In key county, few signs that debate changed minds

Rivals held own, but some unconvinced

LOVETTSVILLE, Va. - Over biscuits and gravy at a community breakfast yesterday, Lori Taylor said she is open-minded about Democrats, even though she typically leans Republican. But after watching Friday night's debate, she felt surer than ever that John McCain is best suited to be president right now.

"We need a strong leader with experience and background, and he's definitely got it," said Taylor, a 40-year-old school secretary.

At a table across the room, Scott Schooling, a builder and independent voter, said the debate also confirmed his sense of the candidates.

"McCain was pretty much spouting platitudes and the same old schlock," said Schooling, who is 47. "Obama was able to speak clearly and concisely about the issues. I thought he did better in this debate than in any other."

The presidential contest is neck-and-neck. The issues are momentous, with two wars underway and the nation's financial system foundering. The uncertainty leading up to the candidates' first face-to-face meeting, with McCain floating the possibility of canceling because of the banking crisis, only heightened the drama on Friday night.

But in this swing district of a critical battleground state, the presidential race feels like trench warfare - and Friday night's debate was just another battle. At yesterday's pancake breakfast at the Lovettsville Elementary School, not a single voter who watched the debate among 18 interviewed changed his or her mind about the candidates.

A couple of Democrats allowed that McCain had displayed an admirable firsthand sense of history, and a few Republicans said that Obama had impressed them by seeming well prepared and knowledgeable about world affairs. "I think Obama will be a great president in four years," said J.R. Price, a 46-year-old Republican and business systems manager who plans to vote for McCain.

But after listening to the two candidates for more than a year and a half, most said they had a firm sense of what they stood for and felt the debate broke little new ground on foreign policy, underscoring the fundamental differences in each candidate's approach to war and diplomacy.

"Obama takes the Jimmy Carter approach - if we talk to you, you're going to be nice to us. That's not how it works," said Bob Kershner, a 51-year-old Republican who works at George Washington University.

Susan Hubbuch, a stay-at-home mother who used to work for the State Department, thought McCain was too simplistic in his assessment of the Russian aggression in Georgia.

"I am not somebody who sees it all in black and white, and that's where Obama appeals to me more," she said.

Lovettsville is in Loudoun County in northern Virginia, one of the most important battlegrounds in this year's presidential race. Virginia has not voted Democratic in a presidential race since 1964, but it has been trending increasingly Democratic, due largely to the influx of young professionals settling in fast-growing suburban Washington counties like this one.

The county went for President Bush in 2004, but in 2006 it helped elect Democrat Jim Webb to the US Senate, and turnout for Obama was enormous in this year's Democratic primary.

Lovettsville, which leans a bit more Republican than the county overall, retains a small-town feel with its tiny, picturesque town center surrounded by meadows.

At the annual Oktoberfest celebration yesterday, where most families headed after breakfast, both local parties handed out campaign buttons and stickers and signed up volunteers.

The most pressing concern on the minds of most voters was the economic crisis, and the most common complaint among those who watched the debate was the lack of detail the candidates presented in how to solve it.

Friday night's debate focused on foreign policy - the third and final face-off will be devoted to domestic and economic policy - but in the first third of Friday's exchange the candidates were asked their views on the banking meltdown.

"I was disappointed in both of them," said Jim Hoskinson, a commercial construction manager who considers himself an independent. He is watching the unfolding situation and worrying that if the economy tanks, businesses will stop building.

"I thought they both succeeded in evading the questions," he said. "If you're going to run for president, I think you have to come up with a plan."

He also objected to Obama's repeated attempts to cast the issue as the fault of the Bush administration. "All those senators and congressmen did nothing for years," he said. "There's enough blame for everybody."

Valerie Yost, a 41-year-old elementary school teacher and Democrat who remains undecided because of her concerns about Obama's relative lack of experience, thought the candidates spent too much time "trying to connect" on economic issues in their wordy preambles to their answers on financial questions. "But, what are you going to do?" she said.

Schooling said he is nervous about his retirement accounts and other investments, but wonders if "maybe this is the time to feel the pain, so our kids don't have to."

But like many voters interviewed yesterday, he's not exactly sure what needs to be done.

"It's too big for me to wrap my head around, so I'm hoping the officials we've elected will be able to look at this thing and make laws to straighten it out," he said.

But Schooling added that he did not think it was realistic for them to have an answer yet. If one of the candidates had laid out a specific plan at the debate, he said, "I would have been suspicious, because I don't think there's enough information available yet."