the viewers and was well informed on the issues. McCain seemed nervous, irritable, easily agitated and would not look at Senator OBama or the viewers. What was he so nervous about??? McCain is self righteous and attempted to be demeaning with no success other than making himself appear small.

Obama

Obama

McCain was clearly the winner of tonight’s debate. If he had stuttered and gotten as unnerved as Obama, the press would have eaten McCain’s lunch. But because it was their golden boy Barack, all this nervousness was overlooked. What unfair journalism.

I tried watching the debate with unbiased ears but sorry Republicans I still like Obama! Look at his stance during the debate. He spoke to us! He tried to look his opponent in the eye and push him. McCain only spoke to the deliberator. Not to America. McCain did not tell me why I should choose him. He told Jim!

ABC NEWS STINKS….. BIASED AS HECK…. FOR OBAMA….. HOW MUCH OF OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN MONEY DID ABC GET…. I BET OBAMA WILL THROW IN A TIP AFTER ABC’S BIASED REPORT CARD…. SHAME ON ABC…

Obama won. He was not mocking, condescending,
or derisive. He was presidential.

Please do not use Truman as an example. He did sign the order for the use of the atom bomb. I take that back I like John McCain use that reference.

Please do not use Truman as an example. He did sign the order for the use of the atom bomb. I take that back I like John McCain use that reference.

McCain Won that debate. Obama had to have said that he agrees with MacCain like a half a dozen times.

Absolutely Obama, won. What has McCain done lately? He kept talking about all the wonderful things he’s done during his tenure, then why are we in such a pickle? He was so condescending toward Barrack, and frankly, I found that extremely irritating and disrespectful. Sick of sappy stories and ancient history.

Where you people who thought McCain won watching the same debate? He came out muttering almost incoherent sentences. I watched the debate with about 100 people. As I looked around, everyone was asking his/her neighbor what the hell he was talking about. He evaded questions, going off on manipulative, emotional stories that had nothing to do with the topic. He made many factual errors and accused Obama of doing things that McCain actually does. And misquoting Obama. “I’ll help veterans.” WHO has voted against almost every veteran’s bill? McCain. The only mistake Obama made was not hammering Mccain enough…he should have brought up Mccain’s key role in the Keating 5 financial scandal…have we all forgotten about that debacle? He tries to go after Obama on experience but defends the pathetically unqualified Sarah Palin.
No politician is perfect. But Mccain takes the price for hypocrisy. If I hear about how he was a POW one more time, I think I’ll barf.

Wow, the ABC bias is so obvious!! As Similar as the comments for obama seem to be, can’t help but wonder if the same abc employee is posting them…
MCcain is head and shoulders ready to serve over Mr. Obama, these debates prove it.

Usually, I can not stomach more than 30 minutes of a Presidential debate .. this time, I couldn’t pull away. Obama definitely took the lead in this one ~ Our world is falling apart as we still spend millions for Iraq..luckily for us, Obama gets it.

Obama definetely came across as more knowledgable and more articulate. He looked very self assured & comfortable. McCain seemed very uncomfortable in the begining then he just got nasty with Obama repeating that Obama was unexperience & didn’t understand. Is Palin experienced?

obama win
mccian fail

Obama won, Grade A = Ability to get the job done and help all Americans. We can trust him and he is not controlled by other people. He can relate to the real people therefore he will better understand how to help us!
McCain is out of touch with real American people. He can’t help what he does not understand. Grade F = Failed economy under his leadership. He doesn’t have a clue!
Obama for President – Everyone Benefits, even the people making just$25K – 30K like me and single parent… John can’t understand my struggles. Those making 250K+ will still benefit also because our economy will be healthy again and they can once again make positive investments and so on.
Obama is a win-win for everyone to include business incentives to help provide more jobs with better pay.
Please sit aside the Right and Left philosophy. Lets come together has one voice to benefit all people? Think about it…

OBAMA. OBAMA! Obama gets an A+++++++4.0
mccain doesn’t even deserve
capitalization. C- for being cold and inconsistent.

ABC needs to get an unbiased person to call the debate not George who ran Clinton’s first presidential campaign.
Obama needs to learn to stop interrupting McCain. McCain was polite enough to listen to Obama’s stuttering, stammering, first name errors, misquotes, and threats against our allies like the government of Pakistan. How dare Obama compare them to the governments of Iran and North Korea who would like to see every US citizen tortured and killed.
Even with the current economic crisis Obama will not curb his desire for spending; at least McCain is willing to say we may have to have a spending freeze. We enacted a hiring and spending freeze where I work, except for critical items. Why shouldn’t our ever expanding government layoff instead of add personnel.
Unfortunately, Obama never joined a company after college to gain experience on how to run a successful entity. He’s still an activist with unrealistic ideas.

pakistan wasnt a failed state mr master of foreign policy
also glad you woke up halfway through the debate

Senator Obama was the clear winner. He was everything I have been looking for in our next President. A person with a vision toward the future of my children and grandchildren.

Obama. Obama. Obama.

Paula, do you have a problem with a woman being President? Maybe you are not qualified but many women can do the job!
Do you no know that when a woman makes fun of another woman she makes fun of all women including herself. Men love it when we degrade and make fun of other women. They then turn it back on some other woman for fun. Shame on you!!! I hope you boss reads what you say. He might decide you are not smart enough for any promotion

John McCain won the debate. George S. and Terry M. show their true bias.

Obama won the debate and will win the election. Wake up America! We don’t need another 4 Bush years from Grampy McSame and Caribou Barbie.

Looks to me that Obama was in control, talks more presidential tham McCain. Obama impressed me MORE !!!
Obama Won !!!

A master and a student!
We can’t afford the naivete’ of Obama……….We need leadership and experience that is known and proven.
As someone else said on this post, Mccain has been delivering solutions since Obama was in elementry school back in Indonisia.

On Strategy:
Obama: A- (never once pointed out how filthy rich McCain is, and, of course, “the rich are very different from you and me.”)
McCain: D+ (was most at ease talking about how “the soldiers know that I’ll take care of them” but with “across the board spending cuts”? Only the rich need not worry, and few of them, now, are dilettant soldiers who get into more than they bargained for.)
Style:
Obama: A- (professorial)
McCain: C+ (Gramps remembering the “Big One”)
Accuracy:
Obama: A- (…Kissinger but who cares?)
McCain: D (as good as an intellectual equal of Dubya can get. Conveying much fewer facts reqires a penalty assessment.)

Obama stuttered to much. he called john McCain Jim! and he flip flopped to much check out his past career as senator all 200 days. i mean really America come on. and whats with the smirk half the time in the debate.
McCain totally won 3-1 !

McCain clearly won this debate. He was calm, cool and collected — clearly more knowledgable in all areas, more presidential. He took Obama to school many times and even had Obama saying a number of times that he agreed with Senator McCain.
Obama looked peevish and irritated. Not steady.
How ABC can give Obama a higher score tells me you are in the tank for him.
How ridiculous. You don’t really think you are fooling anyone, do you?
I watched this debate with 5 other people (of different political parties by the way) and they all felt that John McCain came out the winner here.

As a reasonable and objective factfinder, I believe that Obama clearly won the debate

McCain A+

This country was built on change. The republicians had their chance for eight years,now vote Obama.

Going out on a limb here, but I think if you are a liberal pacivist, Obama won, if you are a conservative, McCain won and if you are an anarchist, you want to burn cars and call cops pigs.
AKA, why are we posting our silly opinions?

I am certain that Obama won the debate.
I am very proud of him being a better presidential candidate than McCain because OLD man McCain kept getting stuck back in a time machine. He kept refering back to Reagan and others and was very offensive. The way he kept on stating that Obama didn’t understand suggests that he has early onset memory loss. He was very arrorgant and saying that Obama was naive was a disgrace! Who do he think he is God? He needs to take his old ass somewhere to a retirement home and settle on in.

Obama was terrific. He will definitely give energy to our dimming America!

OMG-I see the McCain-iacs are out on the prowl in their hooded sheets.
OBAMA GOING TO WIN AND AMERICA IS GOING TO CHANGE. IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, YOU LEAVE THE COUNTRY!
GET ALL OF YOUR RACISM AND CLASSISM OUT OF YOUR SYSTEMS NOW, AMERICA WANTS CHANGE AND THE HONORABLE OBAMA WILL HELP US ACHEIVE IT.

Glad to hear that Obama has “a bracelet too!” Too bad he doesn’t wear it. Maybe it would mean something to him if he did! John McCain wears it with honor!

The debate didn’t change anyone’s mind. McCain is still stuck on the Iraq war. When the war does end what will McCain have to talk about, experience? In my opinion he will only tell Americans what they believe the want to hear. George Stephanopoulos is right on with the score.
McCain = Stuck on Stupid & still linked to President Bush’s failed policies. 26 years in Congress and I find it hard to believe he is for change.
Obama = Fresh thinking and hope for the future. Sometimes an organization needs fresh thinking – someone to think out of the box.

Terry it is really sad to see you and all the other so called reporters at ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN in the tank for such an unqualified candidate like Obama. We know what we all saw and heard tonight and McCain is a leader and clearly won.

McCain definately won this. Obama was clearly rattled at times and kept interupting and was very rude.

I thought McCain won. Not a surprise since the subject was mostly national security. Obama came off rude at times since he kept interrupting.

Obama won. Nice to have an articulate candidate who uses reason and facts to develop policies and strategies and who provides information to the people rather than relying on key words, fear, drama, and emotion to sway voters.

Obama won – God speed him to the White House!

Let’s just be honest for a few minutes. Both parties are absolute jokes. I believe that the powers that be want us to have EXTREME division. That way, we don’t focus on the 95% of things that we agree upon as human beings. The Iraq war, abortion, gay rights, homelessness, on and on and on and on, just pick an issue. The heart of the matter is that neither party gives a flying crap what YOU think about these issues. To keep us out of knowing what’s really happening in their little feifdoms, they keep us at each others throats. I am a die hard conservative. However, I am also open for logical discussion of issues. Again, something that is lost to these morons, our great leaders. Please don’t tell me I am left to vote for the lesser of two political parties 1/2 brain trusts once again.

It’s been obvious since the beginning that ABC is an Obama supporter so what George says holds no credence. McCain was completely knowledgeable about all aspects of the questions and answered them. Obama showed that he was a true politician when he DIDN’T answer the first question, he just talked around it. He doesn’t have any answers, just glib oration.

Obama’s lack of understanding in foreign affairs was very obvious. I couldn’t believe he stood there and announced on an internationally televised broadcast that he would invade Pakistan! Whatever happened to the element of surprise? McCain understands the way the international world works. He’s been around a long time and seen a lot of things. As the old saying goes, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. You have to understand what has been happening in the world to be able to avoid those pitfalls. Obama appeared very green. When McCain hit on aspects of foregin policy, many times Obama would just say he agreed with McCain. It seemed as if Obama didn’t understand what McCain was referring to, so he tried to side step the issue with that tactic. McCain won this debate.

It doesn’t matter who won the debate. These are “Just words” acc. to Bambi.
What matters to me are “Deeds” and McCain has done more good for the country than Someone who has only worked for the senate 143 days and whose wife is not proud of America.

Barack Obama this time (and the next two).

To Darrell:
Please remember that execs of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped to fill the coffers of Nobama. The man is far from a saint!
McCain has the experience to be President in these times of great difficulty. Obama is totally lacking in experience. Sitting down to tea with terrorist enemies isn’t the answer. Nor is an increase in spending the answer, when the taxpayers are expected to fund the bailout of this country, due to the greed of the financial industry.
More money for early education, GIVE ME A BREAK! Downsize the damn Federal government, it is absolutely out of control!

McCain wasn’t the least bit presidential. He’s truly embarrassing to watch, much like George W. Bush. Too bad Ron Paul isn’t an option, but Obama at least appears intelligent. McCain was stuck on yesterday.

OBAMA WON. Obama has statesman qualities. McCain’s primary strategy is to try to “blow out Obama’s candle”.
McCain needs to learn that this strategy does NOT make his own candle burn brighter! Obama looks toward the future. McCain counts too much on his past and he does make himself look good by trying to tear Obama down. Obama will help rebuild our country’s image around the world. We need our allies more than ever.

OBAMA won this debate.

I have to say – the Presidential nomination should not be based on looks. I can’t believe I feel the need to even say that, but apparently there are many democrates that are so in love with Obama they can’t see how bad he would be as President. The see a glam god who looks good and has a pretty smile. GET REAL people, this isn’t high school it is our safety!!!!!!!!

Obama was embarrassing. He was snippy, rude and arrogant. I couldn’t believe he kept butting in to McCain’s time and making faces! Can you imagine him behaving like that during a meeting with other leaders?
Did you Obama fan’s not “see” him for who he really is? Did you not see how immature he acted? His lack of knowledge? His inability to grasp basic facts of what it takes to be a leader?
Why would anyone vote for a “salesman” to run a country?

This was almost a mirror of the 1960 presidential debate. The younger more energetic and forward looking candidate lamb-basted the older, stiff, irritable, and obviously uncomfortable candidate. If one remembers, however, the 1960 election was one of the closest in our nation’s history. This is going to get good.

Obama doesn’t really have a clue! He speaks with many words, but ends up saying he is “present”. He is neither clear or certain. McCain gets it! he’s clear, specific, and has a history of getting it done.

I thought the debate was a draw, but what I don’t understand is why is it such a bad thing to admit your opponent isn’t always wrong? I know from a debating style that may not score points, but the president has to be able to take advice from all sides and see other points of view. Pres. Bush lacks this capability and that severely hampers his ability to lead us. I think that is a good trait in a President.

We don’t need a motivational speaker, we need an experienced leader How many times did Obama say I agree with Senator
McCain?

Obama A+ from me and McBush D-. Obama is the clear winner. He is the most articulate and presidential of the two. He is the most honest and knowledgeable and he cares the most about Americans. All Mc Cain did was smirk and name drop. So and so “has been my friend for — years” All he cares about are his big money friends. He looked VERY worried at the end. Rewind your tape of the debate and look at him at the end when he goes to talk to his wife. He was clearly distressed. He KNOWS he’s got no business trying to be president. Right after that, while leaving, looking old and confused, he didn’t look like he knew where he was going. If Mc Cain ever was able to get elected, he is in his mid 70′s and has had serious health problems already, and he already shows signs of getting confused. He probably wouldn’t make it through a term and where would that leave us? In a nightmare of Sarah Palin who knows NOTHING and is not a nice person, she is crooked and hates the environment and endangered species judging from her actions towards both. She has a down’s syndrome baby to look after and two troubled older kids one has been in a lot of drug trouble who would probably turn the White House into a crack house, and the other is pregnant high school girl. These kids need their mother. She needs to go home and be a mother and give her kids the attention they desperately need. She would destroy us if enough people are foolish enough to vote for McCain because he has a woman on the ticket. That is another thing about him. He is mocking the American people by choosing her as his running mate. He thinks there are enough Americans stupid enough to vote for him just because Palin is a woman, no matter how inexperienced she is and how much harm she has done in Alaska. She even admits that her husband makes decisions for her. How she ever got to be governor of Alaska is beyond me. Back to the question OBAMA is our hope and our shining beacon for the future of our country! He definitely was poised, knowledgeable and the most presidential candidate I have ever seen. He is in league with JFK and FDR. He will be one of our most loved and respected presidents!

Obama won. McCain mainly focusd on his past,and said much of the same thing, nothing new. He also failed to make eye contact with Obama or the camera…so who was he talking to? Never trust anyone who can’t look you in the eye.

Any way possible, your commentators will always twist any comment to include some cutting remark for McCain and support for Obama. Why watch your unbalanced news comments?…one always know your obvious conclusion; Obama has a “PLAN” for everything…..unfortunately, it is always empty of any specifics. He is just an empty suit and endless blowviator. Truth is only McCain shows any integrity and believability.

