The Results of Presidential Debate #2

The second presidential debate was full of little jabs between the candidates over some key issues, mainly the economy. A big topic going into the campaign was not only who would win, but also that McCain needed to win or to have a very strong showing to try and convince and sway some undecided or independent voters to his side. Since the first debate, the polls have shown Obama's lead rising, and some key swing states leaning toward Obama. Some of these states, including Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio have some major impact on the election, as they have a large amount of electoral votes. Even some usually given Republican states such as Indiana, had become toss-ups. Going into the debate, people expected McCain to take more of an offensive and challenger approach, trying to call out Obama on some issues, and perhaps even rattle the Illinois senator from his normal cool and calm demeanor. Meanwhile, as we kind of discussed in class, many people thought that Obama needed to keep his cool and calm demeanor, as it served him well in the first debate. Also, another key thing for Obama was to discuss the economy often, as it has proven to be one of his strong suits.
The town hall debate set up was interesting, and it is pretty much decided that both candidates did a relatively good job with no major screw ups or flops. But the question is still, Who won? Viewing a number of sources, it has become clear that most people share the same opinion; neither candidate won hands down. However, that statement in itself kind of helped decide who the winner was. The consensus seems to be that Obama won the debate, not because of necessarily what he did, but more so because McCain did not have that game changing moment that he and his campaign needed to change the direction that this race is going in. Politico.Com's Alexander Burns sums it up pretty well: "Obama didn't deliver a knockout punch tonight. But he denied his opponent the chance to re scramble the campaign, and that was enough. The day goes to him. "
The Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post all seem to agree in their own ways. Mark Halperin, at at Time Magazine had this to say, "[Obama] played it typically cautious and safe, and thus avoided major blunders, knowing if he commits no errors for the next 30 days, he will be the next president of the United States. " In a CBS poll following the debate, 40 percent of voters said Obama won, while 26 percent said McCain won, and the other 34 percent said the debate was a relative tie. A CNN poll showed that 54 percent said Obama won, while only 30 percent gave it to McCain. However the same CNN poll also showed that 83 percent of those polled felt that McCain was more prepared for the job, so McCain can take some light in that. This final month of the campaign will prove very interesting. Will Obama be able to hold onto his apparent current lead? Or will McCain be able to find that defining and "game changing" moment he needs to turn the voters to his side? Only time will tell.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_el71