McCain continually treated Obama with a contempt that was jarringly inappropriate in this arena. & Obama continued to deflect McCain's assertions, some of them false, with the calm strength of the Statesman he is. It seems Obama decided to be conciliatory rather than aggressive in his rebuttals though at times, I would have appreciated more confrontation on Obama's part.
From the initial handshake on, McCain refused to have eye contact with Obama. & That says volumes more about McCain than it does about Obama. & And I can almost hear & McCain's handlers, in prepping him for the debate, saying, & "Now remember, no matter what he says...just say "Senator Obama doesn't seem to understand,"... a phrase McCain said so many times, the group I was with started to groan in advance of every repetition. (It's unfortunate that those same handlers didn't get the word to McCain, as had been announced to the rest of us, prior to the debate, that Senator Ted Kennedy was out of the hospital and allegedly was home listening, because McCain's belated announcement to the world that Kennedy was in the hospital after suffering a seizure, unfortunately put him at an early disadvantage.)
In the aftermath of the debate, the consensus is that Obama accomplished what he had to. He showed he was as equal to McCain in the areas of foreign policy, and he showed he more clearly understood the challenges Americans are facing here at home in our daily lives. Ultimately, he exhibited & that he has the temperament and the judgment to lead this country thought the crises we will indure in the next four years.
If Senator McCain is unable to keep the condescension & out of his voice when he is speaking to a Senatorial colleague, just imagine how he would treat foreign heads of state, were he to be elected.
If history is any teacher, many of the foreign policy issues the next President will face cannot even be imagined today. What is important is that the next leader understands that solving these will require not only a strong military, but dialogue and displomacy as well. & Obama proved last night that he is that leader.