How could anyone say Obama looked more “poised”, “presidential”, etc when he interrupted McCain at least 11 times and looked openly irritated at times, as well. While McCain only interrupted approx. 3 times. McCain also did a slam dunk job on displaying his knowledge of foreign affairs. McCain did a very good job over all. Grades Obama: B McCain: A George S. and ABC News: D-

Elaine, I guess your not paying for some else’s social security that you may not even see?
By the way as for experience, I guess Palin has a whole lot going for her? Just imagine she is one heart attack away from being the POTUS. To put it mildly, if a white middle class American lives in a community on the other side of the railroad tracks and can see the poor black community, does that make the white American an expert in race relations? So what makes Palin think that because she can see Russia she is an expert in foreign policy?
American, keep in mind McCain’s age and who is next in line…

I felt that Senator McCain won. Yes, he brought up his voting record often, but, I’m gald he did. As a resident of Illinois, I don’t feel that Senator Obama has done anything of value for our state. Please
look at the voting records. I think this shows what the canidate is all about. I feel Obama just says what he thinks people want to hear. McCain backs up his words with his record in the past.

McCain Won, and ABC knows it, are you blind and deaf???? I watch Good Morning America, every morning, and you people are making me sick, with your political favorite, “OBAMA” and it is getting sickning,
So I think the answer to all of your garbage, is turn you off and some other station on, that tells the truth, for I think you all are liars, I was thinking for a time that George Stapheonapolis ( ms) had it togeather, and wasn’t showing sides,, but lately I see he has fallen right in with the rest of you,
Abc couldn’t stand when Sarah came on the scean, and McCain got ahead in the polls, so you all took it in your hands to Campaign for Obama, and run down MaCain and Palin, YOU ARE WRONG TO DO THAT AS A TV PROGRAM,, And I believe there is a donkey in your Lobby, all of you.

Obama! He was more statesman in his demeanor and substantive in his comments. McCain evaded the questions by with emotional stories; take away the “I” stories and the emotion and there was little substance.

Do you believe that the United States is better than it was 4 years ago, 8 years ago? I want to believe in my country as a world leader. Obama.

Cher..you said it all. Amen. Barack Obama was outstanding tonight.

Both maintained composure and remained civil while neither fully answered Jim’s questions directly. What I kept hearing from Obama was “John is right…” Obama is a much more polished talker but point goes to McCain for more passion and conviction. Experience over style.

McCain won. Keep in mind, Obama spent most of the week memorizing his
answers and getting into debate mode.
McCain has a depth of understanding that comes from actually serving our nation, while most of Obama’s experience is in campaigning.

OK OK people..i watch the Debate completely un-biased…I declaire OBAMA the clear winner & the next president of the United States..a main reason is McCain has no intention on being a diplomatic figure head for america…It’s time for the US to have good representation and OBAMA is our guy…who ever thinks otherwise please stay home on election day…c’mon ill pay U we know you like money…

I believe that Barack Obama won the debate by far. I give him an A. McCain a C-.

Obama definitely won. This was supposedly McCain’s night to shine. He didn’t. Obama knows more about the economy, is thoughtful and level-headed about how to proceed with our foreign policy, and proved that all around he is a class act. He treated McCain with respect, regardless of their differences. McCain on the other hand couldn’t even politely look Obama’s way. McCain and all his talk of “experience” proved to me once and for all that it is time for change in Washington, as it is clear that he hasn’t learned much in the decades he’s been there, especially in the two areas that are the most crucial right now, the economy and foreign policy. The thought of him becoming President actually scares me more than Bush having a third term.

Obama won. He was presidential and knew what he was talking about. He is calm and can think on his feet. McCain is an angry old man.

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA
hands down won no doubt. I am inspired to volunteer for his campaign to ensure McCain does not continue the loserdom that is bush cheney.

How can anyone say Obama was more presidential -WHAT WERE YOU WATCHING? Obama stammered and interupted McCain constaintly. It was rude. Everyone makes fun of Pres. Bush’s speach, relating it to be stupid (check his transcripts, he isn’t), how do you explain Obama’s nervousness and stammering? It’s ok if it is him, right? I agree with Lisha Given and add – there aren’t any other stations to watch coverage because they are all in bed with Obama. Fox maybe.

I thought the debate was won by Obama. McCain has been apart of the problem for years. Deregulator will see what deregulating has done..The elite never get it for the working class. I want someone who knows what it means to struggle not some one does know what middle class is, not someone who does not know how many houses they have. In regards to foreign policy, its important to create a dialogue and most of the foreign leaders associate old man McCain with arrogrant bush. McCain never stated how he would do things in detail, just that he was going to do somwthing……WHAT are you going to do??

McCain won! He shows experience. We need someone that is bipartisan. His record proves it. Our country is to divided and the only way to get through our crisis is to work together otherwise we’ll crash. Obama shows none of these characteristics, Besides spending most of his time in Senate running for President he has 0 experience and no passed legislation. He is a figment of the medias imagination for a great cover story. You dont make someone the CEO of a company after one year in the company and no past experience. Come on folks we are smarter then that!

McCain supporter at 9:58 pm.
Obama all the way at 10:45 pm.

Every time McCain finishes a speech, I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m not quite sure why but I think his appearance is like that of an soothsaying apparition, warning me of a dark, desolate future under his rule. With his ghostly white skin and funeral-parlor comb-over, it’s as if I’m looking at the ghost of Jacob Marley.

Obama won the debate. For all of McCain’s “experience” he couldn’t make Obama look “inexperienced” McCain lost. Moreover, McCain seemed as if he was quoating from rote and talking points rather than someone who could think quickly on their feet.

No one here is being honest, on both sides. As an Obama supporter I thought he did well, but McCain actually surprised me with how well he did. Obama appeared more presidential but McCain had a better grasp of the foreign policy issues (I have a graduate degree in int’l relations so I have to concede this point), but not the economy. Thus, draw. That being said, McCain referenced a lot of “you’ve-got-to-be-in-the-know” stuff that the average American would probably not grasp. Thus, most Americans probably saw this as an Obama victory, which is good.

Obama won for sure. He is looking to the future, where McCain kept bringing up the past. Also, I think McCain can’t wait to get another war started.

I believe Obama won debat because his focus was on economy and what americans needs which is what we as american are looking for, a president that can see the needs of middle class and low income americans. I know Obama is the best candidate for the presesidence position. May God Bless Him.

Obama was concise, direct. and never backed down. Obviously the man for the job!

Obama won the debate. He was clear, calm and informed. He was, in face, presidential.

Obama won the debate. He was clear, calm and informed. He was, in face, presidential.

McCain realy came across as comander and chief.Obama would talk to Iran with no pre conditions???? I want someone watching my back that will take a position not just say “present”.

Obama A-
Mccain B-
Mccain was just repeating George Bush’s failed politics…we need a new direction.

Yes, Obama is very good at speaking well and making it sound as if he knows about that in which he is talking, but don’t be fooled; he has no clue. McCain didn’t rehearse for days and days in preparation for this debate like Obama did (because he was actually doing his job that he was elected to do)so it may be true that he didn’t speak as eloquently as Obama but he does know what he is talking about unlike his opposition.

First of all I want to let ABC know that I am very disappointed in the way their journalists covered tonight’s debate. It is my understanding that as a reporter they are to give us an OBJECTIVE view without personal bias. If I wanted to hear personal opinions I’d watch the View. It is obvious that Senator Obama is favored, like most democrats, by the media. Lets look at the meat of the issues. Yes they both made errors in their facts but the mistake Obama made carries much more weight in the sense that it shows he really doesn’t understand the big picture. Even after McCain tried to explain the context of the statement Obama refused to back down proving his ignorance regarding foreign affairs. McCain spent time making notes preparing himself for battle not batting his eyes at the camera. What are we looking for in a Commander and Chief?? I pray that McCain/Palin are elected into office. I hate war as much as anyone but if we pull our troops prematurely then we are telling the families of all the courageous men and women who have died in this war that they have done so in vain. That grieves my heart. I want change and I believe “President” John McCain will bring the balance of change that we need, in a time frame that will protect our country. McCain is the scalpel not the hatchet.

Obama is the future. McCain is the past. McCain thinks, if he keeps repeating that Obama doesn’t understand, that will make it true. Obama obviously understands and will bring back respect for America.
Obama is going to be one of our great presidents.
Way to go Barack! You made me proud!

Obama DOES understand Mr. McCain.
He understands that YOUR party has caused us
1. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression
2. An UNWINNABLE and UNNECESSARY war that has cost 4,000 individual Americans their lives, changing the lives of these poor soldiers’ families and friends FOREVER.
3. A domestic spying program that violates the privacy and civil liberties of us all on a daily basis
4. Daily lies, blatabt fear mongering and a sham vice presidential candidate that INSULTS our intelligence as every day hard working AMERICANS. John McCain, DO YOU THINK WE ARE STUPID?
What do you take us for???? If you need experience for the job of president as you say, HOW could you possibly expect us to take Sarah Palin as an acceptable possibility for President? Puh-leeeeeeze. We are NOT stupid!!!!!!!

LET ME SEE IF I HAVE THIS STRAIGHT…………
* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you’re ‘exotic,
different.’
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig, and Track, you’re a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you’re well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first
black President of the Harvard Law
REVIEW
IF YOUR RESUME INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:
- you created a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters,
- spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor,
- spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000
people,
- become chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee,
- spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million
people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran’s Affairs committees, THEN YOU DON’T
HAVE ANY REAL LEADERSHIP ABILITIES!!!!!
*IF YOUR TOTAL RESUME IS:
- local weather girl,
- 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than
7,000 people,
- you’ve spent 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people,
then you’re qualified to become the country’s second highest ranking
executive!!!!!.
CHECK THESE FACTS OUT
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2
beautiful daughters, all within Protestant
churches, you’re not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next
month, you’re a Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding
the
fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other
option in sex education in your state’s school system while your unwed teen
daughter ends up pregnant, you’re very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position in a
prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community,
then gave that up to raise a family, your family’s values don’t represent
America’s.
* If you’re husband is nicknamed ‘First Dude’, with at least one DWI conviction
and no college education, who didn’t
register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated
the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, MUCH CLEARER NOW. THANKS FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT!!!!!.

Mccain won 6 out of 8 rounds. Mccain speaks and acts from experience. Obama … from book reading? Mccain Palin in 08. I dont trust Obama during these tough times.

after reading all of these posts, I realize Ray Bradbury had it nailed in Fahrenheit 451. He predicted more than 50 years ago in his novel that we would become brainwashed idiots from watching TV and not reading. He actually had a presidential election scene in the book: guess how they chose their president…on LOOKS.
God, it’s so sad for my children that they live in a country where an ever growing percentage of people are too lazy to do anything for themselves, including their own research about candidates. Instead, people are more than willing to just buy whatever the TV is selling.
It’s so sad that Americans are more than happy to give away their democracy and trade it in for a socialist regime. Where is Senator McCarthy when you need him?

James David Manning. Who is this man? Everyone needs to listen to his video. By the was he is a BLACK MAN that tell us a lot about Obama. Yes Barack Hussein Obama just might become our next president—and what does James Manning say? His web site is http://www.atlah.org Click on “The Last 100 Days” (before the election). He says we need to BOYCOTT ABC CBS NBC CNN and MORE why? Watch this video to see why then make your mind up as who should become PRESIDENT.

John McCain clearly showed his knowledge, passion, and vision about issues fundamentally important to our country’s survival. Barack Obama danced around issues and intentionally misrepresented facts for his own gain. Barack Obama is the perfect representative for the liberals in this country and around the world. He like they, are completely void of liberty and freedom. Instead he and they wish to steer us toward socialism. George Washington and the other brave founding fathers would turn over in their grave if they could see what we have done with the country they sacrificed everything for. John McCain won this debate handily and is the only person on the presidential ticket able to save our country from certain destruction.

ah Peeps, there is always someone like you around to just not get it. This forum is to vote on the debate not to be rude. Go to bed. Does your mom know you are still up?

Obama all the way!!!! Give the old man “H”.

Obama was the clear winner. McCain just reiterated the same garbage that him and Bush have been saying for years. McCain has no new ideas – it’s obviously more of the same. McCain would be an embarrassment as president.

McCain won the debate.
Obama has absolutely no experience. He needs to go back to community organizing, whatever the hell that is. He may as well have worked at McDonalds. We need McCain for President, someone with experience who can deal with these troubling times. A proud American!
McCain / Palin in 2008

yes, and she approves this message

OBAMA CLEARLY THE WINNER AND LEADER IN THIS DEBATE. Hi comment of McCain wanting to use a hatchet when a scaple was needed covered it all. McCain smirked often which mde him look flustered and out of his league and especially his comfort zone. Obama remained professional, looked and llike a leader. McCain looked like a bully on the play ground who was challenged and threatended. I’m sick to death of hearig how McCain is a war hero. My father served in the Korean War, WWII, and went civilian to Vietnam risking his life for this contry leaving a poor family behind. Going because he would higher pay to send back to us. My father was never the same after Vietnam. He built a wall around himself. Never talked about what he saw there. Only once did he say you never knew who th enemy was. McCain, yes, was held captive and was a leader in vietnam because of the benefit he had of having a higher socio-econommic status and father that was in the upper ranks. He has 9 houses and 13 cars. Come on. He an’t relate to the poor and middle class which is disappearing in this society. I was the first i my entirre family line who worked my way through college and graduate school, paid off my student loans and now i live on a fixed incme under private disability insurance. Each month, the ew dollars left in savings are less and less because i have to keep dipping into savings to pay basic bills and medical bbills despite paying $634.00 permonth for myselrf under cobra and $139 for my 12 year old daughter. Despite insurance, and help from shriners hospital i can barely make it. MCain can not even relate to what my life is like. OBAMA was raised with little and knows the middle class is dissappearing. My retirement ccount has still not recovered from the losses in early 2001-2, and i;s f lling again. so is the small amount i have in my daughters college account. I couldn’t even pay for one year at this one point for her. My retirement would only last few years. The last eight years, MCCAIN snd BUSH have let the CEO’s get risher at the cost of the rest of us.

Obama. Obama. Obama. The pressure of trying to keep my family’s head above water will change; I believe him.

I see the democratic talking points for the debate are
1.McCain couldn’t even look at Obama
2.Obama stayed calm and collected
3.Obama showed maturity
etc.
Can’t any of you think for yourselves. As far as points 2 and 3 Obama interrupted McCain almost a dozen times, how does that show calmness or maturity. Twice, Obama tried to play Stage Director, telling Lehrer when it was O.K. for Lehrer to go ahead and speak. The media tried to sugar coat the whole event for Obama, but the truth will come out about the rudeness and immaturity of Obama.

Forget nightline poll, how many time Obama corrected himself “I agree with Mr. Cain…”

Obama said on numerous occasions that He agreed with Sen McCain … What does that tell you ??? If what was said by Sen McCain , was an acceptable course of action in the mind of Sen Obama … then shouldn’t that be the way to go ??? If it is Good enough for Sen Obama , it is Good enough for All Americans !!!We need someone with Great Resolve . Someone who is willing to make Tough Decisions . Not someone who is “wishy-washy” It is indecision and politics that has brought us to the brink of dispair . Sen McCain is a man who can and will make the tough decisions we need to bring back American Patriotism, Pride , and PROSPERITY !!! THS

What a surprise…the media picked Obama as the winner. Knock me over with a feather. McCain all the way. I’ll take experience any day over smooth talk and arm waving. Tonight was not a good night for Obama…he looked angry most of the time, was scattered in his comments and way too much on the defensive. This guy is not ready to be our President.

While we all seem to be getting off the track of our views on who did the better job, we would like to just thank “Progress” for his or her’s above posting… Amen.
(And by the way, Obama got A’s from us tonight!)

John McCain won by a landslide. Obama was studdering which showed that he was rattled. He didn’t have a tele-prompter telling him what to say. He also didn’t have his facts straight. Obama also called John McCain Jim during one reply. George S. needs to pay attention to the content of what was being said. John McCain had facts and strategies. Obama only had the same old prepared speeches he has always done. Obama’s voting record is poor and it’s time that the public stop supporting someone who is in the pocket of the lobbyistsand hasn’t been completely honest about his past and his alliances. Obama can’t even admit that he was registered as Islamic faith at a Catholic School. Obama hasn’t produced an original copy of his birth certificate.
John McCain only looked ridged during the debate because of his injuries. In reality, John McCain came off confident and strong. George S. you would understand if you ever had to deal with a physical handicap as to how you don’t move with fluidity.
I’m getting sick and tired of the networks trying to bend the truth to get a less than qualified candidate like Barack Hussein (aka Barry Soetoro)Obama into the White House.

