What Would Ike Do?

Unless he slips up later, Obama is doing what he needs to do to control his uhhs. Hopefully that'll be the last of my style commentary.

Obama names the root of the crisis: "A verdict on eight years of economic policy." He's hitting a safe partisan note, counting on everyone to trust the guy with the (D) after his name to right the ship.

McCain, because he's got the (R) after his name, praises the drama of both parties "coming together." "And yes, I went to Washington." But he's miffed that the House Republicans weren't being heard.

OK, more style commentary: McCain looks and sounds 10 million years old. He's trying the Reagan trick of telling stories about great men (whom you can read about in his books!) to make his point.

McCain is conceding a lot of turf here: Hey, he wants to regulate, too! And he retreats more quickly than I thought he would on the "fundamentals" comment, saying, like he does in his ads, that he was talking about "you, the American worker."

Mentioning Tom Coburn sets Obama up to say how friendly he is with Coburn. But Obama pivots the question and talks about "main street" again. I'm stunned that McCain isn't attacking on taxes.

Ah, now we're in the tax policy thicket. Obama sounds a bit like Al Gore in 2000. And it was a mistake for him not to get out of the earmark debate by talking Coburn.

McCain's controlling his irritation at Obama pretty damn well, sticking to Obama votes that he's been attacking on the trail.