The Iran moment trips Obama

John Kass:

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... I thought that Obama looked so good, and so presidential, up until that terrible moment for him, the Iranian moment, when he could have used a pitcher of water to wash his tongue down from the roof of his mouth.

Up until then, Obama had that baritone voice working, so clear and forceful. He looked directly into the camera, not at moderator Jim Lehrer, because he probably already has Lehrer's vote. The voters Obama seeks live in that mythic place, that small sliver of allegedly undecided Americans who insist they haven't made up their minds as yet.

Who are these undecideds? Perhaps they were those 10 pleasant people sitting with those crazy dials in their hands on CNN, turning it one way when they heard a comment they liked, turning it another when they disapproved, making green lines crawl across the bottom of the screen so that all the undecideds would know how to feel about what they were watching.

The CNN folks with the crazy dials in the hands looked as if they had just returned from a public radio pledge drive, so sensible and earnest, and I'm sure there are more of them out there. By the way their dials were twisting, Obama was reaching right into their hearts, proving that he could appear presidential, while McCain's green line was rather flat.

McCain rambled at times, talking about how the Republicans and Democrats in Washington saw the economy infected with the credit crisis, how "a lot of us saw this train wreck coming." To reinforce his age, he stubbornly cemented himself firmly in the last century, launching into a discussion of Eisenhower on the eve of the invasion of Normandy, the general writing two letters, one of congratulations and the other of resignation if the invasion failed.

Through it all, Obama was cool and smiling at the oldster, and there was no sweat on the man, even as McCain mentioned the word "corruption" about seven times. McCain didn't know about the Sunday Tribune's report that Obama's convicted real estate fairy Tony Rezko is thinking about cooperating with the feds.

Obama was so full of grace and fine debate tactics and elegant body language, measured tones telling those so-called undecided voters out there that he was the one they've been waiting for.

Unfortunately, events have a way of overtaking drama, no matter how artfully produced, and McCain got on Iran and rode Obama down.

McCain hammered at Obama's insistence that he would sit down with the crazed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions. McCain said this proves Obama has demonstrated a dangerous naivete and a willingness to legitimize Ahmadinejad's standing, even as the Iranian boss develops nukes and threatens to wipe Israel off the map.

"What Sen. Obama doesn't seem to understand, when you sit down across the table from a person who has said Israel is a stinking corpse, it is not only naive, it is dangerous," McCain said.

Obama protested, but not too much.

"So let me get this straight," McCain said, still on the attack, "you sit down with Ahmadinejad and he says, 'We're going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,' and you say, 'No, you're not.' Oh, please."

Through it all, Obama appealed to Lehrer that he had something to say, and McCain kept pounding him to the body, and Lehrer said he had a question to ask, and Obama deferred. He let Lehrer change the subject.

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McCain followed up after the debate by getting Henry Kissinger to issue a statement agreeing with his position of Presidential level talks with Iran. Obama has been as stubborn on this point as he has been on his opposition to the surge. He is wrong on both, both is not big enough to admit it.