Obama won the debate. His pose and style were presidential. He answered questions directly and his debating skills were professorial. Obama you have my vote. You are my next commander-in-Chief. Congratulations

seeing them together really helped me make my mind up – I’m voting Obama. He’s more presidential definitely. McCain is far too old to be our president – he also has been around too long – he’s part of the establishment that got us in this mess now.

To Progress:
Obama a brilliant community organizer??? Where in the world did you read that? He couldn’t accomplish anything in the few years as an organizer, except to get an office opened for summer jobs. Wooohooo, that qualifies him to be president? 12 years as a law professor, do a bit of research on that as well and see what the “real” professors thought of him. I think I read his time in the law firm was more as copy boy than lawyer. Basically from day one, Obama has been running for president, with NO credentials. God help us if he is accidently elected president. Then we will have something to be worried about!
McCain / Palin 2008 A leader who knows how to lead!

Obama won, hands down. McCain is a doddering old fool who is a carbon copy of George Bush.

McCain kicked Obama’s butt … that’s why obama kept saying that McCain was right. Obama was totally clueless on all the issues and could do nothing more then lay blame. Anybody off the street can rant and rave about what they think is wrong with the country. Only a true Leader like John McCain can give answers to the future. Obama lost big time he showed just how little he really knows. The O -blame – a game is old and provides no solutions.

Obama- I watched the debate unbiased. But Obama looked more poised and knowledgeable. McCain looked anemic and without energy. Obama sounded like he truly is for the common people.So let’s Vote for Obama

McCaine won the debate. He was confident and knowledgable, while Obama was obviously guessing and hoping one of his promoters could give him the answers.

Obama answered questions comprehensively. He was more poised and leader-like. I would feel safer with Obama as President because he is able to see situations from many different angles quickly. Obama is more commanding.
McCain seems to react rather than to think. When trouble brews, his reactions are quick, but not well thought out. He answers “fire Cox” and “freeze the budget.” He snaps “suspend the campaign and cancel the debate” without much thought and then changes his mind. His pick of Palin shows shallow thinking. He scares me.

Give Obama the credit he deserves. He won on superior overall understanding of issues and their inter-relatedness—and had better manners(!) This was McCain’s best area of expertise and he did not carry the night. McCain supporters are out of touch with the real issues facing America and/or just stuck in fear mode and unable to look at realities. Eight years of Republican Neo-Con ideologic dominance has cost the country dearly. Common sense says Obama won the debate and will win the general election. Don’t cry foul on the not-even-close-to-liberal media on this one.

I think McCain clearly won~ George S. was way off tonight. McCain appeared calm and authoritative in his responses regarding the war and the economy and I think Obama looked pretty flustered as the debate wore on. (Did you see him scramble to remember the name on his bracelet?) McCain stunned me tonight~ I wasn’t even sure he would even appear in the debate and I think he gave a great appearance and had excellent answers for his questions. I want a man with real experience in war and real experience with many years in congress to be my commander in chief.

Nancy you are running scared when you have to resort to name calling (caribou Barbie) instead of sticking to the facts. McCain was the clear winner of this debate, based on his years of experience and bipartisan leadership!

Absolutely McCain, hands down. What was with Obama’s facial expressions and his hand waving? Very unpresidential! A real embarassment!
Sandy

Obama won this one.
The world needs new leadership from America. McCain is not the guy to provide that leadership – he’s too wound up with Bush and the other who have destroyed our standing in the world.

abc has always been my station of choice but I will no longer watch your biased news – especially George Stephenopolis!! He is definetly for Obama. What happened to unbiased reporting?

Obama 1 McCain 0

McCain won easily. McCain was purposeful and powerful, like a President. Obama was colorful and hideous, like a politician.

McCain clearly won, your prejudice for democratic canidates is showing again ABC. If telling a lie made Obamas nose grow like Pinnocio’s, You would be able to drive a UPS truck into it.

I am a white 44 independent and the individuals on this blog amaze me. There was nothing presidential or amazing about mccain he has been doing this for years.
Mccain was like a kid. Obama was to kiss ass.
But the intelligent speaker with facts and not stories was definitely Obama.

Obama

Hitler was charismatic too!

After watching the debate, I think the world countries would respect us again if Obama is eleced President

Maverick? More like desperado tonight. To me McCain has always seemed like he feels he deserves the presidency because he’s done his time. I want a President who sees our whole country as his special interest group. With Obama what you see is what you get, whereas with McCain what he thinks you want him to be (depending on the day, issue, or his level of grumpiness) is what you get.

I writing this and I am very tired, but as my above message reflects; this election is critical to our economy and our future. If Obama had the acceptable common American Name like Robert, Richard, or George and if he was not black but white, then he would beat McCain hands down. If most Americans are quietly honest within themselves they know that Obama is the best Presidential choice.
So I say that to say this, put aside your inhabitations and let’s work together as a people for the people for the best President for all people of America.
What really makes us different? Is it acceptable that anybody can be President so long as there skin is white? I don’t think so because we all are the same. The skin that covers us does not define who we are because we all need oxygen, bleed when cut, and so on… And we did not create our selves. So what makes us so different, when you really look at it – nothing.
Just a note: I’m not voting for Obama because he is an African American but because he is the best candidate for President of the United States for all people.
Let’s come together so we can grow together!
Vote Obama for President!

McCain Rules….He was to the point and accurate and confident.
Obama! -I don’t know how he made it through the primaries….
Naaah – Definitely MacCain ruled Omis Debate,,

Obama: Let me make a closing comment. My father came from Kenya….
Genius. That matters why?….

Obama: Let me make a closing comment. My father came from Kenya….
Genius. That matters why?….

Obama won this debate. McCain was suppose to be the foreign policy guru .. sorry folks I did not see a guru but a man that’s been around for a long time who’s still live in the 70′s and 80′s.
I saw a young, vibrant candidate from Ill. who stood toe to toe with him on foreign policy, our economy and the plight of this country and its citizens.
You don’t have to have an lot of experience to get the job done right. I saw a candidate who was very prepared and knows the pulse of our nation as it is today.
1970 and 1980 politics will get you no wwhere in 2008. John McCain should have retired 10 years ago. McCain voted with Bush too many times in 8 years to not question his ability to do the right thing for all Americans!
Barack was outstanding … A+
McCain the veterarn … C-

If you look at a map of the most educated areas in the United States – and then look at a map of which states vote Democratic or Republican – you’ll see that there’s an exact match between higher levels of education and those states that vote Democratic. It is a well known fact that the more educated you are, the more likely you’ll vote Democratic.
So ask yourself, why are all the smart people voting Obama? Wouldn’t you want to vote the way smart people are voting?
Do a google search for ‘percentage of us with less than 9 years of education’ – the red parts (or less than a high school diploma) look suspiciously just like the Red States that vote republican.

McCain.. c+
Obama….A-
why because i watched it..listened to all they said.. how they acted with each other and have never, ever trusted anyone who does not keep eye contact.

To mar dufresne”
Of course no past president elected the first time had any experience leading the nation, if they did, they would have been President before, and then they wouldn’t be a first time President, would they???…..duh
Damn, Obama supporters are really dumb!@

I think Senator Obama Won On a lot of the points that concern us right now and has an eye for the future. And one other point i have a question about is if the serge was so successful in Iraq how come we’re still there??? Why aren’t we in Afganistan after Ben Laden???

McCain was the winner.
Well put Pat!
Our Economy has gone down hill since the Democrats have had control of Congress.
Our economy remained stable when the Republicans had control despite 9/11, the war, Enron, etc. It is when the Democrats took control of Congress that our economy started to slip.

McCain had several key crucials. You do not tell your ally that your going to bomb them, 2nd..lower business tax to keep business here and not in Ireland, India, or whatever the country of your choice…35% business tax, unbelievable and I would like Obama to tell the CPAs some of these loopholes all businesses get to lower the tax base, 3rd…McCain is absolutely right, you do not ever give dangerous leaders a platform to speak without preconditions, that shows a weakness across the globe. McCain showed how he reached across the aisle in a bi-partisan way with all of his examples and in order to show that, he had to bore some liberals with his speaking of his past voting record and on what issues…I was hoping to hear more from Obama how he reached across the aisles because as president, we need someone in these perilous times to do what’s best for US, Americans, the taxpayers and not their party. Going into this debate I was deciding that maybe Obama may get my vote but after this debate, thank God I tuned in, I cannot vote for him. He really does not have a clue to what is going on and this debate clearly showed that.

Obama was the clear winner. McCain looked uncomfortable and never looked his opponent in the eye. He didn’t answer a question. Obama seemed poised and presidential. He stayed positive and focused. I have a great deal of respect for John McCain. I think he’s a great senator. But Barack Obama will be a great president.

I’m now voting Obama.

Janet,
just because you might be registered “Independent”…face it…you aren’t. Anyway, your stating that doesn’t add any credence to your argument. And what was the bit about “he is not JFK”…???huh?
I could say that McCain isn’t Eisenhower. no matter what, it is time for the party of Bullies to move out. THE WORLD WANTS AND NEEDS A CHANGE.

how could anyone vote mccain after he selected that bimbo from alaska as his VP?
out of all the qualified republicans and independents in the senate, house, state governors, and business leaders – mccain picks a gimmick?
please people, if you can’t see that, you really have some issues.
mccain should have picked paris hilton as his running mate – she’s more on the ball than palin from alaska.

Obama won this debate by a wide margin.

Obama won. McCain appeared to be holding in his rage. I worry about his temper in an office that requires cool and the ability to remain so. I also don’t see how Senator McCain can cut spending and yet still say to stay in Iraq and spend 10-12 billion dollars a month.

McCain won for style and content. Obama won for making weird faces, interrupting and sputtering.

McCain made Obama (without his teleprompter) look like a brash schoolboy. McCain A Obama C-

obama A, mccain C+
I thought Jim did a great job….Obama showed that he has a great grasp of knowledge necessary to be commander in chief and to ba able to dialogue with those that disagree with us, as oppossed to Bush’s cowboy diplomacy (look where that has taken us)…As usual Mccain tried the attack strategy on Obama personally, and Obama remained true to himself by attacking only Mccains positions.

Excuse me, Bruce? Were you watching the debate tonight?

Besides winning on policy and being more specific about what he will actually do, Obama wins just on body language alone. He was clearly relaxed, in control and engaging. McCain looked tight, nervous, could not look Obama or the camera in the eye, was condescending and just generally looked angry. McCain’s gritted teeth and stiff smile always look to me like he is doing everything he can to control a deep seated rage. I would worry about him in a delicate, tense negotiation with Putin during a crisis.

To Suzy000, you’re absolutely right and very smart i should say..
All American voters must be like you..
cheers!
ALL INTELLIGENT PEOPLE, LET’S ALL GO FOR McCAIN!

as a moderate Rockefeller Republican I am voting Democrat for the first time in my life.
Obama is the best choice. It’s time for real change. McCain cannot deliver.

Senator Obama A
Senator McCain C-
Senator Obama was cogent, composed and strong throughout the debate, showing a command of detail across every complex issue.
Senator McCain too often attempted to rely on folksy cliches and silly attacks (worst: that Sen. Obama wanted to stop funding our troops in the war, even though Sen. McCain had voted against funding if a timeline was attached)
A clear win for Senator Obama on the issues, but Senator McCain deserves recognition for effective use of an avuncular style. Too bad Senator McCain undermined this in his last statement by bringing up his P.O.W. history yet again. Would any American watching the debate tonight not have heard dozens of times already that he was a P.O.W.?

OBAMA won hands down…
One addition : I would have called John on his condescending attitude with the repeated “you don’t understand ” when he is the one lost in the past…

I will not be watching Nightline ever again. I’d be better off watching Jay Leno.
It is just so amazing that there could be so many STUPID people in the USA.
Would you want your children’s first 4 years of school taught by someone that had only 140 some odd days of training?
Would you fly in a plane with a schooled pilot that had no experience of actually flying a plane?
Obama is just a smooth talker with no experience. Why don’t you get online and look up McCain’s and Obama’s voting records and stop listening to the media.
Obama being President of the USA would be the worst thing that could happen to the USA at this time. You’re just downright STUPID if you vote for him because of his smooth talking. DO THE RESEARCH YOU IDOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

obama A
mccain C+

if you vote mccain at this point, you’re just plain dumb.
not that obama is perfect, but he is the obvious best choice.
biden is a very experienced running mate – i feel very comfortable with obama-biden in the white house.

I AM VOTING FOR JOHN MCCAIN !
OBAMA IS JUST A SALESMAN SELLING SNAKE OIL.
UNFORTUNATELY MANY WILL BE FOOLED.

Where’s the eye contact, John? I’m no body language expert but you seemed snobby.

Obama clear winner in my book.
McCain looked scared.

obama won

Old Man McCain and Caribou Barbie – what a choice! America needs a 3rd political party!

Wow, Sharon! You have the same nasty temper as the old goat, McCain.

McCain would be scary as President. I really hope he doesn’t win.

Obama won. Mccain came off as my said “like a smug little penis”

McCain A+
Obama D-

Obama won the first debate.

Changed my perception of the the two men.
McCain couldn’t even look at Obama–
Obama was very Presidential.
Republican from OHIO now voting for Obama–
I am not stubborn and slow like McCain

Fox news asked the people to text who they thought won the debate: McCain had 84%, Obama had 16% and 1% was undecided. It’s like governer Haley Barber said, Obama is very charming and smooth and can charm the skin off a snake. Obama insisted that Kissinger disagreed with McCain about talking to Iran & Obama was wrong,they ran a tape of what Kissinger said & Mccain was right. He has allot of his facts wrong.

hey- Bruce are you a CEO from AIG

Obama was on the issue better than Mccain
obama won the debate

Obama. He held his own. He needed to prove that he can sit in the President’s chair – and he did prove it. McCain needed to blow Obama away – and McCain did not do that. He couldn’t even look at Obama.

On Strategy:
Obama: A+
McCain: D-
Style:
Obama: A+
McCain: F
Accuracy:
Obama: A+
McCain: D-
So who won? OBAMA

I love and agree with Laura Linney who finished her remarks at the Emmy awards by comparing the early American statesmen in her TV show as being “community organizers…who helped form our country”. This being a shaded reference to Obama who did just that early in his career. Obama is a true statesman, so intelligent, with such leadership qualities…he certainly wins my vote on the debate and also as PRESIDENT of the USA !!!!!

McCain showed no class and was stuck in the past. Obama was classy and knew the score.
Winner: OBAMA

I was really undecided before tonight, well, actually kind of on the Republican side. But tonight I think Obama won. I think I’m kind of on the Democratic side now. Obama will make a better president than McCain, I really think so now.

Obama is RUDE, RUDE, RUDE! I certainly hope he cleans up his act before he meets any more dignitaries. Glaring at someone, constantly interrupting, mumbling and making comments while someone else is speaking. So not cool.

I’ll have to admit that McCain did better than I thought he would considering his age and Obama did better than I thought he would because the economy is more his area of expertise. Over all I’d say it was a tie out of context. In the context that McCain needed a big win I’d say Obama ultimately comes out ahead.

It is a traditional tactics of people who do not know what to say or how to argue during debates to move into personal attack at the level “You do not understand”. McCain is seriously lacking debating and negotiating skills to be a leader in the foreign policy

Mr. Knapp if you will recall the Republicans took over the Senate & House in 1995. Could that be why there was Budget surpluses? That and the fact that the 90′s was realitively peaceful/uneventful era.
Our economy was doing okay despite 9/11, the war, Enron scandels, etc. until the Democrats took over Congress.
I feel like McCain was more accurate with his facts and is more qualified. He has knowledge and experience. Obama has charisma.

