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thoughts on debate 1.
Aaron wanted my thoughts (I think he misses my idiocy since I moved from Cincy) so here they are on the first debate.
Fiscal Policy:
McCain on fiscal matters thinks that cutting spending is our way forward. His way to do it is to really reduce the size of government by killing earmarks and then potentially freezing the spending level of many gov’t programs.
Obama on fiscal matters is all about raising taxes on the wealthy and maybe cutting taxes on the middle classes. He sprinkles some talk of investing in America’s future, but that’s pretty incidental to the question posed.
My thoughts:
McCain is right that we need to cut spending in a big way. Cut, cut, cut. Who ever wins needs to cut the size of gov’t given our precarious financial position. But as important, if not more important, we need to raise taxes on the wealthiest, back to historical levels. It’s a shame that we’ve deprived the American treasury of this revenue and instead run up dangerous debt levels. So, net: we need to definitely raise taxes on the quarter-million $ gang– but we also need to start hacking away at non-critical spending and things that aren’t investments in our future.
Both candidates disappointed me in their unwillingness to even touch our defense spending. Doing so means that you risk being branded as “weak on national defense.” But it was Dwight Eisenhower, who was invoked in the opening of the debate, who warned of the Industrial-military complex that would come to take over the budget. And how right he is. We need to excise the cancerous military lobbyists, fund proven weapons programs, invest in smart future R&D and cut the fat. Defense is one of our biggest budget items. Getting this right, is an important step in fixing our fiscal ship.
And, of course, both of them showed that they don’t grasp, or don’t want to talk about the fact that we’re headed for YEARS of painful, painful tax revenue. Neither really had anything of value to say about cutting.
Foreign Policy:
McCain emphasized his experience, and attempted to portray Obama as inexperienced, someone who is too naive to lead, and has poor judgment.
Obama tried to link McCain to Bush’s failed policies and hammered home what he sees as the need for talking to enemies without precondition.
My take:
McCain is right that Obama is short on experience here. I’m shocked if anyone really disagrees with this. I think Obama is right that we, as a nation, should meet with nations we disagree with. What I wished Obama or McCain had said is something I heard Colin Powell say on Wednesday: It doesn’t matter who you meet with, it matters what you say to them. And that’s the truth. We should meet with those we have differences with. This doesn’t mean we should appease or placate them. What matters is what do you say? What’s your position.
Obama hasn’t said that he was wrong about the surge. (I think he was. But that’s a seperate, complicated post). But it’s also true that McCain hasn’t said that he was wrong about Iraq originally (Here, again, I think he was). It’s pertinent because this indicates how we’ll conduct going to war going forward.
My net: this doesn’t change anything. McCain did well. I think Obama did well. I think one debate will matter. And in that debate there will be an ass-kicking moment. It might be a 30 second clip– or it might be 10 or 60 seconds. But it’s going to be a clear “dammmmn!” moment. That’ll matter. We’re sound-clip nation.
Thoughts?
7 comments to thoughts on debate 1.
— 09/26/08 at 8:31 pm
Well, since you posted this for me, I suppose I’ll comment. Amazingly
I seem to agree with your analysis to a great extent. I will say that in my opinion McCain actually succeeded very well in painting Obama as way less experienced and/or qualified as himself in the area of foreign policy. Beyond that, I was disappointed by both in their fear to touch the issue of the bailout and in general what their strategy would be to get the economy back on track.
For someone like myself who has always leaned Republican, but would never call myself a “righty”, McCain’s selection of Palin through a door wide open for Obama to win me over. Now I’m looking for that something to do so, perhaps as you say the “damnnnnnn” moment or 30 second clip. But, tonight he didn’t even come close. By no means did this debate settle my decision as to how to cast my vote, but Obama still has significant work to do to win over this whatever the opposite of a Regan Democrat is.
— 09/26/08 at 8:39 pm
So knowing you Aaron, I definitely think you’re leaning Republican. I think you’re saying as much. Like you, I think Palin is an incredibly awful and dangerous position. But maybe she’ll show great judgment and experience in how she deals with the debate. I think that for Obama, someone who is short on the track record, how he deals with these debates is important. Considering that, he did well. Without experience, logically, the next criteria should be judgment.
OK, I’m going to go back to fretting over the economy and the US $.
— 09/26/08 at 8:46 pm
Good summation. Only one thing stood out to me tonight. That is Obama is a much better public speaker- there were some clear. Points of frustration for McCain. Not sure is that means anything howerver.
