Impressions at the halfway point

I DVR'd the Presidential debate because we were out with friends this evening. I am about halfway through it now, and so far, I don't have a real good feeling about it, but not a disastrous one, either.

Barack Obama looks more Presidential than McCain does. He ISN'T more Presidential, but appearances count for way too much in the modern media era. He also sounds more smooth.

This may be more of a pet peeve of mine than anything, but I wish McCain would discard some of his trademark phrases that we've all heard him say a dozen times in as many different stump speeches and town hall meetings. One of them is about "not being voted Miss Congeniality in the Senate." Please. We get it. I guess he thinks he has to drive home the point.

I will probably get chided for what I just expressed, but hear me out before you post your angry comments. :) I was recalling earlier today as I was mulling over what a year it has been in Presidential politics: I will never forget the extreme distaste I felt on that cold day back in January when I watched John McCain claim victory in the Florida primary, and knew in my heart that he would be our nominee, and Mitt Romney would probably be bowing out before too long. A few days later, McCain told Tim Russert that he understood that primaries can be tough and emotions can run high, and I agreed, "You've got that right, Senator!"

Yet, here we stand, 9 months later, and I can honestly say that I have become fond of John McCain. The old POW was right after all; he had been in politics long enough that he knew that we close ranks in the end around our nominee, especially when we're ideologically on the same page 70-80% of the time. McCain's convention speech really did close the deal for me, as I look back on it now. The moment when he told us that "I learned to love my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's" was so raw and vulnerable....WOW. Now, a speech alone shouldn't convince anyone, but in conjunction with his policies and signalled openness to the conservative wing, it worked for me. Of course, Palin Power hasn't hurt either!

But having uttered all of the above, a lot of people have their little idiosyncrasies that are a bit irritating, and McCain is no exception to this.

OK...it took me about 10 minutes to type the above, and things have livened up considerably as we move into the second half of the debate. They're actually discussing foreign policy, which was always supposed to be the subject of the evening, and McCain has found his footing. Not that I think they shouldn't be discussing the bailout package. They absolutely should. But more on that later. I may be back tonight....