Obama won. Clearly, he has the better grasp of reality than John McCain.

Um, a Drudge Report poll is about as meaningful as a gun control poll at an NRA meeting. Pulleaze. As if anyone’s going to fall for that! The SCIENTIFIC polls all have Obama winning the debate, which is all but clear most everyone who watched.

I love the people who immediately go on the defensive against the “Liberal Media Elite” as soon as their personal opinion is not vindicated.
McCain looked near death. If age equals experience, he is the champ. Obama stumbled a couple times, but in general, fought off the smirks, coughs and accusations well.
The GOP base thinks believes their contender won. The Dems feel the same way about their candidate. The debates aren’t going to change the mind of those who vote party regardless the year or the candidate.

Check out this video on you tube. It explains how we got into this economic crisis …VERY informative…go to you tube dot com and search under “burning down the house”.

Obama A+ Style
F- McBush with this Voting Record on
On Veterans Care …

McCain had clear understanding of the issues: more logical.
… And Obama said: “John is absolutely right!”

Obama B+
McCain B
I think Obama was cool and McCain Was angry
On Issue
McCain was ready to take away from Obama
But he didn’t let him

McCain was smooth and grounded. Obama was stuttering and saying aahh a lot. Obama is a marixt like his mama. He cannot lead this country becaue he is so bitter.

McCain seemed angry. He can’t run away from the fact he was wrong about Iraq and he has supported Bush for the last eight years. Obama has good foundation of knowledge on foreign policy and excellent forward thinking. He was very calm and Presidential. McCain’s ideas about taxes and spending don’t make any math sense.

McCain clearly had a better grasp of foreign policy and shows how a real leader leads. When pressed on his opposition to the surge, Obama continued to fall back on his “we shouldn’t have been there in the first place.” A real leader assesses the situation he is in and supports strategies to deal with it. Obama continues to looks to place blame.

Both candidates did well but Senator McCain clearly appeared more in command and better equipped to lead the country. I was deeply disappointed with the selection of the two guests Mat Dowd and Donna Brazille for the Nightline tonight. It was a poor judgement to have two individuals who are nothing but spinmasters for Sen. Obama. This kind of biased treatment could never have been expected during the days of Mr. Ted Koppel, who made this program so enjoyable to watch. Hope the current producers and the anchors come to senses to air more balanced programs in the future with more objective guests and equal representation from the competing camps.

OBAMA!!!!

Spend, Spend, Spend Obama will spend this county into total debt.

McCain

Obama clearly won this debate. Not only is Obama the most qualified candidate, he also has the class, restraint and good manners to ignore McCain’s immature and undignified behavior. McCain is a jealous,scary man with delusions of grandeur.

GO TO YOU TUBE. SEARCH UNDER ‘BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE’.
AN ENTERTAINING VIDEO WILL SHOW YOU HOW THE ECONOMIC CRISIS OCCURRED.
YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY DEMOCRATS ARE SO ANXIOUS TO QUICKLY COVER UP THIS GALACTIC FAILURE WITH $700 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY. THEY WANT A QUICK COVER UP SO YOU DON’T THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT HOW THE HELL THIS HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE….
UNDERSTAND THIS BEFORE YOU BUY MORE SNAKE OIL FROM DEMOCRATS.
VOTE MCCAIN !

McCain is a good man but he is just not focused. He wandered in his answers, often recounting ancient history or losing the question. He was also condescending and off the point — why bother to add a tag line about how Obama doesn’t understand in a debate where Obama shows how very clearly he does understand?
Obama was impressive and also courteous. He took this debate.
Obama A-
McCain B-

Democrats like me are NOT stupid and we WILL be voting for the only clear choice and winner of this debate, McCain! ABC is bias – it is really quite sad.

McCain did an outstanding job! It is very obvious he would be better prepaired to lead our country.

Obama was the clear winner. NO Question.
McCain came across as cranky, clearly uncomfortable,defensive and almost desperate. His body posture spoke volumes. At times he almost turned his back to Obama and never ONCE even looked at him. That is an uncomfortable person.

From my perspective, Obama was absolutely the clear winner of the debate tonight.

Obama. Mccain changes his answers everytime he speaks. he lies.

A vote for Obama is a vote for Paris… ok… so maybe Nicole.

Obama all the way. Obama blasted McCain for the first 40 minutes, leaving McCain utterly speechless, much like he was the first 43 minutes of the meeting at the White House yesterday.
In discussing Foreign Policy, Obama held his own. McCain acted as if he were two years old trying to talk over everyone including the moderator. Much like a child who isn’t getting their way, he began to try and speak louder than everyone else. Come on John! It’s over for him and he knows it. Obama did a heck of a job and won tonight, hands down!
I can’t wait for Thursday night. It’s going to be a slaughter! I almost don’t want to watch…. Palin just might start crying and then I might feel a little sorrier for her than I already do. lol Sike. Biden is going to eat her alive, poor thing.

McCain was much more substantive impressive to me a potential swing voter. I live in state that will definitely go for Obama so my vote is not critical to either candidate. Real question is what did swing voters in FLA, MICH, OH, PA think. National polls don’t mean much since battleground states are narrowing. Media is definitely pro-Obama and less than objective.

McCain clearly is out of touch with the American population. Other than his rich cronies! He appears to be the feeble old man that he is.

Obama. Obama. Obama.
These posts have been staggering to read. OH… and Sarah Palin? See Katie Couric vid. As I was saying… OBAMA. OBAMA. OBAMA.

MCCAIN CLEARLY WON – YOU MEDIA FOLKS JUST DON’T GET IT, YOU ARE SO BIASED IT’S SICKENING. ONE OF YOU EVEN ENGINEERED MAKING THE FIRST ~40 MINUTES ABOUT THE ECONOMY, BECAUSE (I FIGURE) HE THOUGHT THAT WOULD HELP OBAMA IN THE DEBATE HE WAS WEAKEST IN (AND WHEN DOES ABC EVER MENTION THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE CONTROLLED CONGRESS THE PAST 2 YEARS? THAT CONGRESS HAS TO PASS EVERY SPENDING/TAX BILL?). AND THEN YOU PUT GEORGE STEP. IN, A DEMOCRAT STRATEGIST PRETENDING TO BE A JOURNALIST – AND ABC DIDN’T EVEN POINT OUT DEAR OLD GEORGE’S POLITICAL OCCUPATION. DO YOU HAVE NO SHAME? ABC-CBS-NYT ETC – YELLOW JOURNALISM AT ITS WORST.

VOTE FOR MCCAIN.
OBAMA IS ALL TALK, NO EXPERIENCE. IS THIS NOT PAINFULLY OBVIOUS?

On Strategy:
Obama: A-
McCain: B
Style:
Obama: A
McCain: B
Accuracy:
Obama: B
McCain: C+
I think Obama showed that he is cleary more able to lead our country than McCain. He offers ideas rather than sound bites and catch phrases. Obama stands for reason, intelligence and hope. McCain just means more of the same we have had for 8 years that got us into such sad shape. Sarah Palin is a joke. What a sad choice McCain made for someone who values experience so much.

Obama won handily. McCain simply could not get off the surge nor his unsuccessful effort to rid himself of the Bush record. His desperate attempts to use his record from pre Bush days could not erase his turnabout after 2007 nor his erratic behavior these past two weeks. And how about his amazing choice of Palin for VP. Finally, he could not convince anyone that Obama is not ready to be commander in chief!

Obama won handily. McCain simply could not get off the surge nor his unsuccessful effort to rid himself of the Bush record. His desperate attempts to use his record from pre Bush days could not erase his turnabout after 2007 nor his erratic behavior these past two weeks. And how about his amazing choice of Palin for VP. Finally, he could not convince anyone that Obama is not ready to be commander in chief!

McCain clearly won – George stephanopuolus has little credibilty as far as being neutral- ABC leans left-no question about it

It was great for Obama !!!!!
He very collective ,to the point,concise,intelligent.
What I saw from MCCAIN ANGRY guy,dumb ,arrogant and he doesn’t even look at Obama when talks.
Doesn’t he know that the future of America needs leaders like Obama(Ivy Leaguer)?
THE FUTURE !!!!!!! EDUCATION
OBAMA/BIDEN 08

Obama won and shows bipartisan leadership – a good leader has to agree with what is right. Imagine McCain getting ticked off as he faces rogue leaders with his preconditions.

I was dissapointed in senator McCain’s cheapshot at the very end of the debate . He said “he did not feel senator Obama has the experience to lead the country. Well what about McCains V.P. running mate? Also a debate is supposed to allow the canidates to argue their point of view on various topics and to express the differences they have. McCain clearly made an unfair comment on Obama as leader.

I think that Obama needs to tone down trying to blame the current economic crisis on the Republicans. I just watched the You Tube video “Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?”
I had head knowlege of what this video says, but I didn’t have the sources to back it up. Now I do.
Republicans aren’t the cause of the current economic crisis, the Democrats are. I didn’t realize Obama’s connection with all of this until now. Thanks for the info “American Citizen”

I firmly believe Obama won the debate (which I watched on CNN). He had a clear grasp of what is happening with regular people that are being hurt by the failed policies of the Bush administration which McCain embraces most of the time.
Why was McCain so afraid (or so it would seem) to look at Senator Obama during this debate? Barack clearly showed himself to be the “bigger man” than John McShame!

DrudgeReport.com [Who won the debate?]
MCCAIN 66% 128,167
OBAMA 32% 62,995
NEITHER 2% 4,431
Total Votes: 195,593

I think Obama won hands down. His mind is clear and sharp, and I thought he showed a lot of patient and kind restraint as McCain rattled on about his past. McCain reminded me of my grandfather, who would also ramble on and on, stuck on some obscure point that often had little relevance to the overall picture. In the same way, I felt McCain’s responses lacked scope, but rather stuck to whatever campaign slogan he wanted to highlight. Clearly, his mind is not as sharp as Obama’s, and clarity of mind is important in a President. Clinton had it. Bush II is terribly lacking. We cannot afford another president that’s not 100% on the ball.

Anyone with half a brain could easily see who was stronger and who had the better answers. Unfortunately, so many people in this country are unintelligent and uneducated to make good decisions. Don’t blame President Bush for our troubles over the last 8 years, blame the people who were too blind, too uneducated that voted for him. You wanted change then too, right? From the propserous Clinton years…. yes, great time to change that. And we did, right? Thank you florida, thank you hillbillies, thank you southerners for voting how your daddy & his daddy did rather than understanding then what was going to happen to this country. You didn’t see it then, and you still don’t get it now! Vote for the lesser man. vote for the guy who’s war experience was spent in a prisoner’s camp, yes that is true leadership there. Vote for the guy who thinks you shouldn’t talk with other world leaders like a man, face to face. Vote for the guy who will keep the war going, who will keep other mother’s sons dying….. we are not fighting for honor, or terrorists in Iraq…. don’t you get the real reason for us being there……. try money, greed, & oil. Vote for McCain…. yes again you can change the bad stuff we now have for worse stuff….. If McCain has great judgment, take a look at the air-head he picked for a VP. Wow, if something happens to him like a heart attack (he is 72), imagine that soccer mom who can see Russia from her state as our leader…. wow…. if you don’t think Obama is more intelligent, and more likely to turn around the mess you all have created 8 years ago, don’t complain….. you get what you deserve. Obama is clearly the thinking man’s choice.

As an ordinary older American woman, I am tired of reading that I am a deluded hippie or thug for supporting a man alleged Christians insultingly call the
Messiah.
McCain supporters are so filled with hate and abuse that I am surprised they don’t self incinerate.
Of course the arch-right Drudge Report would show McCain won the debate. Almost no one else reads it as it is so skewed to justify everything the rightwing does that it is not relevant to over 70% of Americans.
As to the debate, it was so gracious of McCain to show up and pretend that he has not made an idiot of himself grandstanding over the bailout crisis and that he is not behind in the polls.
He is so very YESTERDAY–Bush’s yesterday.
No way is he Presidential with or without a seal.
This was supposed to be his best night with all advantage to him before the debate plus his famous nasty barbs.
He was pathetic and he just doesn’t ‘get it’.
Time to retire on his wife’s Mafia money to one of her seven or more homes or, if she dumps him after losing the election, he can always camp out in one of his 13 cars like so many who have lost their homes.

I am so amazed to read these comments and realize there are people out there that agree with me. I want my children and grandchildren safe. I am astonished at the people that support Mr. Obama, he is so inexperienced I would worry constantly about the safety of this country.
I do have one comment regarding the person that said if you don’t like Obama leave THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.. By making that comment shows how narrowminded Obama supporters are.
This is my country as well as yours madam and I have every right to say if you don’t vote for McCain leave the United States. How unintelligent you are.
I chose to honor our soldiers and our FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!! McCain is a man of honor and integrity and a very experienced leader.
Of course main stream media is saying that Obama will win and I do believe they touted the same thing about Gore.
We will see and I will stay in America even if Obama wins.
Clearly McCain won won won!!!

McCain would beat Obama in a peanut butter eating contest because;
1.McCain would open the jar of peanut butter.
2.Obama would say, “The peanut butter jar was closed by Bush/McCain to everybody but the top 1%”
3.McCain would put the peanut butter in his mouth to eat it.
4.Obama would argue that the peanut butter needs to be dispensed by the government to ensure that everyone got an equal amount of peanut butter.
5.McCain would recite obscure letters from 100 years ago… then eat more peanut butter.

Obama won the debate in gracious and gentlemanly manner.
McCain looked petty and miserly.

I call it even. No clear winner even when John was allowed to add further comment outside of his turn. The man won’t shut up.

McCain won, but barely. Obama is smart, well versed, and a charismatic candidate, but he is a borderline socialist and I just can’t stand the thought of the USA becoming a socialist nation. Our strength is democracy, and with all the troubles that can bring…I still believe its the best form of government.

FOREIGN POLICY IS SUPPOSED TO BE MCCAINS STRONG SUIT. NOT ANYMORE!!!!
OBAMA 08

McCain has our vote hands down. As prior military I can’t imagine anyone better qualified to be the commander in chief than McCain.

I think there was no decisive victor. Obama showed he was presidential. But McCain also showed that he would be a strong president.

What an incredible actor Obama is! In these tough times, I want a straight shooter with real experience and with McCain you could tell that he wasn’t getting his answers from a textbook. I can see that you all at ABC are just mesmerized by this empty charismatic candidate. Small town Americans clinging to their guns and religion can see through ABC and their favorite candidate! McCain will lead the world for the next 4 years.

John McCain won my respect, but Barack Obama won my vote.

Hey Susan…you sound so full of hate I think you may self incinerate.
Are you too old or just too lazy to check the facts?
Or do you just think you’ll get bigger government handouts from Democrats?
Did you know they caused the economic crisis or are you just too old and lazy to investigate? You know…’old’ like the mean democrats are calling McCain…

Fact check clearly went to McCain.
Talking over debater went to Obama.
Those who list failing grades for either Senator expose the personal lack of intellect.
McCain as Presidential
Obama as debater to the biased or uninformed voter

I think that John Mc Cain won…Obama was twitching way too much.
MC CAIN -A
Obama-C
PS who is this Paul guy..McCain clearly cares about this country.
Wake up people..Vote Mc Cain…..Obama was twitching way too much.

McCain won this debate; only reporters in some media outlets that are rooting for Obama, see this otherwise. We will vote for McCain and he will be our next President.

Obama won with his intelligence and his calm manner. anyone can see that in handling the job of president he can keep his cool and mccain is nothing but a hot head with lots of insults and hand jestures but nothing new..old stories and long on the past..we need to look to the future

Obama clearly won the debate. He didn’t have to get down in the gutter and be condesending to make his point. Obama sees the whole picture and holds a greater vision for our future. He demonstrates that he has learned from the past, including his own mistakes, but doesn’t dwell in the past. He also demonstrated Grace, ease, integrity, honesty and great discretion, which is the better part of valor. I think Obama’s mom must have really hammered him growing up that you have to be kind to your eders, even when they aren’t nice to you.
Barak, it’s ok to fight back. John Mcpalin is not your grandpa, he’s your OPPONENT and HE is dangerous. It’s not ok to let him abuse you, and insult you, if you don’t stand up to him, we’re all in for more of the same, which is abusive. The next time he punches you, fight back. I know, it’s not your style to punch him in the face, but after you duck the punch, call him on his S_____. Don’t let him get away with manipulations and distortions.

