I didn't think Obama won the first debate. The polls gave it to him, and his ideas won it for him, but it was a mixed affair, and McCain scored a lot of clean blows. Tonight, even though McCain made no major mistakes, the debate was clearly Obama's. And not only on the merits, though I thought this Obama's best outing on the substance. Rather, it was the visual contrast that proved striking. The constant movement required by the format left McCain looking old and slow and tired. It's not his fault. He moves like a 72-year-old man because he is a 72-year-old man. But that fact was emphasized this evening, and not to McCain's advantage. He had to stand on the stage with Obama, whose physical presence was more confident, more energetic, more commanding. My sense is that the quiet impressions of this encounter will linger. In the first debate, McCain might have lost, but he did not look like he was losing. That night, he was aggressive and controlled. Tonight, his body language gave away his deficit in the polls. He looked like Dole in 1996, or Bush in 1992. He did not look like the president. He looked like the losing candidate. And once you've projected that to the voters, it's difficult to erase the image.
