obama is the last gentleman left in american politics.

By the end of the debate, McCain had become Bob Dole.

It's not a posture that worked for Gore in 2000. It didn't work for McCain tonight.

While not as bad as Gore's truly bizarre behavior in that debate, the smirking and the not-looking-at-Obama was a big part of why McCain lost this debate.

Epic posture fail. Seriously, he would have done himself a world of good if he had just frickin' looked at the guy once in a while. Was this a debate strategy, like suspending the campaign, but not?

It's not that hard. While your opponent is being critical, look thoughtful. Look at him. Look down. Look thoughtful. When talking to him, looking at him. 5 second beat. Look to the audience. Look at the camera. Look at the moderator. Then, back to your opponent. Treating your opponent like he/she is Medusa and one look will turn you to stone just comes off as . . . weird. Contempt? Maybe. Off-putting? Definitely.

I agree. I thought McCain's weakest point--and as far as"style" goes, only bad point--was his refusal to look at Obama. The first 20, 30 minutes, I understand. Each candidate was finding his comfort level. But McCain's refusal to look over to Obama, in the end, seemed petulant and small-minded.

Overall, no one "won" the debate. No KOs, TKOs, or split decisions.

But this debate was a chance for Obama to erase any doubt that some may have had about his ability to act as president. He succeeded in that task.

McCain did as well as he could possibly do--good for him, he was not erratic--but he's now further behind in the presidential race than he was a few hours ago.

Does anybody else cringe when Obama says "took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan" or "tax cuts to corporations that ship our jobs overseas"? Or any other language that he stole from John Kerry? How is the candidate of the future borrowing the language of the failed past? Ugh.

I just finished reading all of Oliver Burkeman's comments (he liveblogged for the UK's Guardian) and overwhelmingly the Brits gave the nod to McCain for the debate. I didn't see it that way, and according to Klein, nor did many others in the U.S. Interesting difference.

in contrast to the contempt and mocking disdainfulness of john mccain, is the very sincere and disarming smile of barack obama.
barack obama tends to be quite serious, so when he suddenly breaks out in a happy smile, it seems really genuine and infectious!
for each expression of vexation for mccain, there was one warm and friendly smile from barack obama this evening!
:-) :-) :-)

If you have ever watched Question Time it is clear that the British prefer a more confrontational approach to debate. Even just hanging out in a pub you can tell that a good zinger gets a lot of respect from many Brits. Americans are often derided by Europeans as being overly friendly and we sometimes seem to want the same from our leaders.

Agree with the comment on Barack's smile. But smiling just doesn't work for McCain. And when McCain starts laughing at his own jokes he really should be embarassed at how he looks. But McCain didn't do any of that tonite.

I want very badly for Obama to be President, so maybe I am looking a gift horse in the mouth and shouldn't, on top of which there's the Karma angle, but I really thought this sort of armchair psychoanalysis was abhorrent when it became the main topic of post-debate discussion in 2000, preempting discussion of what I, at least, thought was a crushing victory for Gore on the issues, so I will attempt at consistency and say that I believe it really should not be an important topic of discussion this time.

Maybe we could instead discuss McCain's incredible, and apparently unconsidered, sudden decision to suggest a spending freeze, rather that a rational examination of spending priorities?

Does anybody else cringe when Obama says "took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan" or "tax cuts to corporations that ship our jobs overseas"?

Yeah, but McCain has more than a couple of cringe-worthy political cliches in his arsenal himself. He telegraphed that "he wants to talk to bad guys!" punch a mile away. And I got tired of hearing "What my opponent doesn't understand . . ."

Most professionals would not engage another personally and directly, that is what McCain was doing. McCain also did not hold up his finger repeatedly to the moderator in frustration mode, nor did he make remarks when Obama was in the middle of a sentence, he also respectfully referred to his opponent as Senator Obama. I cannot believe you are so partisan on this Ezra, is that really the way you saw the events unfold objectively? Name calling and ridicule in your post debate analysis. No wonder many voters are now afraid of the Dem. party as well as the Republicans.

inlandia, let me second sven: the brits love a real back-and-forth in debate, love zingers, and especially love "taking the piss out."

unless british culture changes tremendously, there will never be a "post-partisan" candidate for prime minister.

so we're in a different world.

uppitty kitty, what in the world are you talking about?

McCain came off as uppity and arrogant.... seriously.

Most professionals would not engage another personally and directly

Spoken like a true professional....

I just looked at the Al Quaeda polls and they say McCain won the debate.

As for posture and such, do you think Bill O'Reilly will be having his 'body language expert' on the show to break it all down?

McCain's body language looked awful. He came across as incredibly mean and contemptuous.

American people fight tough but fair. We like opponents to treat each other with respect during a fight, not with contempt.

As someone of the British persuasion, I can very easily see how someone in London would give the honours to McCain. Except that McCain was also a bullshit artist.

(Remember, Londoners just elected Boris Johnson, because, most of all, he's 'funny'.)

In substance, score draw. But there are different kinds of draw -- roughly drawn, the deserved draw and the nicked one -- and the way Obama played it probably works well for what's to come.

