John McCain probably won last night's debate on points - but he needed a knockout, and he didn't get it.
His proposal to help homeowners by buying their mortgages was well articulated. He also scored well on entitlements and, as always, emerged ahead on foreign policy.
But Obama dodged and weaved his way out of trouble.
McCain failed to rebut patently absurd claims - like Obama's claim to favor nuclear power, his "plan" to cut taxes on 95 percent of Americans and his charge that McCain would shower CEOs with new tax breaks.
Incredibly, McCain even let Obama get away with lamenting the high deficit. He needed to say: Let me get this straight. You want to raise spending and give everyone a tax cut and you won't increase the deficit - where does the money come from? He needed to explain that Obama would hike taxes on practically everyone, that the Democrat's spending plans require a huge tax increase or a major rise in the deficit.
Watching McCain fail to pin Obama down was like watching Sonny Liston try to catch Mohammed Ali.
He pulled his punches - letting Obama off gently with lines like: "You said you would not raise taxes in a bad economy. Well, it is bad." He should have made the case that Obama's tax program would transform a crisis into a catastrophe.
He let opportunity after opportunity slip through his fingers.
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