Coming into last night's debate, Senators Obama and McCain both had very specific goals they set out to accomplish. McCain faces a growing deficit in the polls, and needed to do his best to halt Obama's momentum and shake things up a bit. Obama, for his part, wanted to maintain his lead and keep things as they are. Did either accomplish what they set out to do? I'll be analyzing this one point by point to determine how they did. Are you ready? Let's go! QUESTION 1: TAXES: The moderator, Mr. Bob Shieffer, opens with a question about the respective tax proposals of McCain and Obama. What makes one better than the other? McCain leads off with continuing to tout his proposal to buy off bad mortgages. Obama talks about bailing out the middle class. Soon, McCain brings up the now infamous 'Joe the Plumber' for the first time. Every debate, it seems, McCain has a key phrase he repeats over and over. Last time it was 'my friends,' in the first debate it was 'maverick' and now...ugh. Again, ugh. McCain hits Obama again on taxing small businesses. Obama doesn't come off strong enough in this segment. McCain lands most of the hits, and he does it well. Overall, this question goes to McCain. GRADE: MCCAIN: A- Loses half a point for starting with that Joe the plumber nonsense. He starts off strong and sounds much better than he has in the past two debates. If he keeps this up, Obama will be in trouble. OBAMA: C Too tepid. Not defending himself well enough here. QUESTION 2: THE DEFICIT: Shieffer points out that both Obama and McCain would increase the deficit with their spending proposals. He asks what they would cut to bring spending under control. Obama mentions going through the budget line by line and cutting out programs that don't work. He specifically targets subsidies to insurance companies which could save billions. McCain once again brings up his proposed spending freeze. Obama disagrees with the concept of a spending freeze. Suggests a scalpel would be more appropriate than a hatchet. Obama also brings up the disastrous spending under Bush and links it to McCain. McCain responds with his best line of the night. 'I'm not President Bush.' Obama counters that when it comes to his voting record, McCain and Bush look pretty similar. GRADE: MCCAIN: B+ McCain gets in a good line about President Bush. He doesn't really answer the question, though. OBAMA: C+ Gets in a few good lines. Getting better, but still not great. QUESTION 3: NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING: Shieffer asks Obama and McCain to clear the air about the negative campaign ads run by both. Obama brings up the 'kill him' remarks shouted at Palin's rallies and wonders why neither Palin or McCain have repudiated them. McCain blusters and claims he has stood up for Obama (don't make me laugh) and then whines about John Lewis' remarks about George Wallace and demands that Obama renounce them. For the uninformed, Lewis expressed concern that McCain's use of scaremongering to whip crowds into a frenzy put them at risk of becoming like George Wallace. Obama would not rebuke Lewis for this. Thank god. Obama accuses McCain of running 100% negative ads. This is inaccurate. Eventually, we finally get to Ayers and Acorn. The Ayers accusation is stupid. Obama puts it to bed but fails to address the claim that he held a fundraiser for one of his campaigns in the home of Ayers. Obama does a much better job about shutting down the Acorn business. Obama goes on to say that they can disagree without being disagreeable. Considering the often ugly tone of McCain's debate performance and attitude towards Obama, this is a pointed remark. GRADE: MCCAIN: C Ayers is a lame, lame, lame line of attack. Not surprising he tried to use it here. He kind of had to, in the end. McCain should have renounced the people at Palin's rallies who shout 'kill him.' Instead, he got defensive. At this point, we start to see McCain's temper slipping. OBAMA: B Much stronger and more forceful this time, but he should have done a better job addressing Ayers. God what a stupid issue. QUESTION 4: THE RUNNING MATES: Shieffer asks the rivals to point out how their respective running maters would be more prepared to lead in the event of something happening to the president. Nothing overly interesting here. McCain mentions ubercreep Todd Palin for some reason. Obama is given an opportunity to say that Palin is not qualified to be president, but passes on it. GRADE: MCCAIN: B Sarah Palin's record as a 'reformer' is highly questionable. OBAMA: B I kind of wish he had said that Palin isn't qualified to be president...but I guess he had his reasons for pulling his punches. QUESTION 5: ENERGY AND FREE TRADE: Shieffers asks the candidates about reducing our dependence on foreign oil. McCain focuses on nuclear power while Obama lays out a broader plan. He scores big by talking about developing fuel efficient cars right here in the U.S. He comments that green technology has the potential to create thousands of jobs and could help expand the economy. McCain retorts by noting Obama's opposition to free trade, especially to Colombia, and mocks Obama's 'eloquence.' He suggests that Obama should visit Colombia so he could 'understand it a lot