MCCAIN ALL THE WAY !!!
OBAMA IS AN ACTOR IN A SUIT, TALKING. NOTHING MORE.
IS THIS NOT PAINFULLY OBVIOUS TO ALL ??

I would give the edge to Obama on this first debate, especially when he came into the debate at a clear disadvantage given McCain’s time in Washington. But Obama did a good job to tying him to the failed policies of the Bush administration. I think that Barack demonstrated leadership and intelligence. John McCain didn’t say anything we haven’t already heard over and over again. I also thought the comment about OJT was a cheap shot given his selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate. Can’t wait til the VP debate on Thursday…anybody know how to call moose cuz Biden most certainly will be hunting to tag and bag this one.
OBAMA – A
McCAIN – B

I’m sorry who was it McCain was debating? Whoever it was McCain clearly won.

McCain was the winner, as the liberal media wants Obama, looks like the rest of us feel that McCain won. Go McCain/Palin.

VOTE MCCAIN.
OBAMA SUPPORTERS, HAVE YOU SEEN ‘SHALLOW HAL’?
ALL I KEEP HEARING ABOUT IS OUTSIDE DEMEANOR AND APPEARANCE.
DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT SUBSTANCE AND EXPERIENCE??

Obama without a doubt!
The debate was excellent…I watched it twice.
Anyone who thinks that McCain won can rewatch the debate and re-examine their decision.

NIGHTLINE….I stay up every night JUST to watch your show….I’m an avid fan. I have a journalism degree and understand your world. WHAT you and all of your media friends (across ALL stations) are doing is called “YELLOW JOURNALISM!” I CAN’T believe you think OBAMA won. Are you kidding me?? McCain STOMPED all over the “wet-behind-the-ears” Obama. STOP “Telling” us who to vote for and start reporting the facts. You showed all of Obama’s responses and CUT-OFF MCCain’s comebacks (those areas where the utter stompings occurred!) Come on! You and George are ridiculous, and completely BIASED!! I LOST respect for all of NIGHTLINE tonight!!!!!!!

Common Sense – McCain is too old and Palin is way out of her league to be the next president in line. Barack will be the PRESIDENT of the United States, just accept it!

Just because someone isn’t as experienced as McCain doesn’t mean he is not qualified to run our country..listen to what Obama stands for. He is trying to help America..all Americans, even those who are for McCain just because he is a hero in their eyes. Can we really afford another 4 years of no change…personally I would rather give my vote to someone who isn’t a carbon copy of George Bush. As far as inexperienced.. um, whatcha gonna do if the 72 yr old gets elected and as we have seen how much the Presidency ages people… hmm, Palin – experience…doesnt belong in the same sentence nor in the white house, even if she can see Russia from her front porch!!

I’m an independent. It amuses me to read that the main media channels ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN are branded as biased and embracing liberal policies. It has become a matter of fact, that if you have a very slight disagreement with any conservative individual you are put into the same bag as that dreaded “Liberal Media” I Thought the debate was fairly even.
I leaned towards Mr. Obama because he acted more presidential and did not show any disdain or contempt for his opponent as Mr. McCain did by not looking at Mr. Obama once during the debate.

You must have been watching the debate on the discovery channel… it was two monkeys flinging poo at a wall… no wait that was on CNN and Fox News. Discovery was more interesting anyways.

I am conservative, and the only bag you’re in if you disagree with me is the douche bag.

nobody cares about your opinion… they just want your vote.

After hearing George S. biased “Report Card” rating tonight along with his other 2 Nightline guests, I was curious about how others perceived tonight’s debate. Am I missing something!!!!!
I don’t normally comment, but after reading several blogs on the ABC website I couldn’t resist.
With all due respect, Senator Obama is charismatic and a great public speaker, but he seems to just skim the surface on all the issues he addresses. Obama seems to say what he thinks we want to hear, but can he bring any of those policies to light.
I feel Senator McCain may not have earned the A+ in public speaking, but he certainly brought more substance to the debate floor with his comments, especially regarding foreign policy.
So what, some think Obama “looks” more like a presidential figure, but who has more experience and “guts” to defend this country?
We are at war, there’s no disputing that, so everyone should stop pointing fingers of how we got here. Neither McCain nor Obama had direct control over the U.S. going to war. My concern is that the American people choose the right person as our next President to get us through this mess. McCain is a true American, has clearly sacrificed for our country through his physical actions in the military service and continues to serve our country as a Senator and concerned citizen.
As far as our financial state of affairs, if we can’t defend our country from these terrorists, HERE or abroad, we won’t have a country left. We lived and worked our way through a Depression, recession, etc in the past, BUT we can’t thrive another setback caused by terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. The only way to break this threat down is to weaken the terrorist control in other countries as well.
McCain is my choice. We need someone who can establish come control over our foreign affairs and get us through this war before things get worse.
On another note: I’m appalled at how Charles Gibson treated Gov. Palin during their interview 2 weeks ago. He was very disrespectful and this only shows how biased ABC has been during this entire Presidential campaign. Previously, I have always been an ABC supporter, but will be more cautious in the future about interpreting what they present to the public.

IT IS SAD THAT A MAN OF JOHH MCCAIN’S STATURE MUST DEBATE SERIOUS ISSUES WITH A PATHETIC INEXPERIENCED EMPTY SUIT THAT IS SIMPLY RECITING LINES HE HAS MEMORIZED.
OBAMA HAS NO REAL EXPERIENCE. HE IS AN ACTOR, AN IMPOSTOR, WHO IS COMPLETELY UNQUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT.
VOTE FOR MCCAIN!

“Look”, I,I,,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I, came up with this idea first!
“It was me all along”! “But McCain beat me at this debate”! “But I’ll beat him back to Washington”.

Obama won! He appeared calm and presidential while speaking with clarity and confidence. McCain always seems to be talking about the past instead of looking forward to the 21 century. He seemed angry. Not acknowledging his debate partner by looking at him was the epitome of rudeness. Obama will be our next president.

Obama is ready for the job, he is smart enough to surround himself with smart people. We are in a huge mess and we need smarts not smart alecks.
The debates should have featured all the candidates.

McCain won the debate. Contrary to what Obama supporters would believe, he is not a carbon copy of Bush. He differs substantially in his views. Also, he was not part of the Keating 5. Why would anyone (oh, I forgot, the media has been brainwashing the ignorant and gullible)believe such a media hyped fraud would make a good president? How about his past association with Bill Ayers (terrorist); Rev. Wright (of the Church of God Damn America); his adviser (who is one of the ones responsible for the mismanagement of Fannie and Fred);his wife who can’t find anything about this country to be proud of and has stated we’re ignorant and racist; his distain and contempt for rural Americans who he says cling to God and their guns and can’t accept anyone different from themselves; his total lack of experience at managing anything; his socialist philosophy of tax and spend (and it won’t be just the rich, who, incidentally pay the overwhelming majority of taxes already); his irresponsible and ignorant ideas about dealing with foreign nations (lets just all hold hands and tiptoe thru the tulips), his always voting the party line, the nasty smear campaign against Sarah Palin and the list just goes on and on. Wake Up America. This guy has actually stated in one of his books that he will ‘stand with the Muslims’. I prefer a president who stands with and for America and it’s people.

Obama is the clear winner.

Yeah Obama has smart people around him like the two former heads of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac. Two huge companies that hold over 5 trillion in assets and debt. Two companies that are a focal point of how this mess happened. And Obama has smart people around him. At least McCain has a wife that owns lots of beer. Cuz McCain is gonna need a few good cold ones after being suphocated by Obamas hot stinky BS!

Clearly there was a winner of this debate… It was HOLYFIELD… and I want him next!!! I WANT HOLYFIELD!!!

Obama won, but it was not a knockout. He was too polite to the condescending McPain. He obviously has respect for the elderly.
McCain’s experience qualifies him for retirement — nothing else.

“McCain is always talking about what he has done…well imagine how much Obama will have done by the time he is 72. Wonder what John McCain had accomplished by the time he was 47.”
Yeah, by the time Obama is 72 he could have organized the communities in such a fashion that an arial view would reveal… he organized them into shapes of letters that spell O-B-A-M-A.

A historic debate. Great questions. Great format. Great moderator. Elaborate answers by both candidates. McCain’s answers were simpler, far less comprehensive than Obama’s, and they leave me fearful that four more years of a Republican presidency will result in more of the same – deeper debt, worsening economic conditions and a more dangerous world. Obama leaves me hopeful that we may once again have an intelligent, articulate and inspiring leader as President – a leader who has proven abilities to get contentious parties to work together and actually SOLVE serious problems.

Great debate? Great questions? Historic? This was a historic failure of a debate. The moderator could not even moderate let alone convey his question so these two dolts could answer it. The candidates stink and should defer all questions to a 5th grade debate team. If you think this was a great debate, you are an idiot.

On Strategy:
Obama: A
McCain: C+
Style:
Obama: A
McCain: D
Accuracy:
Obama: A
McCain: F
I think Obama Won!

I thought we were talking about the debate Minnasotaman. Polished, calm intelligence beats a Moose Killing woman by far when in charge of a country. Incompetence does not make a VP and definety not a potential President, but Oh! I forgot, thats what we’ve had for the past 8 years. Sarah needs to go back to Alaska and dedicate her career to killing some more moose and be the he-she she’s good at.

why I feel that most of the comments made against S.Obama are racial in nature?

Why are you restricting me from blogging? I have not done anything inappropriate. My freedom of speech is being denied and for no reason. I will pass the fact that you are denying me access to others.

Dear all!!
Please fellow citizens wake up and stop supporting blindly the old dude senator Mccain, Don’t you see that this well experienced politician don’t even know good manners,so simple he even didn’t look has the courage that he claims all this time about his experience in vietnam and look straight to the eye to his contender Senator Obama.
Don’t fool yourselves Obama is way better qualified that Mccain even at his short 47 years, he doesn’t need to prove he is ready to be our next president. Obama won !!! A+++
Mccain C— . BY the way I am an independent. And support Obama.

Considering that George S. was a Dem insider I think even his grades place Mac in the plus side.
Mac won on points… but it is clear that spending 10 days of debate prep helped Obama.
While I heard it on XM Radio, I thought that Mac won hands down. But when looking at the TV the images looked good for Obama. In our image concious society, I think that helps Obama. A pretty face covers a multitude of inexperience.
Even though Mac won, I think he needed to provide a knockout which did not happen.
However, I don’t think Obama made too many inroads in the middle. So many of them are waiting for a reason to like him or believe in him… but he just cannot seal the deal!

Why should you not vote for obama… go to you tube and search “Blame Canada” then you will see the truth

On where we want to take this contry???
OBAMA won my vote.

McCain won this debate! Kept Obama on defense because he really doesn’t get it! Obama….just a used car salesman.

Obama won hands down. McCain is all about living in the past He has not a clue about the future. More of the same he’s tied to Bush andf there is no other way at looking at it. We need to clean out Wahington and all those old cronies.

Obama won A+++ even when he has missed so many opportunites to knock down for good the “well experienced and maverick” (yeah! right! I am so different from old the GOP party, who he thinks he is kidding!!) John Mccain.
Obama has so many chances to win and he really doesn’t get that, please someone tell him!!! We are so tired of being neglected for this GOVernment, the lack of care for the real people middle and low class. Who wants Mccain fool?? Who wants to be fool again??
These people really don’t get it, even the Obama Campaign, they could easily win this election if they were more eager to. Please do a little search in Alaska and you all will see how this “beauty” of Palin has ask way more money in earmarks for her state and how she has raised taxes there and please open your eyes, Mccain is not offering anything different in conclusion He is just going back in the past and telling stories like a good grandpa and the really sad news ALL YOU DUMBS are going to vote for him!!! Go and jump from a brigde better!!!
OBAMA WON A++++++++++++
Mccain go home D-

Sen McCain has been rushing to save Washington. Rushing to save Wall Street. Promising to save the world from terrorist. Hey there – what about us, yeah you know the common person that pays his taxes and pays his mortgage. I can not bear to think about 4 more years of the same policy. The time has come for new ideas, new policies. Obama won tonights debate hands down. McCain reminds me of my grandfather – and I sure would not want him in the White House either.

Whoever remarked that McCain’s role in the Keating 5 was a smear should do a little research. He was the one senator that was the closest crony of Keating, received more than $100K in campaign donations from Keating, went on trips financed by Keating, some in Keating’s private jet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five

Obama won decisively.

LMAO!! All the polls I have seen tonight clearly has Obama as the winner!! Anytime a news organization tell the truth the McCain supporters want to yell “All the media is PRO Obama” just face the truth, your candidate is full of lies and have been proven a liar many times over, to include his running mate. Just accept it the night belong to OBAMA!! You have a change to make it 1 and 1 on 10/2, still LMAO!!!

Obama was the winner. I think McCain did… ok, although he wasn’t entirely truthful (but what else is new?). AS for Lefty, (previous comment)… I HAVE looked up McCain’s voting record, and that’s precisely why I’d NEVER vote for him! Obama is the clear choice here. McCain is just an extension of the previous failed administration, and the idea of Palin standing in the wings, waiting to step into the role of Commander in Chief is a nightmare too horrifying to even contemplate. Seriously.

MCCAIN WON BY LIGHT YEARS!
OBAMA PROVED HE IS AN ACTOR TRYING TO FAKE IT. HE TRULY HAS NO REAL EXPERIENCE AND IT SHOWED.
I WOULD NOT TRUST OUR NATIONAL SECURITY TO THIS OBVIOUS LIGHT WEIGHT.
NOT IN AN AGE OF SUITCASE NUKES, HOSTILE REGIMES, AND COMPLEX ECONOMIC ISSUES.
WE NEED A COMMANDER IN CHIEF WHO IS FIT TO MANAGE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.
SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO PUT THE GUY WITH THE LEAST EXPERIENCE IN CHARGE !!

MCCAIN

OBAMA won the debate.

How come NO ONE is talking about how many times McCain didn’t speak the truth?!… Stephanopolous gave McCain the edge on accuracy — which is a joke.
McCain actually did better than I expected, but the best any reasonable person could say (from a McCain perspective) is that it was a draw.
Which means Obama won. McCain needed to really score points in this debate and did not: most people think Obama won, so Obama, who was ahead in the polls now picks up more previously undecided voters and increases his lead; therefore he wins.
Obama has better judgement, better temperment, better intelligence, and he’s right on more of the issues — both foreign policy-wise and with respect to domestic issues and the need to fix the broken health care system and infuse the economy with green energy jobs.
McCain used to have integrity, but he’s flailing about with so many changes in campaign strategy that even the not-too-bright American public is seeing through him. McCain has zero chance of turning the country around, while Obama just might.
Obama showed that he has sound understanding of foreign policy, and his world vision is bigger, better than McCain’s, which is rather narrow and too shaped by his experience in Vietnam. McCain learned something from his/our experience there, but not enough. I feel sorry for him — for having been shot down and held prisoner all those years. But being a P.O.W. doesn’t qualify you to lead a country, and he needs to stop talking about it as though it does. Yes, he has MANY years of experience in the Senate, but his record is as spotty as it is long. His campaign is laden with lobbyists and Republican advisors who have wrecked this country this decade. Sorry, John, but as much as you call yourself a maverick, you can’t run away from THAT.
Obama has integrity, humility, strength, grace under pressuree, and vision. He will make a tremendous president, so everyone get prepared for it!

McCain won!!! Obama thinks he is ready to be our president–he wouldn’t even be able to be president of any corporation. His resume is too thin and his judgement on people is too radical. He is dangerous!!

