John McCain on Wednesday night delivered the worst performance in a debate I have ever seen. I would call it sad, even pathetic, but it was so bad that I feel guilty about pointing it out too forcefully.
McCain looked like an old boxer who had been in one too many fights. You wanted to pull him from the ring. The whole time I was thinking, "Who let him get into this fight?" Don't you have a conscience? Throw the towel. Throw the towel!
The weird, angry, desperate attacks were punctuated by uncomfortable sighs and eye rolls. It was a train wreck. I literally averted my eyes on a couple of occasions.
The numbers back up what I thought I witnessed tonight. It was a bloodbath. CBS had uncommitted voters going to Obama 53 to 22. CNN had Obama winning overall 58 to 31. He nearly doubled him. I've never seen that before.
After all those punches, Obama's favorability still stood at a rock solid 66 percent. McCain had whiffed on every desperate jab. And at the end of the night, when voters were asked who is more likeable -- a key to winning an election -- it was Barack Obama at 70%. McCain was at a sad, sad 22%.
Have you ever seen numbers that lopsided? I haven't and it's almost painful to look at. I almost want the election to be over now so that we can all stop sharing collectively in John McCain's pain. Even though I'm not for McCain and I even think he has run a dishonorable campaign, I feel an embarrassed, empathetic sadness for him. Please let the sun set already. Let this campaign be over already. I don't want to see him take another hit. What Obama said at the Democratic convention is oddly fitting here, "Enough!"