More Debates

Ah, finally, economic issues. I happen to think this is one of the more important issues on the table here, and I suspect that most Americans now think so as well.

I'll keep track of my thoughts as I watch:

-McCain says the priority is to stabilize home prices by having the federal government buy up bad loans and renegotiate the principal. WRONG! There's a lot of things wrong with that idea, but to put in perspective, McCain basically said "we need to reinflate the housing bubble."

-McCain just attacked Obama, claiming he was the 2nd largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac excesses. Obama did not directly refute that statement. It will be interesting to research this point and see what McCain meant.

-Obama avoids specifically naming his choice for Treasury Secretary. A good idea, since it's totally premature.

-McCain makes the point that Obama is calling for $800 billion of new spending. It's a good point. The correct counterpoint is that McCain's economic plan may reduce spending (I think), but will also increase the deficit more than Obama's plan. I happen to think Obama's tax plan is better than McCain's, and if Obama is president, it will be interesting to see if he is responsible enough to cut spending.

-Brokaw asks the candidates to prioritize health care, energy, and entitlement (Social Security/Medicare) reform. McCain dodges the question and basically says "all three are high priorities." Obama, to my surprise, plays ball and states 'Energy first, Health Care second, and Education third." I wonder how many will notice that he didn't address entitlement reform. That sound you heard was Obama losing 2 points in the Florida polls.

-It only took McCain 20 minutes to mention Reagan. Man, it's almost funny how much Republicans love that guy.

-Brokaw asks about how one would try to break the bad habits of "too much easy credit". Great question. Brokaw is my favorite moderator yet. Sadly, Obama steers the conversation to tax policy instead (boooo!). McCain attacks Obama's tax plan; Obama's expression starts with incredulity, then changes to what I can only describe as annoyed disappointment.

-McCain says it's not hard to fix Social Security. I wait with baited breath only to find out that the answer is "cut spending." Maybe I have my facts wrong, but I'm almost positive McCain is planning on running up a bigger deficit than Obama. So I don't quite understand his answer.

-As an engineer, I love Obama's plans for investing in alternative energy. I certainly hope Americans are up to the challenge.

-Brokaw now resorts to sarcasm to try and get the candidates to stay within their time limits. "Hey guys! See these lights around here? They tell you when your time is up." Hilarious.

-"Drill baby drill!" yells McCain. I'm reading between the lines, of course.

-Health care: not loving Obama on this one, but to be fair, I don't know much about health care. It just seems like there's too few specifics from him here. The point about getting rid of triplicate forms seems silly. I have no strong opinions on McCain's counterarguments. Again, I just don't know much about this. I do know that McCain has mischaracterized Obama's plan in the past, so I'm suspicious about what he is saying now.

-The Wacky Chinawife points out that McCain is wearing a red tie, and Obama is wearing a blue tie. How appropriate. I had not noticed that before.

-My attention span is waning, so I do a little web surfing. Apparently, Nevada authorities busted a group for voter fraud. The funny thing is that they submitted registration forms for the Dallas Cowboys starting lineup, which results in this ridiculous quote from the Nevada Secretary of State: "Tony Romo is not registered to vote in the state of Nevada, and anybody trying to pose as Terrell Owens won't be able to cast a ballot on Nov. 4."

-Fear tactic alert: McCain says we don't have time for on-the-job training when it comes to our national security. Sigh.

-Debate turns to foreign policy. I heard all this stuff last time. Yawn.

-Obama is spending a lot of time on the defensive. Conversation is turning increasingly negative, which is really something given the tone of the campaigns over the past few weeks. I suppose it was naive to think that these two candidates would avoid the kind of negative campaigning each of them abhorred several months ago. Unfortunately, history has shown that negative campaigning WORKS.

-McCain tells the audience that he's not going to telegraph his punches when dealing with foreign nations. Brokaw's next question is to ask each candidate to detail their strategy in Afghanistan and telegraph their punch. Briefly.

-I think McCain is scoring more points here in the foreign policy arena. He generally sounds more confident and secure, while casting a lot of doubt on Obama's ideas and making him look inexperienced. Fortunately for Obama, Republicans don't have a lot of credibility on foreign policy these days.

-Brokaw moves on to Russia. Evil Empire: yes or no? Does Brokaw really think someone will say yes? McCain recognizes the trap, and articulates his response well.

-Do Americans really understand diplomacy well enough to make a smart judgment on the concept of meeting foreign leaders "without precondition?" I certainly don't. I choose to ignore this talking point.

-Final question....it's from the Internet....it's got a zen-like quality....and the TiVo stops the recording! Damn. I'll have to find the transcript later.

Not much to say here. McCain's campaign went on the offensive this week, and it was on full display tonight. I view this as a sign of desperation.

This debate was remarkably similar to the first, though there was more detail on economic plans. As far as the economy goes, Obama gets the nod from me. He's not perfect, but I think his understanding of the fundamental problems is deeper than McCain's.