The Last Debate (Thankfully)

There wasn't a whole lot here that was new. The biggest thing that I came away from the debate and the early reactions on CNN.com was about McCain being on the offensive and Obama being on the defensive. I think this was one of the memes following the other two debates as well. And I agree. McCain most often was on the attack and Obama playing defense. But I think this is exactly what Obama wanted.

For starters, some pundits said that Obama had to be careful not to come across as an "angry black man." It's a lot easier to do that when your opponent is the one attacking or being angry. Obama just needed to keep his calm and let his opponent self destruct. But, and I think this is more important, the way that he responded to all of McCain's attacks gave the sense that he was an incumbent, taking on a challenger. McCain kept attacking on Obama's terms. Issue after issue, McCain would attack, looking for an opening, and often coming off as snarky or nasty, and then Obama could explain his position, authoratively, reasonably, and calmly.

This is what America saw for 270 minutes. A complete rope‒a‒dope strategy. And McCain kept playing into this, attacking Obama time and time again. It's not surprising that McCain's unfavorables have been so high and people believe he's running a much more negative campaign than Obama. Yes, he is airing many more negative ads. But McCain also was goaded into constantly playing the role of attack dog, making Obama appear much more reasonable and, ultimately, presidential.