Debate Recap

by Eyck Freymann

To be short, Obama crushed McCain. With polls reflecting a strong skew towards Obama, this was McCain's last real chance to change the dialogue. But rather than offering real solutions, McCain spent his time castigating Obama for the imaginary tax increases. While the Democrat seemed humane, competent, and presidential, the Republican appeared nervous and overly aggressive. 

There are three or four things that are worth mentioning about McCain's performance. First of all, his rudeness towards Obama made him seem like an angry little kid on the playground. Calling him "that one", he took every opportunity to avoid the question at hand and instead stomped around in a circle lecturing the audience that Obama is not prepared. Meanwhile, Barack thoroughly ignored his opponent and took the high road by answering the questions in a thoughtful manner.

It was comical to watch the focus group's approval plummet when McCain talked about buying up mortgages. Saying that he wants to buy up the bad mortgages of every person in the country, he was suggesting a socialistic mega-bailout which would cost many trillions of dollars. I, for one, am horrified at the idea of doubling the national debt to refinance everyone's mortgages. Apparently, so is the country. Expect to never hear that one again.

Third, Tom Brokaw was terrible. Although the questions were better and more germane to the needed dialogue than, say, Gwen Ifil's, Brokaw's obsession with the rules which neither candidate seemed to mind bending made the debate awkward and unpleasant. Clearly, if both candidates agree to a follow-up question then one should be given. The candidates make the rules and are therefore allowed to, with each other's permission, break them.

McCain, though did not do well with Brokaw. First he began his answer to the "who would you pick as Treasury Secretary" question by saying, "Not you, Tom". This is just plain weird: Tom Brokaw is a news anchor with no economic experience. It is as if Joe Biden had said during his debate, "I don't know where Osama Bin Laden is, but I'm pretty sure, Gwen, that he's not hiding under your desk."

Senator McCain once again demonstrated his complete technical illiteracy by stepping in front of the moderator's teleprompter just as he was wishing the nation good night.

In sum: McCain has one more opportunity to drastically change the campaign's direction. He failed twice in changing the subject and there is no reason to believe that he will succeed in the third debate, which is primarily on economic policy. And if the number one issue for voters is the economy, I don't see how McCain can pull this off.