Whowunnit?

McCain did better in the debate than I expected, but Obama was stronger in many ways. First of all, Obama’s answers were on topic and articulated more clearly. He tried to follow Jim Lehrer’s repeated admonition to have a dialogue with his opponent rather than address the audience and the camera, but Senator McCain would have none of it. He seemed to be clenching the podium, facing the audience with that creepy, mirthless smile frozen on his face. In fact, McCain’s body language was that of a person strenuously exerting control over his baser instincts, his voice constrained to a stage whisper, while his facial expressions betrayed his true feelings of anger, resentment, condescension and fear. He often rebutted Obama’s statements in a dismissive manner which invariably began with some version of the phrase that “Heh, heh, heh…Senator Obama doesn’t understand…”, while trying to act as if he and the audience were sharing a joke at Obama’s expense. All of his pretensions fell flat in the face of Obama’s informed, succinct and commanding responses.