Party Favorites Who won Friday night's debate on the global financial crisis and foreign policy? You can't fake experience

Author: Heather Pangle and Rachel Pagano

There are many ways of winning a debate. John McCain came out stronger on the whole by stymieing Obama in a series of encounters on foreign policy. He argued persuasively on reining in terrorism in Afghanistan, working effectively with Pakistan, avoiding a nuclear crisis with Iran, restraining Russia's new aggression, and leaving a free and stable Iraq.

On the Iraq war, Obama was caught in the awkward position of either repudiating his original position on the surge and troop withdrawal thereby agreeing with McCain or seeming stubbornly unconcerned with national security, American prestige, and the future of the Middle East. McCain made Obama seem willfully disconnected from the opinion of military leaders such as Petraeus who have made clear both how disastrous Obama's previous Iraqi proposals would have been, and how premature his calls for timetables and withdrawals still are.

Obama tried to retreat from his reckless proposal to meet unconditionally with foreign leaders. He attempted to soften his earlier statement of "without preconditions" to meetings "without preconditions, but with preparations." This precondition vs. preparation verbal footwork fell flat as he tried to differentiate his position from McCain's. He made it seem as if McCain was proposing to have no contact with hostile foreign leaders before preconditions were met. McCain showed this to be untrue, asserting his support for low level contacts and preparations, while underlining the irresponsibility of giving hostile foreign leaders the prestige and legitimacy that a presidential meeting would bring without having them tone down their rhetoric or agree to reconsider their most belligerent stances. Obama tried to bolster his failing argument by using Kissinger to support his position but failed miserably and had to backtrack as McCain pointed out that Obama was misrepresenting Kissinger's advice.

There was no hands-down winner in the first presidential debate, but McCain ended the encounter on his own terms. He effectively characterized Obama as na've and inexperienced in foreign affairs and military matters. He hit Obama hard on his $800 billion in proposed new spending while affirming his own experience with cutting corruption, earmarks and reemphasizing his pledge to bring the budget under control.