I want to say Obama but honestly can’t. I think Obama had more details and substance (which gets lost) and McCain same rhetoric but packaged better than usual. McCain did better than expected, Obama did worse than expected – they did C+/B- work

McCain won the debate. It is too bad that our media cannot be non-partisan on such an important part of our history. There was just so little objectivity in the grade given on Nightline News…

Obama Clearly won the debate. I served 20 years in the Marines. McCain is dangerous! He is too eager to react. Obama has a proactive approach to situations; therefore Obama will guide our great country into the future with distinction.
Semper Fidelis!!!

McCain won — hands down. Obama is a political lightweight. I give him credit for showing up and that’s about it. What was with Obama’s two toned face and puffy eyes — make up tips from Al Gore?

Obama,
Talk=A-
Done=C-
McCain,
Talk=B+
Done=A+

McCain Won no question!

As an independent, I feel McCain is more solid and the clear winner. He understand the issues deeply than Obama.

Obama was a class act. McCain acted like a mean old man that he is.

I am an independent and was looking forward to the debate. The debate itself left much to be desired on the Economic front but got better when foreign policy was being discussed. I have to give OBAMA the edge on this debate. He seemed to have a better handle on the big picture issues (all you can manage to convey in this kind of debate format)

McCain won. No doubt! Palin will kick Biden’s Butt! Can’t wait!

Obama won in my eyes. I would hate to see McCain in a poker game. I think Obama would be able to deal better with the bad guys as he would not give up his hands even if he is not holding the trump card you would not be able to tell. McCain body language and aggressive temperment would give him away to the enemies.

The news media has always been very liberal. Why it supports the liberal candidate no matter what the debate or discussion is beyond me. John McCain clearly gave Obama a spanking and a lession on leadership. Obama clearly was stuttering much of the night, and uncomfortable. John was very direct and acting like a true leader and president. He is the kind of leader we want leading our nation, not a young inexperienced rookie who talks a good game, but defers to his running mate when pressed about experience.

Obama won hands down. He was more poised, more professional and far more presidential. His style would be far more effective than McCain’s in communicating with foreign leaders. McCain’s disrespectful treatment of Obama (refusal to look at or directly address Obama) tells me that he is not the choice to restore world respect for our country.

I am a McCain supporter and truthfully dreaded the debate. I thought Obama would clearly win because he is usually better at articulating his thoughts than McCain. Last night I was pleasantly surprised. McCain appeared more comfortable than Obama. I think McCain was the clear winner.

Obama of course. If anyone can bring this nation together and bring a change, it is Obama.
McCain on the other hand is so much George W. Bush. Their sneers are the same. They just have this negative view of everyone.

Obama had a lot of saved punches in this debate
I would have hammered McCain on:
1. If he know how to lead the why was he so sporadic in his decision making this past couple of weeks. First the fundamental were strong. Then there was a crisis. Then he wanted to fire everyone. Then he lies to Letterman. Then he “suspends” his campaign and restart it two days later. That READY-SHOOT-AIM mentality of him and GWB is what we need a change from
2. I would have hammered him on a 10 percent chance that he would change the course of this country because he voted with bush 90 percent of time
3. I would have ZINGED him with the fact that the last time we had a crisis of this magnitude (keating) he was holding the money bag with a gun and a mask. He was part of thousands of families losing their hopes and pensions went up in flames.
4. I would have let the world know that he was MR DEREGULATOR.
5. I would have pinpointed closer on how he harps on the SURGE when there should not have been a war. I would have said that the surge was executed to provide cover for the iraqi government to establish themselves WHICH HASN’T HAPPENED.
6. Timelines: Iraqis want a timeline. Bush now wants a timeline, The American People want a timeline. He is the only one that doesnt.
7. I would have Said “out of touch” so many times the old geezer would have turned beet red with anger.
COME ON BARACK. Do you need me to come and prep you for the next debate!!!!!
America want to see more fight. No condescending like McCain did last night. But a clear-eyed, laser like, searing, methodical BEAT DOWN
OBAMA CLEARLY WON ON SUBSTANCE. I GOTTA GIVE IT TO MCCAIN ON PASSION (although a lot of that garbage he barfed out last night was his stump speech)

Both candidates did a pretty poor job discussing the financial crisis and addressing Jim Lehrer’s questions on that area (wash on that part). As for foreign policy, I give the slight edge last night to Obama and mainly because he had the piece of the debate that will be seen the most on television (where he looked straight at McCain and called him out as wrong four times in a row). McCain looked straight forward all night and looked rigid. Obama actually looked at McCain all night and passed the Presidential test question many people had. Obama B+, McCain B-

Obama lacks experience.

McCain keeps bringing up the fact that he was a POW as if that’s a plus in being president. How is being a POW an asset??? Being held captive for five years would have to scar one for life. Why would we want a scarred guy for President?? God only knows what psychological issues this man has that we don’t know about. Maybe his temperment is just the tip of the iceberg…..

McCanin won this thing hands down!

Obama – A+
McCain – C-

mccain has been losing ground all week. This was supposed to be his strong debate nad he lost Big Time. This race is not even going to be close. Obama will be able to start cleaning up the mess caused by bush/cheney over the last 8 years. Obama/Biden 2008!!!

McCain clearly won the debate by accentuating his experience and Obama’s lack of experience and judgement. McCain was very clear and decisive in his answers, and Obama was more defensive and relied too much on trying to tie McCain to President Bush, which is just wearing thin. Obama is a good talker but has no record to back it up.

Obama! Very truthful, reasonable, respectful and respectable.
Obama/Biden 08!

Yes everyone, OBAMA WON!!! McCain is a bitter old man who knows he got his butt kicked and doesn’t care what he has to do to win the election. What’s so sad is he will fight tooth-and-nail to win the White House by playing dirty politics but isn’t passionate about bringing in the change this country needs and deserves. This proves he will be a weak leader.

Obama won the debate. For all of McCain’s “experience” he couldn’t make Obama look “inexperienced” McCain lost. Moreover, McCain seemed as if he was quoating from rote and talking points rather than someone who could think quickly on their feet. Furthermore, a McCain administration would be scary not just because of Palin, but because of how it would be run. Clearly, it would be run like McCain’s campaign a secretive, zig zag, continual lying to the public anything goes administration. That’s what bush has done ofr 8 years and we can see how that has worked.

McCain won — Obama had his “professor’s answers” down pat, I’ll give him credit on that, but I want McCain’s experience to face the challanges ahead. Oh and Obama had a bracelet TOO — GAG ME!

George Stephanopoulos grading the debate? Now, there’s an “objective” observer. Ha ha…pardon me while I puke. McCain showed that he has experience, and that he loves America. Hussein Obama is a radical left-wing idealogue who hates America. Even his wife said, “America is a mean country.” His love of Rev. Wright and Father Fleger shows that he hates America.

McCain A+++
Obama F-

Robert – How do you know so much about Obama being an “American-hating Muslim?” Where are your facts? I would venture to say that you’ve none. Obama is as American as you are I (indeed, to your dismay). The country needs *change.* Can’t wait for that day — Jan 20, 2009 — when we will have ourselves the start of good and new things to come.

After seeing this debate, I’ve decided to vote for Obama. He was clear about the economy and Iraq.

McCain won this debate, Obama was flustered and angry, he was interupting, calling him John (instead of using a more respectful Sen McCain) Obama’s facts sounded like he was reading from a book, memorized. Obama had no clear ideas and in fact changed his mind several times after McCain spoke. McCain won this one.

If McCain is so worried about expierience – why pick Palin? He decision making ability is clearly suspect

McCain was the winner, Obama did what an empty suit does, recite the democrats talking points, he (Obama) offered nothing new or exciting, other then his often agreements with McCain.Obama is not ready for PRIME TIME.

I have a hard time believing that anyone would think McCain won!
McCain sounds like a crabby grandpa. His policies, his ideas, his stories are all 30-40 years old. This guy should NOT be even running in the 21st century.
Obama won.

I saw the debate as a slight Obama victory. McCain was better than expected due to his attacking still but he continually recited parts of his stump speech, he did not address his opponent which is a terrible no-no in debating, he twisted the facts beyond recognition, he did not answer the question related to the affect of his tax plan on the middle class and he showed how old he was with all the references to the past. This country wants to move forward. Obama apeared presidiential even under attack, he showed great broad vision on foreign affairs and the connectivity of decisions. The McCain camp is already on the air with ads showing Obama agreeing with McCain during the debate. This is exactly the kind of politics that I would like to see forever banishined from this great country. Whether it be from the pundants or from many of the posters in this forum, Obama could have slammed McCain far more. His ability to acknowledge where they agree is a strength and moves the debate forward rather than letting it deteriorate into a mud wrestling contest. We are supposed to be the greatest civilization in history. Why don’t we insist that our representatives behalve like we are.

Obama beat the geritol man

Obama A McCain C

OBAMA WON. MCCAIN LOOKED OLD AND NOT SURE OF HIS STATEMENTS, ALWAYS LOOKING AT HIS NOTES LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES. HE IS JUST ANOTHER BUSH WITH A DIFFERENT NAME. LORD HELP US IF HE WINS. DO WE WANT ANOTHER BUSH IN THE WHITE HOUSE. HOW FAR DOWN DOES THIS COUNTRY HAVE TO GO BEFORE WE WAKE UP.

I think they both did well. However, I think Obama spoke to me while McCain never did. McCain never looked at Obama and never looked at the camera. When the debate ended Obama walked over to McCain to shake hands. Then later, Obama took his wife over to McCain and his wife for greetings.
You might now think this important, but it is. It show diplomacy and leadership. Not childish snubbing behavior.
I’m sure if I noticed this many other people also noticed this.
Anyone can haggle for 1 1/2 and say they came up winners. It’s the little things like common respect and courtesy that stick out to me. Obama won in that regard.

It was close, but Obama won. BTW..where was John McCain’s flag pin? Didn’t he say that anyone NOT wearing a flag pin was not patriotic? McCain, for all his bluster and angry looks, could not overpower Obama on foreign affairs, and he had no comeback when Obama mentioned deregulation of the financial market.

Obama on all accounts!

Barak Obama will be the better president.

I think any politician that cannot look the American people in the eye or a fellow politician regardless of the fact one is Democrat and the other Republican is someone I cannot trust. Senator McCain came off as someone untrustworhty as he would not look Senator Obama in the eye or the camera’s of the millions of Americans watching. That comes across as down right rude behavior. I do not understand how Senator McCain feels that the Iraq war is something we are winning and should steer the course. I do not feel that over 4k casualties is anything to boast about in the win catagory. And doesn’t he understand that for every terrorit nation or cell we supposedly defeat there is another waiting in the wings. I believe that Senator Obama won the debate as he kept his cool and had an answer for each question, statement thrown at him. I would like to know how many other presidents over the years did not have foreign policy experience and still served his country well. Our relationship with other countries is in the toilet right now so diplomacy cannot hurt. McCain seems to war happy for me. When military muscle is necessary you must have a clear goal, strategy and target. Get in and get out quickly and with great accuracy. But if we do not attempt diplomacy first, we are no better than the countries we despise for their own practices. Obama is the clear choice for this Country to move forward toward a better future for our children.

Platitudes and fecklessness. Obama couldn’t even remember the name of the Soldier whose bracelet he was wearing. Obama is cotton candy to McCain’s steak.

Obama won. John McCain came across as an old tired man. As a baby boomer in pretty good shape, when I approached 62 and was in the process of retiring, I clearly understood why the gold watch was given. You are on the downside of life. A time for rest and reflection. If I had to I could continue to work, at leat part-time; thank goodness I don’t have to. McCain is a 72 year old man, physically/mentally beaten down by time. He is applying for a job that ages one by the minute. Be for real. He should be in a rocking chair. Unless the goal is to have Palin take over as President, McCain should not pursue the lofty goal of becoming president.

McCain was more in control and more comfortable. Obama showed frustration and impatience at times. I do not believe Obama is well-prepared to become President of the U.S.
McCain definitely won!

Obama was magnificent!
However, the debate lighting and the makeup made both candidates look very different. I thought McCain looked a bit pasty and Obama looked darker than he really is. It was the best debate I have seen thus far. Looking forward to next weeks vice presidential debate.

Obama won this debate hands down
The pundits are being way too kind to McCain. John McCain told old man stories and looked old and angry, never looking his peer in the eye.
Obama looked presidential and gave way more details and facts. Look at the polls of independants. Obama did what he needed to do to win this election.
OBAMA/BIDEN 08

Obama keeps saying “your president” to McCain in reference to Bush. Why doesn’t McCain Mention to Obama that Obama is a US Senator, and American citizen. Bush is his president too. We need, as a nation, to get on the same page, and work together.

Obama was to the point. Talked about issues that the American people want and need to hear. Not the same old Bush. He was more poise and McCain was stiff and did not look Presidential
Obama was the winner.
Obama 1
McCain 0

Obama won the debate. Mcsame keep going back to thing that are not important right now in the economy today. And did not out line going forward for the future to me.

John McCain won the debate by a longshot. Of course the media is in favor of the liberal. McCain was very articulate, poised, and to the point. Obama was stuttering for words. ABC only picked the very few lines that Obama mangaged to say without stuttering for their grading. It is interesting that an A- and B+ are the same thing. But this underscores the bias of the newsmedia. Does ABC honestly think that we Americans are so stupid not to see McCain as the winner overall?

Oh yeah, I can already see the results of next week debate between Palin and Biden, (according to ABC that is)
ABC News – Palin – C
Biden – A
Fox News Palin B+
Biden C-
Everybody else with common sense Palin A
Biden D

McCain came off as a know-it-all old man trying to tell the next generation,”Listen to me sonny cause I’m older than you and have had more experiences than you.” Sorry, but we need to move past 20th century history and deal with the difficult issues of the 21st century. The “old boys” in Washington need to “give it up” and let the next generation resolve the mess that has been left to them by the likes of John McCain.

I was really on the fence about who I was going to support. But after last night, I’m going with Obama. I felt sort of bad for John. He seemed to keep repeating the same things over and over. Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. I mean geez, our country has gone to hell in a handbasket and he’s still riding the Iraq thing. He just looked like a condescending, bitter man. It made me feel sorry for him.

Obama won!! McCain never once try to connect with Obama or the American people. For someone who says he wants bipartisanship in Washington, McCain sure did seem like just another old republican.

Obama supporters-keep trying to clog the blogs with his propoganda. Ain’t going to work. Ticked off too many ‘average americans’ that fall in between the ‘young peoples vote and the black votes’ that were so highly touted during the primaries. BO will lose because of your huge disrespect towards all the other ‘irrelevent’ voters you dissed.

Obama clearly won this debate. His comment referring to The Hatchet type politics vs’s a clear head using a scalpel was spot on. We don’t need another Hatchet man at the helm!!

Obama was incredible. McCain looked angry and OLD….

Two styles were represented:
bulldog vs professor
If we were in a world war, I’d take the bulldog style IF thats all we had to contend with. Right now we need a cerebral president to deal with the many issues going on.
Obama won.

VOTE FOR MCCAIN !
WHO CAUSED THE ECONOMIC CRISIS?
GO TO YOU TUBE DOT COM. SEARCH UNDER
‘SHOCKING VIDEO UNEARTHED DEMOCRATS’
LET THE TRUTH BE KNOWN.
DON’T PUT THE ‘B’TEAM AT THE HELM !

CONCERNED CITIZENS,
SPREAD LINKS TO THESE VIDEOS FAR AND WIDE!
GO TO YOU TUBE DOT COM. SEARCH UNDER
‘BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE’
and also,
‘SHOCKING VIDEO UNEARTHED DEMOCRATS’
UNDERSTAND WHO CAUSED THE ECONOMIC CRISIS.
THE SUBSTANDARD MEMBERS OF THE ‘B’ TEAM!
SEE THEIR FACES…KNOW WHO THEY ARE !!

I am an independent. O’Bama won the debate. McCain used the same childish, insulting techniques that politicians of the past used (refusing to look at O’Bama, trying to belittle him, using every subject as an opportunity to point out that “O’Bama just doesn’t understand”)…he should get an Oscar for that ridiculous performance. The American public is smarter than that.

