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Friday, September 26, 2008
McCain shows difference experience makes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ladies and gentlemen, you just saw the difference that experience makes — and you just saw what should be the playbook for U.S. Sen. Joe Biden in next week’s debate against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
John McCain clearly set out to remind the American people that he has the seasoning, the familiarity with places and situations, and the strategic vision to be President of the United States. Time and again, he found opportunity to use the phrase: “Senator Obama doesn’t seem to understand…” or to say, as he did in describing Barack Obama’s first response after Russia invaded Georgia, his call for restraint on both, as reflecting “a little bit of naivete.”
Obama really doesn’t know when to drop a conversation that’s going badly for him. Example: His insistance that he would sit down with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or any other rogue figure, without preconditions, but with preparation, gave McCain a grand opportunity to advance the argument that Obama is naive. Obama wouldn’t let it go.
He does have the problem, reflected here, that when he makes a verbal mistake, it becomes official policy, whether it’s to meet bad guys without preconditions or to conduct strikes in Pakistan, despite the reaction of our ally in the war on terror.
McCain undoubtedly helped himself. He held his own through the first 40 minutes of conversation about the economy. He looked strong, looked decisive and managed to keep his distance from the Bush Administration. The Demcorats, of course, are determined to convince the American people that Bush and McCain are joined at the hip.
There were no major mistakes either way. Obama, to his credit, got through his weakest subject area without major blunder. He lost no votes that he already has.
Did Obama win over the undecided? No. But he didn’t materially hurt himself either.
McCain was disciplined throughout. He stayed on message.
Winner: John McCain
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Find the commander-in-chief
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barack Obama task tonight is simple: Convince people that he’s somebody they want in the White House in a world filled with terrorists threatening their lives and bad loans threatening their jobs and financial security.
What should by now be a wipeout for the Democrat is essentially tied. The latest Zogby poll has John McCain up 2 percentage points, 46-44, in a survey conducted Tuesday through Thursday of this week. On the books, this election shouldn’t be close. And yet McCain moved from three points down to two points up in a week of lousy news. Independents prefer McCain, 43 to 34.
Obama can’t close the deal. This problem first surfaced in the Democratic primaries. To this day, he hasn’t put Hillary Clinton away. The Democratic establishment, the super-delegates, did it for him, but they were caught up in the narrative and were, furthermore, fearful of alienating a key constituency.
At the end of tonight’s debate, Independents ought to be nodding their heads saying, yes, this guy Obama does have the right stuff; he does have the character and the decisiveness and the judgment to lead America through perilous times. People don’t sense that. Tonight is Obama’s best shot.
He will win this debate not on some clever line effectively delivered. He wins if after the debate people come to see him as commander-in-chief. He loses if they don’t. It’s close-the-deal time on that question.
For McCain, he wins by reinforcing existing perceptions that he is commander-in-chief material. He should remind people how threatening the world is, making it clear that this is no time for a rookie in the Oval Office. McCain loses if he does or says anything that makes age an issue.
It’s clear that the Obama campaign wanted to have this debate on national security issues first. It’s the subject area he’s most likely to flub. If he does, he’ll have two more debates to recover.
I’m not looking for flubs, though. I’m looking for something in his presence or his presentation that will make voters comfortable with the idea that he could be their commander-in chief.
