Presidential Debate #2

I’ve not yet done a political post, not because I haven’t had things to say, but I do feel like it’s something that needs to be handled with a certain amount of care. This blog’s readership is too small to really matter, but… I don’t want to play myself off as a partisan hack. That being said, I’m a 23-year old recent college grad living in Massachusetts making less than $50K a year… I don’t think it’s hard to figure out who I’m behind.

Last night’s debate was, I thought, much more evenly matched than the first one (all things considered, I thought Obama trounced McCain in #1). McCain’s campaign has turned up the volume on attacks against Obama, truthful or not, and the Obama campaign has done a decent job of keeping pace and attacking in their own right, but the change was largely McCain’s. Going into last night, the format didn’t really lend itself to maintaining the sort of attacks McCain had been using… or so I thought. Though McCain was certainly the more aggressive of the two in his language and approach to questions of record and judgment, Obama certainly didn’t take any of it sitting down.

But there are a bunch of things that pissed me off. Like these:

1. ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION! I think over the course of all 3 debates, maybe 6 questions have been properly answered, and at least three of those answers came from Joe Biden, a VP candidate. The best question of all three debates was submitted via the internet last night, when someone asked if health care was a privilege, a right or a responsibility. Credit to Obama for answering the question (a right)… before he went three questions back and continued a political attack on Obama. McCain gave about half an answer, saying it was a responsibility, though he never specified WHOSE responsibility it was. Again, he then charged right back into an argument that had dominated the three previous questions. The best answer of all three debates goes to Obama, who finally answered a point-blank question: Someone in the audience asked what benefits he might see from the bailout package. Obama gave a fairly thorough explanation (though somewhat oversimplified) that if these companies went under, there were some ramifications which involved payrolls not being met. The details weren’t perfect, but the idea of how such a massive economic failure would affect people not involved in the stock market or mortgage industry had yet to be addressed. It was good to hear someone offer up some explanation as to why every citizen ought to be funding this thing when a fairly small percentage is actually involved. This is the area of Obama’s style that I am least happy with – he can’t simply answer a question, so to hear him doing so was greatly appreciated.
   


2. Answer ONLY the damn question. I get it. These guys were instructed by their campaigns to take all of the shots that have found their way into your most recent stump speeches. But especially in this format, where the questions are coming directly from voters – meaning this is what we ACTUALLY WANT TO KNOW – do us a favor and stay on topic. If they have a zinger that actually relates to the question, go for it, but there was one point when both candidates felt a need to clarify tax policy and take shots at the other’s policy exaggerations from three questions previous. It ends up shortchanging the next few questions, and reduces their “intimate interactions with the voters” to live-action campaign ads. Both candidates were guilty of it. Some credit to Tom Brokaw for repeatedly reminding the candidates about time and subject restraints, but I do wish they’d give the moderator the ability to blatantly confront a candidate when he’s going off on something completely unrelated to the question. Of course, if that were the case, Sarah Palin would have been shut down for the entire ninety minutes last week.


3. The catchphrases of this campaign must be stopped. In no particular order, the words or phrases I’m looking forward to never having to hear/hear about again after November 5^th:

1. Wall Street vs. Main Street
2. “My friends”
3. Lipstick/pig/lipstick on a pig/etc.
4. Maverick
5. Scranton, PA
6. “That’s more of the same”
7. “That’s not change we can believe in”
8. Joe Six-Pack
9. Pork-barrel
10. Commander-in-chief test
11. Sarah Palin (OK, that was cheap. But good god… even if McCain wins, can we send her back to Alaska?)

In 10 easy phrases, I daresay I summarized 80% of every speech that has been given by any of the four candidates for president or vice president in the last month and a half.

Early returns from the debate showed Obama winning, which I mostly agree with. I think the fact that McCain was able to be somewhat effective with his attacks without losing his temper was key. There were points when he went to far – referring to Obama as “That one” in one of his responses. If he had let any more disdain like that show through, I think it would have hurt him quite a bit, but he kept his cool.

Ultimately, I think it’s an easier road right now for Obama. He’s the one people are getting to know, without having to fight off previously held opinions (those established or promoted by his opponents notwithstanding). McCain would normally have the advantage of being the established candidate that people were already comfortable with, but the fact that he’s campaigning on a platform filled with things he’s changed his position on isn’t going to do him any favors. Interestingly, that’s actually working against him on two levels – stuff on which he legitimately was a maverick or on which he broke with his party, which got him points with independents, he’s now toeing the party line on. Other things (and in some cases the SAME things) on which he’s agreed with Republicans he’s now needed to back away from in order to attract those independents. It’s something of a mess, and something Obama doesn’t have to deal with because he hasn’t been on the national scene for very long, for better or for worse.

One more month to watch these two fight it out. Regardless of who wins, what everyone – candidate, Congress and constituents – all need to realize is that come January 21^st, there’s a ton of work to do.