McCain-Obama Presidential Debate Analysis

The presidential debate Tuesday evening was moderated by Tom Brokaw.

Tonight's debate featured questions from the internet and from people in the audience. The audience was made up of 80 "uncommitted voters."

More than anything, the economy was the overriding theme of the debate tonight. Questions about the economy and the current financial crisis came up repeatedly throughout the debate, from a variety of angles.

The first question was about what would be done to bail people out of the current economic conditions. Barack Obama was the first to answer. He predictably blamed the economic policies of the last eight years (i.e. President Bush), conveniently omitting Democrat opposition to greater oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--government creations--during this time.

John McCain said a key to fixing the current economic situation was energy independence and reducing the tax burden. He said home values needed to be stabilized, and that the government should buy up these failing loans and renegotiate them at current rates.

Another question dealt with what, exactly, in the bailout package would help average Americans. McCain said the "match that lit this fire" was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and pointed to "Senator Obama and his friends" who where behind the free-wheeling going on at those government institutions. McCain said that while he and some others tried to implement greater oversight, many of the Democrats fought these efforts. McCain again said the government needed to buy up the failing loans and stabilize home values.

Obama blamed the "deregulation" in the financial system, and said he had written to the Treasury Secretary and Fed chairman, asking that something be done. He said he was told that nothing could be done, that this was "just the way the free market works." What Obama failed to mention is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government creation and run under government oversight; they are nominally "private" at best.

The next question asked how people can trust the government with "our money" when both parties" got us into this financial crisis. Obama correctly pointed out that while average Americans live within a budget, the government doesn't seem to be constrained by this wisdom. Unfortunately, in the next breath, he mentioned more things he would "invest" in than he did things he would cut from government; in fact, he didn't specifically name a single one.

McCain said that while he and others were trying to cut earmark spending, Obama voted for nearly $1 billion in earmarks. McCain said one of those earmarks was an overhead projector for Chicago, IL.

Brokaw asked how the candidates would prioritize the following urgent issues: Health care, energy and entitlement reform (Social Security and Medicare). McCain said we could work on all three at the same time. He acknowledged we can't keep spending on entitlements like we have in the past. He also said we need more domestic energy, which will also keep money out of the hands of foreign powers hostile to the U.S., and acknowledged the struggles some face to pay health care costs.

Obama said we need to deal with energy "today." Obama said we could be free of the need for foreign oil in 10 years. Health care, he said, would be priority #2, and education would be #3.

Obama said that while we need to go through our budget items to determine which ones aren't working and cut them, we also need to watch what is happening with tax revenue, and proceeded to criticize tax breaks for businesses like the oil industry.

Brokaw asked what sacrifices they would ask all Americans to make to get us out of the current "economic morass." McCain said we would have to cut many of the government programs people are used to. He said some wasteful defense spending would also have to be cut, along with some of those earmarks like Obama's overhead projector would also have to be cut out. He recommended a spending freeze where, except for defense and veterans programs, the growth of everything else would have to be frozen.

Obama recalled the tragedy of 911 and how Americans came together in the wake of that attack. He said one of the opportunities that were missed was when President Bush "said 'go out and shop.'"

Obama said he believed in more oil production but said oil companies should use the land they already have leased. He also mentioned incentives to buy fuel-efficient cars built here in the U.S. rather than overseas. He also talked about a "volunteer corps" for the nation. I don't recall him mentioning his tire-gauge plan that would supposedly save as much oil as we could gain from offshore drilling.

Obama also said CEOs aren't feeling enough pain, and that average Americans have a hard time sacrificing if they feel others aren't hurting with them.

McCain said that while Obama's policy statements are all over the place, Obama definitely wants to raise taxes. He said that we've lost thousands of jobs in the last year or so, and that the tax increases Obama wants would increase taxes on small business revenue, which will result in job cuts and lack of hiring for these small businesses. He said we shouldn't be raising anyone's taxes; we should leave the tax rates alone and reduce middle-class taxes, and increasing the per-child tax credit to $7,000. "Let's not raise anybody's taxes," McCain said.

Brokaw asked if the candidates would give congress a deadline to deal with entitlement reform. Obama said he wasn't sure if it could be done in two years, but wanted to do it in his first term. Obama then returned to taxes, and said he wanted to provide a tax cut for "95% of Americans," and said if you make $250,000 or less, you'd see a tax cut. He said few small businesses make more than that.

McCain said it wouldn't be that tough to fix Social Security because we know what must be done. He said a commission should be appointed and made up of the most knowledgeable people to work out a solution, then have congress vote on it "up or down."

The next audience question came from a young lady who asked what Senator McCain would do do move fast to deal with environmental issues in his administration. McCain said he has already been working on climate change legislation and has introduced some already. He also spoke highly of nuclear power, and that it is already widely used in our nuclear ships in the Navy and that other countries make wide use of nuclear power.

Obama said that job creation would fuel our economy, and said that this would enable investments in things like solar energy and alternative fuels, and that nuclear power would be one option. However, Obama rebuked America for using too much of the world's oil supply and said we can't drill our way out of our energy needs.

McCain replied that offshore drilling is "vital now" and said it is a national security issue. "We've got to drill offshore, my friends, and we've got to do it now," he said.

