Obama did great...

[Whalestoe]

As usual. McCain was an idiot as usual.

[Speck Tater]

1. I disagree. McCain won.

He gave simplistic answers painted in purest black and white; no nuance, no shades of gray, no thoughtful consideration of real-life complexity. Of course such a simplistic, shallow approach is pure garbage...

HOWEVER

Average Americans have proven time and again that they PREFER simplistic, shallow answers to realistic, thoughtful answers. Americans DO NOT like to think, and anything that smacks of thoughtfulness just makes their eyes glaze over.

Obama obviously made more sense, and presented the kind of answers that apply to the real world, but McCain with his shallow, simplistic world view did a better job of connecting with the simplistic, shallow average American.

IMHO

[Whalestoe]

5. I don't consider that doing great or winning...

Obama answered personally and honestly: how I would like my president to be. So he did great to me.

McCain just gave high fives to Judeo-Christian right wingers.

[darius15]

2. I'm not the one you gotta convince

I'm solidly behind Obama, and i'm pretty sure 99% of this board is too. It's the right and the independents that Obama needed to reach tonight. I don't think he did.

[Beregond2]

3. I'm not so sure.

Anyone who listened to that talk could not possibly buy into the whole Islamic Anti-Christ bullshit. They saw a thoughtful, compassionate man with a profound love of this country. Now of course, the true loons won't be convinced by anything. But the more reasonable people who just weren't sure what to believe now have this image to set beside the characatures. That matters.

[Arkana]

4. But McCain scared them.

With his "GATES OF HELL" crap he put off anyone who favors a diplomacy-first approach. With the "LIEF BEGNIS AT CONCEPTION" (misspellings intentional for comic effect) crap he frightened a good deal of women.

McCain won the room--but Obama won the TV audience.

[Thrill]

6. I don't think McCain helped himself with Independents. He sounded like an extreme Right Winger

[EC]

7. McCain looked like a dirty old man,

and sounded like Grandpa Simpson...He pandered the whole way through.

When he started in on the whole islomo-fascists shit, I wondered what happened to "respecting all religions" that was being promoted by the forum.