So, I’m writing this the day after the debate, which makes this, in all likelihood, the latest blog posting about a debate of all time. Oh well.

I just did a quick check of what other people had to say, and, surprise surprise, they said the SAME EXACT THING they always say about debates: Candidate B did well but not well enough to slow Candidate A’s momentum. For the first 16,000 debates, Candidate B was Obama, but now the roles have reversed, and it’s Hillary that needs to make up lost ground.

Maybe this is true. But it seems to me that debates have the most impact when voters know very little about the candidates — i.e., a few months ago. My sense is that most people started paying attention on February 4th or 6th, which was when they sort of got the gist of things. CNN probably could have saved some money and re-run the last debate without telling anybody.

Here are my thoughts on last night’s face-off:

Have a Seat
There’s an academic paper waiting to be written showing why you can’t attack your opponent while sitting next to him or her. Perhaps it’s the fact that one camera can frame both candidates in a nice medium shot. At any rate, the sitting debates have been much less vicious than the standing debates, and when an attack is made, it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved.

A Quick Word on Fashion
People always make fun of Hillary’s outfits, but I thought her suit was really cool last night. Obama had on a boring tie.

Learning
Obama has gotten a lot better at these. His performances in the first few debates were painful, with lots of “uh”’s, generalities, and off-topic talking points. He’s learned to back up his ideas with specific policy proposals (Hillary’s specialty) and anecdotes about everyday folk (her husband’s specialty). He’s also started to use what I would imagine are prepared sound bites (another Hillary specialty). And finally, he’s learned the art of defending himself and then quickly pivoting to an attack. This was best exemplified in the plagiarism spat, where he defended himself but then quickly turned it into an assault on Hillary’s “politics-as-usual.” He applied the same tactic during the health care discussion. He defended his plan, then suggested that Hillary was being disingenuous by characterizing his plan as one that left out the un-insured on purpose.

“Change you can Xerox”
This was the epitome of a pre-written line, and it went over like a lead balloon (because they were sitting next to each other?) It was strange, because she had the audience on her side at first, but then took it a step too far. The audience booed.

The American People…
I don’t have a specific quote, but one of the biggest debate clichés is, “My opponent has attacked me unfairly. I could attack my opponent, but the American people don’t want attacks, the American people want jobs.” Or something to that effect. As an American person, I’m sick of politicians telling me what I want. I don’t want more jobs, I want to be rich and not have to work at all! I don’t want affordable health care, I want free health care. In fact, I want them to cure all diseases right now and never have to see the doctor again. And I want to live forever. There, I said it. Someone had to.

I Was Right!
Obama’s only bad moment came when he started bragging about being right on every foreign policy issue. Iraq is one thing. But Pakistan? You were right in that you didn’t really trust Musharraf? You thought that he might not be completely devoted to democracy? Wow, you’re like Nostradamus. What are you doing running for president, why don’t you go by a lottery ticket?

The End
Hillary’s last answer was so gracious that I nearly fell out of my chair. Is this the same woman who has refused to congratulate her opponent after the last few primaries? I thought her answer was perfect. Alluding to her husband’s affair in the most subtle of ways is, to me, to acknowledge the gorilla in the room. She then switched to the whole it’s-nothing-compared-to-what-the-American-people-have-been-through thing, which yes, is a linestolen from her husband. It even showed up in the movie Primary Colors. I’m going to be consistent on this one: who cares?

I do, however, think her point was a little strange. In short, she said this: “Yeah, my husband cheated on me, and it was front page news for like a year. But that’s nothing compared to the little kids that get their faces burned off.” Isn’t that a little extreme?

I’m not sure how this über-empathy plays in Texas. Personally, it doesn’t strike me as the most genuine thing in the world, but it did make her seem very humble — something that Obama could potentially stand to learn a little about. — Hillel Aron