better.' Obama counters that he does understand what is going on in Colombia, that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination. He argues that free trade shouldn't come at the cost of human rights. McCain looks positively flabbergasted at this point. Was it because he didn't think Obama knew so much, or was he trying to be snarky? Either way, McCain ends up looking foolish. GRADE: MCCAIN: C- What the hell was that facial expression, McCain??? OBAMA: A When McCain condescendingly tells Obama that he doesn't know anything about Colombia, Obama shows he knows a LOT about Colombia, and catches McCain completely off guard. Obama is in his stride now. QUESTION 6: HEALTH CARE: It's about to get worse for McCain. Shieffer asks which is more important for health care in the current economy...reduce costs or expand coverage? Obama thinks we need to do both. He highlights the strengths of his health care proposal. McCain mentions Joe the plumber again. I hate Joe the plumber. McCain alleges that if Joe owns a small business, he will have to pay a fine under Obama's plan if he doesn't provide health care to his employees. McCain challenges Obama to name the price of the fine. Obama says 'zero' and goes on to talk about how his plan has exemptions for small businesses and that Joe would not be fined. McCain's response is priceless. His eyes bug out, he exclaims 'Zero???' and then does his best impersonation of a fish. If McCain was trying to look cynical or sarcastic, he failed miserably. He looked stunned and caught off-guard. Again. Weak, McCain. Weak. Oh, and at one point he calls Obama 'Senator Government' which is kind of cute. It sounds like something a kindergartner would say. GRADE: MCCAIN: F "Zero???" and Joe the plumber. Blech. OBAMA: B+ "Zero." Way to catch McCain off-guard. Again. QUESTION 7: ROE V. WADE AND THE SUPREME COURT: Shieffer notes that McCain favors overturning Roe v. Wade. Obama does not. He asks if they would be willing to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court who held a view that opposed theirs. McCain does his best to piss off his base by saying that he would not have a litmus test to appoint a justice. Then he tries to cop out of this by claiming that he doesn't think somebody who supports Roe v. Wade would be qualified anyway. Riiiight. Obama voices his support for Roe v. Wade and for women's rights overall. He goes on to suggest there can be common ground on abortion...working to reduce them through education and adoptions, while allowing partial birth abortions only in cases where the health of the mother is at risk. McCain then does his best to piss off independent women voters and mocks 'women's health' even putting it in quotes. Considering that McCain's record on women's issues is already highly questionable, he pretty much killed his chances in that regard. That was a bad, bad move by McCain. Not to mention that it was a dick move. McCain kept referring to being pro-choice as being 'pro-abortion.' Obama made a good response...being pro-choice is not the same as being 'pro-abortion.' GRADE: MCCAIN: F I'd give an F- if it were possible. First he angers his base by saying he wouldn't impose a litmus test, then he angers female voters by mocking their concerns over health. Does he even WANT to win this election? Is this what constitutes him trying? OBAMA: A He sounds presidential and compassionate. Damn. QUESTION 8: EDUCATION: We arrive at the final question. Both are asked to describe how they would help reform the education system. Obama emphasizes early childhood education and laments that No Child Left Behind was underfunded. He supports charter schools. Considers strong education to be of paramount importance. McCain likes vouchers. I think vouchers are a bad idea and I have yet to see compelling evidence that they really work. Obama's response is very strong here...calls on parents to be involved, speaks of the ideals of every family...it feels like he really connects to the public here. GRADE: MCCAIN: C Throwing vouchers at the problem isn't a viable solution. OBAMA: A Obama sure can inspire, eh? OVERALL ANALYSIS: Obama started off weak, but he had a specific strategy here. He was trying to tire McCain out, stay cool, and not get ruffled by attacks. I'd say he met this goal stunningly well. McCain, meanwhile, started off fantastic but then became angry and got ugly. Some of his facial expressions were hilarious. He came across as rude, nasty, mean-spirited, and condescending. Obama looks reassuring and presidential, McCain just looks angry and hostile. Another clear victory for Obama. McCain failed to do anything significant here, and in fact probably did himself more harm than good on the abortion issue. Chris Matthews pointed out that McCain twice referenced Americans being angry. Matthews felt that McCain misread the mood of the American people. He thinks that they are scared and worried. I agree with Matthews. Americans aren't looking for anger. They are looking for calm, reassuring guidance. Obama's debate performance once again reinforced the image that he is the one who can provide all of that, and nothing McCain threw at him last night could change it. GRADE: MCCAIN: D Sorry Joe the plumber. OBAMA B+