Presidential Debate 08

The most anticipated presidential debate in years, took place at the University of Mississippi which aired on Friday, September 26th. First in the blue corner, we have Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Now in the red corner we have Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona “The Presidential Debate of ‘08’”. It sounds like a heavyweight boxing match on pay per view. It was an event that people of America had to see.

The 2008 election is particularly notable because it is the first time in U.S. history that two sitting senators will run against each other for president, and because it is the first time an African American is a presidential nominee for a major party, as well as the first time both major candidates were born outside the continental United States - Hawaii for Obama and the Panama Canal Zone for McCain. With African American candidate Barack Obama, who is of mixed African and Caucasian parentage, as the Democratic Party nominee for President and John McCain's selection of female Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican Party nominee for Vice-President, the eventual winning ticket is very likely to have a historic context, as either the first African American will be elected President along with the first Roman Catholic as Vice President or the first woman will be elected Vice President.

Moderator Jim Lehrer questioned the candidates on the economic bailout plan pending on Capitol Hill before moving to the issues of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Conditions for meeting with foreign leaders and the next step for the war in Iraq were especially contentious topics.

With the anticipation of punches being thrown in the end, there were just love tapes. Both parties did well answering what they knew best; Obama on economic reform and McCain on foreign policy. Obama was a cool cat throughout - although I am reliably informed that GOP spinners are claiming the exact opposite. He seemed confident enough to stand up to McCain's challenges and in a deferential way. He seemed at times to go out of his way to agree with McCain when agreement was warranted, which the McCain campaign will surely point out. One impish moment: when Obama said "I have a bracelet too" after McCain movingly recounted his conversations with the families of deployed troops. And some of his early pivots back to "hard working Americans" seemed canned. But generally, he did not overspeak; he got to his points quickly, and he drew plenty of direct contrasts with McCain. As the candidates debated the bailout, it was McCain, not Obama, who sounded senatorial, and his obsession with earmarks presupposes an earmark pitchfork brigade that does not exist. McCain didn't even defend his tax plan; he simply returned to the comfort zone of earmarks. Where McCain was shaky in the first half of the debate, he was on much firmer ground as he navigated Jim Lehrer's broad foreign policy questions, particularly those questions which did not require McCain to defend his Iraq war. Obama agreed with McCain - and said so - almost as much as he disagreed. But he didn't topple or stumble. Thresholds are artificial, but both candidates seemed to meet them - although Obama's threshold was arguably higher. The press will probably conclude that McCain did not fundamentally change impressions tonight. And that Obama held his own.
Two focus groups, one GOP pollster Frank Luntz and another by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, both declare Obama the winner. Independents in the MediaCurves focus group "gave the debate to Obama 61-39. They also think he won every individual segment. Republicans gave the debate to McCain 90-10, Democrats to Obama 93-7."