"That One"



(image via nytimes)

Senator Obama won last night's debate by a whisker. The Gallup daily tracking poll seems to confirm that, noting that Obama gained a point in his national lead, now over the 50% mark. The Senator from Illinois was more aggressive, not letting McCain's verbal attacks go like he did last time. McCain also dated himself several times, especially in his reference to hair plugs and "gold-plated Cadillacs." Gold plated Cadillacs? WTF? Is America, like, a Lil Orphan Annie comic? Are stockings now "nylons"? Oh the way Glenn Miller played ...



"That one," also, was just plain weird. Joe Scarborough, on The Chris Matthews Show this Sunday, explained how John McCain makes all his political opponents into Satan. Remember: Mitt Romney, a hapless though chamelon-ish dolt, was rendered into Beelzebub (as was George Bush in 2000). This Us-versus-Them mentality is archaic, profoundly unhelpful and beneath a President of these United States. But to see it up close is just unnerving. McCain all but quivers with rage sometimes, even, possibly, refusing to shake hands with what could be the next President. McCain -- even National Review editor Rich Lowry admits -- came off as the proverbial mean old man compared to the unrufflable Obama.

The debate format, as Drudge reports (in all caps), made for a fairly BORING event. The Corsair's predictions of what would be said -- "liberal," "Chicago pol" -- were waaay off. There was really no room for attack politics, especially when interaction with an audience was so integral to one's performance.

This economic crisis, which nay be the worst since the 1930s, will not need divisive Rovians. And this "War on Terror" will require solutions more nimble and, yes, nuanced than Us-versus-Them. It may require post-partisan "Patriotic Grace."