Pretty Dull

Last night's debate is being viewed by many pundits and analysts as rather boring. Politco.com went so far as to say it was the worst debate since the format became a fixture of presidential elections. While I will not go that far, I will concede that neither candidate strayed too far from their prepackaged campaign talking points.

We did not see the lively exchange between the candidates as witnessed last week between Palin and Biden. Tom Brokaw and the debate rules were pretty firm in not allowing either men to address each other or have time for necessary rebuttals.

While I am not wild on the idea of nationalizing mortgages as John McCain suggested last night, it was refreshing to hear a specific plan to combat the housing crisis. Obama served up "pie in the sky" proposals without laying out any details, most importantly how the government will fund such initiatives.

After Sarah Palin's debate debut last week, we witnessed countless news stories of her alleged refusal to answer Gwen's questions. I do not even remotely agree with that analysis but nonetheless, the stories were out there.

Barack Obama on the other hand clearly dodged several questions last night. The rare answers he gave were too vague and wordy. McCain's straight talk was a refreshing difference from the same drab liberal rhetoric we have been hearing for a year from Barack Obama.

There is one debate remaining and John McCain must throw everything in the GOP arsenal against Obama. McCain pulled a lot of punches last night that could have easily knocked out his opponent.

The Maverick has seven days to revise his strategy and I will be optimistic that he is merely saving his best performance for last.