I believe those who say Obama won simply were not able to follow what John McCain was saying.
It was over their heads.
McCain knows first hand what he is talking about. His experience runs wide and deep.
Comprehension of this seems to just breeze over the minds of many.

Obama won hands down. McCain was a plastic politician, dishonest and nowhere near as intelligent as his opponent. Folks – brains count! It would be so refreshing to have a smart president.

Who won this scam known as a debate? NONE!
I’m happy to say I will not be voting for either of these two UN-AMERICAN SCUMBAGS. I will not contribute to the further demise of my country by having to pick one of The chosen PUPPETS while the PUPPETMASTERS behind the curtain are pulling the strings.
People, you will get CHANGE; Just not the change you think you’ll get. You’ll see the further eroding of our Sovereignty, the further eroding of our rightd and freedoms (in the name of the “PHONY WAR ON TERROR). You’ll see us become a huge police state where your every move will be tracked. You’ll see MARTIAL LAW. You’ll see people being thrown in detention camps for being patriots…(Yes FEMA deyention camps are all over the US…empty and waiting…)
Both of these PUPPETS are in league with each other and so are both parties. The two party system was created for a reason, and it wasn’t for choice. They want you to THINK you are choosing. Have you ever noticed others who are running for predident get shut out of everything on purpose? People like Ron Paul? Why is that? It’s because the scumbags who really run this country only want their people. They don’t care if it’s a Dem or Rep… both work for them.
VOTE THIRD PARTY AND END THIS CON GAME!

The old Communist Manifesto Motto: “DIVIDE AND CONQUER.” Looks like their plan is working.

I will give Obama A+ for a positive attitude.
I will give John McCain C+ for a negative and aggressive attitude.
I will give Obama A+ because he demonstrated that he can be a President.
I will give McCain B because he is trying hard to be the next President.
I will give Obama C because he avoided to explain himself properly about his future plans.
I will give McCain C because he avoided to be constructive and bipartisan.

I will give Obama A+ for a positive attitude.
I will give John McCain C+ for a negative and aggressive attitude.
I will give Obama A+ because he demonstrated that he can be a President.
I will give McCain B because he is trying hard to be the next President.
I will give Obama C because he avoided explaining himself properly about his future plans.
I will give McCain C because he avoided being constructive and bipartisan.

America waits with baited breath while Washington struggles to bring the U.S. economy back from the brink of disaster. But many of those same politicians caused the crisis, and if left to their own devices will do so again.
Despite the mass media news blackout, a series of books, talk radio and the blogosphere have managed to expose Barack Obama’s connections to his radical mentors — Weather Underground bombers William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis and others. David Horowitz and his Discover the Networks.org have also contributed a wealth of information and have noted Obama’s radical connections since the beginning.
Yet, no one to my knowledge has yet connected all the dots between Barack Obama and the Radical Left. When seen together, the influences on Obama’s life comprise a who’s who of the radical leftist movement, and it becomes painfully apparent that not only is Obama a willing participant in that movement, he has spent most of his adult life deeply immersed in it.
But even this doesn’t fully describe the extreme nature of this candidate. He can be tied directly to a malevolent overarching strategy that has motivated many, if not all, of the most destructive radical leftist organizations in the United States since the 1960s.
The Cloward-Piven Strategy of Orchestrated Crisis
In an earlier post, I noted the liberal record of unmitigated legislative disasters, the latest of which is now being played out in the financial markets before our eyes. Before the 1994 Republican takeover, Democrats had sixty years of virtually unbroken power in Congress – with substantial majorities most of the time. Can a group of smart people, studying issue after issue for years on end, with virtually unlimited resources at their command, not come up with a single policy that works? Why are they chronically incapable?
Why?
One of two things must be true. Either the Democrats are unfathomable idiots, who ignorantly pursue ever more destructive policies despite decades of contrary evidence, or they understand the consequences of their actions and relentlessly carry on anyway because they somehow benefit.
I submit to you they understand the consequences. For many it is simply a practical matter of eliciting votes from a targeted constituency at taxpayer expense; we lose a little, they gain a lot, and the politician keeps his job. But for others, the goal is more malevolent – the failure is deliberate. Don’t laugh. This method not only has its proponents, it has a name: the Cloward-Piven Strategy. It describes their agenda, tactics, and long-term strategy.
The Strategy was first elucidated in the May 2, 1966 issue of The Nation magazine by a pair of radical socialist Columbia University professors, Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. David Horowitz summarizes it as:
The strategy of forcing political change through orchestrated crisis. The “Cloward-Piven Strategy” seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.
Cloward and Piven were inspired by radical organizer [and Hillary Clinton mentor] Saul Alinsky:
“Make the enemy live up to their (sic) own book of rules,” Alinsky wrote in his 1989 book Rules for Radicals. When pressed to honor every word of every law and statute, every Judeo-Christian moral tenet, and every implicit promise of the liberal social contract, human agencies inevitably fall short. The system’s failure to “live up” to its rule book can then be used to discredit it altogether, and to replace the capitalist “rule book” with a socialist one. (Courtesy Discover the Networks.org)
Newsmax rounds out the picture:
Their strategy to create political, financial, and social chaos that would result in revolution blended Alinsky concepts with their more aggressive efforts at bringing about a change in U.S. government. To achieve their revolutionary change, Cloward and Piven sought to use a cadre of aggressive organizers assisted by friendly news media to force a re-distribution of the nation’s wealth.
In their Nation article, Cloward and Piven were specific about the kind of “crisis” they were trying to create:
By crisis, we mean a publicly visible disruption in some institutional sphere. Crisis can occur spontaneously (e.g., riots) or as the intended result of tactics of demonstration and protest which either generate institutional disruption or bring unrecognized disruption to public attention.
No matter where the strategy is implemented, it shares the following features:
The offensive organizes previously unorganized groups eligible for government benefits but not currently receiving all they can.
The offensive seeks to identify new beneficiaries and/or create new benefits.
The overarching aim is always to impose new stresses on target systems, with the ultimate goal of forcing their collapse.
Capitalizing on the racial unrest of the 1960s, Cloward and Piven saw the welfare system as their first target. They enlisted radical black activist George Wiley, who created the National Welfare Reform Organization (NWRO) to implement the strategy. Wiley hired militant foot soldiers to storm welfare offices around the country, violently demanding their “rights.” According to a City Journal article by Sol Stern, welfare rolls increased from 4.3 million to 10.8 million by the mid-1970s as a result, and in New York City, where the strategy had been particularly successful, “one person was on the welfare rolls… for every two working in the city’s private economy.”
According to another City Journal article titled “Compassion Gone Mad”:
The movement’s impact on New York City was jolting: welfare caseloads, already climbing 12 percent a year in the early sixties, rose by 50 percent during Lindsay’s first two years; spending doubled… The city had 150,000 welfare cases in 1960; a decade later it had 1.5 million.
The vast expansion of welfare in New York City that came of the NWRO’s Cloward-Piven tactics sent the city into bankruptcy in 1975. Rudy Giuliani cited Cloward and Piven by name as being responsible for “an effort at economic sabotage.” He also credited Cloward-Piven with changing the cultural attitude toward welfare from that of a temporary expedient to a lifetime entitlement, an attitude which in-and-of-itself has caused perhaps the greatest damage of all.
Cloward and Piven looked at this strategy as a gold mine of opportunity. Within the newly organized groups, each offensive would find an ample pool of foot soldier recruits willing to advance its radical agenda at little or no pay, and expand its base of reliable voters, legal or otherwise. The radicals’ threatening tactics also would accrue an intimidating reputation, providing a wealth of opportunities for extorting monetary and other concessions from the target organizations. In the meantime, successful offensives would create an ever increasing drag on society. As they gleefully observed:
Moreover, this kind of mass influence is cumulative because benefits are continuous. Once eligibility for basic food and rent grants is established, the drain on local resources persists indefinitely.
The next time you drive through one of the many blighted neighborhoods in our cities, or read of the astronomical crime, drug addiction, and out-of-wedlock birth rates, or consider the failed schools, strapped police and fire resources of every major city, remember Cloward and Piven’s thrill that “…the drain on local resources persists indefinitely.”
ACORN, the new tip of the Cloward-Piven spear
In 1970, one of George Wiley’s protégés, Wade Rathke — like Bill Ayers, a member of the radical Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) — was sent to found the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now. While NWRO had made a good start, it alone couldn’t accomplish the Cloward-Piven goals. Rathke’s group broadened the offensive to include a wide array of low income “rights.” Shortly thereafter they changed “Arkansas” to “Association of” and ACORN went nationwide.
Today ACORN is involved in a wide array of activities, including housing, voting rights, illegal immigration and other issues. According to ACORN’s website: “ACORN is the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities across the country,” It is perhaps the largest radical group in the U.S. and has been cited for widespread criminal activity on many fronts.
Voting
On voting rights, ACORN and its voter mobilization subsidiary, Project Vote, have been involved nationwide in efforts to grant felons the vote and lobbied heavily for the Motor Voter Act of 1993, a law allowing people to register at motor vehicle departments, schools, libraries and other public places. That law had been sought by Cloward and Piven since the early1980s and they were present, standing behind President Clinton at the signing ceremony.
ACORN’s voter rights tactics follow the Cloward-Piven Strategy:
1. Register as many Democrat voters as possible, legal or otherwise and help them vote, multiple times if possible.
2. Overwhelm the system with fraudulent registrations using multiple entries of the same name, names of deceased, random names from the phone book, even contrived names.
3. Make the system difficult to police by lobbying for minimal identification standards.
In this effort, ACORN sets up registration sites all over the country and has been frequently cited for turning in fraudulent registrations, as well as destroying republican applications. In the 2004-2006 election cycles alone, ACORN was accused of widespread voter fraud in 12 states. It may have swung the election for one state governor.
ACORN’s website brags: “Since 2004, ACORN has helped more than 1.7 million low- and moderate-income and minority citizens apply to register to vote.” Project vote boasts 4 million. I wonder how many of them are dead? For the 2008 cycle, ACORN and Project Vote have pulled out all the stops. Given their furious nationwide effort, it is not inconceivable that this presidential race could be decided by fraudulent votes alone.
Barack Obama ran ACORN’s Project Vote in Chicago and his highly successful voter registration drive was credited with getting the disgraced former Senator Carol Moseley-Braun elected. Newsmax reiterates Cloward and Piven’s aspirations for ACORN’s voter registration efforts:
By advocating massive, no-holds-barred voter registration campaigns, they [Cloward & Piven] sought a Democratic administration in Washington, D.C. that would re-distribute the nation’s wealth and lead to a totalitarian socialist state.
Illegal Immigration
As I have written elsewhere, the Radical Left’s offensive to promote illegal immigration is “Cloward-Piven on steroids.” ACORN is at the forefront of this movement as well, and was a leading organization among a broad coalition of radical groups, including Soros’ Open Society Institute, the Service Employees International Union (ACORN founder Wade Rathke also runs a SEIU chapter), and others, that became the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. CCIR fortunately failed to gain passage for the 2007 illegal immigrant amnesty bill, but its goals have not changed.
The burden of illegal immigration on our already overstressed welfare system has been widely documented. Some towns in California have even been taken over by illegal immigrant drug cartels. The disease, crime and overcrowding brought by illegal immigrants places a heavy burden on every segment of society and every level of government, threatening to split this country apart at the seams. In the meantime, radical leftist efforts to grant illegal immigrants citizenship guarantee a huge pool of new democrat voters. With little border control, terrorists can also filter in.
Obama aided ACORN as their lead attorney in a successful suit he brought against the Illinois state government to implement the Motor Voter law there. The law had been resisted by Republican Governor Jim Edgars, who feared the law was an opening to widespread vote fraud.
His fears were warranted as the Motor Voter law has since been cited as a major opportunity for vote fraud, especially for illegal immigrants, even terrorists. According to the Wall Street Journal: “After 9/11, the Justice Department found that eight of the 19 hijackers were registered to vote…”
ACORN’s dual offensives on voting and illegal immigration are handy complements. Both swell the voter rolls with reliable democrats while assaulting the country ACORN seeks to destroy with overwhelming new problems.
Mortgage Crisis
And now we have the mortgage crisis, which has sent a shock wave through Wall Street and panicked world financial markets like no other since the stock market crash of 1929. But this is a problem created in Washington long ago. It originated with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), signed into law in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. The CRA was Carter’s answer to a grassroots activist movement started in Chicago, and forced banks to make loans to low income, high risk customers. PhD economist and former Texas Senator Phil Gramm has called it: “a vast extortion scheme against the nation’s banks.”
ACORN aggressively sought to expand loans to low income groups using the CRA as a whip. Economist Stan Leibowitz wrote in the New York Post:
In the 1980s, groups such as the activists at ACORN began pushing charges of “redlining”-claims that banks discriminated against minorities in mortgage lending. In 1989, sympathetic members of Congress got the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act amended to force banks to collect racial data on mortgage applicants; this allowed various studies to be ginned up that seemed to validate the original accusation.
In fact, minority mortgage applications were rejected more frequently than other applications-but the overwhelming reason wasn’t racial discrimination, but simply that minorities tend to have weaker finances.
ACORN showed its colors again in 1991, by taking over the House Banking Committee room for two days to protest efforts to scale back the CRA. Most significant of all, ACORN was the driving force behind a 1995 regulatory revision pushed through by the Clinton Administration that greatly expanded the CRA and laid the groundwork for the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac borne financial crisis we now confront. Barack Obama was the attorney representing ACORN in this effort. With this new authority, ACORN used its subsidiary, ACORN Housing, to promote subprime loans more aggressively.
As a New York Post article describes it:
A 1995 strengthening of the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to find ways to provide mortgages to their poorer communities. It also let community activists intervene at yearly bank reviews, shaking the banks down for large pots of money.
Banks that got poor reviews were punished; some saw their merger plans frustrated; others faced direct legal challenges by the Justice Department.
Flexible lending programs expanded even though they had higher default rates than loans with traditional standards. On the Web, you can still find CRA loans available via ACORN with “100 percent financing . . . no credit scores . . . undocumented income . . . even if you don’t report it on your tax returns.” Credit counseling is required, of course.
Ironically, an enthusiastic Fannie Mae Foundation report singled out one paragon of nondiscriminatory lending, which worked with community activists and followed “the most flexible underwriting criteria permitted.” That lender’s $1 billion commitment to low-income loans in 1992 had grown to $80 billion by 1999 and $600 billion by early 2003.
The lender they were speaking of was Countrywide, which specialized in subprime lending and had a working relationship with ACORN.
Investor’s Business Daily added:
The revisions also allowed for the first time the securitization of CRA-regulated loans containing subprime mortgages. The changes came as radical “housing rights” groups led by ACORN lobbied for such loans. ACORN at the time was represented by a young public-interest lawyer in Chicago by the name of Barack Obama. (Emphasis, mine.)
Since these loans were to be underwritten by the government sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the implicit government guarantee of those loans absolved lenders, mortgage bundlers and investors of any concern over the obvious risk. As Bloomberg reported: “It is a classic case of socializing the risk while privatizing the profit.”
And if you think Washington policy makers cared about ACORN’s negative influence, think again. Before this whole mess came down, a Democrat-sponsored bill on the table would have created an “Affordable Housing Trust Fund,” granting ACORN access to approximately $500 million in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac revenues with little or no oversight.
Even now, unbelievably — on the brink of national disaster — Democrats have insisted ACORN benefit from bailout negotiations! Senator Lindsay Graham reported last night (9/25/0 in an interview with Greta Van Susteren of On the Record that Democrats want 20 percent of the bailout money to go to ACORN!
This entire fiasco represents perhaps the pinnacle of ACORN’s efforts to advance the Cloward-Piven Strategy and is a stark demonstration of the power they wield in Washington.
Enter Barack Obama
In attempting to capture the significance of Barack Obama’s Radical Left connections and his relation to the Cloward Piven strategy, I constructed following flow chart. It is by no means complete. There are simply too many radical individuals and organizations to include them all here. But these are perhaps the most significant.
The chart puts Barack Obama at the epicenter of an incestuous stew of American radical leftism. Not only are his connections significant, they practically define who he is. Taken together, they constitute a who’s who of the American radical left, and guiding all is the Cloward-Piven strategy.
Conspicuous in their absence are any connections at all with any other group, moderate, or even mildly leftist. They are all radicals, firmly bedded in the anti-American, communist, socialist, radical leftist mesh.
Saul Alinsky
Most people are unaware that Barack Obama received his training in “community organizing” from Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation. But he did. In and of itself that marks his heritage and training as that of a radical activist. One really needs go no further. But we have.
Bill Ayers
Obama objects to being associated with SDS bomber Bill Ayers, claiming he is being smeared with “guilt by association.” But they worked together at the Woods Fund. The Wall Street Journal added substantially to our knowledge by describing in great detail Obama’s work over five years with SDS bomber Bill Ayers on the board of a non-profit, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, to push a radical agenda on public school children. As Stanley Kurtz states:
“…the issue here isn’t guilt by association; it’s guilt by participation. As CAC chairman, Mr. Obama was lending moral and financial support to Mr. Ayers and his radical circle. That is a story even if Mr. Ayers had never planted a single bomb 40 years ago.”
Also included in the mix is Theresa Heinz Kerry’s favorite charity, the Tides Foundation. A partial list of Tides grants tells you all you need to know: ACLU, ACORN, Center for American Progress, Center for Constitutional Rights (a communist front,) CAIR, Earth Justice, Institute for Policy Studies (KGB spy nest), National Lawyers Guild (oldest communist front in U.S.), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and practically every other radical group there is. ACORN’s Wade Rathke runs a Tides subsidiary, the Tides Center.
Carl Davidson and the New Party
We have heard about Bomber Bill, but we hear little about fellow SDS member Carl Davidson. According to Discover the Networks, Davidson was an early supporter of Barack Obama and a prominent member of Chicago’s New Party, a synthesis of CPUSA members, Socialists, ACORN veterans and other radicals. Obama sought and received the New Party’s endorsement, and they assisted with his campaign. The New Party also developed a strong relationship with ACORN. As an excellent article on the New Party observes: “Barack Obama knew what he was getting into and remains an ideal New Party candidate.”
George Soros
The chart also suggests the reason for George Soros’ fervent support of Obama. The President of his Open Society Institute is Aryeh Neier, founder of the radical Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). As mentioned above, three other former SDS members had extensive contact with Obama: Bill Ayers, Carl Davidson and Wade Rathke. Surely Aryeh Neier would have heard from his former colleagues of the promising new politician. More to the point, Neier is firmly committed to supporting the hugely successful radical organization, ACORN, and would be certain back their favored candidate, Barack Obama.
ACORN
Obama has spent a large portion of his professional life working for ACORN or its subsidiaries, representing ACORN as a lawyer on some of its most critical issues, and training ACORN leaders. Stanley Kurtz’s excellent National Review article, “Inside Obama’s Acorn.” also describes Obama’s ACORN connection in detail. But I can’t improve on Obama’s own words:
I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career (emphasis added). Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work. – Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, November 2007 (Courtesy Newsmax.)
In another excellent article on Obama’s ACORN connections, Newsmax asks a nagging question:
It would be telling to know if Obama, during his years at Columbia, had occasion to meet Cloward and study the Cloward-Piven Strategy.
I ask you, is it possible ACORN would train Obama to take leadership positions within ACORN without telling him what he was training for? Is it possible ACORN would put Obama in leadership positions without clueing him into what his purpose was?? Is it possible that this most radical of organizations would put someone in charge of training its trainers, without him knowing what it was he was training them for?
As a community activist for ACORN; as a leadership trainer for ACORN; as a lead organizer for ACORN’s Project Vote; as an attorney representing ACORN’s successful efforts to impose Motor Voter regulations in Illinois; as ACORN’s representative in lobbying for the expansion of high risk housing loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that led to the current crisis; as a recipient of their assistance in his political campaigns — both with money and campaign workers; it is doubtful that he was unaware of ACORN’s true goals. It is doubtful he was unaware of the Cloward-Piven Strategy.
Fast-forward to 2005 when an obsequious, servile and scraping Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae spoke at the Congressional Black Caucus swearing in ceremony for newly-elected Illinois Senator, Barack Obama. Mudd called, the Congressional Black Caucus “our family” and “the conscience of Fannie Mae.”
In 2005, Republicans sought to reign in Fannie and Freddie. Senator John McCain was at the forefront of that effort. But it failed due to an intense lobbying effort put forward by Fannie and Freddie.
In his few years as a U.S. senator, Obama has received campaign contributions of $126,349, from Fannie and Freddie, second only to the $165,400 received by Senator Chris Dodd, who has been getting donations from them since 1988. What makes Obama so special?
His closest advisers are a dirty laundry list of individuals at the heart of the financial crisis: former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson; Former Fannie Mae CEO and former Clinton Budget Director Frank Raines; and billionaire failed Superior Bank of Chicago Board Chair Penny Pritzger.
Johnson had to step down as adviser on Obama’s V.P. search after this gem came out:
An Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) report[1] from September 2004 found that, during Johnson’s tenure as CEO, Fannie Mae had improperly deferred $200 million in expenses. This enabled top executives, including Johnson and his successor, Franklin Raines, to receive substantial bonuses in 1998.[2] A 2006 OFHEO report[3] found that Fannie Mae had substantially under-reported Johnson’s compensation. Originally reported as $6-7 million, Johnson actually received approximately $21 million.
Obama denies ties to Raines but the Washington Post calls him a member of “Obama’s political circle.” Raines and Johnson were fined $3 million by the Office of Federal Housing Oversight for their manipulation of Fannie books. The fine is small change however, compared to the $50 million Raines was able to obtain in improper bonuses as a result of juggling the books.
Most significantly, Penny Pritzger, the current Finance Chairperson of Obama’s presidential campaign helped develop the complicated investment bundling of subprime securities at the heart of the meltdown. She did so in her position as shareholder and board chair of Superior Bank. The Bank failed in 2001, one of the largest in recent history, wiping out $50 million in uninsured life savings of approximately 1,400 customers. She was named in a RICO class action law suit but doesn’t seem to have come out of it too badly.
As a young attorney in the 1990s, Barack Obama represented ACORN in Washington in their successful efforts to expand Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) authority. In addition to making it easier for ACORN groups to force banks into making risky loans, this also paved the way for banks like Superior to package mortgages as investments, and for the Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to underwrite them. These changes created the conditions that ultimately lead to the current financial crisis.
Did they not know this would occur? Were these smart people, led by a Harvard graduate, unaware of the Econ 101 concept of moral hazard that would result from the government making implicit guarantees to underwrite private sector financial risk? They should have known that freeing the high-risk mortgage market of risk, calamity was sure to ensue. I think they did.
Barack Obama, the Cloward-Piven candidate, no matter how he describes himself, has been a radical activist for most of his political career. That activism has been in support of organizations and initiatives that at their heart seek to tear the pillars of this nation asunder in order to replace them with their demented socialist vision. Their influence has spread so far and so wide that despite their blatant culpability in the current financial crisis, they are able to manipulate Capital Hill politicians to cut them into $140 billion of the bailout pie!
God grant those few responsible yet remaining in Washington, DC the strength to prevent this massive fraud from occurring. God grant them the courage to stand up in the face of this Marxist tidal wave.

