Dinner: I almost chickened out of dinner, for fear of being out of my league, but I ended up tagging along with our Debate Watch guest analysts (and Brian Lawson now of PolitickerNH) at The New England Center's Acorns Restaurant. Thanks, Dante for the invitation and encouragement: "you're a junkie, you'll fit right in!" I'm glad I went. To my amazement, I was able to keep up with the conversation AND didn't make a big fool out of myself. Of course, I am pretty sure I was the only flaming, bleeding heart liberal at the table. But I didn't draw attention to myself (except for gently suggesting that McCain subscribe to the new Google Goggles feature before pulling any more campaign stunts). Rather like Obama, my goal was to stay cool, refrain from any gaffes, and show superior listening skills. ;-)
Pregame: We were fortunate to have a great crowd at the UNH Watch Event, mostly all Obama supporters. Somehow I got stuck being greeting, introducer, and techie and wasn't very good at any of those jobs (--a new respect for Advance workers), but we got our analysts back from dinner in time to do their "what to watch for" pre-debate spin, and managed to get the giant screen TV turned on to CNN just as the debate was starting.
Debate Watch: Joe The Plumber was the star of the show, and students cracked up every time those three words were mentioned. This audience also was quick to chuckle at all of McCain's stumbles, but especially the "fresh of breath air" comment. I have to admit that I was bored, and spent my time chatting on Facebook or posting comments on Blue Hampshire. I love watching all the FB statuses change as Joe The Plumber got more and more play. My fav was by Aldon Hynes, a blogger in Connecticut: "Joe the Plumber" a new series following "Bob the Builder" (best know for: Can we build it? YES WE CAN!).
Postgame: Our right-leaning pundits did their job by showcasing McCain's big hits (I'm not Bush....), all of which were in the first 35 minutes. They didn't cut Obama any slack, not even points for looking calm or always getting back on track to positives.
I read someplace recently that you can really tell who is winning a debate if you mute the sound and watch it like that. Seems like a good idea to me, because even though the UNH Pundits didn't talk about it, this debate was all about the non-verbals. McCain's blinking, eye rolling, tongue-jutting, sarcasm, and evil laugh are all the really big stories the morning after. So much for looking confident & presidential! Maybe McCain should have followed my example and keep his feelings to himself.
I think McCain is a bit out of his league.
