Sometimes, I really think the Washington Post's TV critic provides the best analysis of the debates. He calls them as he sees them:
During the debate, McCain made another of his seemingly demeaning, nasty references to Obama. Describing legislation that had been backed by President Bush, McCain rhetorically asked, "Guess who voted for it?" and then answered his own question: "That one," he said, gesturing toward Obama. On CBS, commentator Jeff Greenfield thought "that one" would be "the major headline sound bite" of the debate, which goes to show, in part, how insubstantial the debate was.
But the snarled "that one" also contributed to McCain's image as a kind of mean old Scrooge, not so much a battle-scarred warrior as an embittered one. "Intemperate" is an adjective often applied to him, and again McCain demonstrated why.
