September 26, 2008 10:47

JP's Big Fat Wrap-Up Post

Posted by James Poniewozik | Comments (8) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

While we're on the subject of closing remarks—I'm going to avoid picking a winner, because I'm not The Undecided Voter. Overall, I was surprised both by how subdued in tone McCain was for much of the debate, and by how tight and controlled he kept his rhetoric. Both probably intentional moves, and I'm not sure how they played. Both of them, I thought, missed rhetorical opportunities that a Bill Clinton, say, might have knocked out of the park. (Obama's "I have a bracelet, too" for instance.) I'd be hard-pressed to think of a moment from this debate I will remember in four years, or four weeks—except for those crazy CNN graphics.

As for the structure and the moderation, I actually thought Jim Lehrer would have made more effort to relate foreign policy to the economy, and to spend even more time specifically on the financial crisis. [Update: Oh, and I thought the candidates would try to do this in their responses too.] I wonder how many viewers wondered why this program had replaced the scheduled debate they were expecting, considering what had been in the news all week.

But my red light's blinking, so I will defer to my esteemed colleague Ms. Tumulty. Thank you, and God bless America!

Sphere Related Blogs & Articles

Reader Comments (8)

http://www.3llk.com
http://www.3llk.com/vb
http://pic.3llk.com/
http://voice.3llk.com/
http://www.3llk.com/vb
http://www.3llk.net
http://www.3llk.net/vb
http://dlil.3llk.com
http://www.3slcom.com/
http://www.3slcom.com/vb

http://dlil.3llk.com/newlink2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat4s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat7s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat10s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat13s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat14s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat15s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat56s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat57s2.html
http://dlil.3llk.com/cat58s2.html
http://www.3llk.com/sobr.html

http://www.3llk.com/fr3/astraak.html
http://www.3llk.com/fr3/za5.html
http://3llk.com/a3ln.htm
http://chat.3llk.com
http://www.3llk.com/tobikt/

http://www.3llk.com/tobikt/categories.php?cat_id=1

http://www.3llk.com/tobikt/categories.php

http://www.3llk.com/vb/f67.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f68.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f63.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f64.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f65.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f66.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/t8704.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/t8706.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f69.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f60.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f77.html
http://www.3llk.com/vb/f58.html

Posted by 1200 | December 31, 2008 11:12 AM

Thank you for this deployment and to contribute to the distinctive development
* my site :
- http://www.y1y1.com
- http://www.games.y1y1.com
- http://www.y1y1.com/vb
- http://www.y1y1.com/vb/f37
- http://www.y1y1.com/vb/f45
- http://www.dir.y1y1.com
- http://www.y1y1.com/vb/f46
- http://www.de3ayat.com
- http://www.f5.cc
- http://www.f15.cc
- http://www.f6.cc
- http://www.grnaas.com
- http://www.grnaa.com/vb

Posted by fahad | December 25, 2008 10:16 AM

Posted by q | October 30, 2008 6:44 AM

Are you finished? Are you done with that! Don't let him fool you.642-445 / 646-204 / 000-331 / 70-526 / 642-586

Posted by lauryn123 | October 22, 2008 9:44 AM

Damn you, Poniewozik! I picked Ahmad-I'm-a-terrorist-jihad as my drinking word on your recommendation, and I paid dearly for it during the Iran exchange.

Posted by Anon | September 27, 2008 3:49 AM

Interesting comments, Mr. Poniewozik. I agree that Obama backed off on several occasions when he could have landed heavy blows. He was nonetheless very effective. McCain, though, was ready to blow up at one point, I think on that preconditions/Kissinger point; you could see him seething and laughing that stupid laugh of his.

McCain was so incoherent, so often. The only thing he's a maverick in is sticking to the topic at hand. He was positively Palin-like in jumping from issue to issue without logic.

Posted by Senator-Elect | September 26, 2008 11:53 PM

Although having a division of commenters did seem to serve the function of better facilitating individual threads of discussion - that was nice. I didn't go to KTs much, were there lots of folks going both places, or were people pretty much locked into one thread or the other?

Posted by shara says | September 26, 2008 11:38 PM

James, thanks for the effort, and your observations. Hope a good central blog with you and KT for the next debate will happen.

Posted by james | September 26, 2008 11:21 PM

About Liveblog: The Debates

Michael Grunwald is TIME's National Correspondent. Read more

Jim Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Read more

Karen Tumulty is TIME's National Political Correspondent and has also covered the White House and Congress. Read more

RSS Feed

Daily Email

CNN Politics

Get U.S. and global politics 24-7. Politics at CNN has campaign coverage, latest headlines and video, candidates' positions on the issues, fundraising totals, states to watch, delegate counts, election results, news and analysis
CNN Politics

The Page

Mark Halperin and the TIME political team covering the 2008 campaign bring you all the latest breaking news, videos, and best stories from every source, all in one place, expertly culled and edited, 24/7.
The Page

White House Photo Blog

Get an intimate look at the Bush administration and race for 2008 through the eyes of TIME's White House photographers.
White House Photo Blog

Ana Marie Cox on the trail

Keep up with Cox as she posts pictures and tidbits from the campaign trail.
Flickr
Twittr

Liveblog: The Debates Archives

December 2008
Choose a day to view events.

<< Previous Months

	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Quick Links:: U.S.| World| Blogs| Business & Tech| Health & Science| Entertainment| Photos| Magazine| Specials| Archive

: RSS Feeds| Get TIME on your Mobile Device| Podcasts| Video| Newsletter

Services:: Subscribe | Customer Service|Help|Site Map|Contact Us|Privacy Policy|Terms of Use|Media Kit|Reprints & Permissions|Opinion Leaders Panel

Editions:: TIME Domestic|TIME Europe|TIME Asia|TIME Pacific|TIME For Kids