Debate #1 – I cringed.

I watched last night’s presidential debate with mild interest. I don’t watch the debates to find out more about the candidate. I’ve already gotten all the information that I need and am 75% sure of which candidate I am going to vote for. At this point in the game, I’m more interested in how the candidates can torpedo their own campaign and the number one best place for that opportunity is at a debate.

One the more annoying things that I find about debates is right afterwards when people ask, “who won the debate?” I hate it because it is subjective. Obama could have stuttered while making out unrealistic promises and there would still be people who said that he was perfect.

Last night’s debate started out as I would have expected, with talk about the financial crisis which seems to be creeping along but it dove right into foreign policy at which point both of them resumed their broken record talk. But getting aside from the topics, did either of the senators screw it up?

Sen. Obama, I thought, clearly dominated the debate. His apparent preparation and confidence put Sen. McCain on the defensive most of the time. It wasn’t, really, until the second half that McCain would finally start speaking up and do a little offensive plays himself. However, McCain’s propensity for bringing up Obama’s naïveté wasn’t the best way to do that. Umm… Palin, hello. As for Obama, he needs to quit taking McCain’s crap. One those occasions that McCain would push back, Obama just took it! Grow a back bone.

So yeah, I would say that Obama won this debate.