The Grade

I just watched the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. I was impressed by both of them. When I say "impressed," I mean I was not blown away by either of them. They both did adequately on a variety of issues, but nothing really blew me away. Now, I know that both men practiced for weeks preparing for this debate. It showed. What I wanted to see was some serious emotion and candor from the future leaders of the free world. (Especially from Obama.) I was hoping for some serious sparring between the two, but all that was there was some "I didn't say that" or "That really didn't happen" bullshit. I wanted Obama to call out McCain. I wanted Obama to put McCain through the ringer and hold him accountable to his voting record and his public speeches.

Unfortunately, they both really didn't shine. There really wasn't any stand-out moment from either of them. Perhaps there will be in the next two debates. In all honesty, if Obama got a grade of "B," McCain got a grade of "B-". In other words, this debate was a draw.

If Obama is serious about being the next president he will have to be on the offensive, which he really didn't do tonight. In fact, I would say that he was on the defensive more than. Now, what gave Obama the better grade was the fact that McCain did come off old-timey and grandfatherly. However, Americans might just be looking for that considering these are dangerous times we live in. McCain may just win on that.

So...we'll see who "won" this debate as people digest what they saw and heard. Like I just said, neither one of them really shone brightly.

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