Give & Take Re Debate
But no knockout. Debate takes start with Boston Herald, and goes downhill from there:
John McCain jabbed away at Barack Obama last night as he struggled to regain ground in the polls but failed to knock back his Democratic rival as the two swapped speeches on everything from the economy to Iraq in a sleepy second debate.
McCain, seeking to distance himself from President Bush and gain stronger footing amid a tumbling economy, announced a bold $300 million plan to renegotiate the mortgages of struggling homeowners to make them more affordable.
“It is my proposal. It’s not Sen. Obama’s proposal. It’s not President Bush’s proposal,” McCain said in the opening minutes of a 90-minute contest that drew no blood and yielded no defining moMents.
Obama sought to poke holes in McCain’s reformer image and link him to deregulation, accusing Bush and McCain of a policy that “let markets run wild” with a promise that “prosperity would rain down on all of us. It didn’t happen.”
On foreign policy, Obama challenged McCain’s temperament. “This is a guy who sang bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, who called for the annihilation of North Korea - that I don’t think is an example of speaking softly.”
McCain accused him of foolishly threatening to invade Pakistan and said, “I’m not going to telegraph my punches, which is what Sen. Obama did.”
Minutes into the debate, McCain tagged Obama with taking campaign cash linked to failed mortgage giants at the center of the economic crisis.
McCain said Democrats “resisted” reforms “with the encouragement of Sen. Obama’s cronies” at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“Fannie and Freddie were the match that started this forest fire,” the Arizona senator said.
“Because of the greed and excess in Washingon and on Wall Street, Main Street is paying a very heavy price,” McCain said.
Obama shot back that it was Bush administration policies - and deregulation of the financial industry - that led to the economic mess, and chided McCain for backing those policies using the excuse of “free enterprise.”
NYT offers up a string of non-sequitorial Obama talking points:
There was no indication that the debate did anything to change the course of a campaign that appeared to be moving in Mr. Obama’s direction.
Mr. McCain chose not to use the evening — the second of three scheduled debates — to attack Mr. Obama’s background or character. But in a moment that caught the attention of people in both parties, he appeared agitated in criticizing Mr. Obama for a Senate vote he cast, referring to his opponent only as “that one.”
This part is good. Almost AP-like in its pandering:
At another point, Mr. McCain criticized Mr. Obama as saying he would speak, without preconditions, to the leaders of countries like Pakistan, quoting Theodore Roosevelt — at first incorrectly — explaining the way he would deal with leaders of foes.
Uh, no. That was about Obama sayting he wants to invade our tenuous ally, Pakistan. The unconditional chat is with our terrorism-supporting, Israel-off-the-map-wiping enemy, Iran. McCain, by the way, not cuddly:
Throughout the evening, when Mr. McCain spoke, Mr. Obama stood at the side of the stage, or seated on a chair, arms folded, gazing at his rival. When Mr. Obama spoke, Mr. McCain took notes, often looked the other way, or scribbled on a pad.
… Even Mr. McCain’s use of humor — a central part of his appeal in his own town hall meetings — did not seem that effective. At one point he joked about how health care plans probably should not pay for hair transplants, a remark that did not seem to draw more than a titter.
By the end, NYT has devolved to just stringing together weird Obamist reporter’s notebook items:
At one point, Mr. Obama said to a questioner, “Oliver, let me tell you what’s in the rescue package for you.” To the same man, Mr. McCain said: “Well, thank you, Oliver. That’s an excellent question.”
Mr. McCain had originally proposed that the two men engage in a series of town hall meetings across the country over the summer. Mr. Obama at first signaled interest in that, but, after what appeared to be a fitful round of negotiations, that effort fell apart amid clear indications that Mr. Obama did not share the same passion for the event.
Mr. McCain made mention of that the moment he took the stage. “Senator Obama, it’s good to be with you at a town hall meeting,” he said. Mr. Obama let that pass.
Washington Post’s Fact Checker as usual is selective in its fact checking, dwells heavily on nuances and details in McCain’s fundamental true statements. Fair enough, or it would be if Obama got the same level of scrutiny. However, the Post does kick off with the astonishing Obama claim that I missed: The government invented the computer. (You know, back in 1929, during the televized FDR administration.) Post cleans up after him, explaining he must have meant the Internet.
OK, on to commentary:
Andy McCarthy at NRO’s The Corner:
Memo to McCain Campaign: Someone is either a terrorist sympathizer or he isn’t; someone is either disqualified as a terrorist sympathizer or he’s qualified for public office. You helped portray Obama as a clealy qualified presidential candidate who would fight terrorists.
If that’s what the public thinks, good luck trying to win this thing.
With due respect, I think tonight was a disaster for our side. I’m dumbfounded that no one else seems to think so. Obama did everything he needed to do, McCain did nothing he needed to do. What am I missing?
Good points. McCain dropped that ball. What you’re missing, Andy, is that if McCain hasn’t kncked Obama out, Obama still doesn’t have his landslide, McCain still holds. And McCain wins a draw.
Here’s some great news. Andrew Sullivan calls it “a mauling: a devastating and possibly electorally fatal debate for McCain. Even on Russia, he sounded a little out of it. I’ve watched a lot of debates and participated in many. I love debate and was trained as a boy in the British system to be a debater. I debated dozens of times at Oxofrd. All I can say is that, simply on terms of substance, clarity, empathy, style and authority, this has not just been an Obama victory. It has been a wipe-out.”
I have no doubt Obama would win, if the election were held today, in “Oxofrd.” Sullivan is in fact an important prognosticator, and you could set your watch by his opinions. Everyone else is calling it nine o’clock. But if Sullivan’s calling it deep six for McCain, I’d say you have to put the big hand and the little hand on high noon.
Meanwhile, CBS’ Vaughan Ververs, noting 72 percent of uncommitteds still uncomitted post-debate, sees Obama winning a draw as McCain fails to breakout:
A draw of that kind is good news for Obama, who has seen the political landscape tilt strongly his way in recent weeks, both nationally and in the crucial battleground states. McCain needs a breakout moment, and he didn’t get one in Nashville Tuesday night.
Yeah, either that or Obama, having failed to break out from a dead heat and put together a landslide in this political landscape, is in deep trouble.
Topics: pols
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:51 am on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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