[NOTE: I'm liveblogging the debate, though I'm a bit behind as I had it paused. The guy I'm referring to above is, of course, McCain.]
He had me at "Didja think I couldn't hear him?"
Great line! Self-deprecating humor gets me every time. (That's one of the many reasons I married my husband.)
Another great line: "I didn't win Miss Congeniality in the Senate."
Funny thing. I never was that crazy about McCain. He was always "too liberal" for me. But you know what? I am 100% impressed with what I'm hearing from him so far tonight. I think he's a bulldog on cost cutting. The story about cutting $6.8 billion (billion?) on a Boeing contract, and throwing some of the culprits in jail for it, was fantastic.
He also got some great stuff in there about Obama's $1 in earmarks for every day he's been in the Senate, and about his liberal voting record. That last comment wasn't really germane to the question, but who cares?
Obama sounds pompous. My daughter said he always sounds arrogant. He seems to have no sense of humor; he's trying too hard to look presidential.
I heard the first half hour while waiting for my daughter to get out of work. Now I'm going to quick take a peek around the blogosphere. I'll bet anything Vodkapundit is drunkblogging it (just checked: yep) and maybe Althouse (yep).
I'll be right back!
UPDATE: I'm back.
Ooooh, I hate when Obama says "pahk-ee-stahn". I HATE that. Talk like an American, for crying out loud! It's PACK-IH-STAN. Criminy.
UPDATE again. Obama has said, several times, "When I'm president." Arrogant. McCain seems to say "if" I'm president. Humble. And real.
I'm thinking that Obama may lose this thing on pure arrogance. "I reserve the right as President to sit down with anyone I choose at the time and place of my choosing." Oh do you now. Whatever.
McCain keeps saying that there are things Obama doesn't understand. He's "naive", "dangerous". Wow, those are some hard jabs. But not uncalled for.
UPDATE: Teen daughter (16 yo) says "McCain sounds like he means what he's saying." Obama looks really ticked off. Furious, even. This while McCain is ripping him about his stand on meeting with Ahmadinejad. McCain seems to be enjoying himself; he's loose, sharp, has a sense of humor. He also knows a heckuva lot of stuff about foreign affairs.
Stephen Green says:
This debate still has ten minutes or so to go. But it’s not too soon to give you a wrap. McCain is no debater. He wouldn’t last a second during Question Hour in the British Parliament. And yet Obama is coming off in third place in a two-man session.
Great line!
UPDATE: Obama has a plan for energy! A secret plan!
More Stephen Green:
OK, I’ll give you a real close now. Obama strikes me as a modern Chamberlain, praising his (oh-so-transient) “peace with honor.” McCain, however, comes across as “peace when we’re done kicking you ass and not one moment sooner.” And since this was ostensibly a foreign policy debate, I give the win to McCain. Oh, and one other thing — Obama is still talking as I write this. But he’s spending his last answer angling for the European vote, which does nothing but reinforce my point.
I have to agree. I give this one to McCain. He cleaned Obama's clock.
Most important, on a personal level: He made the sale to me. The title of this post was obviously a little over-enthusiastic, but it really just means that now, when I pull the lever for McCain/Palin, it won't be half-heartedly.
