Alex Massie Alex Massie

Who Won?

So who won? And does it matter? Only up to a point. John Kerry won the first of his debates with George W Bush and won it handsomely. That is to say, he won in conventional terms, demonstrating a keener grasp of the issues and, indeed, the complexities of being President. But in another, perhaps more important, sense Kerry lost. Not because he didn’t know what he was talking about but because he failed to project an air of authority or, for that matter, personality that seemed Presidential. He lacked the necessary aura.

I don’t know if Obama quite has it yet. That is to say, at its best his style is an old-fashioned one of a type we’ve not seen in some time: sophisticated, knowledgeable and, yes, professorial. But tonight he was, on balance, clear, poised, professional and in command. In that sense I think he earned pass marks. He looked comfortable. And that’s important. One might quibble (I would!) with some of what he said (on spending, on Pakistan etc) but he came across as a man who is not completely unready to be President. The young fella can do the job.

Which means that though you could easily, I think, score the debate a draw on the merits of the arguments, Obama comes out ahead because he didn’t make any glaring mistakes and, most importantly, you could quite easily imagine him standing behind a podium in the East Room or the Rose Garden. He wouldn’t be obviously out of place.

For his part, McCain did pretty well. I didn’t care for his constant repetition of the line that “What Senator Obama doesn’t understand…” and some voters may feel this was unecessarily condescending. Equally, his call for a spending freeze on everything except defence and entitlements was a headline-grabbing gimmick that means almost nothing given that these two areas make up most of the federal budget.

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