First of all, I twittered from the events in Oxford yesterday afternoon. You can go to my LJ blog where I import all my daily tweets and see pics and read commentary. It was an interesting night.

It was rumored that Oprah and the Governator were in town, but I never saw them. I also never saw anyone from the Daily Show or Colbert Report. I am disappointed in myself.

The debate was fun to watch. Overall, I felt like Obama was stronger. (apparently, so did much of America, according to the latest polls) He stayed on point more often than McCain and he actually answered some questions. I felt like McCain worked very hard to avoid answering most questions and also looked frustrated. He didn’t hide his irritation very well, constantly blinking and smirking. At one point, I thought his head might pop off his neck.

It was surprising to me that Obama wiped the Foriegn Policy floor with McCain. (don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled he did, but still very surprised.) I was disappointed in both candidates’ responses to the ‘Safety in America’ question. Neither did a good job with that. I expected more.

Obama hit at home with issues that are close to my heart: Middle class working America; Insurance; the war. He was dead on when he told McCain that if our enemy is Al Qaeda, then why were we focusing on Iraq and not Afghanistan. Al Qaeda wasn’t even in Iraq until we invaded. He was also right to say that McCain is acting like the Surge was the beginning of the war. Um, no. Yay for us! We’ve finally had some success…but the war started a long damn time ago. This is almost too little, too late. Sigh.

I was hopeful that McCain would stick to the issues, and not start spouting off inspirational stories about his awesomeness. However, my hope was crushed when McCain hit the trifecta: He called himself the Maverick, discussed the grieving Mom’s bracelet story, and in the end finally mentioned being a POW. It worries me that he thinks Americans are that sentimental in this time of crisis.

I loved it when Obama said, “I’ve got a bracelet too, John.” Awesome.

Personal rant following:
I find it ironic that McCain wants to keep government out of the insurance industry. Wow. Cuz that worked for the banking industry so well. And it’s also very amusing and not a little bit scary that McCain has no problem with the government regulating what a woman can do with her body. Why can’t extreme right-wingers understand that Pro-Choice is NOT pro-abortion. It’s PRO-CHOICE. It means allowing the individual to choose what is right for her. Pro-Choice means fighting government forced abortions, births, and birth control. Forcing someone to have a baby is just as wrong as forcing someone to have an abortion or forced sterilization. It doesn’t belong in the government. If you are against abortion–don’t have one! But don’t force your beliefs on another person. It’s not your place. It’s not the government’s place. And if you think big government is bad…what the hell do you call government forced births?

Here is a much more articulate opinion about Pro-Choice. Read it. It really does give you lots to think about.

/end Rant

There was no clear winner last night, though in my mind, Obama shined under the pressure. He was composed and gracious. McCain was tense and openly frustrated. If the rest of the debates are like this, there is no doubt who our next President will be.

I can’t wait for the VP Debate…what about you guys?