Kissinger: McCain Is Right

In what should go down as one of Barack Obama's most pitiful performances in Friday night's debate, he kept childishly insisting Henry Kissinger supported his stance on direct high level talks with Iran. In fact, Obama belabored the point at least three times.

Oops.

"Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality."

Another lame moment was after McCain told a heartfelt story of a soldier who was killed in Iraq and how his mother gave him his troop bracelet. It was a poignant moment and McCain does well with those.

Of course, then Obama, like a first-grader chimes in with 'I have a braclet, too," only bumbling badly by having to look down at his notes to check the name of the soldier.

Weak.

Some dubious instant polls claim Obama won last night. Not quite sure of the methodology involved, but the results are all the media needs to declare Obama a winner.

The mild consensus in the press file was that McCain won, if not in particularly dramatic fashion. The two insta-polls out -- from CBS and CNN -- found the opposite: That Obama won by a wide margin. CBS had it 39% to 25% for Obama, CNN 51% to 38%.

Maybe the difference was expectations. People covering the campaigns think of Obama as a much-improved debate, and McCain as at times a weak one. McCain, by that standard, overperformed. But people tuning into the race now now think of McCain as an experienced hand, and Obama as a newcomer.

Rich Lowry thinks McCain was victorious.