The Debate Aftermath- The Rational Perspective and the Spin

From MyDD:

There's a lot of talk on MSNBC about John McCain's demeanor. He came off as mean, condescending and a jerk, not looking at Barack once the whole night, while Barack came off as Mr. nice guy. This is generally the sort of thing people judge candidates on when they make their voting decisions, so the question is, will people judge McCain harshly for acting like a dick or will they see it as strength? Will they like Barack more or will they think he allowed McCain to roll over him?

From the great Mr.Marshall:

I keep coming back to McCain's comment that Pakistan was a "failed state" when Musharraf hatched his coup d'etat. It's a vague term. But I don't think that adds up. It's always been the key fear that Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons, could become a failed state. It's got lots of the ingredients. But I don't think that adds up.

From the equally great Mr.Yglesias:

Paul Begala looked back at Barack Obama’s list of particulars against McCain’s misjudgments on Iraq policy in 2002-2004 and said: “He thrashed John McCain on Iraq.” It’s too bad, though, that Obama didn’t return back to this point more frequently. Unlike the various tactical ins-and-outs of different people’s ideas about exactly when and where you meet with so-and-so, the initial question about whether or not to invade Iraq implicates big picture strategic considerations.

It’s clear to anyone who bothers to ask him that love of preventive war as a primary tool of non-proliferation policy is integral to McCain’s worldview. He sees one of the main problems with the Iraq War as being that it’s tended to make Americans less eager to embrace that agenda. He fears that we may turn to a candidate, Obama, who doesn’t believe in attacking countries that haven’t attacked us or our allies. He thinks that starting such wars is vital to American security, and that’s why he’s running for president.

From Digby:

It's very hard for me to gauge this debate because to me John McCain is quite obviously a crazy, intemperate, nasty old bastard. He was sarcastic, contemptuous and patronizing. I really, really loathe him.

For the usually corrupt hack Mark Halperin, a moment of clarity:

Version of Obama who showed up: focused, firm, prepared.
Version of McCain who showed up: firm.
Mark Halperin’s overall grades: Obama A-, McCain B-

On that same page, Henry Kissinger wasn't happy with Obama. Boo hoo Henry:

"Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality."

Walden Ponderer at the Kos with why McCain's terribel gaffe about Pakistan is important:

On John McCain's supposed area of expertise, he essentially just said "Poland is not under Soviet influence." Seriously. If you don't know what that references, then google "Gerald Ford" "Poland" "Debate".

Now.... why does it matter?

It matters because the fundamental difference between "strategy" and "tactics", which McCain flubbed just as badly, is that "tactics" requires knowledge of terrain, knowledge of particular weapons, knowledge of weather conditions on the ground.

"Strategy" requires knowing your objective... and WHO THE FREAKING ENEMY IS!!!!!!! McCain may think that the politically ineffective Sharif's coalition party was a "failed state" but it was, in fact, a DEMOCRACY that should have been supported through a difficult time, not turned out to dry, leaving a power vacuum for the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Major poll analysis from CBS:

On who won the debate:
Obama 40%
McCain 22%
Tie 38%

On who would make the right decisions about the economy:
Obama 68%
McCain 41%

On who would make the right decisions about Iraq:
Obama 49%
McCain 45%

And, of course, Joe Biden:

The evidence is clear. McNasty was nasty,Obama was classy. It was a draw to me at the end of the day, and McCain needed to win this with foreign policy being his supposed strength. And a lot of undecided voters feel that McAngry didn't win all.

For more debate updates and analysis, go to the TP link.