Give your assessment of Obama's debate performance here:

[youthere]

I'm looking for honest assessment here folks....so save the petty bashing for elsewhere please. You must list at least one pro AND con...so no fluffing the candidate...OR using it as an opportunity to bash mercilessly.

PRO: Obama showed me last night that he can think on his feet. He was able to hit his points hard, even when it was obvious he was caught off guard. He came after Clinton and did not back off and showed that he also knows how to "play tough".

CONS: He did stumble a bit, and in moments seemed unfocused and not as polished as he normally is. At one point he "forgot" it was the lightning round. I was disappointed that a couple times when he had an opening to show how he was different (and presumably better) than Clinton or Edwards, he used it to hit Clinton again, when it really wasn't necessary.

[SteppingRazor]

1. Kay

PRO: He offered a good contrast to Hillary Clinton -- and let's face it, she's far and away the frontrunner, and no matter how much optimism he says he'll pack into the Oval Office, it's not going to matter unless he can beat her. And that means contrasting himself with Clinton as a positive to her negative.

CON: For the love of all that's holy, he needs to stop saying "uh" every other word.

[hedgehog]

2. People with a large vocabulary often say "uh" as a space holder

because they are busy selecting the proper word.

[SteppingRazor]

6. I possess a gargantuan vocabulary, and I rarely vacillate verbiage betwixt baseness and propriety

OK, 10-cent words aside, you get my point -- a halting speaking voice and a large vocabulary don't necessarily go hand in hand. I know that, at this point, Obama's probably tired and incredibly busy, but taking some time to polish his act can't hurt. Of course, it's a fine line between well-spoken and over-rehearsed.

[PatSeg]

24. The "uh's" are annoying coming from anyone

and it often detracts from what the person is saying.

I've seen Obama's stump speeches and they are amazing, but he seems a bit uncomfortable in debate-mode, which is a shame. He really is an excellent speaker.

I thought he started out a bit awkward and hesitant but he improved later on.

[FlaxieB]

3. PRO: Obama is calm under pressure. CON: Debates are not his strongpoint.

But he is getting better each and every debate.

[cuke]

4. I was unimpressed

He didn't do badly, but he started out real nervous and his speech was halting and filled with umms. As the evening picked up, he relaxed more and more, but it wasn't until near the end that we saw Obama getting a groove on. Once he did, he made some good points, but hit nothing out of the park.

The worst part of his performance was not that he did anything wrong, but that he didn't do what he had been promising to do, attack Hillary hard. He got a bit in on the archives issues, and sounded good doing it (not nasty or personal) but it was far from the bloody battle his earlier commemnts suggested.

Bottom line: He did nothing to hurt himself. He lost no support last night, and may have picked up some, but I don't see that he did anything to help him move his numbers in a significant way. He gave Hillary an elbow nudge or two, but didn't do much to distinguish himself from the others the way Biden did with his humor and out of the box thinking

[quinnox]

5. Obama had a fantastic debate

He confronted Hillary in a polite yet firm way on the issues. He had some great answers to the questions that were well thought out and clear. Obama came across as a gentelmen in his criticisms of Hillary and did not go too far into territory where it would make him look like he was mudslinging.

Obama had his best debate of the year in my opinion.

[youthere]

9. What do you think he could have done better?

[quinnox]

11. not much

Maybe a few times he rambled on a bit but on the whole Obama was very impressive to me in that debate.

[msongs]

7. lackluster. edwards was matlock-ian. hillary enjoyed attacks on her. dennis was submarined

by matthews to diminish the value of what dennis was saying. Dodd was blustery. Biden was the sharpest of all. That guy from new mexico, how did he get on there?

Msongs

[Jane Austin]

12. "dennis was submarined by matthews"

That was Russert, wasn't it?

[youthere]

13. by both. Dennis was submarined by both.

and it was horseshit imo.

[Jane Austin]

17. But Matthews wasn't there.

The moderators were Russert and Brian Williams, no?

[youthere]

18. I guess I'm referring to the after debate rundown Matthews did...

he was having himself a good old time mocking Kucinich. It was really sickening..and I don't even like Kucinich.

[Jane Austin]

20. Yeah, you'd think Matthews has never read about anybody who's seen a UFO.

Russert was a jerk for bringing that up, but you're right - Matthews kept it alive.

[ddeclue]

8. B+ not quite as good as Edwards but not bad...

I liked his "I know there's life on earth" quip...that was funny.

Doug D.

[youthere]

10. That was a good redirect for Obama.

[truebrit71]

14. I thought that this was his weakest performance...

..it amazed me to watch someone who is slated as such a great orator to appear to have great difficulty articulating his thoughts...

