Debate goes to Obama as McCain goes OTT with Joe the Plumber

Most political observers writing overnight, and straw polls taken immediately afterwards, say that Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate, staged at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York last night. John McCain wasn't as ferocious as some had hoped he would be, while Obama got by serenely, buoyed by his commanding lead in the latest opinion polls.

Many commentators have picked up on McCain's relentless mentioning of 'Joe the Plumber', a wealthy Toledo businessman worried about Obama's tax plans. This was McCain's "best hit" according to Chuck Todd of NBC who claims "many a supporter was probably heartened by some of his relentless hits."

No it wasn't, says Joan Walsh on Salon. "McCain bludgeoned Obama with Joe the Plumber, and the effect was more farce than fierce." The Arizona senator failed again, she says, in a debate that "wound up being one of Obama's finest moments, and one of McCain's worst."

A little strong, thinks CNN's David Gergen. "McCain likely helped himself with his base tonight, but I doubt that he helped himself much with undecided voters." For Gergen it was a tough one to call but Obama just about sneaked it. "Overall, I would score Obama at an A minus for the night," says Gergen, "and McCain at a B plus."

However, "John McCain scored the zinger of the night," according to Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, when he turned to Obama to declare: "I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."

Like other pundits, Huffington also had her eye on the camera shots which revealed the "disdain McCain feels for Obama". George Stephanopoulos for ABC News says: "McCain had several reaction shots during the debate where he rolled his eyes, seemed exasperated with Obama, and on the edge of anger." Obama was far more presentable, even "smiling through the attacks."

For Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic, the debate showed why Obama is so disproportionately popular with female voters. "He is the alpha male on this stage, and McCain the bristling teen - aged 72."

Alexander Cockburn, in his regular column for The First Post, writes: "Across the three debates Obama has been the default winner, if only because McCain has been irritable and repetitive, a cranky old geezer." But Obama, too, has become "less inspiring as the weeks tick by".

Most noticeable, says Cockburn, was the weakness of both Obama and McCain on the major issue - the economy. "You would not have known that in the considered estimation of many economists, the United States could well be entering a prolonged recession without much chance of recovery for many years."

FIRST POSTED OCTOBER 16, 2008