The First Debate: Who won?

The first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama was last night. Like most competitions there are bound to be winners and losers, so the question everyone is asking is who won? Democrats are saying Obama won and Republicans are saying McCain won, big surprise. The truth is that John McCain won the debate, but Barack Obama certainly didn’t lose, and here is why.
John McCain- John appeared a little more knowledgeable about the issues than Obama. He stayed on the offensive most of the time which is vintage McCain, he is a fighter. He seemed pretty calm (for John McCain standards) the entire debate. He started out a little slow but was throwing some very bold jabs at Obama towards the end. One thing that bothered me however was that he wouldn’t look directly at Obama, but I do understand that is very John McCain, he was annoyed with Obama and I imagine that had he looked at Obama more he was bound to say something out of aggression that he would regret. McCain did surprisingly well in the economic section of the debate, but I feel didn’t take advantage enough Obama in the National Security section where he should of dominated.
Barack Obama- Barack seemed a little less knowledgeable than McCain but I attribute this to his style of debating. McCain stuck to his guns on all issues, while Barack said a lot of “I agree with John, but this is where we differ” which is his style of debating, finding the middle ground. One thing that really stuck in my mind was how in the beginning of the debate Obama seemed like his regular calm self. Obama is a really calm and collective person, but as the debate rolled on he became visibly annoyed. John McCain really got under Obama’s skin; this was one of the first times I had seen Obama as flustered as he was. Obama was average on the Economic portion, but did surprisingly well in the National Security section.
In the end because McCain came out looking more knowledgeable, and seemed in control and because of that I have to give the win to him. Don’t worry Obama fans, Obama didn’t lose. McCain did not have a major victory as some people expected. Obama didn’t make any major mistakes which could cost him the election and he did well in the National Security section which McCain could of steamrolled over him, but didn’t. Most importantly, Obama didn’t make any comments that could be turned into “sound bites” against him except his “line by line” comment which I will touch on in a later blog.