# September 26 - The First Obama-McCain Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357 "2008-09-26T16:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/101 "2008-09-27T01:39:18Z")
I’ve been watching for a bit, and I don’t think Obama’s doing that well. His extemporaneous speech is stuttery, and he’s not coming across clearly; rightly or wrongly, he sounds a bit defensive. McCain has several well-prepared lines, and while they may not always be entirely relevant to the question, they’re well delivered, and seem to be landing. This is not just relative to expectations, either; I genuinely don’t think Obama is coming across well, and I say that as someone who fully intends to vote for him. Euch, minus 73 million points for two uses of “maverick” in 10 seconds, though. Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/102 "2008-09-27T01:39:20Z")
So if you had “maverick” in the drinking game, you should have switched to “Mr. Congeniality” instead, or you’re gonna stay sober. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/103 "2008-09-27T01:39:34Z")
OK, OK… but i thought this was about gov’t spending; so i took it to be about our foreign aid, not our spending on oil. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/104 "2008-09-27T01:39:43Z")
Should John really be bringing up torture? Oh go ahead, mention Palin. . … Please nail McCain on this, Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/105 "2008-09-27T01:40:20Z")
So lets freeze everything? McCain fucked up, he didn’t mention Social Security. Piss off the old folks and the farmers. But hey, he’s mentioning veterans a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Diletante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Diletante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diletante)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/106 "2008-09-27T01:40:28Z")
Everyone take one shot every time McCain says he wasn’t voted Ms. Congeniality in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/107 "2008-09-27T01:40:43Z")
Oh boy. McCain just opened Pandora’s Box. He played the “maverick” card and mentioned Palin. If I were Obama I would find a way to make him regret that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/108 "2008-09-27T01:41:19Z")
The lesson we;ve learned from Iraq is “not to have a failed strategy?” I’m no military genius, but I think I would have known that to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/109 "2008-09-27T01:41:47Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > He said “MAVERICK”!! drink up! The way he says it, it sounds like a [cheap 1970s car](http://home.comcast.net/~petebre/maverick/). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/110 "2008-09-27T01:42:59Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The lesson we;ve learned from Iraq is “not to have a failed strategy?” I’m no military genius, but I think I would have known that to begin with. Well, you can’t have a failed strategy that leads to a failed policy in another country. Betcha didn’t know THAT, Mr. Smartypants! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/111 "2008-09-27T01:43:11Z")
Who’d a thunk Obama would sound better about foreign policy than he did on the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/112 "2008-09-27T01:43:26Z")
> [@Dead\_Badger](#): > > … I genuinely don’t think Obama is coming across well, and I say that as someone who fully intends to vote for him. I agree; I’m disappointed so far. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/113 "2008-09-27T01:44:38Z")
He’s doing fine. This is a presidential debate, not last comic standing. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/114 "2008-09-27T01:46:35Z")
Obama used the word “tactic” correctly. McCain is wrong. The surge was a tactic, not a strategy. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/115 "2008-09-27T01:46:37Z")
Can we get an Around the Horn style mute button for Lehrer? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/116 "2008-09-27T01:46:49Z")
Maybe I’m just as dumb as Obama. What’s the difference between tactic and strategy. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/117 "2008-09-27T01:47:03Z")
Ah, fairy tales about earnest young patriots who want to go kill Arabs. That’s so 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/118 "2008-09-27T01:47:13Z")
McCain looks so creepy with the weird smiling thing. But he sounds kind of good. I’m sick to my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/119 "2008-09-27T01:47:44Z")
What _is_ the difference between a tactic and a strategy? Serious question. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357/120 "2008-09-27T01:47:58Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > He’s doing fine. This is a presidential debate, not last comic standing. I didn’t say it was. But he’s proving very difficult to listen to - purely as a matter of delivery, it _appears_ defensive. Neither of them is providing much content that isn’t vacuous at the moment. Appearance is pretty much the only distinction, and Obama is, in my view, losing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/september-26-the-first-obama-mccain-debate/465357.md?page=7)