The first debate is in the can and apparently, I got it all wrong.
The most compelling portion of the event came before it even began, when a haggard John McCain crawled back in front of the press, tail between legs, and said he would come out and play after all, his bluff called by the suddenly granite-infused Sen. Barack Obama.
But as I watched the debate itself, I kept having flashbacks to the final Bush/Kerry debate of 2004. John Kerry, a very capable, if somewhat over-nuanced, debater was overwhelmed by an inexplicably articulate George W. Bush. G-Dub’s performance was an extended dead-ringer for Will Ferrell’s miraculous turn in Old School’s quiz show finale featuring James Carville.
Sen. John McCain also channeled a bit of Will Ferrell when speaking on the economy, avoiding any clumsy missteps while playing to America’s anger at the staggering “greed†and “corruption†in Washington and on Wall St. that led us to this precipice.
Obama, by comparison, seemed content to wallow in the details of his plan, sacrificing emotional appeal for gravity and intellectualism.