The First Debate

Some quick thoughts:

Bottom line: McCain's strongest credentials lie in foreign policy. This debate was a tie, at best, for McCain. So, while the battle may have been a draw the war is quickly slipping away from John McCain.

What struck me during this debate is that John McCain actually thinks that "victory" is possible in Iraq. I would like to ask him how he defines victory. Unlike when we entered WW2 against Germany and Japan, we are not asking for Iraq's surrender. We supposedly support their government. Therefore, a true victory is not possible.

And Obama's points that we took our eyes off the ball on Afghanistan was very good. McCain did not have an answer to this.

McCain barely would look at Obama during the debate. Obama was extremely respectful, almost to a fault. McCain had the "grumpy grandpa" look.

McCain brought up Miss Congeniality twice, wasn't that Sarah Palin's beauty pageant?
Speaking of which, Obama brought up Biden. I didn't hear McCain touting his VP pick.

At one time in the debate, near the end, McCain was very close to losing his temper. It is too bad he did not explode.

McCain said that he wants to end all ethanol subsidies. I agree with him on this point, but there's no way in hell he'll be competitive in Iowa now.

Kissinger did say that the US president should meet with any foreign leader, without pre-conditions. He said: "Well, I am in favor of negotiating with Iran. And one utility of negotiation is to put before Iran our vision of a Middle East, of a stable Middle East, and our notion on nuclear proliferation at a high enough level so that they have to study it. "