McCain Attacks, but Obama Stays Steady

Senator John McCain was in a groove early in the presidential debate on Wednesday night, looking Senator Barack Obama in the eye and chiding him over taxes, over his backbone in standing up to Democrats and over the Obama campaign’s portrayal of Mr. McCain as the second coming of George W. Bush.

It looked like Mr. McCain might, just might, raise the level of his game in throwing Mr. Obama off his — Mr. McCain’s essential goal 20 days before the election, as he seeks a comeback in the face of declining poll numbers in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Virginia.
But then Mr. McCain began to undercut his own effort to paint Mr. Obama as just another negative politician. Mr. McCain grew angry as he attacked Mr. Obama over his ties to William Ayers, the Chicago professor who helped found the Weather Underground terrorism group. Suddenly, Mr. McCain was no longer gaining ground by showing command on the top issue for voters, the economy; he was turning tetchy over a 1960s radical.
“The facts are facts and records are records,” Mr. McCain said, refusing to let the issue go. “He had a long association with him — it’s the fact that all, all of the details need to be known about.” A few breaths later, as part of the same answer, Mr. McCain returned to the economy and the importance of creating jobs.
It seemed as if Mr. McCain was veering from one hot button to another, pressing them all, hoping to goad Mr. Obama into an outburst or a mistake that would alter the shape of the race in its last three weeks.
But for a punch to make a difference, the punch needs to do something to its target — to rattle, to wound, or (best of all) cause the opponent to counterpunch in a self-defeating way.
If Mr. Obama, on the defensive, showed a bit more vim, vigor and vinegar than he had in the previous debates, he also remained calm, cool and collected for the most part — showing survival skills that he learned in his brutal 16-month battle for the nomination against a tough inside fighter, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. That is all Mr. Obama really needed to do to freeze the dynamics of the campaign in place during the debate — dynamics that by and large favor him.
Mr. Obama had the easier task on Wednesday night: to keep the focus on the economy, to show that he could be trusted to change the direction of the country and to remain relaxed and steady. Indeed, perhaps his most crucial task was to appear bemused and unruffled in the face of Mr. McCain’s attacks, which the Obama campaign (and about everyone else who has seen the latest polls) predicted were coming.
Mr. McCain, after starting off comfortably, seemed increasingly inconsistent and testy as the debate wore on. At one point he challenged Mr. Obama about whether he had ever stood up to leaders in his party — reflecting the concern among many voters that a President Obama and a Democratic-led Congress would impose one-party rule on the nation.
Mr. Obama replied that he had supported tort reform, to the annoyance of many Democratic trial lawyers. But then Mr. McCain did himself little good by sounding churlish as he muttered “an overwhelming vote,” and then sounded like a schoolteacher as he added, “Senator Obama, your argument for standing up to leaders of your party isn’t very convincing.”
There were several moments when Mr. McCain’s tactics and tone appeared not to help him. During a discussion of angry comments at rallies, Mr. McCain chose not to disavow such remarks, but rather to say “categorically, I’m proud of the people who come to our rallies.” He then noted that big rallies tended to attract “some fringe people.”
And after Mr. Obama gave a long answer weaving together issues of climate change, foreign oil and trade, Mr. McCain opted at first to belittle him. “Well, you know, I — I — I admire so much Senator Obama’s eloquence, and you really have to pay attention to words.”
Mr. McCain was more animated Wednesday night than he had been at the two other debates, though not always to his benefit in the split-screen presentation of television. His voice turned edgy at times, as when talking about Obama campaign attack advertisements, and his frozen smile and wide eyes — which blinked frequently and distractingly at times — seemed a little strange.
By contrast, Mr. Obama responded to Mr. McCain’s lines of attacks by smiling and slightly shaking his head, but otherwise maintained a blank expression and an unfailing monotone. For those voters who like to fall in love with their politicians by finding a common humanity, Mr. Obama did not deliver at any of the three debates; he gave off very little heat, alluring or otherwise, and his composure had a certain flatness.
At times even the debate moderator, Bob Schieffer of CBS, failed to tease out a reaction or reply from Mr. Obama that was anything less than controlled.
Mr. Schieffer first asked a set of questions about the nasty tone of the campaign, and Mr. Obama noted that Mr. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, did not chastise the person at one of her rallies who yelled “kill him” in reference to Mr. Obama. Minutes later, talking about the vice-presidential candidates, Mr. Schieffer asked Mr. Obama whether Ms. Palin was qualified to be president.
If Mr. Obama wanted to blow off steam, he did not show it, tweaking Ms. Palin instead by referring to her as a “capable politician” (as opposed to, say, a capable leader) and noted that “she has excited the base in the Republican Party” (a subtle to nod to her unpopularity with independent voters in some swing states).
For some Republicans, the debate performance was Mr. McCain’s best, especially his moments of focus on the economy and taxes and Mr. Obama’s record. There was relief among Republicans, if not a declaration that Mr. McCain had turned his campaign in a winning direction.
“Republicans want McCain to fight, but I think in this environment, McCain should almost ignore Obama and sell himself directly to America,” said Stuart Stevens, a Republican media consultant who had been an adviser on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. “More Ali and less Joe Frazier.”
Mr. McCain also seized on Mr. Obama’s recent conversation about taxes with an Ohio voter, who became known as Joe the Plumber during the debate. For all of Mr. McCain’s direct appeals to the Joes of America, and his direct slams on Mr. Ayers, it was the lack of direct damage to Mr. Obama that cheered Democrats after the debate. “It was a confused, ineffective, at times stumbling McCain who lost decisively to a presidential Obama,” said Robert Shrum, the veteran Democratic consultant. “Americans worry a lot more about paying their bills than about some guy named Bill Ayers. The burden was on McCain, and he couldn’t rise to the occasion.”


-New York Times