Just finished now. (no link)
I'm biased (that honestly tells you i'm a conservative) but i'd call it McCain by a nose. Not a game-changer unless people really let some of the messages sink in. I'd say the game has been kept alive. McCain did well enough not to sink his campaign.
I was glad to see McCain on the attack about Obama's record on the current crisis and foreign policy, and still homely and physically embracing the serviceman in the Audience. I'm disappointed Ayers did not come up, i guess that means there as still aces in the pack, and McCain had to confront the economic message of the Dems head on. Still, Obama was pretty slick and seemed to have a counter attack for every attack on his record.
For me, the real difference came not in the debates over specifics but the visions of both men. Before i read a single line of commentary i'd like to say the closing statements said it all, paraphrased below:
Obama: I was poor to start with and rose to great heights that i could never have hoped for in any other country. Now it's time to change the country fundamentally. I hope you are with me on this amazing journey (destination not specified)
McCain: (in unspoken reference to his POW years) I know what suffering is like. I know what it's like when others look to you for hope. I know what it's like when others pick you up and give you hope. I ask the American people to give me another opporunity to serve because through all this it has always been "my priviledge to to put my country first."
That last part is a direct quote.
Obama's statement was all about himself, and how the country has to change to suit him.
McCain's was all about his country and how much he loved it and was willing to sacrifice himself for it.
Oh yeah. There are "fundamental differences" alright.
One candidate understands the words of Kennedy "Dont ask what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country"
The other is a total wanker.
Some people's legs might shake when Obama speaks. I was almost in tears when McCain spoke.
I never knew he had it in him.
