Barack Obama arrives in Memphis for the first Presidential Debate
POSTSCRIPT:
Obama wins the debate by denying McCain his only remaining talking point – that McCain is much stronger on foreign policy than Obama. Time and again McCain tried to say Obama did not understand foreign policy, only to have Obama come back with detailed and comprehensive responses on foreign policy topics. It clearly demonstrated Obama’s command of the subject matter.
McCain’s focus on Iraq at the expense of al Qaeda came through clearly in this debate. Obama, on the other hand, kept going back to al Qaeda. I wonder if viewers will pick up on that point. If they do, they will realize that Obama is more interested in going after the people who attacked us on 9/11 than McCain. That could be very damaging to McCain in the polls.
On domestic policy, McCain was a one trick pony: earmarks. He had nothing else.
Obama was effective by remaining poised. This was one of his stronger debate performances. McCain was rattled at times and visibly showed irritation. McCain’s temperament problem was on display and will become a topic of discussion in the coming weeks. I expect a Saturday Night Live skit to reflect McCain’s facial expressions and exasperation. McCain needed a game changer tonight but did not even come close.
Expect McCain’s foreign policy advantage in the polls to drop after this debate. That should result in a widening of the lead for Obama in the national polls.
Expect also for McCain campaign to go strongly negative as a result of this debate. They will need to now get extremely ugly to try to catch up in the polls.
Now, on to the much anticipated vice presidential debate 🙂
Barack Obama and John McCain will debate at the University of Mississippi in the first of three scheduled presidential debates. After a day of intrigue and uncertainty, John McCain has decided to show up for the debate. The debate begins at 9pm.
The first debate is supposed to focus on foreign policy – John McCain’s strong suit. It remains to be seen how John McCain’s latest political stunt will impact the debate.
To the extent possible, I will try to live blog the debate below.
9:05PM First question is on the bailout, and Obama goes for the jugular. After laying out his conditions for the bailout plan, he calls it a "final verdict" on the economic philosophy of Bush and McCain.
9:08PM McCain meanders and talks about bipartisanship. He mentions that House Republicans need to be involved, but does not say where he stands.
9:12PM McCain looks unsteadier than I have seen him in other debates. His strength is generally his easy going manner in debates, but he seems tentative here. Maybe the erratic last couple of days have taken a toll.
9:16PM Second question is about the fundamental difference between two candidates in handling economy. McCain goes into his strong suit – earmark reform. He waves around veto pen and slams Obama on taking earmarks for Illinois. Much stronger answer than his first one.
9:19PM Obama says problem is abuse of earmarks. Says he stopped requests for Illinois. Says earmarks are small part of problem. Pivots. Says McCain would give $300 billion in tax cuts to wealthy, and he would give tax cuts to middle class rather than the rich. Very good comeback.
9:30PM Good back and forth on tax policy. McCain defends giving businesses more tax cuts. Obama says taxcuts should go to middle class. The exchange showed clearly the contrast between the two candidates.
9:40PM McCain announces he is for a spending freeze across the board except for defence and veterans affair. Obama retorts that McCain wants to use a hatchet when what is required is a scalpal. Then he outlines targeted cuts.
9:45PM McCain says he wants to cut spending. He has a plan, he says. He rails against spending increases in government. Obama says that McCain supported 8 years of spending increases under George Bush.
9:55PM Heated exchange on Iraq. In a nutshell, McCain wants to stay in Iraq, and Obama wants to fight in Afghanistan. Who won this issue in the debate will depend on how your originally felt about this issue.
10:00PM McCain making excuses for why we shouldnt go get Bin Laden in Pakistan. He is surprisingly looking very weak here.
10:05PM Obama comes back with strong answer on Pakistan. Says if Pakistan wont take out Al Qaeda in Pakistan, the US will. Challenges McCain to disagree. Obama says US supported undemocratic dictator in Pakistan. Now McCain is defending Musharraf saying he took over a failed state.
10:10PM McCain is visibly angry after being hit by Obama for taking eye of Afghanistan.
10:15PM McCain says Iran is an existential threat to Israel. Then he meanders and talks about forming a League of Democracies. All righty then. Obama says going into Iraq has made Iran stronger. Says Bush policy has not worked.
10:20PM McCain hits Obama for agreeing to meet America’s enemies "without preconditions". Obama stands firm and says no preconditions do not mean no preparation. Points out that Kissinger agrees with Obama, and Kissinger is one of McCain’s advisors. Obama points out that McCain is not even willing to meet the president of Spain, a NATO ally. McCain weakly comes back by saying he wont set White House meeting schedule now. McCain is not looking like he will dominate on foreign policy, is losing his alleged advantage.
10:21PM McCain keeps going back to Ahmedinejad. He is working hard to get the Jewish vote. I think Jewish voters can see through naked pandering. He gets very excited and jumped all over Obama for saying he will meet without preconditions. McCain obviously thinks he has a winning issue here.
10:25PM Topic is Russia. Obama says relations with Russia should be governed by national security interest and not by looking into Putin’s soul. McCain goes straight to Georgia and hits Obama for having called for restraint after Russian invasion. Says he supports the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Must be all those lobbying dollars at work here.
10:26PM McCain rattling of Russian and slavic names and places. Trying to show he has command of the subject matter. He succeeds. Obama comes back by saying he anticipated and warned about Russian designs in Georgia. Ties Russian muscle flexing to increased income and power from oil prices. Nicely ties it to energy policy and brings it home to why dependence on oil is a national security concern.
10:30PM Last question: what is the likelihood of another 9/11 type attack. McCain says likelihood is much less than it was on 9/12/2001. Goes on to talk about creation of 9/11 commission. Says he is bipartisan. Obama says we are safer in some places, but we have a long way to go. Says we face threat from nuclear proliferation. Says we need to spend more to protect against threat of nuclear proliferation. Brings it back to al Qaeda and the need to go after them in Afghanistan. Well done. He went right back to his strength and McCain’s weakness – Afghanistan.
10:32PM McCain goes back to Iraq. Its Iraq Iraq Iraq. Must have victory. Obama responds that while we have focused on Iraq, China is busy in almost every continent in the world and the US is conspicuous by our absence (best line of the debate). Says Iraq is compromising America’s ability to project power elsewhere.
10:35pm McCain just tried to compare Obama to Bush. I am not sure where that came from. Maybe McCain felt he needed a knockout after not being able to win on points. Obama laughed. Perfect response. Oh, and by the way, McCain was a POW.
