Definitive

Was McCain Better or Just Angrier?

Polls say he lost debate.

McCain was fired up at last night's debate, but will his anger help him with swing voters? Over at The Atlantic, James Fallows notes that, at debates, "it's a losing strategy to 'rally the base,'" and that candidates should instead "rally the center." "Everything about Barack Obama's approach to this debate, and all debates, was consistent with this reality," Fallows writes, while "McCain did just about the opposite." McCain lost "by emphasizing tactics over issues, by emphasizing partisan division over conciliation, by body-language contempt for his opponent, and by a demeanor that reinforced the short-tempered and dyspeptic impression from the previous debates."