Debate Reactions

It seems like today's reactions to the final debate last night have been overwhelmingly positive for Obama. While no one seems to insist that Obama covered any new ground, his tried and true, steady as she goes method of running down the clock to Election Day seemed like a success. I thought McCain had his strongest debate to date but still at times seemed erratic and unfocused, jumping from issue to issue within the course of a few sentences. From the NY Times:

It seemed as if Mr. McCain was veering from one hot button to another, pressing them all, hoping to goad Mr. Obama into an outburst or a mistake that would alter the shape of the race in its last three weeks.

For the most part, Obama seemed his usual self, refusing to be dragged into any sort of petty tit-for-tat with McCain over some incisive topics, i.e. ACORN and William Ayers. When prompted, Obama clearly and efficiently laid out his history with both ACORN and Ayers and seemed to make a convincing case on both.



Most seem to agree that McCain's strongest line came when he stated he was not President Bush, seen here:



However, people just seem to think that McCain came up short. Reports can be found as follows:

Boston Globe (1)(2)(3)
NY Times (1)(2)
LA Times
Washington Post (1)(2)(3)