Presidential Town Hall Debate Pre-Game Post (UPDATE: How McCain Wins the Election Tonight)

Well, thanks to Barack Obama’s essential scaredy-cat nature, this is the only town hall-style debate we’ll see before the election.

Here’s what I, a non-professional interim member of the pundit class, think each candidate needs to do to win.

Barack Obama needs to go slow and don’t spring any surprises on us tonight. He will be working tonight without his trusty teleprompter which has, in the past, provided many moments of unintended hilarity and a lot of cursing as his War Room figures out how to cover the gaffe. Obama has to remember that he has all the advantages tonight. Tom Brokaw is not only the moderator, but is choosing the questions he’ll hear. He’s already given Obama a pass once and I don’t see any reason to believe he won’t do it again tonight.

So all Obama needs to do is take his time and think before he answers any questions. He doesn’t have to stumble and bumble his way through an answer. He can afford to take a moment, compose himself, look thoughtfully toward the sky, and just talk. The Senator is an almost preternaturally-gifted orator. Surely he can find creative ways to rephrase his stock talking points. If he can do that, then he’ll win.

The danger for Obama is that he’ll get into a donnybrook with McCain. That way lies disaster for him. Obama is vulnerable in several areas – the mortgage crisis and his scuzzy friends are just two places – and if he lets the debate devolve into a brawl, McCain will mop the floor with him.

John McCain on the other hand, is going to have to do two things he’s not at all comfortable doing: attacking someone who isn’t a Republican and speak with inspiration about a subject other than his time as a POW. He can not afford to sit back and toss out his bullet points (you know “Make them famous”, “for the surge”, “maverick, maverick, blah blah maverick”). If he wants to win this debate, and the election, he’s going to have to pressure Obama into being petulant and petty while grabbing the hearts of the audience. He does have room to do both, but he’s going to have to be unwavering when he does. Anything less is going to look insincere and either Obama or Brokaw will pounce.

McCain’s biggest weakness is that his rhetorical comfort zone is very narrow. It’s no secret that he doesn’t like attacking Barack Obama nor is it news to say that he doesn’t connect well on a personal level. If he stays above the fray and speaks in general terms, the audience tonight will simply stop listening. So, when he talks about earmarks, he’s going to have to tell those folks tonight just what that means to them. He’s going to have to relate the rampant waste in Congress to those folks’ paychecks. When he talks about winning for real in Iraq, he’s going to have to remind the crowd that if we don’t do this right, we will be back there doing it all over again in another few years. All his answers are going to have to be directed at the questioners. His usual generic answers simply will not work tonight. Barack Obama connects too well, personally, with people.

I’m not entirely sure that tonight’s debate will be uneventful. There has been some hostility brewing behind the scenes between the two campaigns and I expect that we’ll see some of that boil over tonight. Obama has been hitting McCain way too close to values he holds are dearly as he does his own life and McCain has been asking far too many questions about a past that Obama would rather no one know too much about until after November. I don’t expect that both candidates will take my advice tonight, which means we may well see the best debate of the entire campaign.

Or I’ll fall asleep in a puddle of my own drool in front of the computer. if you see an update where I say something like “HJGhl;jsd l;kfsa ;vjkl;”, you’ll know I’m done.

The Anchoress says that McCain has to “speak to and for America”. I agree wholeheartedly. Barack Obama has spent his entire career trying to “fix” America and I can’t recall when he’s expressed his unabashed and unconditional love for this country. Perhaps that is the one thing that John McCain has to stress the entire debate.

UPDATE 2: One of The Anchoress’ readers sent her one whale of an idea. Go, read it. I’m not even going to excerpt it because it’s that beautiful and concise. You know, I think if he were to do that, he would not just win the debate, but the whole stinking thing.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Obama Chickens Out on Real Debate, Agrees to Friendly Interview
• NBC’s Mitchell Shills for Obama, Says John McCain is a Big Old Cheaterface
• Fred Thompson? While You’re at It, Wish for a Pony.

Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, The Anchoress, Tom Brokaw

Category: Featured, Johnny Mac, The Obamessiah