The next question came from a lady in the audience who asked if health care coverage should be "sold as a commodity." It sounded if she was an advocate for government-run health care.

Obama said the government had an imperative to do something about the current situation. He said that if people had a plan, they could keep it, and the government would work with people's employers to reduce the costs of health insurance. Obama promoted a system of health coverage like government employees get.

McCain said putting health records online would help reduce costs and increase efficiency. He said that Obama wants government to take care of everything, but he wants to give every American a $5,000 tax credit for health coverage that can be used across state lines--as is currently not permitted in many cases. He said 95% of the American people will have more funds to shop around and get good coverage. He said we need to give Americans choice, not mandate things on them.

Brokaw asked if health care is a privilege, right or responsibility.

McCain said it was a responsibility in that we need to make it accessible to everyone. But he opposed government mandates that limit people's choices, and said Obama's plan would involve fines if people didn't have the kind of coverage the government says they should.

Obama said he would require that people have insurance on their children. He said it is true that he thinks it is important that government crack down on insurance companies that cheat their customers. He said if people are allowed to shop for insurance state to state, insurance companies will go to some state where laws are loose and exploit consumer protections. Obama again attacked deregulation and faulted McCain for embracing it.

The next audience question from the audience asked how all the current economic "stress" would affect our ability to be "peace makers." McCain said America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world. He said we usually act in defense of someone else's freedom in the world. He said we need to determine when military power is worth the expenditure of "our most precious treasure" (our troops). He said our national security and the question of where we can make a difference need to be asked before we use military force. He said Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge, and on the recent Russian use of military power.

Obama said he didn't understand why we were fighting in Iraq when Osama bin Laden was still free. He said the war has put an enormous strain on our budget (failing to acknowledge that this cost is only a fraction of what is spent on unconstitutional social spending). He said we need the money being spent on the fight in Iraq needs to be spent by the government here in the States. He also said our respect has been diminished around the world (failing to acknowledge that his party is largely responsible for that, having undercut and undermined our unity in our operations in Iraq, and standing with our enemies rather than with our president during this time of war).

Obama mentioned the atrocities in Sudan and Rwanda, and the moral imperative to act in these cases (but seemed to miss the moral interest in intervening where Saddam Hussein was killing and torturing his own people--in addition to the threats to U.S. national security and the stability of the Middle East).

McCain said a lot was at stake in Iraq. He said Obama would like to bring our troops home in defeat, but he would bring them home in honor.

The next audience came from a lady who asked if we should respect the integrity of Pakistan's borders and not pursue terrorists and insurgents across their border from Afghanistan. Obama blamed the Iraq invasion for allowing bin Laden to escape...even though this happened about a year and a half before the Iraq invasion. He did say that if we had bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistanis were unable or unwilling to act, we should go ahead and take care of it.

McCain said Obama's up-front statement that he would pursue military action into Pakistan has had the effect of turning public opinion there against us. He said the border regions are being used by terrorists to hide, and that we need their support to root them out. He said we need to use force where necessary, but to talk softly otherwise.

Obama denied calling for an invasion of Pakistan, but said he has called for going into Pakistan in pursuit of bin Laden, if necessary.

A question was asked about how we could encourage Russia to provide humanitarian aid to other countries without risking another Cold War. McCain said we needed to show moral support for Ukraine and Georgia, and said we should be able to communicate that need through the international community without risking another period of hostility between us and Russia.

Obama said we need to anticipate challenges instead of reacting, and that this is partly what happened in Afghanistan. He claimed President Bush and McCain had said "it wasn't that important to catch bin Laden."

A question from the audience asked whether the candidates would commit troops to the defense of Israel if Iran attacked them, or if they would wait for approval from the U.N. Security Council. McCain said he would not wait for the UN. He said Iran's nuclear ambitions are a threat to the entire Middle East and stability there. McCain said Obama, without precondition, wants to sit down with Iran and talk, but McCain wants to put pressure on Iran with tough sanctions to modify their behavior.

Obama said we cannot allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. He said we would never take military options off the table. He said it was important, though, to use all the tools at our disposal to avoid those kinds of decisions. He called for tighter sanctions and reducing our energy needs. He said he believes we should have direct talks with Iran to tell them to change their behavior or face dire consequences.

An internet question was "What don't you know, and how will you learn it." Obama quipped that his wife Michelle had a good handle on that list for him. He said that "this country gave me opportunity" and said we've seen "that American dream" diminish in the last eight years.

McCain said what he doesn't know is what we all don't know: what will happen in the future here, and abroad. He said there will be unforeseen challenges in the future, but said he has spent his whole life serving our country, and knows what it's like in dark times when you have to fight to keep hope going. He said he believes in America, it's future and it's greatness.

At the end of the debate, I thought Obama did better than I expected. McCain did well, too, though, and finished strong.

It was rather disappointing to see such a limited scope of questions. There were so many important issues which were left completely unexplored. But then, I suppose, what can you expect from a bunch of people who--at this late stage of the game--remain "undecided?"

It would have been good to see more fight from McCain of the kind we saw from Sarah Palin at her debate with Joe Biden.