The debate

The media says it was a draw. But was it? The widely anticipated US presidential debate was, and to some extend that surprised me, rather interesting. Still, I’m not too sure whether or not it was a draw between Mr McCain and Mr Obama. From an American point of view, I suppose I could understand why one would say it was a draw. Both seemed to bring their point across quite well, Obama seemed more involved, but McCain more like a statesman. But I think from a European point of view, many have realised that McCain is actually a man with some not too unimportant opinions and solutions for the US. This was quite surprising for many people over here, as many people in Europe love Obama as much as creationists love God. I personally am not a McCain supporter, but I do think that he was able to show quite a few people in the Old World, that he has quite some good ideas. He also, as I said earlier, came across more like a statesman, and not as a candidate. His answers weren’t as short and pregnant as those of Obama, but on the other hand he was not standing there, shaking his hand and simply saying something like “this is not true,” whenever he felt treated wrongly. Instead, he was able to actually explain where Obama was wrong, which made him appear, to a certain extend, more competent.
Nevertheless, both seem a bit like the macher, and that certainly is what America needs. They had grand ideas and both wanted to break with all the meshuga politics of Mr Bush. Here, naturally, McCain had more problems convincing the audience than Senator Obama. I think, from a European point of view, McCain surprised with some sort of sharpness people did not expect him to have. Whereas Mr Obama was just like we expected him to be, remembering his words at the Siegessäule in Berlin. But, even though I just said a few positive things about McCain, somehow his Gordon Brownness, his old-fashioned slowliness, his awkward shiftlessness just annoyed me, especially towards the end of the debate… It was quite long after all – but still worth watching. Schreiber.