Round 2 of the Presidential Debates

I just finished watching MSNBC’s online video stream of Tuesdays debate and I have to say: not all inspiring, much of the same (but with more detail), too much party jabbing from both sides, few questions that were new, and Brokaw’s constant reminding of the “time contract” was very annoying.

New revelations: McCain is obviously much more comfortable speaking in a town hall format and the McCain ‘my friends’ colloquialism has got to go.

Some believe that McCain needed to engage Obama in a "character debate" of sorts. Subtly done, I think it could have worked but Tuesday night’s forum just wasn’t very forgiving there - too personal, too close to the audience,...and so McCain was smart to leave that off the table.

On Obama's performance
Strong lead, but he seemed to come apart a bit in the second half particularly during the discussion on Iran, Israel, and Russia. With regard to meeting leaders of enemy territories, he held his ground very well. *blasted* Good rebuttal on his healthcare plan and tax policies (though I’ve read that the touted financial benefits of his healthcare plan is all a lot of hooey and I'm totally against his tax policies). Still, he spoke to them well and sounded convincing – and let’s face it, that’s really the crux of winning elections: who sounds more convincing, who sounds more knowledgeable, and who appears to have the stronger character.

Surprises of the night
I was surprised to hear Obama mention 9-11 and before the Republican candidate; usually 9-11 is a key talking point for Republicans since it is a tie-back to our foreign policy platform and National defense.. I was not happy to hear Obama talk about how Bush could have rallied the people better; frankly, that just pissed me off.

I was surprised at Obama’s show of clear support for investing in Nuclear power plants – I specifically remember Obama stating that he was not a supporter during the party races. I suspect that he truly is not but recognizes it is a necessary component of a solid alternative energy plan and that it sits well with the majority of alternative energy supporters.

I was annoyed by Obama’s insistence that oil drilling is somehow the entirety of McCain’s plan for energy independence despite the list of alternative fuel sources McCain had already espoused.

And finally...
I am sick of hearing Obama and co blame the Republicans for the state of the economy. First, I believe Clinton before Bush, signed off on deregulatory legislation. Second, McCain didn't just support flagrant deregulation but rather open market movement with, key ingredient here, strict oversight, among other things - much of which was voted down by Democratic leaders. McCain also voted against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exemptions.

And I'll also note that Republicans lost majority seats in both the House and Senate two years ago when supposedly Obama touted the dangers of deregulation. A) De-regulation was in progress long before then and b) obviously Obama did not have the leverage or the political weight to pull his own party as a Senator.

On McCain’s performance
He seemed much more relaxed than he was two weeks ago: his talking points were more succinct, he introduced one or two new things, he answered the questions that were asked, he was direct, he defended his positions more clearly and had some decent rebuttals for position on policy. Overall, he did a better job of connecting with the audience.

But he still falters on one key area – his facts. And no, Obama-ites - I don’t mean misstatements or lying – I mean utilizing more facts in his talking points. Forget about the finger pointing, use numbers and specific examples – and lots of them! McCain needed to be more engaging with regard to specifics – heathcare policy (he did OK here), tax policy – the specifics (he started out well but Obama got the last word and essentially wiped out his efforts), economics (the crisis, the bailout, the result). The people need to hear specifics – numbers and specific examples citing economic cause and effect.

With regard to voting record: on almost every issue where Obama pointed to McCain’s record of voting against a position (insurance for children, stricter institutional regulations, alternative energy, etc) – McCain needs to be very explicit as to why he voted the way he voted. He’s running on a platform of pork spending and earmarks and he needs to speak to those “specifics” when it comes to his voting record - i.e., funding for a new bicycle path(?) and others like it that Democrats slipped into the bailout bill. In this case, obviously McCain couldn’t vote down the bailout bill but he needs to point out those specifics and not just talk to it. A good strategy would be to have 2 or 3 for one debate and 2 or 3 more for the next debate.

And finally...
I’m also tired of hearing McCain and co blame the democrats fo...wait, nevermind. I actually can sit and play the blame game against the Democrats ALL DAY LONG. ;-) I know - how one-sided of me...