Barack X Obama (fourth from the right) instructs fellow Islamonegroes in the
finer points of the Electric Slide so that they can infiltrate white people's weddings,
hit on the bridesmaids and make beautiful chocolate babies

The debate.

Meh.

Didn't see it.

I was too busy doing really  important things  that did not allow me to sit and listen  to a couple of guys who hate each others guts. For that I have Wolf Blitzer and Jack Cafferty.

So I had to turn to the calm and analytical Andrew McCarthy at NRO who observed, took notes, pondered deeply and then proceeded to lose his shit:

You Guys Are Nuts   [Andy McCarthy]

We have a disaster here — which is what you should expect when you delegate a non-conservative to make the conservative (nay, the American) case.  We can parse it eight ways to Sunday, but I think the commentary is missing the big picture.

Here's what Obama needed to do tonight:  Convince the country that he was an utterly safe, conventional, centrist politician who may have leftward leanings but will do the right thing when the crunch comes.

Now, as the night went along, did you get the impression that Obama comes from the radical Left?  Did you sense that he funded Leftist causes to the tune of tens of millions of dollars?  Would you have guessed that he's pals with a guy who brags about bombing the Pentagon?  Would you have guessed that he helped underwrite raging anti-Semites?  Would you come away thinking, "Gee, he's proposing to transfer nearly a trillion dollars of wealth to third-world dictators through the UN"?

Nope.  McCain didn't want to go there.  So Obama comes off as just your average Center-Left politician.  Gonna raise your taxes a little, gonna negotiate reasonably with America's enemies; gonna rely on our very talented federal courts to fight terrorists and solve most of America's problems; gonna legalize millions of hard-working illegal immigrants.

McCain?  He comes off as Center-Right .. or maybe Center-Left ... but, either way, deeply respectful of Obama despite their policy quibbles. 

Great.  Memo to McCain Campaign:  Someone is either a terrorist sympathizer or he isn't; someone is either disqualified as a terrorist sympathizer or he's qualified for public office.  You helped portray Obama as a clealy qualified presidential candidate who would fight terrorists.

If that's what the public thinks, good luck trying to win this thing.

With due respect, I think tonight was a disaster for our side.  I'm dumbfounded that no one else seems to think so.  Obama did everything he needed to do, McCain did nothing he needed to do.  What am I missing?

Now Andrew McCarthy is a Very Serious Person who, after spending his youth starring in delightful Brat Pack movies during the 80's, went on to become an Assistant United States Attorney in New York where he prosecuted real live terrorists so, when he says that Barack Obama is a terrorist loving lover of terror-loving terrorists who love too much, you can take that to the bank. And when he tells K-Lo, the Doughy Pantload, Rich, Mark, Ramesh, Mohammed, Jugdish, Sidney, and Clayton that they are all nuts, well... you probably knew that already but it's nice to be validated every once in awhile.