Posted By Scott Cavanagh
Easily the most productive and lively debate of the three. Some thoughts I jotted down during the event:
--McCain sure does take a lot of notes. He spent more time scribbling during this debate than he did wandering the stage in the last one.
--The "Joe the Plumber" bit was effective for about the first seven references--by number eight I hoped Joe would lose his business and go bankrupt. No matter how many times McCain repeated the theme, it did not change the fact that Obama's plan would not raise Joe's taxes a dime unless he made at least $250,000 last year.
--McCain showed real political bravery on the question of spending cuts, when he said he would consider repealing lucrative ethanol subsidies that are very popular in GOP-leaning farming states.
--While his voting record may indicate otherwise, McCain had the line of the night when he reminded Obama and the viewing audience that he was not George W. Bush. He continued to impress when he listed the many areas where he has stood up to his party over the years. When put in laundry list form--it is a very strong record.
--Things started to get away from him (as his campaign did IMO) when the subject turned to Sarah Palin. Is it just me, or does complaining about a $3 million planetarium project in Chicago seem a tad ridiculous when your "maverick reformer" running mate requested $28 million in earmarks for her Alaska hunting camp of 6,000? And when did the governor become the foremost authority on special needs children--in the five months since her son Trig was born? Man, that woman is good. According to McCain, she has transformed the entire good old boy network of Alaskan politics, delivered her fifth child, arranged another shotgun wedding, become the foremost expert on special needs kids AND ran for VP--all in 18 months!! You'd think she could handle Katie Couric.
--Forty-five nuclear power plants. Forty-five! That's how many uninsurable--lets replace carbon emissions with a more deadly bi-product--terrorist targets McCain thinks we need to build in the near future. Maybe AIG can insure them--they like big risk. Oops.
--It was great to hear Obama take on the oil companies about the hundreds of miles of coastline which they already control and refuse to drill under. That is a major point in the drill-or-not-drill debate and needs to be addressed.
--Health care was the killer for McCain and really turned the debate back to Obama. Let's face it, no matter how you cut it--and McCain admitted as much himself--the Arizona senator has one answer to the soaring health care costs that are crippling American families and businesses. That entire plan consists of providing families with a $5,000 tax credit-- minus the costs incurred by HIS OWN proposed tax INCREASE on health benefits. The average plan costs about $12,000. You do the math.
--Where the heck was Iraq? Afghanistan?
END OF POST
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Notes on the Final Debate...
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The deciding factor in this debate was the same as in the first two debates: Obama looked more presidential. At a time when our country faces alarming problems, Obama has been calm and confident, and comes across as being sure of what we need to do to solve these problems. He looks like he can get us out of this. McCain, on the other hand, looks like a bomb getting ready to go off.
Guess I saw it somewhat differently. Obama's continual smirks and insulting laughter after McCain offered an argument seems more arrogant than confident to me.
I get the feeling that Obama has read a lot of magazine/journal articles about the economy and foreign policy, while McCain has more experience in dealing with both. But, Obama sure makes is sound pretty.
McCain actually did well in the first half-hour. While he didn't talk much about specifics and inexplicably said he could fund his new programs while simultaneously enacting a spending freeze (?!), he kept Obama on the defensive. (It helped that Bob Schieffer let McCain have the last word for the first five questions.)
But then came the question about the campaign's tenor. And at that point, McCain's growing anger and obvious contempt for Obama made him sound and look increasingly unhinged. His twitches, eye rolling, interruptions, and bizarre cackling at his own puns will stay in voters' mind much longer than any of the words last night ... well, except for "Joe the Plumber."
By citing Palin's "pallin' around with terrorists" comment, Obama successfully goaded McCain into raising the Ayers issue, and once McCain got rolling on that, he wouldn't let go, even after Obama's cool and calm response. What helped Obama here was that McCain said exactly the same thing he's been saying for weeks. How can you unsettle your opponent when you use the the exact same words you've been using on the campaign trail? Obama anticipated and had a good response ready.
McCain kept saying "Americans are angry" as though that would make his own anger more palatable to the audience. But Americans aren't angry; we're frustrated and scared about our financial future. Rage is not what we're looking for, in either domestic or foreign policy.
Last night, Obama stuck with what's worked: portraying himself to undecided voters as steady and calm in a crisis, i.e., "presidential" and not "the scary Other." McCain, with his eyes bulging angrily, his cheeks flaring red, and his attacks unfocused, didn't make many friends among the undecideds -- who have made it clear the economy is their main concern -- and he probably didn't go far enough to please the social conservatives. (The fiscal conservatives gave up on the GOP two years ago.)
Although McCain did much better last night (and you wonder what would've happened if he had taken this approach in the first debate), it's another win for Obama.
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