Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Tie Goes To The Frontrunner

ROUND II: THE TOWNHALL
NOT A GAMECHANGER
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INSTANT PUNDITRY REACTION:

TIME's Mark Halperin: "Obama Leaves Nashville Intact . . . McCain spent much of the evening trying to define Obama on his terms, but never broke all the way through."
The Politico's Roger Simon: "McCain needed to change the trajectory . . . and he didn't do it. And because McCain didn't win, he lost."
Newsweek's Howard Fineman: "I thought that that's as good as McCain could be on the economy. But it wasn't enough, it wasn't convincing enough and he didn't knock Obama off his game there."
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "The questioners were mostly props, the format, negotiated by both campaigns, was terrible, and there weren't any memorable moments."
HOTLINE on Call: "A debate without direction, without pointed or innovative questions, will likely produce a contest that appears very much as it did before the 90-minute outing at Belmont University in Nashville."
FOX's Frank Luntz Focus Group: "Although it wasn't overwhelming, a majority of the group thought Obama won."
REDSTATE: "My preliminary reaction. Positions unchanged. I'm not depressed, however. I can live with a bye."
NATIONAL REVIEW Online: "With due respect, I think tonight was a disaster for our side. I'm dumbfounded that no one else seems to think so. Obama did everything he needed to do, McCain did nothing he needed to do. What am I missing?"
MSNBC's Pat Buchanan: "I think McCain did come in with more heart and more fight. And I agree with you, he was the aggressor. He was throwing the punches. He did it in a better way than he did it last week when I thought he had won on points."
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1 comment:

Paul Seale said...

You, uh, kinda mischaracterized NRO's assessment by Andy McCarthy.

McCarthy goes on to say:

"Now, as the night went along, did you get the impression that Obama comes from the radical Left? Did you sense that he funded Leftist causes to the tune of tens of millions of dollars? Would you have guessed that he's pals with a guy who brags about bombing the Pentagon? Would you have guessed that he helped underwrite raging anti-Semites? Would you come away thinking, "Gee, he's proposing to transfer nearly a trillion dollars of wealth to third-world dictators through the UN"?

Nope. McCain didn't want to go there. So Obama comes off as just your average Center-Left politician. Gonna raise your taxes a little, gonna negotiate reasonably with America's enemies; gonna rely on our very talented federal courts to fight terrorists and solve most of America's problems; gonna legalize millions of hard-working illegal immigrants."

The title given by McCarthy was "You guys are nuts" and it is a reply to an on going discussion on how McCain crushed Obama on substance.

I guess you sorta missed that, eh? Riiiiight.