The Debate

With the presidential debate two-thirds done, I decided to stop watching and evaluate how the candidates did. I am trying to stay moderate, so please do not freak out on me if I write something you didn't expect.

I believe, as of 10 p.m., John McCain actually won the debate. He had very thorough answers and kept Barack Obama on the defense the entire hour. However, McCain did show a more negative side this evening. He kept interrupting Obama, not allowing him to fully answer questions. As I was watching the debate with a friend, he kept commenting, "I'm just waiting for McCain to slug Obama." I agree, as McCain showed an angry and "bulldog" (as my friend said) side the public has not seen.

Obama, on the other hand, carried himself as a calm individual. I feel, however, he did not do as well as he usually does. He seemed caught off guard since McCain was being a bulldog and bringing up issues Obama did not want to talk about. Obama will be viewed positively after the debate and more or less the underdog due to McCain's negative behavior.

In debates, a winner can never really be determined. They can be evaluated with polls and interviews, but we won't know the final results until who is elected as the new president. McCain needed to bring his A-game tonight to still have a fighting chance in this election. All I know for sure is that he did bring his game and now the next three weeks will be a true presidential campaign once again.