First presidential debate

I watched parts of the debate last night, including some post-debate commentary on CNN and have come to the conclusion about a couple of things:

1. McCain comes off as condescending. During the entire time I watched I noticed that he refused to look at Obama (he stayed focused on Jim Lehrer) and spent a lot time snickering when Obama talked. He must have called Obama naive and said naivite in reference to Obama at least a dozen times. By characterizng him as young, inexperienced and naive, McCain began to sound dangerously like someone whose experience would be all that he needed to make decisions. That is, McCain doesn't sound like he would be open to other's opinions or new ideas when making decisions. Case in point - the entire part about diplomacy and talking with "dangerous" folks in places like Afghanistan and North Korea - McCain kept talking about how there has to be a particular context for the US President to sit down with these dangerous people, otherwise run the risk of legitimizing their extremist views. Obama, on the on other hand, said that the US President should be able to sit down and talk to who he wants to, without an eye towards expecting immediate outcomes that are in US interests. I totally agree with Obama because diplomacy is something that gets worked on over time and we can't just turn our backs on people/countries just because their doesn't seem to be an immediate US interest.

2. If I have to hear McCain's POW story one more time, I think I'm going to kill my tv. I don't think I can take it anymore because it's clear that Obama can't compare to him in that way. McCain n eeds to be careful to not de-value or fetishize that story, so that it loses its significance as an experience.

3. Obama has better manners than McCain. Instead of standing there snickering, Obama politely yet forcefully interjected every time he took issue with McCain's remarks. In these minor interruptions, McCain didn't even pause to acknowledge Obama (I guess that would have been a sign of weakness), even when Obama got a chance to later say that McCain had been mischaracterizing him. Obama constantly showed respect to Jim Lehrer (who I think managed the situation really well, even though the candidates took a lot of liberty with time) by saying allowing Lehrer to do his job. McCain ran over Obama as well as Lehrer and really didn't show any manners at all. Also, Obama did a great job of making eye contact with not only McCain, but also Lehrer and the audience that was out there in the sea of blackness. Obama acknowledge that there were more people who were a part of this debate than just Lehrer.

4. I guess the financial crisis isn't that big of a deal. There was no mention of it at any point when I was watching. I thought McCain would for sure mention it since he made such a big deal by "suspending" his campaign. So is WaMu's overnight take over by JPMorgan really that big of a deal? Is the bailout that huge of an issue? Not sure at this point...

5. I totally can't wait until the VP debate. Biden, if he can stay focused and not say stupid stuff, is going to kick Palin's ass.

6. Commentary on CNN and NPR have been pretty even handed so far. I need to go renew my membership with NPR since it's "drive" time... (thanks NPR!)