— 09/26/08 at 9:54 pm
Both candidates seemed shockingly ill-prepared to discuss the current economic crisis. You could just sense it as they danced around those questions and stuck to their broad critiques of the other’s fiscal policies. Clearly they had been prepping for the predetermined main topic.
I thought McCain did a very good job of hammering on Obama’s inexperience. The elder senator definitely “seemed” to have a lot of foreign policy experience (and realistically, “seeming” to be something is 80% of the battle in these debates). Obama ended up coming out better than I thought he would on foreign policy though. He did have the best 20-second clip of the night (which is the other 20%).
Overall, I felt like Obama seemed more presidential - he was able to (generally) avoid getting down into a dirty “he-said he-said” back-and-forth, though McCain almost goaded him into a few times.
Good stuff, though probably not as good as next week’s VP debate will be.
— 09/27/08 at 6:45 am
Dan- no doubt Obama is a better public speaker than McCain. I think the fact that Obama was more calm and in control than McCain also came out. It seemed like he tried to control when they’d go to the next question with Jim, etc.
Jack- yeah, I’m not sure if I’m shocked that they didn’t touch the financial crisis. It’s pretty much plutonium at this point. Nothing good is going to come of it, and speaking about the massive amounts of pain that the American taxpayer is going to feel, and everything that we’re going to need to cut probably isn’t a good campaign strategy. Also, Obama is viewed overwhelmingly as the better of the two to handle the economy. I think he sees this is a pretty much only downside if he takes a position and the ground moves under him. McCain needs to get in front of this, and tried to through the suspend campaign stunt & return to DC (idiocy in my opinion).
I agree that McCain did a *very* good job of hitting Obama’s inexperience. What’s the 20 second clip you’re talking about? And I do agree that Obama did come across as more presidential (the way he looked at McCain, was super-calm, smiled when he disagreed, and seemed to guide the conversation even while being defensive about McCain’s comments.)
The VP debate: pure hilarity. Let’s see if Biden ends up babbling for like 30 minutes on each answer, says racially insensitive remarks, and if Palin asks for her mommy because she’s so out of her league. We should get people together at the office or a bar to watch this one.
— 09/27/08 at 9:38 am
Surya- tried to publish this last night but I might have hit the wrong button.
This is one of the best Presidential debates I’ve seen in a long time, a very substantive discussion.
Obama performed as people expected, but McCain performed better than expected. That’s going to be a problem for the Dems.
I was impressed by McCain’s grasp of foreign policy/national security details. He also kept his temper under control and sounded calm and knowledgeable throughout (although you could see a flash of that temper: he looked sharply at Obama when Barack said something under his breath, when McCain had trouble pronouncing “Ahmadinejad.”) In my view, McCain succeeded in demonstrating how his years of experience following these issues in the Senate have benefited him and can benefit the American people.
Obama has to concede that point, and does. But his hurdle is to demonstrate that it doesn’t matter because he too understands foreign policy principles and is capable of making wise choices.
In foreign policy, experience isn’t everything. Wisdom is. You can get wisdom from experience, but some people are born with it. Obama has to show this.
One concern I have about McCain is that he may make quick decisions without thinking them through. One example–and this is from memory so I’ll have to verify through the transcripts–was when Lehrer asked McCain if he would support a spending freeze. McCain pondered for a split second, then convinced himself that that was a good idea and said so. This enabled Obama to come back with the scalpel, not a hatchet line. THAT demonstrates wisdom.
Anyway, this was a good debate. I liked this John McCain better than the other versions I’ve seen over the past year. If it weren’t for his VP choice, it would make the decision on for whom to vote much harder.
— 09/27/08 at 9:45 am
Rodney- great points all. As usual we agree almost completely.
I think McCain did say something more diplomatic to Lehrer’s question about the freeze– something along the lines of he would have to consider it. I agree that the scalpel line of Obama’s was good…but it was, too me, a standard political line. I give points to McCain for at least taking some kind of strong stand (spending freeze– good idea or not).
By the way, you use the word “wisdom”. I don’t disagree with it, and maybe it’s a matter of semantics, but I’m using the word “judgment.” I’ve said for a while that it’s clear that Obama is clearly far less experienced. Duh. But I’ve said that I’ll make my choice based on which candidate I determine has the better judgment. After all, to me, the reason experience is important is *because* it improves your judgment. It’s not an end in itself. I’m shocked that this has gotten lost in so many people’s arguments. Anyway, I think we’re both using “wisdom” and “judgment” interchangeably.
Oh, and I agree with you on Palin. Every time I found myself nodding my head in agreement with McCain, or thinking “he’d probably make a pretty good president” I was shocked back to earth by the thought of Palin. My god.
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