In a debate that both candidates could ill-afford to lose Friday night, neither did. John McCain proved he was resolute and tough; Barack Obama demonstrated that he was smart and polished. And in this case, a tie could be said to favor either. Polls before the event showed that most voters believed Obama would win, so he may have fallen most short of expectations. But Friday's topic was foreign policy, where McCain enjoys his strongest credentials. Fighting to a draw in his favored area may suggest that he came up short, especially after a week in which he slipped in the polls and struggled to regain his footing.
On Iraq, the evening's central question, Obama can rightly claim the wisdom to have opposed the war from the start, and to have urged greater attention to Afghanistan at a time when America's commitment to Iraq robbed that conflict of needed resources and attention. And yet, McCain scored points by pointing out his politically dangerous decision to support the "surge," which has resulted in solid military progress. Similarly, Obama explained his view of constructive engagement with Iran; McCain warned of that regime's ominous potential.
If they traded points on substance, the two men clashed more viscerally on style and on their approaches to one another. Indeed, for all the talk of race and gender in this year's historic campaign, Friday's much-anticipated contest was more vividly a contest of generations. It was a debate, mostly civil though occasionally cranky, between a tough old man and a polished young one. McCain revealed more of himself in that arena, wincing and grimacing during the split-screen shots while Obama was speaking.
