Politics | 10/08/2008 11:10 am

3 Video Highlights From the Most Boring Presidential Debate (Videos)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

In case you fell asleep or missed it …

Barack Obama and John McCain faced off Tuesday night at the second presidential debate.

In what was one of the last chances for the candidates to sway voters to their side, neither candidate scored any knockout points in a 90-minute debate widely criticized for its lack of drama. Overall, the wowOwow Live Reader Forum found it to be a bore …

Additionally, according to three cable networks’ "reaction groups," Obama won last night’s debate by a nose, according to the Huffington Post and ABC’s hardnose political reporter George Stephanopoulos. HuffPo collected the results from several focus groups: NBC’s focus group of undecided Pennsylvanians has Obama winning by about a 60-40 split. Fox’s focus group showed undecided voters leaning towards Obama because of his position on health care. CBS’s focus group of independents found Obama won 12 percent more voters than McCain, and 35 percent of the respondents said it was a tie. ABC’s "Debate Report Card" graded by Stephanopoulos gave the Democratic running mate As across the board, and marked McCain lower grades in strategy and accuracy. (McCain misquoted his role model, Teddy Roosevelt, as can be viewed in the second clip below.)

Here are three wOw-worthy clips, in which the presidential hopefuls weigh in on the economy, foreign policy and the environment.

On the economy and the newly formed Office of Financial Stability (to oversee the bailout plan):

On foreign policy and Pakistan:

Note: Teddy Roosevelt actually said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

On the environment and climate change:

29 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Well this was not a town hall meeting at all, this was a snooze feast! Whos fault might this Be? Tom Brokaw’s he was the Dictator of this whole event, He said and I quote….”I have picked out the questions” that will be allowed ! there was a room of 10 people in each section x5 = 50 people only 7 questions were allowed!! BS and he cut Obama off 2 times while letting McCain ramble on and on!! and on a new note……READ THIS http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/opinion/08wed1.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&p…

By Wake Up and Hear The Fear In your Childs Voice on 10/08/2008 11:32 am

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I see the number 666 She “They ” need to be stopped!!!

By Wake Up and Hear The Fear In your Childs Voice on 10/08/2008 11:34 am

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Note: Teddy Roosevelt actually said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” He also Said “The Commander In Chief Sets The Course and it is the Militarys’ Job to see that it is done,period!” Not the other way around.

By Jennifer Dooley on 10/08/2008 11:39 am

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OBAMA is setting the course I feel!

By Wake Up and Hear The Fear In your Childs Voice on 10/08/2008 11:58 am

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Yes My Heart, I believe he understands this concept, and wants to be Captain of the Ship. To set the course of the country.We will all know soon as to who will be Commander In Chief, the most important job in the World today, with a lot of clean up and readiness. Gee what a task our next President will have! I surely would not want that on my shoulders. I think you must have a calling to want the job.

By Jennifer Dooley on 10/08/2008 12:55 pm

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I think Obama Did an EXCELLENT JOB! and McCain didnt have near the flashbacks he had in the first one! I was totally disappointed in this debate, That was not a town hall meeting there were 50-60 people in that room and 6 maybe 7 people got to ask their questions???????? Yes Obama Did Do Excellent ! A FAntastic job!! He controlled that floor and even said Im going to keep up with McCains time run over!! HOWEVER, I wanted the Human Folks not the ones that have been programmed, to say WHY are you “”McCain”” allowing “”Palin”” to try and draw blood? Why are you allowing her to Let these Horrible people who are Verbally saying that they WILL or will TRY, to give a Blood Bath to Senator Obama? And she says Nothing to calm them down!! She Grins and Keeps taunting them? Shouldn’t she be saying “oh now folks” that’s just going a little too far its time to be civilized here!! I hope something is done about this before it is too Late, She is scaring Me, she is letting us know how violent she can be, I wonder if Alaska’s People are as afraid of her as I am? Is this why the State of Alaska is still Red..out of Fear of her retaliation?

By Wake Up and Hear The Fear In your Childs Voice on 10/08/2008 11:43 am

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So much of a debate - or any event held in a public setting - plays into its psychological impact on people watching. I agree - it was boring. But it was a stage set, but one where the logisitics of walking and talking, coming close, moving back, pacing at McCain did (you could see his movement) while he waited to talk, made me “uncomfortable”. But what everyone may not know is that the audience was told ahead of time that they were to show no emotion and hold straight faces. Not knowing that before, they seemed bored, sleepy sometimes, and non-reactive - making it seem even more duller than dull. There should be much blame on those behind this. It is not like there hasn’t been a town meeting before. You learn by your mistakes in the stage setting long before this, and at the same time, making it less awkward for the candidates to address the public. Pacing around is so distracting and made me very aware of McCain’s war wounds as he limped slightly and could not raise one arm. I began to watch this - and his words seem to take the background. Do you think in the time left, someone smart can design a better venue? If not, I can.

By joan larsen on 10/08/2008 11:45 am

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If someone doesn’t I’m going to have a hard time watching the last debate. And when Obama was being told not to talk to long, McCain should have been told to sit down. It was very irritating. And it did nothing for his image, like you say if made us aware of the the war wounds but only in showing that he was unable to get around well. We all know he was a POW.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 10/08/2008 4:19 pm

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I know didn’t that just tick you off!, I was so angered by that, ( Obama being told to hush more or less) Yet McCain was rattling on just as long and at no time was he called out, As a Matter of fact Senator Obama did state he was just trying to keep up With McCain’s time run overs! So I was proud of him speaking up like that! McCain showed disrespect towards Senator Obama the whole 90 minutes of that debate! The show was obvious bias….

By Wake Up and Hear The Fear In your Childs Voice on 10/09/2008 6:10 am

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Yes it was a snooze-fest only because the questions put to them by the audience was NOT ANSWERED by either. But McCain walking next to Obama as he was answering a question did seem odd to me.

By Brooklyn Gal on 10/08/2008 11:56 am

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yes obama DID answer the questions

By Wake Up and Hear The Fear In your Childs Voice on 10/08/2008 11:59 am

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What I enjoyed most about the debate were my visuals of McSame as Tim Conway shuffling around the stage as a doddering old man in a parody of him.

By Sherrie Crews on 10/08/2008 12:19 pm

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Sherrie you are SO funny! That image is now burned in my brain….how funny!

By Belinda Joy on 10/08/2008 1:10 pm

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Priceless. LOL. Do you think that we could get Mr. Conway on SNL?

By Renee Dunbar-Scott on 10/08/2008 9:47 pm

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Wow. I feel like the only American that watched the debate and found it to be anything but boring. Everyone seems to feel it was a snoozer. I found the contrast between the two men fascinating. From a physical standpoint and from a philosophical vantage point as well. John McCain came across as a man fighting for his life. Desperately trying to convince his executor to let him live to see another day. And Barack Obama in my opinion spoke as if he was already our president….that the event was merely a platform for him to share his additional ideas and views about our nation. I loved it. John McCain kept attempting to be funny throughout the night and watching his humor fail was priceless. The coup de gras came at the end when he stood in front of the teleprompter as Brokaw was trying to read the closing remarks. Another priceless moment. I was rolling with laughter. I thought it made for wonderful theater. My ex is a lot like Barack Obama, from the standpoint of his looks, height, physique, temperament, speaking voice and the way he walks and carries himself. At the time I was annoyed by the fact he would never allow me to rile him. He was always calm. Now, when I watch Obama speak, move, smile, it makes me appreciate my ex and if truth be known….miss him a little. Oh well…..

By Belinda Joy on 10/08/2008 1:09 pm