We watched the first Presidential debate last night. The consensus of the pundits seems to be that it was a draw - it was focused on foreign policy, which is an area in which McCain is considered stronger than Obama; Obama held his own, without delivering a knockout blow.
This doesn't give much sense of what it was actually like. Both candidates were impressively articulate, but their styles differ, and I think the difference favours McCain. Obama is clearly an intellectual - calm, considered, understated but nevertheless definitely charismatic. He was much more effective at weighing up the importance of different commitments or policies, while McCain stuck to themes that make him sound good (pork barrel etc) while ignoring the key issues.
McCain is less charismatic but somehow he is able to tap into people's emotional side more effectively. His anecdotes seemed more genuine, and I thought that although Obama "won" the majority of the points throughout the debate, McCain scored the last - and most important one - with his comments about knowing how to heal the wounds of war, and how much he love veterans. It sounds cheesy but his political skill is that he was able to pull it off.
People often say that American voters have a tendency to vote for people they could imagine going for a beer (or having Thanksgiving dinner) with, and on this score McCain, playing the role of the opinionated but loving patriarch, wins hands down.
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I thought Obama comes across as too college professor, kind of aloof. It seems to me a good performance wouldn't win somebody over, but a bad performance could lose support. So basically as long as you're not weak or stumbling it doesn't hurt you if the other guy's really good.
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