“NONE” OF THESE TRAITORS TO OUR REPUBLIC WON THIS PHONY DEBATE! NONE!
There is one very good thing about the Wall Street/politicians bailout fiasco currently going on in Washington. This bailout is happening at a very convenient time for us to vote these jackasses out of office for good. These guys are digging their holes deeper as new information about the causes of this fiasco hits the internet every day. A stream is becoming a river that is soon going to be a tidal wave of anger when we go to the polls in November with the thought forefront in our minds that these sleazy politicians have sold us out once again to companies whose god is the almighty dollar. We are going to be forced to mortgage our grandchildren’s future to save the asses of a bunch of greedy parasites that can’t see past a hundred dollar bill.
Our politicians are actually going to give these crooks 700 billion on the pretense of saving the republic and our economy and everything we hold dear. Well, I hate to tell them that it is their insane policies and their egotistical attitudes that have brought us to this point in the first place. We have been screaming at them for years to fix our problems but greed always took first place. Anymore, the only things that I hold dear about this country is its Constitution and its people and to hell with Washington, Wall Street and all their insane policies. It is the people of this country that needs help and not crooks that should have know better.
I do not know about you but I say let them pay for their own mistakes, if the only way they can maintain their high rarified existence is on the backs of We the People then they should be nothing but a footnote in the dustbin of history. Both the crooks and the politicians. Their insane policies have brought us to this. Their refusal to enforce our laws brought about an illegal alien population of about 38 million. Their encouragement of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to take out subprime mortgages on property they couldn’t afford and legally buy has a lot to do with this Wall Street crisis. (See sources below). But our politicians, being the sneaky, slithering worms that they are, stay away from this fact. What jobs they haven’t shipped overseas are stolen from American workers and given to illegals under the aegis of our politicians and administration.
Their lopsided policies have almost bankrupted this country and you do not hear an apology from them. We only hear that they need another 700 billion for a disaster of their own making. So I say on election day make them pay for the destruction they have wreaked upon this great country and people. Tar and feather and run them out of Washington on their asses because they deserve nothing less. The direction of this country needs to be changed, badly. We cannot expect that change from our politicians because they are determined to run us off the cliff for their sacred agendas which doesn’t represent the American people.

Obama won with a landslide,people need to wake up and really see where this Country we call the USA is headed, with the “old” good ole boy way of thinking. McCain has done his time and had his time to make change and we all see it $700 Billion, worth he’s part of the problem stop thinking Republican or
Democrate, Black or White and start thinking “American” we need to stop making Foreign Countries rich, we have Troops dying not for the USA, but for a Foreign Country that could really careless about us. Wake Up Americans Wake Up.

Palin is a winner, she was strong, witty, informative and spoke directly to the everday person. I thing she will make a great Vice President.
Gabi in Pennsylvania
colangford@verizon.net
Claudette Langford
gai

Biden – A
Palin – B

Sarah Palin did not directly answer many of the questions. She did an outstanding job of memorizing the Party “talking” points and stated them over and over and over again. Redundancy does make statements true or accurate. Palin’s comments or answers, what ever you choose to call them, had no substance. George’s rating of her was too high. Was he watching the same debate I was watching? I would grade her a D, well below average.

All of you McCain supporters,what is wrong with you?You can’t be serious?McCain had no facts or details to support his agenda.He doesn’t even know what he’s going to do,obviously.It’s really sad he experienced such hard times in the war(approx.40yrs ago).But,how in the world does that make him the right choice for our president?Think about it,that’s the only topic he’ll discuss in detail.McCain will only look out for ones making over $250,000 a year.why is that?Is he trying to tell America that people making under that amount are not as important,or don’t deserve it,because they did’t earn it!That makes me mad!I bring in under $20 thousand a year,as a CNA(certified nurses aide).That is hard work,taking care of the elderly,and disabled people.What’s really mixed up? The ones making over $250,000 a year,are the ones that can send their elderly parents & grandparents to me to take care of.Who does it sound like,is a harder worker?I realize there are more issues,but this is what is hitting home rght now!Food and gas prices make me cry!Should I put gas in my car,or buy food for my three children?Maybe we’ll just eat crackers,so I’ll have enough gas to get to work tommorrow!Then we’ll do it all again next week!WE WILL NOT SURVIVE ANOTHER BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WE CHOOSE TO SURVIVE,by choosing Obama! He is clearly the correct choose for president. All I need to say for Palin is”NOPE!GOD, NO?” Thank you,I feel so much better! P.S. Biden won the debate

No offense but not answering the question that a moderator asked,,,,,but answering your own question tells me you are not for real…..Ms Palin…..
If a world leader asked a question I would want my leader to answer truthfully Thank you Joe …. for watching out for the little guy:)

As he has dome all throughout his campain Obama contradicts his position on the issues time and time again , He is truely a flip flopper. We don’t need a wishy washer leader. We need experience and discipline in our leaders not flip floppers.

Mcain showed the passion and leadership qualities we need! He clearly won this round. Obama is just as arrogant as his drugged out hollywood celebs who unfortunately have the media close by to shout out for the inexperienced obama! !arrack clearly has the country fooled and it is unfortunate for all of us! Always safe to choose experience over good looks and arrogance! Obama seems the type to rehire Monica Lowinski on his staff. Great job senator mcain!

Well, as both men spent the night talking about Obama…Hmmm Looks like Obama WINS hands down! McCain maybe should have taken a little time to talk about his acheivements over 26 long years in Congress. Apparently even he, felt he had nothing to brag about. His ads blame Obama for the financial mess on Wallstreet. Mr. Obama has only been a Senator for a short time compared to McCain – SO WHO had the opportunity to fix that avalanche before it happened? McCain has served his country Thank you that is a wonderful thing you did…You did your job…the same as thousands before you. Now, exactly WHAT have YOU done to help Veteran’s rights…Nothing according to the vetrans. McCain could have talked about his plans, Instead, he chose to talk about Obama; only answering when prodded by the moderator. And Mc’Cains Sardonacus-like smile is not fooling anyone.

In this the final debate, I believe Senator Obama was a clear winner. He answers the questions posed with eloquence. He looks and portrays a Presidential demeanor and temperament, essential to be a good President. I am proud of his appearance as well as his intellect. It is refreshing to see an intelligent person representing the United States. This does not mean that Sen. John McCain is not intelligent. To the contrary, he is
not at the level of intelligence of Sen. Obama. Additionally, it is unfortunate that Sen. McCain does not have the temperament to be President of the USA. We need a leader that can represent our interest not only in the USA but abroad. We also need a President who would work to improve our stature abroad. With regard to policies, programs i.e. Economy, Education, Energy, Foreign Affairs, Taxes, and Healthcare etc. we need a steady hand to lead us particularly at this point in time in the state of affairs we are experiencing. I have made up my mind to vote for Sen. Obama for 10 of 100 following reasons:
1. I have been impressed with the manner in which he runs his campaign. Efficiently, responsibly, and as a well informed and intelligent CEO of a well run Corporation.
2. He utilized the right tools and personnel to assist him in his endeavor.
3. Despite being well aware that money is the wheel that runs an election campaign he utilized the internet and appeal to a vast audience to contribute to his goals. I reckoned that Sen. McCain does not understand that this is another form or method of public finance.
4. He laid out a clearly understandable plan of action and foundation and follow is goals.
5. He commits himself to the task, He is competent, a good communicator, a good problem solver and play within the rules.
6. Despite being targeted with all forms of distractions, i.e. his former Pastor Rev. Wright, Professor Ayers and others Sen. Obama stick to the plan and focused politely on what is important to the Citizens of the USA and his campaign for the office of the Presidency.
7. Sen. Obama exercised good judgment prior to his candidacy for the Presidency and subsequently e.g. against the war in Iraq which in my opinion was a major disaster. Sen. McCain continues to tout the idea that we can win. Win what. The war in Iraq is not one that we can declare a win. Look at the cost in life, disability and finance literally almost bankrupted the USA and led us to be borrowing to from China and so many other Countries to survive.
8. He selected a proven Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, who could be President if the circumstance arise. I do not for a minute believe Gov. Palin is even slightly qualified to be President in the event of this should become expedient.
9. Sen. Obama under all circumstances is more honest, trustworthy and not afraid of supporting his ideas with documentary evidence.
10. Finally, Sen. Obama because of his high level of intelligence and thorough understanding of world issues and complexity is by far the most suitable person to help to restore us Americans to what we once enjoyed, respects, recognition, leadership in the world and hopefully peace at home and abroad.

Sen. Obama was by far the better, more believable speaker. He was obviously more at ease and has a much better stage presence. Sen. McCain always appears a little ill at ease when speaking. His mannerisms and words sometimes seem somewhat stilted.
On content it must be realized that neither candidate will every be able to deliver all that either one has promised, especially in the closing days of this campaign. Both men have devoted a great deal of their lives for quite some time to winning this election and one gets the feeling that they both will say whatever they have to say to win.