Sheez, everyone lighten up. Nearly everyone here thinks Obama did fine...

...but if you're surprised that McCain "did as well as he did," as measured by the applause of the audience, well remember, most of the Evangelicals in the audience voted for George Bush twice. I'm actually surprised that they were respectful to Obama at all. If only Obama had had the chance to challenge McCain on his record with all of these issues...but this wasn't your average debate audience.

But anyway, it's a Saturday night, and I'm guessing few people but us and the Freepers are watching. Don't worry about the GOP pundits on TV and have a good evening.

And McCain can't win if that happens. I'm sure most people in that church are McCain voters. So what? Obama just needs a little more than Kerry got from them in 2004.

It will be a blow out for Obama!

and I thought the audience was good to Obama too ..I mean for not being his base...But the MSM...uggg puke hurl..there after the forum shows are stomach turning.

I think he did very well, too.

and it was trap.

:)

this hurt him at all. Hopefully McCain's answers to some of these questions will get even more women over to our side and maybe some independent,undecideds will come over to Obama too. Obama seemed more thoughtful while McCain was on a script. He got applause and was treated to a standing O in a forum that was not his base what more could he ask for from the night.

What if I told you that Obama was about to go into one of the most Republican cities, in one of the most Republican counties in the State of California? Wait, before you answer, I also tell you that he will be asked questions by an Evangelical pastor in front of his congregation?

Well, Obama just did that, and he came out of it with Rick Warren calling Obama a friend and vouching for the fact that Obama is a Christian, and this alone probably made the whole trip worth it.

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/polisubs_0100.pdf

County of Orange:
Republicans: 596,475
Democrat: 384,983


City of Lake Forest:
Republicans: 15,776
Democrats: 7,758

So, Republicans probably outnumbered Democrats by at least two to one, since we are not even talking just Lake Forest. We are talking an Evangelical Church in the City of Lake Forest.

was a shock to a lot of DUers, some of whom I think expected McCain to fall asleep halfway through the hour, or be ranting wildly after the first five minutes.

It will not help us to underestimate McCain.

And while I thought Obama gave wonderful, thoughtful, honest answers that should have impressed anyone at all openminded and thoughtful who was listening, I do think that David Gergen and Chuck Todd have a point about how tonight should make the Obama campaign aware that McCain will be a more formidable opponent than they'd expected, including in the debates. The "thoughtful and nuanced" versus "direct and forceful" comparison is one the Obama campaign has to consider. And they need to keep the ultimate audience in mind.

Obama is an intellectual and an academic, and we like that about him, and he isn't OVERLY intellectual. (I have some academic friends who can spin themselves in such rhetorical, lofty circles that they make Obama seem pithy and plainspoken by comparison.) But this is not a country with a lot of respect for intellectuals. And sound bites matter. So do shows of emotion and personal anecdotes that the audience can connect with.

Bill Clinton is a brilliant policy wonk who managed not to trip all over his highly educated background because he was so good at using emotion in his speeches. And yes, I know many ridicule the "I feel your pain" line now. But it worked.

Obama had a wonderful, serious conversation with Warren tonight. I loved listening in on it.

McCain took that conversational setting with Warren as an opportunity to reiterate his political message and his personal story, appealing to the voters watching.

I suspect Warren enjoyed the talk with Obama more. And I do think Obama probably won over some undecided voters tonight.

But McCain also did very well, and Obama can't afford to think he's going to win the debates easily.

Thank you for that.

I give you points on being careful.

Obama.

I'm tired of your irrational attacks on me that are apparently simply because I supported Clinton in the primaries.

I want Obama to win the debates, and win the election. I am not going to pretend McCain did badly tonight, and I'm not the only DUer who noticed that McCain did well. As I said, both McCain and Obama did just fine.

But it will not hurt Obama to add forceful lines that are great sound bites to his carefully reasoned answers. That will help him in the debates this fall.

meaning I agreed with your post. I apreciated what I felt was an objective post. Obama did very well tonight imo but so did McCain. He along with Obama did what they had to do. I am hoping McCain's performance turned off some independents and undecideds though.

stump lead-ins, so let's beware. Obama will have to have points he needs to hit, like culpability on Georgia. Could those daily calls have caused/stopped Georgia's first shot, pandering flip-flops, etc.

Something about this post just doesn't sound right. I can't quite place it...

and even though I don't agree with McCain on the issues and would never vote for him, I'd have to be very blind not to see that he was accomplishing what he set out to accomplish, and so was Obama.

After just 21 minutes of listening to that lying two-faced McSame,I had to change the channel. I am so sick of hearing about his damn POW shit I could puke buckets. That and the droning on and on and on about him being "pro-life".......well,that was more than I could stomach. Electing a President based on sympathy and abortions are piss poor reasons,IMHO.McSame and Bush----separated at birth. :puke:

Again, I don't agree with McCain on any of the issues, and I'd never vote for him. But he wasn't trying to connect with DUers.

I have never been able to stand to watch more than a couple minutes of his dribble...
and have mostly seen the gaffe clips where he makes a complete ass of himself...
I was surprised that he handled himself far better than I thought he would...good to know.