The 2008 Presidential Debates, Round Three

The 2008 Presidential Debates, Round Three
Hofstra University, New York, 15 October 2008

Upon reaching the end of this third, and final, debate between the Democratic candidate Barack Obama and the Republican candidate John McCain, the decision, for those voters who are still undecided, has become all the more clear. One candidate calmly explained the nuances of his positions, held a comfortable and respectful posture, and, ultimately, maintained a presidential manner. The other stooped to a new low in his efforts to continue telling lies, in his condescending and even hostile manner towards his opponent, and in his tired and out-of-touch rhetoric. The former, of course, was Barack Obama, and the latter was John McCain.

This was an especially disappointing evening for McCain, who actually started off on a relatively strong note compared to his previous debate performances. Where McCain really began to lose ground was in his reiteration of the cynical attacks that have come to define his campaign in recent days: tying Obama to ACORN, making a dubious connection between Obama and Avery, and how he was personally offended by John Lewis' criticisms of his campaign tactics. These tactics have not been working for McCain, and he did not appear comfortable delivering such trivial criticisms.

McCain, unfortunately, made many more mistakes. He invoked a middle-class voter that Obama had met on the campaign trail, whom he referred to as “Joe the Plumber”; this is a childish moniker that ultimately demeans voters - to whom was he trying to appeal? - and it should never have been brought up in the first place, let alone repeated over a dozen times. He continued to repeat out-of-date rhetoric, including the danger of high taxes and the nebulous threat of big government imposing itself on people's everyday lives. Note that he never mentioned the middle class, who would never benefit from his proposed tax cuts.

McCain also argued – or, more likely, bull-shitted – that his running mate, Sarah Palin, was a role model for both women and reformers. More irksome was his emphasis on “curing” autism – since when did this become an enormous national issue? – which he says Palin's child suffered from, when, in fact, the child has Down's Syndrome. To top it off, McCain came across as an angry, condescending old man who is bitterly jealous of Obama. Such quotes as “But maybe you [Obama] ought to travel down there [Colombia] and visit them and maybe you could understand it a lot better” don't help with dispelling this unfortunate image of this once respectable candidate.

Obama, in the meantime, maintained a supremely calm presence. For the most part, he threw effective counter-points, and he disarmed blatant lies with a smile. One line, regarding the McCain campaign's negative tactics, was particularly effective: “The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me.” And Obama kept connecting McCain to the Bush administration, which is exactly what he needed to do to help convince undecided voters.

I do think that both candidates have weak education plans, because neither of them are comprehensive or innovative. But when it comes to vision, manners, the ability to work with opposition members, maintaining a commanding presence, and running an administration, I think that the choice is obvious – Barack Obama should be elected President of the United States on November 4th.