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On Sep 27, 7:16 am, "mike532 [ Republicans for Obama ]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Six Short Takes on Why Obama Came out Ahead in the Debate > > http://www.alternet.org/election08/100565/ > In the first head-to-head debate of the 2008 campaign, the financial > crisis dragged what the McCain camp had hoped would be fought in the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzznominee's comfort zone -- foreign policy and national security -- > squarely into the realm of domestic policy. > > Moderator Jim Lehrer made a smooth transition to the voters' top > concern in this election, saying that we were facing a potential > meltdown of the global economy, which was by definition a matter of > "national security." > > What followed was a microcosm of the 2008 race: Barack Obama dominated > John McCain when the focus of the debate was on the domestic sphere > and a fast-deteriorating financial sector, but ceded an enormous > amount of political space to McCain on national security, accepting > much of the Arizona senator's overarching neoconservative narrative > that the United States is surrounded by mortal danger and evildoers > and has a moral duty to maintain our forces in Iraq and elsewhere in > order to defend the homeland. > > McCain appeared twitchy and out of touch as the debate began with the > banking meltdown and the Bush-Paulson plan to reverse it. He blinked > rapidly and avoided eye contact with Obama, Lehrer and the audience as > Obama came out swinging against McCain for enabling the "root causes" > of the crisis to develop during decades in the Congress, including a > long stint on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and > Transportation. > > Obama articulately condemned what he called a "philosophy that says > that regulation is always bad," and blamed its pervasiveness for the > economic mess. McCain, moments before saying that we have the > "greatest workers in the world" (and that the United States is > simultaneously the "greatest importer" and "greatest exporter" in the > world), tried to shift blame from Wall Street to Main Street -- from > predatory lenders and fast-and-loose brokers to those who find > themselves with a home on the bubble today. > > It's a losing strategy. > > Obama, on the other hand, must be extremely confident that this > election will be decided on the economy, as he failed to challenge > McCain on his belligerent stance toward the rest of the world. > > He conceded that the "surge has worked" -- it has not. He tried to go > toe to toe with John "Bomb, Bomb Iran" McCain on the evils of Iran. He > called Venezuela a "rogue state." He engaged in a bit of fearmongering > himself, saying that while he supports missile defense -- a boondoggle > if ever there was one -- the greatest threat we face is from suitcase > nukes. > > As Obama agreed with so much of McCain's worldview, McCain's > discomfort disappeared, and he landed several good knocks on Obama. He > repeatedly called him "naive." > > But, in the final analysis, a day after Washington Mutual went down in > flames, I doubt that it'll be enough to get McCain out of the hole in > which he finds himself. > > Don Hazen: > > If you were an Obama champion and wanted McCain to fall flat, you were > disappointed. McCain is a tough, pugnacious debater, and he tried to > control the talk time, going on and on. He's knowledgeable, and as we > know, he whipped all of the Republicans during the primaries. But the > big picture is that McCain probably had to do better since he is > behind on the momentum and had to beat Obama with his supposed > strength -- foreign affairs -- and there is a consensus among the > commentators that he didn't do that. > > If you reflect more on the meta or emotional level, McCain spent most > of his time talking about the past and focused on Iraq -- making sure > everyone knew that we had to win. That was the most important point he > needed to make. But if this election is about change, then McCain > reinforced his role as part of the problem. For most of the public, > Iraq is past tense. Sixty percent think the economy is the key issue. > And in terms of bread and butter, the numbers that people are likely > to remember are not the $18 billion earmarks discussion, but rather > the fact that 95 percent of the population will get a tax cut with > Obama -- everyone who makes under $250,000. Meanwhile, the figure > associated with McCain is likely to be $300 billion in tax cuts for > corporations and the wealthy, while we have a huge deficit. Obama had > to make kitchen table points stick, and he seemed to achieve that, > repeating these points several times. > > The pundits were also speculating that independent voters didn't like > McCain's condescension and repeating that Obama "doesn't get it." Here > McCain could be seen as the cranky older guy, sounding a little > insecure, while Obama didn't rise to the bait. In fact, Obama agreed > with McCain a number of times, suggesting that Obama was more capable > of working across the aisle. > > 123Next page ยป --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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