McCain Comes Out Swinging, Wins Going Away

By any objective standard, Sen. John McCain had his best performance of the three presidential debates tonight. And by any objective standard, he came away the clear winner. On nearly every question, McCain was able to raise questions of his own about Sen. Barack Obama's record, or lack thereof; and had Obama defending and explaining for most of the night. McCain questioned Obama on William Ayers, ACORN, voting against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act while in the Illinois State Legislature, taxes, spending, and a litany of other issues. In politics, the axiom goes, "if you're explaining, you're losing." By that measure, Sen. Obama did a whole lot of losing in this debate.

There's another axiom that says that a political gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Sen. Obama may have had one of those moments this week outside Toledo, OH, when Obama told a local plumber that a goal of his tax plan was to, "spread the wealth around." Obama paid fifteen-fold for that remark tonight. Fifteen times Sen. McCain mentioned "Joe the plumber," often speaking directly to him, and using him as a stand in example for all Americans. McCain drove home the point that Joe the plumber's taxes will go up under an Obama administration. By extension, he made the connection between Joe the plumber and ordinary voters. McCain made Joe the plumber the most famous undecided voter in America tonight and in the process, connected with average Joes and Janes all across the country at Obama's expense.

McCain was the more energetic and animated performer on the stage for the full ninety minutes. So anxious was he to make his points against Obama that he jumped in, interjected, and ignored the protests of moderator Bob Schieffer on occasion. While Obama was speaking, McCain made clear what he thought of the answer by his facial expression and occasional looks of surprise or puzzlement. This will not bode well for him with media pundits, who will surely show clip after clip of McCain rolling his eyes, or frowning in disagreement. But it is exactly what McCain's supporters wanted from him in the first two debates. He got off the zinger that was missing from the first two debates, calling Sen. Obama "Senator Government" for his penchant to support big government solutions to every perceived problem. It's a line that will be heard again and often. The energy from McCain's refusal to go quietly will transfer to his campaign and can only result in an increase in his poll numbers as the election draws closer.

Obama had his facial expression moments too, mostly in the form of smirking or smiling at McCain as he was scoring another hit on his record. Those smirks will not hurt Obama. But a huge error on Obama's part will. Oddly, it was Obama who first brought up William Ayers, the unrepentant former head of the domestic terrorist group the Weather Underground with whom Obama has had a close working relationship in the past. It was in response to a question about negative ads when Obama said that William Ayers had become, "the focus of the McCain campaign." He hasn't. But after Obama mentioned the name, Ayers certainly became the focus of the next ten minutes of the debate. More Americans may have been exposed to William Ayers' name in that ten minutes than in the prior ten months of campaigning. It was an unforced error not usually committed by the disciplined Obama. Obama beat a hasty retreat from the debate hall after the festivities ended, much like McCain did after the last debate. That in itself is an indication of Sen. Obama's view of his own performance.

With less than three weeks to go until the election, and trailing in the polls, Sen. McCain needed to turn in a strong performance tonight to have any chance of winning. He did that and more. McCain looked Obama in the eye, called him a tax-raiser, questioned his associations, defined the impact of Obama's proposals on average Americans, and proved to be every bit the equal of his opponent. Enthusiasm surrounding the McCain campaign will be high for the next 20 days. The campaign certainly hopes it can turn that enthusiasm into votes.