Obama Cool

The pundits are going to talk about the issues and details of the debates, as they should. And it's true that this was Obama's best debate, and possibly McCain's worst. But for me, the story of the night -- hell, the story of all three debates -- is the sang froid of Barack Obama.



Nothing can get under his skin. Nothing. No attack can cause him to lose his equilibrium, to cause him to squint or gawp or stare like McCain seems to do three times every minute. Barack Obama is a fundamentally cool cat -- and that's one of the reasons he's not just going to win this election, but win big. Americans respect a person who won't get thrown off his game, who won't let his enemies and opponents rattle him.

And Barack Obama isn't just cool -- he's redefined cool in politics. He's gotten past 20 years of presidents who equate anger with passion. There hasn't been a president who could keep an even keel since Reagan -- and even then, he was more easy-goin' than cool. Reagan was detached. But Barack Obama is engaged, intelligent, and calm -- but he's no Adlai Stevenson. He's always cool.

Every candidate for national office for a generation is going to seek to emulate Obama Cool. But there's only one Barack Obama.

Kudos to 'Trapper John'