Debate #1 - Style vs. Substance; my impression of the impact on voters.

[Fiendish Thingy]

Style -
Hands down, Obama. He showed America he clearly has the intellect and temperament to be President and Commander in Chief. Probably the most valuable effect from last night was America seeing Obama side by side with McCain, without the 30 second smears.

McCain showed that America can sleep well at night knowing that McCain will keep the White House lawn clear of any Al Qaeda invaders or neighborhood kids.

Substance -

Economic questions - Obama hands down. Although I expect him to cave in with the rest of the Vichy Dems on some knee-jerk Wall Street bailout (unless JK Galbraith gets his attention), he clearly has the temperament to handle this crisis.

McCain, on the other hand, surely left the impression on voters that he will borrow 700 billion dollars from the taxpayers, taking Air Force one straight to Vegas where he will blow the whole wad playing craps at one of his lobbyist cronies' owed casinos, pausing only briefly for a bowl of tapioca at the $2.99 buffet.

Foreign Policy questions - Obama was a little less concise on these question, but still had the edge.

McCain said the right things to assuage his hide-under-the-bed-don't-you-know-we're-at-alert-level-orange base, but probably didn't affect many undecideds.

What struck me most was:
1)the debate was relatively free of trite zingers, and I haven't yet perused the MSM to see if there's any fallout from McCain's factual errors. Obama, IMO, was gaffe free. (I did not watch the spin afterwards, but read online late last night). Very little "entertainment value" compared to watching Bush flail about, while Rove coached him via earpiece.
2) McCain did far better than Bush ever did in any debate - Red America must really be kicking themselves for not voting McCain as the nominee in 2000, and Bush's approval surely dropped another 5 points just on the comparison to McCain.

I'm not sure who the town hall setting will favor- I think it depends on the questions that get asked.

The third debate, with its focus on domestic policy, and I believe, the candidates seated at a table where it will be even harder and more obvious if McCain avoids eye contact, will be a bloody slaughter that should not be watched by young children. McCain has probably ordered his Secret Service agents to go to Costco this morning and stock up on cases of Depends...