MC.no.spin

Who will win? Why?

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Kandahar

Both candidates will both spin it as wins, and most of their supporters will see it as a win. In terms of style, I think McCain has the edge. He seems more comfortable in this setting than Obama does. Also, the debate is ostensibly geared toward McCain's strongest selling point in the polls (foreign policy), although it will undoubtedly have some questions about the financial crisis.

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MC.no.spin

I will be disappointed if at least half the debate time is not spent on the financial crisis. It is asinine to robotically follow a script of debate scheduling when the biggest financial crisis in a very long time has hit our economy, and most of America is still uninformed on it and what is needed (and why.)

MC.no.spin

I actually think Obama might win this tonight, because of some gaffes that will be thrown back in McCain's face.

Something like:

"John McCain, who has admitted during this campaign to knowing very little about the economy, just weeks ago had his top economic advisor saying we were in a mental recession, with a nation full of whiners. He then just a week ago said the fundamentals of the economy are strong. We are mid a huge financial crisis this country has not seen in decades, and John McCain has turned this into a political football, throwing politics into a crucial moment in our economic future."

I don't think one can win in the face of such a zinger.

However, a possible rebuttal:

"What the American people are tired of is a broken Washington that caters to special interests and lobbyists. Had my legislation that I co-sponsored three years ago been passed, Fannie and Freddie would have never been allowed to get as irresponsible as they did. The American people have had to pay for their mistakes, and Barack Obama has two of it's former top executives as his advisors. He is the second highest recipient of contributions from these corrupt organizations. In returning to Washington this week I sought to park our campaigns and work on a bi-partisan bill. I saw how tax payers were footing this bill, and have worked with the Congress to find a solution that doesn't reward Wall Street for their irresponsibility, and fought to have the tax payers be allowed to control this money and reap any rewards for using it."

It will be interesting to see who can come up with the best zinger that sticks in people's minds.

McCain may have the best delivery for a debate format. Obama tends to be more didactic. McCain is more short little quips a la Ronald Reagan.

independent_thinker2002

I think McCain will fart and Obama will try not to laugh and that's all the media will talk about this weekend. Yay, America!

McCain needs a win. He is hurting. As long as Obama doesn't say anything foolish, he will maintain his edge.

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Summerwind

More choices please; both and neither. As well define "win". To my way of thinking, it will be neither. It will essentially be some level of regression of finger pointing and blame gaming. Unfortunately, playing nice and staying on topic won't create any sound bites, so I will be blaming media and pundits for the fact that if someone actually behaved in a debate in a manner I would consider winning, they will have lost nonethe less.

MC.no.spin

Historically, the winner of the first Presidential election gets at least a 3% swing in the polls. In 2000, Bush got a 7 % swing from the first debate.

That kind of win is what I'm referring to. There will be one.
It basically will be who came up with the best sound byte.

talloulou

Sadly, I agree.


That's a hard thing for many to wrap their heads around.

MrVicchio

McCain. He's proven right in the past on multiple issues including the big one, the "surge". American's want a President that leads America not follows the wishes of European polls. American's want a leader that is looking out for America, not his world citizenship credentials.

Obama has spent days preparing for this because he knows he's weak, McCain is comfortable in this situation and will do fine.

Summerwind

Given that's your premise. I can honestly say I don't know. So many times the person with what appears to be a huge upper hand (in this case Obama due to recent "dramas" from the McCain camp), becomes careless and makes an unforgivable gaffe, or such. I'll be holding my breath. Neither is/was my first choice or even second choice. McCain would've been my last choice if every person on the planet had died. Now he's my second to last choice with Palin now having the lowest "honor". Obama, much the lesser of evils (much, mcuh less of an evil, but still not a choice as much as an anti-choice).