The CNN focus group of undecideds didn't like the attacks and the condescension by McCain

[Lex]

at all. Esp. the independents.

They had those thingies that they could press when they liked or disliked stuff as McCain or Obama was speaking.

[L. Coyote]

1. Get off my lawn, you kid.

[kmac3]

13. Obama, The Winner

To me McCain's disposition (definitely bitchy and rude at times) dictated he did not want to be there.
His need to go back to the past and revel in "what used to be" tells me he is showing signs of suffering from dementia.
He continued to lie on many occasions . . on subjects already previously discussed and proven, not too smart!

[McCCain4retirment]

2. MCCain did better then I suspected

But I don't think this was a game changer.

I think obama will be in the lead,maybe even go up 2 points.

[Lex]

4. Obama won a lot of undecideds tonight.

[sarcasmo]

7. Welcome, free republic member.

[NeedleCast]

9. Just going to make sure you get this in every thread, aren't ya?

[JDPriestly]

12. Obama won hands down.

McCain had the lead going in among undecided voters. Therefore he was expected to win.

He started out with about 10 points on his side -- for free without doing anything.

He accused Obama of not understanding -- that seemed to be McCain's theme. Obama doesn't know what he's talking about. Obama doesn't understand.

Apparently McCain had decided to use that as his strategy going in -- keep harping on the meme that McCain is the expert.

Unfortunately, Obama proved him wrong. How? Obama simply demonstrated his understanding, his knowledge, the confidence he had not only in his mastery of the facts and figures but also in his ideas and solutions. That's all Obama needed to do to prove that McCain wrong.

McCain came out looking like a pickle -- a sour, bitter old man.

[kmdemqueen]

3. no kidding

I wanted here about the economic and what they are going to do for our country. all MCcain cared about is war. and benefits , Now he wants us not depend on foreign oil , so does that mean he wants our local oil.

[fishwax]

5. I think that will ultimately be the big story from tonight

I think McCain came off as condescending and testy, and I think it likely turned off independent voters. According to another thread, a CBS quick poll of undecided voters confirmed that they gave the debate to Obama by about a 2-1 margin, which would seem to confirm your observation.

[4lbs]

15. I think Obama's camp did good recon on that aspect.

Notice how Obama often politely and never angrily pointed out where McCain was wrong. Several times, when McCain was trying to bash Obama, Obama just smiled, shook his head, waited for McCain to finish, and then calmly explained where McCain was mistaken.

Sorry for that extremely long run-on sentence. ;)

So, Obama's people obviously knew that such a calm demeanor is how you win independents and undecideds. He hit out of the park with that, since 2/3 of them think Obama won.

[neverforget]

6. Old man yells at cloud!

[Naturyl]

8. Good, that makes me feel better.

I didn't think we did all that well tonight. Maybe I'm wrong and people actually will notice McSame's constant condescension.

It's a pleasant thought.

[vanderBeth]

10. I'm not surprised. He was behaving like an a-hole.

[L. Coyote]

14. That's what I was trying to convey alright!!

And not looking at him, was that sort of, "Get outta my hood, youngster. I was here first."

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. It was repeated too many times for psychological damage

It was a Mantra to be used but he over used it.