Listened to the debate on radio as I did their first. John McCain sounds tired, he needs more Poligrip for his sloshy dentures and comes across as grandfatherly. Good ole gramps is a bit of a grouch, a touch condescending, and - - at times - - surprisingly mild mannered as he urges us younger 'uns that he'll help make things better. At times, McCain gave voice to a grandfatherly Norman Rockwell depiction of pops patting junior on the back. The Straight Talk Express is running on fewer cylinders, its spirit and fire sputtering. Mentioning Teddy Roosevelt is way cool, but referencing Herbert Hoover and the Smoot Hawley Tariff is too tough a trip in the Way Back Machine. Barack Obama was great at linking one subject to another - - "connect the dots" as Deval would say. But Barack at times gave credibility to speculation that he needs a teleprompter. Once or twice he sounded as though he had difficulty focusing on which one of several possible responses he'd call on. He began those responses s-l-o-w-l-y with the word "and" being repeated. Only one response was a little loopy, starting with a comment on Bush's suggestion that we go shopping after September 11 and ending with a reference to the Peace Corps, if'n I 'member right. Obama suggested McCain's looney tunes thinking in noting the latter's advocating we bomb Iran, North Korea and round the world we go. With radio, don't know who wore a power tie or who looked swell in a suit. Obama certainly, for the most part, sounded presidential and in command and control of his comments. McCain failed to close the gap in the polls separating him from Barack.
