Presidential Debate Round Two: Reinforcing the Status Quo?

Going into this penultimate debate, Obama was already ahead in the polls, partially because Americans(and the rest of us are catching on) are in panic mode about the plummeting economy and for poor McCaine,regardless of how his campaign performs, it's simply not a good day to be a Republican.

While everyone keeps talking about the town-hall setting having been an advantage for McCaine, all it brought home for me was the fact that Obama is generally a better speaker(or at least more polite, didn't point at McCaine and call him "that one!"), more charismatic and easier on the eyes( no, really, did you see that smile?), and McCaine is OLD. I mean you could really see all 73 of those years on stage tonight, and I don't know how Americans saw it, but I'm not a huge fan of giving very old people lotsa lotsa power. Adding on to that,except for the first "not you Tom" in response to who he would appoint as treasurer, McCaine completely bombed the humour factor, whether it was his hair transplants or whatever else it occured to him to joke about. McCaine made really bad jokes and the audience's faces were stone cold.I actually felt really bad for the guy.

Having said that, McCaine was the only one to actually bring something new to the table with his proposal about buying out bad home morgages and allow home owners to renegotiate their morgages in light of the new values of their homes. This is in fact quite a revolutionary idea right now, but McCaine seemed almost unsure about it, and didn't make a point of showcasing it or contrasting it to Obama's lack of new input.

On the other hand, Obama was a disappointment. I mean, he might've won the debate, but it seems like Barack is getting weary or losing oomph or something, because, tonight, with 50 million Americans watching and the election 27 days away, I did not see the inspiring Obama of the primaries or even the masterful orator we saw in Berlin. Too much repitition, too little change. That and all the invade Pakistan talk is forcing me more and more, and earlier than I'd meant to, to stop being distracted by Barack's smile and come back to reality (especially regarding foreign policy) when it comes to Obama.

Either a tie or a slight advantage would mean that Obama won this debate, and according to the earliest polls, he did get a slight advantage (although I would only give him a tie). What this means for the elections, is that this debate only reinforces the existing situation : Obama stays ahead. And, what the heck I'll go for it and make my prediction: unless some unforseen scandal happens, or McCaine (or the economy)has some miraculous comeback, OR Americans are just more nervous about electing a black man than we think, Barack Obama will win this election.