There may or may not be objective criteria to decide who won a debate, especially one where the participants are relatively closely matched in their rhetorical skills. But since the prize here is winning an election rather than a trophy, the perceptions of potential voters have to be the primary determining factor. As ABC News says,

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows 46% of people who watched Friday night's presidential debate say Democrat Barack Obama did a better job than Republican John McCain; 34% said McCain did better.

Obama scored even better -- 52%-35% -- when debate-watchers were asked which candidate offered the best proposals for change to solve the country's problems.

I think it's really time for the conservative movement to face up to something too: their strong tendency towards arrogant, disrespectful posturing -- personified during the debate by McCain's insulting demeanor towards Obama -- comes back to haunt them time after time. Polling evidence shows that every time McCain said that Obama "doesn't understand" during the debate (a phrase he repeated numerous times), he lost voters. Obama won the debate. He beat a strong Democratic field that included the formidable Hillary Clinton during the primaries. He deserves to be where he is and has stood up to every challenge that's been thrown at him. It's time for Republicans to -- to quote John McCain himself -- "stop the bullshit." The belittling personal assaults on Obama are only hurting McCain's campaign, and debasing our political discourse at the same time. Obama and the nation deserve better than such petty vindictiveness.

Obama is an empty suit and a socialist. Any poll conducted by the liberal MSM is about as worthless as tits on a bull. Please brace yourself for the riots. John McCain will be our next president.

cobia hunter:

Obama is an empty suit and a socialist. Any poll conducted by the liberal MSM is about as worthless as tits on a bull. Please brace yourself for the riots. John McCain will be our next president.

And you respond with...petty vindictiveness. Big surprise.

Unfortunately halting the belittling demeanor will be impossible for John McCain to accomplish.

Arrogance and sneering condescension has become the standard of Republican/Conservative behavior since Newt Gingrigh led his "revolution". It is indicative of a party whose Religious Right base considers all of their political positions to be ordained by God, and therefore infallible.

The only thing we can expect, henceforth, is for the arrogance and anger to become more pronounced, not less, as frustration continues, unabated, and Conservatives "double down" (to channel their hero, George W. Bush's modus operandi) on that tactic.

The McCain ugliness will get much, much worse.

Good post fingerpuppet.

I've heard that McCain has a new ad that just shows Obama saying, time and again, 'I agree with John'.

When both candidates are running as someone who can work across the aisle, seeing Obama saying, 'I agree with John' makes me think Obama can actually do it more than someone who says, 'You just don't understand.'

"Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in Congress. When you're that far to the left, it's hard to reach across the aisle." Senator John McCain

Does the McCain camp have anything at all to offer besides cheap stunts and mocking bullshit? His campaign has truly descended to the level of a disgraceful farce.

You mean like the Messiah's attacks on a woman who was fortunate enough to have survived an abortion?

Yep. In fact, the McCain campaign has promised as much in response to their current poll numbers. I guess they have nothing positive to run on.

After the past eight years of corruption and incompetence under a radical conservative administration, "liberal" is a good thing. But that's OK, you don't have to like it. In fact, if you liked it, it would probably mean it was a mistake.

cobia hunter,

Americans for Democratic Action, a more reputable liberal watchdog agency than National Journal (the group that ranked Obama as the most liberal senator in 2007) has several senators rated more lowly than Obama. Similarly, the American Conservative Union, a conservative activist group, also fails to rank Obama as anywhere near the most liberal senator.

Even the National Journal, the organization that ranked Obama as the most liberal in 2007, admits their methodology is incomplete and their statements mis-utilized. For example, Obama was only the 10th and 16th most liberal in years past. Also, they take into account only actual votes rather than public support for bills guaranteed to pass- votes where some senators do not bother to show up. As an example, Obama publically supported free trade with Peru, a clearly conservative position that was unquestionably going to pass the senate, but Obama was campaigning rather than voting so this conservative position does not count in the National Journal's study.

If you were wondering about John McCain's rating using the National Journal's methodology, well, keep wondering. Senator McCain missed too many votes in 2007 to be rated by the National Journal.

cobia hunter:

You mean like the Messiah's attacks on a woman who was fortunate enough to have survived an abortion?

cobia hunter, you butchered that talking point very badly. Feel free to peddle tripe, but at least do it decently.

cobia hunter: are you capable of critical thought? It is obviious that you can ape Republican talking points, but do you ever espouse an original thought? Probably not, at least that is what your Republican leadership is counting on.

their strong tendency towards arrogant, disrespectful posturing

This is priceless. Obama is the walking personification of self-satisfied smugness. If designing your own presidential seal isn't "posturing," if giving a lame speech from a faux-Acropolis isn't arrogance (he does realize that half the country was straight-up bawling with laughter at him, doesn't he?), I surely don't know what is.

What a self-satirizing joke.

Re: "If designing your own presidential seal isn't "posturing," "

Can you document that from a source other than Newsmax?