Quote, Video And Gesture Of The Day

Bob Owens writes, “If he can’t handle a simple debate without falling apart, how is he going to handle a Presidency?”

And elsewhere, Michelle Malkin spots the telling gesture of the debate.

Update: Jennifer Rubin asks, “Who Won the Debate? More importantly, who does everyone think won?”:

How did they hold up on temperament? Obama seemed peeved, and a number of observers – including Juan Williams and Alex Castellanos — agreed. McCain was occasionally funny and poked at Obama but showed none of the nastiness or ill-temper which his foes identify.

But the “gotcha” may have been from Obama — who eight times conceded that McCain was “right” on a point. McCain rushed out a video capturing a number of these.

So how did Obama and McCain fair in the opinion wars? The telling difference: Obama’s spinners tended to call it a draw while McCain’s group was ecstatic. William Krstol on FOX said “no knockout but on the offense throughout.” Nina Easton, also on FOX, criticized Obama — “something bland and policy-speak” about him she thought. Juan Williams conceded that Obama didn’t really successfully tie George W. Bush to Obama.

We’ll have more as the night goes on. But for once this week the McCain camp is feeling a spring in their step.

Orrin Judd concludes:

Any analysis has to begin from the fact that the media and the Left have built Senator Obama up so much that a guy who’s a mediocre debater at best was widely expected by the electorate to dominate. Thus, he’s a loser if their performance was roughly equal and a big loser if you think he had a rough night.

Finally, Steve Green has a mild point of contention with Andrew Sullivan.