Peek-a-boo, I see you...

Well, I was wrong, and I couldn't be happier about it. Right after the debate on Friday, I felt, as did the majority of the mainstream media, that the result was a tie. But over the past couple of days, the results of some post-debate polls have been released, and what do ya know - most Americans felt that Barack Obama won. Nearly every poll taken over this weekend showed a clear edge for Obama as a result of his debate performance, and that even includes the right-wing goobers over on Fox News. I've watched debates and debate coverage for a long time, and to me, this situation is rather remarkable. We all know how the media spins things, and how voters' opinions usually reflect whatever they've heard on TV or on the radio. But this was different. The media didn't even call a winner in this debate. And yet, without being told what to think by the pundits and talking heads, the people declared a winner. They spoke up and said that one man impressed them more than the other, and the man they preferred was Obama.

I have to tell you, folks - I am feeling pretty good about this. Better, in fact, than I've felt in a long while. On my best days I think I'm a realist; on my worst days I think of myself as a cynic. And I am particularly jaded when it comes to the subject of politics. But the numbers are showing me that things may not be as bad as I ususally assume they are. So how did people manage to come up with such a positive assessment of Obama's debate performance?  Well, I've got a theory about that, and it all has to do with visibility.

Up until the debate, the McCain campaign was doing their best to control the way the candidates were seen by the American public. In order to spin their own image to people, they repeated certain lines and catch phrases (Maverick! Reformer! POW!) at every stop and in every speech in an attempt to solidify the mythology of the McCain/Palin ticket. They cut off press access and have held virtually no interviews or press conferences on the campaign trail (on the Straight Talk Express, no less...irony, anyone?). They especially protected Sarah Palin from speaking to the press until it was impossible for them to do so any longer. To spin a negative image of Obama, the McCain campaign created a slew of attack ads, most of which were dishonest, distortional and disgusting. They attempted to control what voters saw about Obama. And based on these ads, voters could very well have believed that Obama was dangerously inexperienced, an advocate of comprehensive sex education for 5-year-olds, and that he also intended to raise taxes on working-class familes and turn our health care system into a vast federal bureaucracy.

The debate changed all that. For the fist time in this race, viewers got to see McCain and Obama side by side, without the spin of ads or media commentators. They saw John McCain refusing to look at his opponent for an hour and a half. They saw him continue his streak of distortions and half-truths as he repeatedly misrepresented Obama's positions. They saw him trot out names and dates from the past 26 years of his life in Washington, but they did NOT see him admit any responsibility for his contributions to the current downturn of the American economy, or for his errors in supporting a rushed invasion of the wrong country in the Iraq war. They saw him unable to convincingly fend off claims that his policies are direct continuations of Bush's policies. They did NOT see him mention the middle class - even once - and they did not see any evidence of the big reforms he's been talking about on the campaign trail. They saw McCain himself, separated from the cheering crowds and the red, white and blue filter of his ads, and they weren't too thrilled by what they saw.

But more importantly, they saw Obama - many of them, no doubt for the first time. Many expected to see an empty suit, an angry radical, or an overblown orator. But they saw instead a man who looked and sounded ready to lead. They saw him graciously pointing out those ideas on which he and McCain both agreed. They saw him remaining focused, confident and consistent. They saw his strong grasp of problems and solutions, people and places, and  ideas for the future of our nation. They saw someone who has the ability and the willingness to utilize both diplomacy and military action, as well as the temperament to know when each approach is appropriate. They realized that they had no reason to be afraid of him, even though he looks different and has a foreign-sounding name. Obama was no longer an unknown quantity. And this simple act of seeing Obama for themselves, rather than through the lens of McCain's campaign, made all the difference.

There is still plenty of time for things to change, and McCain has shown us how much he loves shaking things up with a curve ball every so often. Maybe in his desperate attempts to win, he'll actually hit upon a gimmick that works and win back some support. In any case the race will likely remain close, right down to the wire. But no matter what, I am delighted to know that, at least for now,  my fellow voters are looking beyond what they've been shown by the news media and by the ads, to see the possibilities that Obama is offering this country. He's not perfect. Nobody is, especially politicians. But maybe he does have the ability to undo some of the problems that have been dragging Americans through tough times. Maybe he does have the good judgment to make the right choices when we most need him to. Maybe he does understand those of us in the middle class, and maybe he does care enough about what we are going through to make helping us a bigger priority than taking care of corporations and lobbyists. Maybe he's OK after all.

And that, my friends, is what hope is all about.

[digg=http://digg.com/politics/Polls_show_Obama_won_1st_debate_why]

Peek-a-boo, I see you...