Best thing about the debate – It’s over

What a waste of time and opportunity – not to mention incredibly bad television.  I felt like I was watching the monitor for a security camera a good portion of the time – particularly when McCain was lurking in the background.

TPM: Snap poll gives win to Obama

The post-debate snap polls are out, showing that Barack Obama won the debate.

In CNN’s poll of debate-watchers, Obama won by a 54%-30% margin. In the CBS poll of uncommitted debate-watchers, Obama won 39%-27%.

The CNN poll’s numbers were just read on TV, showing that Obama is seen as better on Iraq by 51%-47%, McCain has a 51%-46% edge on terrorism — a subject where he’s usually done much better than this — and Obama wins 59%-37% on the economy. On the current financial crisis, Obama wins 57%-36%

Late Update: Some more numbers from the CNN poll were read just now on the air: Obama is seen as the stronger leader 54%-43%, and is more likable 65%-28%.

Huffington Post:Who won the debate? Instant polls say Obama

The insta-polls, which provide viewers with a somewhat skewered but important insight into how each candidate fared say, by and large, that Obama scored a victory in the second debate.

NBC’s focus group of undecided Pennsylvania voters had the Illinois Democrat winning by roughly a 60-40 split. Frank Luntz’s focus group, over at Fox, showed undecided voters leaning towards Obama because of his position on health care. CBS’s focus group of independents had the Democratic nominee winning the debate at 39 percent to McCain’s 27 percent, with 35 percent of the respondents saying it was a tie. Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a Democratic polling firm, had a focus group of undecideds leaning to Obama by a margin of 42 percent to 24 percent.

Meanwhile, SurveyUSA interviewed 741 debate watchers in the state of Washington, 54 percent of whom thought Obama was the “clear winner” compared with McCain’s 29 percent. That same polling firm had the first debate as a tie. In tonight’s survey: 42 percent of respondents said McCain was too forceful.

And the CNN focus group of undecided voters in Ohio had the margin at an even wider spread: Obama 54 percent to McCain’s 30.

A look at some of the specific issues that these Ohio voters valued suggest that they prefer the candidate who, at least on the surface, appears less on the attack. When Obama discussed health care as a right for all Americans, his numbers were through the roof. At one point, female respondents were dialing in at 100 percent approval. When he talked about using diplomacy in Darfur and pursuing Bin Laden in Pakistan, he again enjoyed strongly enthusiastic responses.

McCain had his moments too, mostly when he was discussing economic matters and propping up businesses to turn around the economy. His low points came when he was on the attack. On MSNBC, Nora O’Donnell charted how independent voters and Democrats soured on McCain when he said that figuring out Obama’s tax policy was like nailing Jell-O to a wall.

How solid was the consensus that Obama scored better tonight? Even Bill Bennett, ever the Republican optimist, conceded that the Illinois Democrat scored higher marks.

Political Wire: The Second Presidential Debate

Tonight’s debate wasn’t even close. Sen. Barack Obama ran away with it — particularly when speaking about the economy and health care. Talking about his mother’s death from cancer was very powerful. On nearly every issue, Obama was more substantive, showed more compassion and was more presidential.

In contrast, Sen. John McCain was extremely erratic. Sometimes he was too aggressive (referring to Obama as “that one.”) Other times, he just couldn’t answer the question (on how he would ask Americans to sacrifice.) And his random attempts at jokes (hair transplants?) were just bad.

Tom Brokaw was terrible as moderator. His fixation with the rules — particularly when the candidates were not complaining — was distracting and a disservice to everyone. The format didn’t work very well, but Brokaw made it worse.

Andy Taggart: McCain v Obama

I am a happy warrior.  I really am.  I believe in the causes for which I fight, I believe they are right and just, and I believe over time that principle will win out over expediency.

And I am an optimist.  I believe that things will get better, and that the nation’s best days are still ahead of us.

But I also believe John McCain is about to lose this election to Barack Obama.

When the Republican candidate’s lead — his lead, mind you, repeated twice — is that the government ought to buy up bad mortgages from banks that issued bad mortgages, well, you know we are going down the tubes in a hurry.  Republicans win the presidency when they demonstrate a clear, measurable difference from the Democrats.  Tonight, John McCain’s  answer to the question of whether Russia represents an “Evil Empire” was as telling as any other of his non-answers.  His response to that inquiry from Tom Brokaw?  “Maybe”.

Maybe?  Maybe, Senator?  For heaven’s sake, and for the good of the nation, the American public and the world are not looking for “Maybe” from the person who would be the next leader of the free world.