Inlandia: I'll also say that the British response to 2000's debates was very different to the American one. But that's because Brits thought Bush was a fucktard from a very early point.

Here, I think that in PMQ terms, McCain was the forceful one. Except that a lot of what he said was bullshit. Bullshitters do well in British politics. Hence, Tony Blair.

McCain wouldn't look at Obama because he is afraid of him. The meanness, the aggression, the anger, it's what men of McCain's stripe do when they experience fear. It's a cover, sometimes even from their own awareness, of the root feeling.

You argument is that Chris Mathews said bad things about McCain, like Mathews is some kind of fair arbitrator. Why didn't you just pull a comment from David Axelrod.

What McCain should have said is;
The American people don't believe you when you claim you will fight terroism across the globe when an unrepentant terrorist that bombed the US Capitol and police headquarters in New York was the man you turned to to launch your political career.

McCain didn't show contempt for Obama personally, he showed contempt for his policies.

Elevating Achmadenijadh to a
head of state even though he is the worlds biggest Anti-Semite, holocaust denier, world terrorist and wants to destroy Israel.

I have nothing but contempt for Obama position as well.

McCain didn't show contempt for Obama personally, he showed contempt for his policies.

Well, he smirked a lot and he never would look at Obama directly. Whether that's contempt or just poor debate coaching or a lack of a Toastmaster's class, I think it was bad form and dominates where, frankly, they didn't come across as significantly different, policy wise.

What pseudonymous said. If you want to see some spectacular verbal parries, you could do worse than to watch our beloved MP's go at it (C-Span used to cover Parliament sessions, though it has been a while since I've watched.)

Lord Snuffleupagus is simply glowing with certitude and would have one believe that he is blessed with all manner of knowledge on the subject at hand, but I assure my fellow Britons, this man does not have the faintest idea of what it is like to have his sticky little fingers on the levers of power...

"mccain didnt show contempt for obama personally..."

i believe that mccain showed personal contempt for barack obama.
i think he sees barack obama as a child of a lesser god.
by not looking at him, but sharing his smirking at him to the audience, was his way to convey to others, that barack obama is not worth being looked at.
maybe, considering mccain's "elitist" past, it is inconceivable and dishonorable in his eyes, to lose an election to barack obama.
john mccain needs to brush up on strategy and tactics. it should be apparent by now, that insulting the intelligence and dignity of barack obama angers the higher angels.

and sarabeth......
what were the lessons in the Book of Exodus?
in the Torah, Moses, the quintessential leader, went back many times to try to reason and appeal to the pharoah before spilling blood of more jews and egyptians....and the pharoah was once the world's biggest anti-semite, holocaust denier and terrorist.
barack obama, like Moses shows humility, compassion and patience when dealing with others.
Moses showed humility and dignity even when he was scorned and mocked, not just with his enemies, but the jewish people as well.
obama finds himself now leading in the same way, and in the same wilderness as Moses did.

trying to reason and talk with our enemies before shutting them out and resorting to war is Still the best policy in the middle east.

it will be a L'shana Tova if we see barack obama win this election, and the mantle of power given to the rare leader, who uses it with restraint and respect, instead of hubris.

McCain did very briefly look up at Obama, at the moment Obama turned to McCain and said, "Well, John, ten days ago you said..." after Lerher's weird family therapist instruction to "say it to him." As Obama spoke to McCain, McCain looked up directly at Obama, and then his gaze quickly retreated to his own podium top.

"Most professionals would not engage another personally and directly"

That is simply false. Of course they would! It's the very essence of professionalism.

i'm glad that obama pointed out that the Iranian pres. is not the most powerful person in Iran. the U.S. concept of Pres. isn't universal and the People need to understand this point. We need to understand he is not as powerful as Cheney but more powerful than Condi. When we understand this then he will become powerless. our concepts are not always universally applicable and we need to know this.

Obama deserved contempt for this stunt:
During the debate, Obama said that he too had a bracelet. After fumbling and straining to remember the name, he revealed that his had the name of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek of Merrill, Wisconsin.

Shockingly, however, Madison Wisconsin resident Brian Jopek, the father of Ryan Jopek, the young soldier who tragically lost his life to a roadside bomb in 2006, asked Barack Obama to stop wearing the bracelet with his son's name on it. Yet Obama continues to do so despite the wishes of the family and a mourning Father.

Guess not having an actual father, Obama didn't really understand how hurtful and disrespectful he was being to Mr. Jopek.

Afterall, to Obama, its all about me, not about a grieving Father or his dead son.

Anonymous, what's your proof of the above assertion?

And what if Ryan's mother asked Obama to wear the bracelet?

Quite possible that the parents differ in their opinions as to whether it is disrespectful or not.

Personally, I don't really understand why McCain having contempt for his opponent is a negative for him. Are undecided voters really such delicate flowers than when they see a candidate being sneered at that they instantly feel the need to jump to his side?

Most professionals would not engage another personally and directly

Perhaps true about some politicians, but normal people do engage one another personally and this is probably why people find politics so cold and artificial and why Senators almost invariably don't get elected president: because they are straitjacketed by the artificial Senatorial social conventions that normal people don't relate to.