Garling Gauge

McCain-Obama ‘Debate Firsts’ 10-7-8

 Obama attacks while McCain stutters

Much has changed since the last debate, making this one the most important ever (aren’t they all, though?). 

With Obama riding a growing lead over his Republican counterpart in key battleground states, the McCain campaign has shifted its focus from the economy (what a blunder the economy-savior McCain was) to personal attacks and character assassination on Sen. Obama. 

The great irony is how predictable this is.  When hasn’t the Republican party thrown the first real mud in an election?  And the craziest bit is that Cindy McCain is saying the Obama campaign is “running the ‘dirtiest campaign’ ever.   Can you believe the gall of these people?  ‘Hypocrisy’ and ‘Republican’ are almost indestinguishable these days.

With the first debate over, this second of three is ripe for the picking for more ‘debate firsts’.  And who knows, perhaps McCain will pull a rabbit out of his hat by apologizing for his misdeeds, and the  American people will actually consider trusting him again.

Without further ado, here are the McCain-Obama Debate-Firsts (2nd of 3):

• First person to have those old facial spots: Moderator Tom Brokaw
• First to wave to the crowd: Sen. John McCain
• First to show his teeth while smiling: Sen. Barack Obama
• First to answer a question: Obama (on the economy; go figure)
• First to mention sky diving equipment: Obama
• First to stand up when he wasn’t even asked a question: McCain
• First to mention his opponent: McCain
• First to say Americans are afraid: McCain
• First to wear tie that appears to waver on screen: McCain (weird red stripes)
• First to get a chuckle from the audience: McCain (saying Brokaw won’t be appointed as Treasury Secretary)
• First to mention the Middle Class: Obama
• First to say something the other candidate said was right: Obama
• First to correct something the other candidate said: Obama
• First to appear to be on the attack: Obama (somewhat surprisingly)
• First to mention health care and energy: Obama
• First to mention ‘cronyism’ in three answers in a row: McCain
• First to say American workers are innocent and the best: McCain
• First audience member with a southern accent: Teresa Finch
• First to mention President Bush: Obama
• First to say ‘I understand how you feel’: Obama
• First to say that he’s a reformer: McCain (did he have to go there so quickly?)
• First to lean on a handrail: McCain
• First to hit a handrail repeatedly with his hand: McCain
• First to pace when not being asked a question: McCain
• First to ask for a question to be repeated: McCain
• First to address the moderator by his first name: McCain
• First to mention Ronald Reagan: McCain
• First to say we have to ‘build a whole bunch’ of nuclear power plants: McCain
• First to say exactly how much gas costs in Nashville: Obama
• First to mention Iran: Obama
• First to receive an internet question: McCain
• First to mention overhead projectors: McCain
• First to mention the ‘middle of the night’: McCain
• First to say that ‘we are Americans’: McCain
• First to lick his lips: McCain
• First to mention 9/11: Obama
• First to say President Bush ‘did some smart things from the outset’ of the 9/11 aftermath: Obama
• First to mention people getting drunk: Brokaw
• First to mention teachers: Obama
• First to say ‘high on the hog’: Obama
• First to mention hatchets and scalpels: Obama
• First to mention Jello: McCain
• First to suggest the other candidate has a secret: McCain

• First to be denied the ability to respond to the other candidate: Obama
• First to chastise the candidates for breaking the rules and then change the rules in the very next sentence: Brokaw (lame, lame, lame moderator)
• First to appear to be dominating the debate: Obama (on the attack)
• First to interrupt the moderator: McCain
• First to laugh and wheeze at himself: McCain
• First to say he’s not too popular sometimes with his own party: McCain
• First to say the answer to Medicare is ‘a commission’: McCain
• First to stutter: McCain
• First to mention computers: Obama
• First to say he and the other candidate agree on something: McCain

• First to mention the Manhattan Project: Brokaw
• First person to really drag the debate down: Brokaw (SHUT UP ABOUT THE TIME LIMIT AND THE LIGHTS)
• First to repeat himself: McCain
• First to say we have to drill offshore now: McCain
• First to make the moderator, and only the moderator, laugh: McCain
• First to wander around behind the other candidate he is answering a question: McCain
• First to mention mammograms: Obama
• First to suggest putting health records online: McCain
• First to say it’s ‘okay to cross state lines’: McCain
• First to make a joke and no one laughs: McCain (saying he might need hair transplants)
• First to say American health care is a ‘responsibility’: McCain
• First to say American health care is a ‘right’: Obama
• First to mention the other candidate’s home state: Obama
• First to say Americans are ‘peacemakers and peacekeepers’: McCain
• First to say the other candidate was wrong about Iraq: McCain
• First candidate to consistently receive high approval ratings on the concurrent CNN uncommitted Ohio voter scale: Obama
• First to mention morality: Obama
• First to mention the halocaust: Obama
• First to say we have a moral obligation to stop genocide: Obama
• First to put his hand in his pocket while answering a question: McCain
• First to say a general disagrees with the other candidate: McCain
• First to say the other candidate would lead to defeat: McCain
• First to say using American military power requires a ‘cool hand’: McCain (oh the irony)
• First to say ‘coddle’: Obama
• First to mention Osama bin Laden: Obama
• First to mention his hero: McCain
• First to say the moderator is doing a great job: Obama
• First candidate to change the debate rules by responding with a follow up response: Obama
• First candidate to interrupt another candidate’s answer: McCain
• Debate First: McCain says he agrees with something Obama said
• First to mention the name of a month: Obama (April)
• First to answer a Yes-or-No question without saying yes or no: Obama
• First to say ‘maybe’ to the same question: McCain (Is Russia under Putin an evil empire?)
• First to mention Israel: McCain
• First to say everything he learned about leadership was from a petty officer: McCain
• First to say the word ‘quest’: McCain
• First to mention diplomacy: Obama
• First to say the word ’squeeze’: Obama
• First to mention Zen: Brokaw
• First to point out his wife in the audience: Obama
• First to say ’scrimping’: Obama
• First to call our planet by its name: Obama
• First to suggest Americans will be talking about countries some Americans can’t find on a map: McCain
• First to say the word ’tiller’: McCain
• First candidate to be in the way of Brokaw’s view of his script at the end of the debate: McCain

End Debate

Closing thoughts: Obama clearly won the debate with cool attacks on McCain and by thoroughly answering the questions.  Obama also consistently rated extremely high on the CNN response meter in comparison to McCain.  With the town hall style format supposedly being McCain’s forte, the elder senator failed to provoke a real emotional connection with the audience.  This debate didn’t hurt Obama one bit and certainly didn’t help McCain. 

Watch the Full Debate below:

More Debate Firsts here.

Images:http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032553/, http://huffingtonpost.com, http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081008/D93M1JKO0.html

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