I don’t often agree with George Will. But after last night’s encounter, Will said the second debate of 2012 was “immeasurably the best” debate he’s seen in half a century of presidential debates. And I think I agree.
As I wrote last night, I think the second debate was a strong win for Obama both on its own terms and in the context of this moment in the campaign.
But both candidates came loaded to bear with arguments and facts, both were aggressive and made their cases. At the end of the debate I had the sense of, Yeah, that’s the choice. Many times, particularly in recent presidential cycles, for whatever reason, you come away from a debate thinking about one or both guys, this guy’s the best the party had? Really?
I didn’t think that this time.