Obama holds his own on rival's turf

FOREIGN POLICY and national security are supposed to be John McCain's strong suits, and last night, the Republican nominee clearly set out to own those topics. He stressed his own long involvement in those areas, and repeatedly portrayed Barack Obama as naive or inexperienced or prone to misunderstanding important distinctions.

And yet, Obama stood his ground, going back forcefully and impressively at his opponent, explaining his own view of the world, and showing himself to be just as knowledgeable.

In one of his principal lines of attack, McCain repeatedly claimed credit for supporting the surge, which has helped turn things around in Iraq, and certainly he deserves credit for backing that policy, which Obama opposed.

Still, Obama rightly kept refocusing on the bigger issue: The decision to go to war in the first place. There, he argued, he had been right and McCain had been wrong. When moderator Jim Lehrer pushed on that, McCain dodged, saying the next president wasn't going to face the issue of whether we should have invaded Iraq. True enough, but McCain talked extensively about his experience and judgment to try to make the case he is better qualified. And yet, on the most important foreign policy of the last decade, Obama's judgment was clearly superior.

On domestic affairs, the Democratic nominee also scored an important point. McCain rightly claims credit as a determined opponent of budgetary earmarks. But that's a small issue compared to the huge fiscal challenges this nation faces, and Obama deftly drove that point home.

All in all, this was a good, pointed, civil, informative debate. By standing toe to toe with his rival in areas that are supposed to be the Republican's strength, Obama won the evening on points.

Scot Lehigh can be reached at lehigh@globe.com.