His attacks on Mrs Inevitable came off half-cocked..like he wasn't sure if he wanted them to land or not, and consequently came off as a bit of a light-weight...

He didn't focus on his strong points (being anti-IWR from the start) and instead seemed to fumble around looking for ways to be as effective a boxer as Edwards was last night...

Not his best night...

[CyberPieHole]

15. Obama was a bystander...Edwards came out full force...Joe Biden kicked butt...

Obama did come off as sincere and got better as he relaxed into the debate....Edwards was impressive in his attacks...Hillary survived the blows (none were fatal)...Dennis Kucinich suffered an outrageous attack that questions his sanity (because he dared to question *'s sanity)...Richardson was fine but did not impress...only Joe Biden who got the least amount of time really stood out from the rest...he was bright, presidential, forceful, and had the best line of the night with his noun-verb-9/11 quip against Ghouliani.

[Bitwit1234]

16. A person has to stop and think

If the only things a person running for the presidency can do is flame and slur their opponents it leaves you to wonder. I would think instead of all the macho punching...the Obama supporters are ranting about he should stand up, if he is man enough, and give his veiws, his good points. How he is honest and truthful enough to stay away with the republican type of swiftboating of his opponents and tell it straight out....what he is and what he stands for.

Of course when you have nothing really to say about yourself, you do that. You flame and you bash.

[BootinUp]

19. PRO: He has the best high ground rhetoric in the field

Talking about the fear mongering of the Bushies and rebuilding trust in Government.

CON: I don't think I am convinced he would really be any different than Hillary on the issues, or that he is any less the "politician" (in the negative connotation) than Hillary.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

21. For me...

Obama just needs to get a littel fire in his belly going and show it to us. I know his style is laid back and "cool" (not hip but in temperature), but I really want to see some passion from him.

He did seem a little off his game last night -- seemed to misstep or be surprised on a few of the questions.

I know these are all "style" and not content issues I have, but I like the full package. :)

[Tactical Progressive]

22. It was just a bad speaking night for him,

but he didn't compromise his principles to compensate. That's the pro and con.


Cons - lackluster performance
-----
Detatched/disengaged, like he wasn't all there.
Verbally stumbling and halting.

Pros - held to his political ethics
-----
I really thought, from pre-debate talk, he was going to go way negative.
I'm thinking maybe he stood up to his own advisors who wanted that, which shows growth and strength.
I was impressed, because I haven't seen that in him as much more than rhetoric up to now.


And I don't think, though of course it's hard to know, that his lack of mudslinging is what stumbled him. I think that they are separate, ie if he had gone into the dirt like the media was saying his camp was planning, that he would have done any better. Just an off night.

[feminazi]

23. The more I see of Obama, the less I like him.

I thought he was fantastic at the 2004 convention and I was sure I was watching the first black president. But I don't think he's built on that promise. Granted, giving a scripted speech and performing in a debate are two different things.

He hasn't impressed me in the debates I've seen so far. It seems like there's no "there, there" and last night wasn't any different. I can't really put my finger on it...I just don't see any depth to his positions. I think he needs more seasoning on the national stage. That said, I'll vote for him if he's our nominee.

Richardson was blah. For all his credentials, he doesn't stand out in the debates.

Biden was superb. He has a way of getting right to the point of the question and gives concise answers. He appears presidential and in control and I'm saying this as someone who's not much of a Biden fan.

The question to Kucinich about the UFO was stupid and I thought Dennis handled it really well. He made Timmy look like the ass that he is.

Dodd was ok. Nothing really memorable stands out for me on his performance.

Edwards was great. He was my first choice at the beginning of the campaign, but had dropped to second. I’d say he’s back in the running after last night, but has anyone else noticed that he talks out of the side of his mouth? I know it’s a stupid observation, but it’s distracting to me. I didn’t notice it when he ran with Kerry.

I thought Clinton did very well. She had a few weak moments, but so did the others. She was the target most of the night and proved to me that she can trade punches. Contrary to what others on DU have said about her appearing pissed and rattled under the attacks, I thought she maintained her poise and demeanor.

One thing that appeals to me about her positions, for example with social security, is that she does realize it’s a complex issue. What some see as triangulation I see as thinking the problem through and realizing that it IS nuanced and you can’t always give yes or no answers with the way questions are sometimes framed in the debates. I was not originally a Hillary supporter, but I’ve come around to her corner.

I do wish the moderators would stop asking stupid questions about what Bill said. Bill’s not running. I recall similar questions to Edwards about comments Elizabeth made. Those questions are unproductive. I don’t care what Bill or Elizabeth said. I want questions asked that will allow the candidates to explain their positions. But I guess with Timmy, that’s too much to ask.